Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: Rush Home Road

Best book I read in 2012, hands down!!!!

 

STOP what you are doing and go get a copy of this book.  Go, go now!  I’ll wait.

 

Okay, the best thing you can do for yourself is to READ THIS BOOK!  And I’m about to tell you why:

 

I love, love, love local books.  And living in a small town, they’re hard to come by.  Most CanLit books are set in Toronto, or Montreal, or on the Prairie or places other than Southwestern Ontario, so when I come across a book that is set in my neck of the woods, particularly one that’s as well written as Rush Home Road, I’m simply over the moon! 

 

Little Sharla Cody, at five years of age, has not had an enviable life.  She and her mother live in a trailer park along with her mother’s numerous boyfriends.  When the boyfriend du jour wants to be rid of Sharla, her mother goes trailer to trailer looking for someone to take in her child “just for the summer.”  Seventy-year-old Addy Shadd agrees, and ends up becoming a surrogate mother to young Sharla, teaching her not only about life, but about love.

 

The story of Rush Home Road is really Addy’s story, as through the flashbacks of an aging woman, we learn about her life, the men she loved and lost, and the children she bore and also lost.  It’s a story that travels from Rusholme, a small town in Southern Ontario that was settled by black slaves fleeing the South, to rum runners in Sandwich, across the river to a small community in Detroit, Michigan, and back to the city Addy finally calls home, Chatham Ontario.  Resplendent with small town life and charm, Rush Home Road will keep you captivated from word one until you turn the final page and bid this wonderful woman adieu.

 

I loved Lori Lansens book so much, I promptly took her next two, The Girls and The Wife’s Tale, out of the library.  I cannot wait to read them over Christmas break!  Rush Home Road is a book I very highly recommend.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:

 

I wish I could tell you, but I ended up missing the December meeting.  I can say that the buzz leading up to the meeting was full of love for this book.  Comments on social media posted by fellow clubbers all had good things to say about this book and the general consensus was everyone loved it as much as I did.

 

Till next time, go read this book!!

L

The Casual Vacancy, the new novel by J. K. Rowling

JK Rowling’s new adult novel, The Casual Vacancy is quite a departure from the Harry Potter series.  Pagford is no magical, mythical town, and its inhabitants aren’t wizards, or witches, or muggles, although they are every day, ordinary humans like you and I.  For me, as a huge fan of Coronation Street, this was a great book to read.  Set in the small English town of Pagford, we are introduced to a wide range of characters that occupy various levels of the social strata.  And, like Coronation Street, there is plenty of drama to be had in their lives.  Departing from the soap, however, The Casual Vacancy focuses more on the dark sides of humanity and misses the mark when it comes to showcasing quirky small town characters

 

A casual vacancy opens up with the sudden death of a council member, prompting several members of the community to put names forward, all with their own reasons for wanting to be on town council.  There is Colin “Cubby” Wall, the school principal and best friend of Barry Fairbrother the newly deceased.  He has aspirations of picking up where his friend left off, and ensuring Barry’s dreams for the town of Pagford come true, a lasting legacy if you will.  Unfortunately, Cubby has a dark, dirty secret he’s petrified will come out under scrutiny of council elections.

 

Then there is Simon Price, abusive husband and father who is sure Barry was receiving kickbacks for his work on the town council, and wants his share of the pie.  His dirty, money scheming secrets are the first to air in public.

 

Chair of town council, and Pagford mayor (had the town ever been incorporated), Howard Mollison has his own ideas about who should fill the suddenly vacant seat, and they all rest with his son and heir, Miles, someone who will tow the line and vote as daddy would have him.

 

What’s at stake is The Fields, an underprivileged neighbourhood on Pagford Parish property that was acquired many years ago by neighbouring Yarvil and who some Padfordians feel should no longer be the financial responsibility or burden of the good citizens of Pagford.  Returning the property and its people and all their problems to Yarvil is the goal of Howard Mollison and his supporters, who were adamantly opposed by the deceased, and now you have the gist of the novel.

 

Added to the local political shenanigans are the teenage children of Pagford and The Fields and their own individual problems:  one has a drug addict for a mother, another cuts herself because of her mother’s neglect, another suffers verbal and physical abuse from his father on a regular basis, while another who seemingly has the perfect family home, is slowly turning into a sociopath.

 

The dark underbelly of life in Pagford is exposed with all its seediness.  This is no uplifting novel, but rather a dark and interesting read about human nature at its most raw.

 

The Casual Vacancy will not appeal to all, but it is well worth reading.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

Beautiful Sacrifice – Elizabeth Lowell

I have been in love with Elizabeth Lowell since I was a teen and first picked up one of her Avon historical romances.  From the very first word, I was mad to read more of her work, and between the Avons and the Harlequins, she kept me in rapture.  These were not your typical romance novels.  They were beautifully written, with well-thought-out metaphors, breathtaking descriptions of the vastness of various American landscapes, but mostly Colorado and New Mexico.  As the 80s rolled into the 90s, her books evolved into romantic suspense, and I learned more than I needed to about the jewel trade in China and Australia, the drug and gun trade between the US-Mexican border, and more.  All of which were fascinating reads, with the romance between two strong, intelligent people front and center.  The stories and the writing were clearly a cut above the typical romance, and I was beyond enamored.  I have continued to buy and devour all of her books, right up to the present day, and they, until recently, failed to disappoint.

 

Until recently.  Those two innocuous words that say so much.  Beautiful Sacrifice is Lowell’s latest publication and one of the biggest disappointments I have experienced in reading a treasured author.  First, the book jumps on the December 21, 2012 bandwagon, with the Mayan prediction that the world is about to come to an end.  To give Lowell her due, she’s done her research, and she does a decent job of debunking the myth surrounding this latest “end of the world” date.  The Mayan calendar has had many “end of the world” dates over the centuries, and rather than meaning the world will literally come to an end, it merely means that the existing period in Mayan culture will end, and the Mayan’s will embark on a new era, when ruling gods will change and life for the Mayan’s will be either good or bad, depending on the fortunes coming forth as the days, months and years progress. 

 

While the details of Mayan religion and culture made this book an interesting read, it was lacking in so much more.  What I’ve always loved about Lowell is her richness in detail, in characterization, in heady emotional connections, and stellar writing.  Nearly all of which have been lacking in her latest publication endeavours.  Particularly, Beautiful Sacrifice read very much like an earlier book of hers, so much so, that the entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking to myself: “I’ve read this before, I’m sure I’ve read this before.”  And as I own nearly every book she’s written, I can verify, unfortunately, it was a new book, if it did read like a heavily recycled one.  Perhaps it is time for Lowell to take a break from churning out formulaic books for a while, just until a new, fresh idea comes to mind, one that she can write with all the style and care she put into her earlier work.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: The Sultan’s Wife

Jane Johnson’s The Sultan’s Wife was our pick for November and I must confess, I had only just started reading the book by the time we met up, so didn’t have much to contribute to the discussion, but I enjoyed listening to others’ opinions.  We were a mixed bag of read, not-read, and only partially read members that night.  Some liked the book, but would probably not read anything else by this author.  Many liked the historical detail as the book is set in Morocco in the late 1600s, as well, getting introduced to another culture.  I for one, had not enjoyed the first 100 pages of the book, not at least until the main female character, the “Sultan’s Wife” of the title, appeared.  I continued to read the book after the meeting, though it wasn’t a page-turner for me.  Overall, I found it to be an alright read, but not one I’d readily recommend.

 

What the book is about:  The story begins with Nus-Nus, a slave and eunuch in the Sultan’s court.  Nus-Nus is the Sultan’s chief scribe, in charge of the “couching” book (the book that chronicles every bed partner of the Sultan and tracks the births of his progeny).  This exalted position in the Sultan’s household leaves Nus-Nus vulnerable to attack by the Sultan’s enemies and those in the court who conspire and intrigue behind the Sultan’s.  As the first book ends, Nus-Nus is arrested for the murder of a souk merchant. 

 

I wasn’t enamored with Nus-Nus, or his story, or the details of the Sultan, who, based on a real life figure, is insane and incredibly violent.  Details of Morocco in the 1600s, while historically accurate, didn’t appeal much to me either.  I’m not that much of a history buff, much preferring to read about British history than anything else. Usually though, if the story’s good and the writing worthy, I can get excited about any book.  This one just wasn’t up to snuff.

 

Anyway, Book Two started with Alys Swann, a young English woman returning to England from the Netherlands to marry her fiancé when her ship is stopped and boarded by Turks.  She along with the other women on the ship are taken into captivity, and owing to her blond hair, blue eyes, and porcelain skin, is sent to the Sultan’s harem.  The Sultan quickly becomes captivated by her, setting up a dangerous rivalry between Alys and his first wife, Zidana.  Nus-Nus, released from prison with the sole purpose of converting Alys to Islam, also falls under her spell and conspires to protect her at all costs.

 

What transpires is a rather interesting tale of court intrigue that travels from the shores of Morocco to the court of the English king as Nus-Nus risks everything for the woman he loves.

 

Alys was a very interesting character, and I quite enjoyed her story as it started to unfold, but it soon became apparent that she was being used as a stock character, and she quickly fell by the wayside as the story progressed.  The real thrust of the book was Nus-Nus, and his yearnings for a life beyond the Sultan’s palace, which was unfortunate for this reader, because I found it took most of the book before I started to identify with him, let alone want to read more of his story.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: The Chaperone

For our October pick, we read The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, a Creative Writing professor at the University of Kansas. 

 

Set in early 1920s Wichita Kansas, the novel’s protagonist Cora Carlisle takes us on a journey not only to New York City, but through her past as she searches for her long lost mother.  Abandoned at a young age, Cora finds herself at the Home for Friendless Girls from the age of two to five before being sent westward by train to be adopted out.  She is lucky enough to meet the Kaufman’s who take her into their home and love her as their own daughter.  Married at seventeen to a respectable lawyer, and a mother of twin boys herself, Cora continues to yearn for her own mother and familial blood relatives.  When she learns that fifteen year old Louise Brooks needs a chaperone for the summer to attend a prestigious dance school in New York City, Cora jumps at the chance to return to the city of her birth and learn all the secrets it holds about her past.

 

As a thirty-six year old chaperone, Cora feels old, dried up, and morally responsible for young Louise Brooks.  Cora is as trapped in a sexless marriage with a homosexual husband as she is in the corsets she continues to wear, despite the new, freer fashion styles of the 1920s.  Her fateful summer in New York City not only reveals her past and the mother who wishes to know nothing more about her than that she still lives and breathes, Cora also learns that there is much more life to live as she meets and falls in love with a widowed German immigrant and his young daughter.

 

The predominant theme of the book is the lies we live.  Those we tell ourselves, and more importantly, those we hide behind for the respectability of society.  Despite the newfound acceptance and love she finds for her husband and his lover, Cora is forced to continue the charade of loving wife and mother, taking her German lover into her home as her “brother” for the fear of what society will think.  Of course, at that time in history, Cora’s husband and his lover risked certain death at the hands of a bloody moral mob, while Cora herself risked being jailed for lewd conduct.  Society was not as open minded as it appears to be in much of the Western world today.  And yet many still choose to live behind well-mannered lies that affect their happiness rather than out themselves as being different from mainstream society, though things are slowly changing, thankfully.

 

Moriarty’s book was an interesting read, with accurate period details, though I found it read much like an exercise in creative writing.  All the requirements for a good novel were there: character development, period, place, plot, etc., but something more was missing, some little magic to bring the characters and their stories to life, jumping off the page so I wouldn’t want to put the book down.  Because I did put the book down, frequently and for days and weeks at a time, with little to urge me to pick it up again accept that it was a book club read and so I felt obligated to finish it.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading about Cora and her story, more so about Louise Brooks, and wished the book was more about Louise and her life than about Cora (but I guess it wouldn’t be called The Chaperone then, huh?).  I also very much enjoy reading about the 1920s and the changing attitudes and roles for women occurring at this time.  But other than to say it was a pleasant read, I don’t have a lot to recommend about this book.

 

For those of you unaware, Louise Brooks was a rather famous actress of silent movies and the snippets of her life that were given in Moriarty’s book makes me want to pick up Lulu in Hollywood, Brooks’ own autobiography someday soon, as I expect it will be fascinating reading. 

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  Everyone enjoyed reading The Chaperone, and if offered up some interesting discussion about society and the changes that have occurred just in the past 100 years alone, specifically what one generation would and did consider as taboo (i.e. teen pregnancy), a later generation heartily embraces as the norm (consider reality T.V. shows like 16 and Pregnant).  I think many of us also felt the inclusion of Louise Brooks to be more of a catalyst for the story than an actual participant in it and were disappointed by this.  I was not the only one who preferred to read more about Louise and perhaps less about Cora.  The lies we live led us to rather fascinating discourse about lies that were told by neighbours and families in our past, stories particularly told by a certain L who kept me, for one, captivated.  And then there were some very deep comments made by another L along the lines of the brevity of life that hit true to home, especially when Cora’s choices were questioned.  But let’s face it wouldn’t we all have embraced the love of another man, even if we had to pass him off as our “brother” for the sake of society’s good name, just to have that tiny bit of happiness otherwise denied to us because of circumstances beyond our ability to change?  M, after all, said it best:  “you go, girl!”

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

Windsor Book Club Reads: The Book of Negroes

I have wanted to read this book ever since I was first introduced to it via CBC’s Canada Reads in 2009.  Not surprisingly, it was the clear winner that year.  So I was super pleased to learn this was a book club pick and I could zoom it straight up the TBR reads pile without too much guilt (I mean, I only have 5 shelves of a very large bookcase full of books to read).  And what a great book!  I’m very glad I got a chance to read this book and only wish I had done so sooner. 

 

Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes is a fascinating read, one I found very difficult to put down.  From the very beginning we are introduced to 80-something Aminata (Ah-ME-naw-ta) Diallo and in a true storyteller’s voice, we are told about her past, from growing up a young Muslim girl in a small village in Africa, learning to read a few words from the Koran, something unheard of for girls, but Aminata showed an affinity and desire for written language from a young age, to learning from her mid-wife mother how to deliver babies.  At eleven years of age, Aminata’s world is ripped apart when she is abducted by slavers and taken to the Americas on a slave ship.  Her knowledge of midwifery the only thing setting her apart from the other prisoners and allowing her such privileges as helping the ship’s doctor which allow her to document the plight of her fellow captives.

 

It is on this slave ship that she makes a connection with her fellow captives, learning the names of each one of them.  Arising from this is the US publication title, Someone Knows My Name.  Names are a very powerful thing, and Aminata’s story gives a voice to each one of these men and women ripped from their homes to work as slaves in America.  But Lawrence Hill’s book is no mere modern day Roots (some of you may recognize the Alex Haley slave narrative, later turned TV mini-series, tracing the story of his family’s roots from Africa on the slave ships and the subsequent atrocities they endure working as slaves).  Aminata, named Meenie Dee by her white owners, lives an extraordinary life, one that takes her from the southern plantations to freedom in the north.  Her extraordinary journey takes her back to the shores of Africa as she searches for family and familiarity, ultimately ending up in England, putting her story down on paper to allow the Abolitionists to fight for an end to the slave ships.  Her thirst for education and the written word thrust her into a position of social leadership, looked up to and trusted by her fellow captives and freed slaves alike.  But there is also much sacrifice in her life.  What she gains as a community leader and educated freed slave, she must lose in family, companionship and a sense of a true home.

 

An incredibly remarkable story, The Book of Negroes will captivate you from page one right up until you close the back cover.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  We had a one of a kind meeting this past September, for a one of a kind book.  Our dear member F hosted not only the Windsor Book Club crew but also the Indigo Lakeshore Book Clubbers at her beautiful home, preparing a delicious home cooked meal for us.  We sat out on her deck, basking in the autumn sunshine while chatting books and getting to know each other better.  It was a delightful day we all enjoyed, capped off by piñata fun, donated by S who makes them.  The book was also enjoyed by all, despite the difficulty some of us had with the subject matter (slavery) and trying to believe, from our 21^st century perspective, that anyone could have committed such atrocities against their fellow man at one time in history.  But there it is, imperialism at it’s not so finest.  The British were thankfully instrumental at halting the slave ships in the early 1800s.  The U.S. on the other hand, continued the atrocious practice of using slaves up to the civil war which broke out in 1861.   Unfortunately, black and white inequality continued for over a century following the bloody war, and don’t even get me started on my opinions about the current day racism that still abounds freely in the U.S., but that is a topic for another blog post…..

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: The House of Velvet and Glass

To say I did not enjoy the September pick of the Indigo Lakeshore Book Club is a bit of an understatement.  Because I am a rose-coloured glasses kind of girl, and I’m always looking for the bright side of things, I gave this book far more time than I should have.  Definitely should have abandoned it well into the first 100 pages.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in this book, and the main character acts so against her norm that I had a hard time liking her or sympathizing with her.

 

The book started out with such promise too, set on the Titanic, with lush descriptions of the main staircase, but the mother/daughter duo we’re introduced to are so lame, I was happy to learn they sank with the ship.  Sorry to be so harsh.

 

From the Titanic, we travel to Boston, and the daughter/sister of the drowned victims.  Mourning the loss of her mother and sister, Sibyl Allston turns to her mother’s favourite psychic in a desperate attempt to contact her mother and sister in the beyond.  Believing she has psychic powers of her own, Sibyl embarks upon the opium dens of Boston to delve deeper and deeper into her psyche, searching for her mother and sister and the love and belonging she never really had while they were alive.

 

The book has its positives, namely, Katherine Howe has a keen hand at description.  The Titanic and Boston’s seedier opium dens, along with those of China in flashbacks to the life of Sibyl’s father, come to life for the reader, but the storyline itself leaves much to be desired.  The numerous flashbacks into Len Allston’s (Sybil’s father) life as a sailor on shore leave in China, while they tie in with the overall story, are far too abrupt.  I often felt I was just getting into the story, following some event in Sybil’s life, when the next chapter, I was suddenly transported back 50 years to Len Allston as a young man in the opium dens of China.  Too many abrupt shifts in time are very disconcerting for a reader.  I would have enjoyed the book more had it been written in a more chronological fashion.  The other thing that put me off was Sibyl’s use of opium.  Her character was first introduced as a very proper, spinsterish young woman, who is suddenly thrust into a very bad neighbourhood by a loose woman – her brother’s mistress.  As she is first portrayed, Sybil would not have allowed herself to risk her reputation in such a fashion, in my opinion anyway.  There were just too many inconsistencies and too much movement back and forth through time for me to wholly enjoy this novel.  Add to that a fairly non-existent plot, and I was left wondering why I was wasting my time reading it.

 

As to my fellow book clubbers, I wish I could share their opinions, but unfortunately I had to miss September’s meeting as I was flying home from Colorado via Houston at the time, which is a whole other story…..

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

Windsor Book Club Reads: Tuesdays with Morrie

Once again I am behind in writing my blog posts, and I think, in this case, it is because every time I start to think about what I want to say about our August selection, Tuesdays with Morrie, I have little to no interest putting thoughts on the page.  Why, you may wonder, or perhaps you don’t, but I’ll elucidate anyhow:  Tuesdays with Morrie is a tiny little book full of life lessons expressed in a simplistic, not too deep manner, which nevertheless always hit home with me.  It is a book that is firmly in my “love it” column, one I would, and do, highly recommend and because of all this, it’s boring to write about.  I think I’d much rather be tearing apart the next James Patterson failure than espouse poetic about a book I love.  And there you have it, my personality in a nutshell.  Ah well, perhaps I can redeem myself by getting deeply personal about a book that speaks to me on so many levels….

 

I don’t remember how I stumbled across the movie, Tuesdays with Morrie, starring Hank Azaria as Mitch Albom, and Jack Lemmon as Morrie Schwartz, but I watched it and loved it, and then discovered it was based on a book.  Off to my library I went to find the book.  The two are very similar so it was instantly a case of love the movie, love the book.  The story is a fairly simplistic one:  Sports journalist Mitch Albom spends most of his time chasing the story and earning money that his family and friends fall by the wayside until by chance he catches an interview of his old professor, Morrie Schwartz, talking about living with Lou Gehrig’s disease or ALS.  As it would happen, his union is on strike, so he has the time to seek out Morrie and the two resume their old friendship, and Mitch is there for Morrie and his family right up to Morrie’s death.  In the process, Mitch learns many life lessons, not the least of which are to value the people in your life and to stop and smell the roses once in a while.

 

A cynic could read this and zero in on the fact that Mitch was out of work when he sought out Morrie, and if he’d been working, perhaps he wouldn’t have spent so much time with his former friend and professor, but I like to see it as serendipity.  Being out of work gave Mitch the opportunity to learn some much needed life lessons and ultimately change his life in the end, something he would have needed to be self-aware enough to recognize and embrace.  Let’s just say there were a few cynics amongst the book club group raining on my serendipitous parade, but I didn’t let that get me down for long. 

 

Some others in the book club had never read any of Albom’s books before, but had heard his sports commentary, and didn’t particularly like him as a person.  The thought that perhaps the book was written more as a money-making scheme than as a need to share a true epiphany was also bandied about, but regardless of how you think of Albom as a person, you hopefully can see the best of the book for what it is:  a celebration of life, not from Albom’s point of view, but from Morrie’s, a man who lived his life simply, doing what he loved to do best (teaching), and embracing friends and family so much so that at his death, he was surrounded by so many people he’d come to know and love throughout his long life and career.  Morrie’s thoughts on life and death pepper this book, and leave one with much fodder for thoughtful introspection.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

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L Reads Alex Cross #13: Double Cross

I had such hope for this series after reading and really liking Cross, the twelfth book in the series, but then I read Double Cross and I swear it has to be the worst Alex Cross book yet!

 

James Patterson, the master of reusing bad guys and never really wrapping up cases, brings back Cross’s old friend turned nemesis, Kyle Craig, who manages to escape from maximum security prison.  But while Craig is alluding capture, Cross has another foe to battle.  Some madman serial killer is wreaking havoc on the Washington DC area, and Cross, unable to leave police work behind for his new psychiatric practice, returns to the police force on part-time basis, teaming up with old buddy and partner Sampson, and latest girlfriend, who actually manages to retain her life by the novel’s close.  Though I have hopes she’ll be offed in the next installment, as she’s not one of my favourite of the Cross women. 

 

The novel is resplendent with the usual bizarre red herrings and go nowhere secondary plotlines, an incredibly boring villain and Cross’s usual, pulled out of his butt “ah ha” moments when all the clues magically come together for him at the eleventh hour.  Needless to say, I did not enjoy reading this book, though I live in perpetual hope the next one will be better.  I’m crazy optimistic like that.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

Windsor Book Club Reads: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Mariam is the bastard child of a well-off man and her servant mother.  She is raised in a little hut on the outskirts of town and sees her father weekly, when he promises her the moon but never quite delivers.  As a child, Mariam doesn’t understand the social stigma attached to her and her mother, and how her father’s wives want nothing to do with her, they don’t even wish to acknowledge her existence.  When her mother suddenly dies, Mariam has no choice but to move in with her father, his wives and their children.  Hen-pecked by the women he’s married, Mariam’s father quickly agrees to sell her into marriage to a much older man who takes her from the only childhood home she’s ever known to the large city of Kabul.  A child bride, Mariam does her best to please her new husband, but it is a marriage that quickly deteriorates into punishment, both verbal and physical.

 

Some years later, when Mariam has failed to produce children, her husband takes advantage of the unstable conditions in Kabul to marry the orphaned daughter of his next door neighbour.  Together the two women must bond and overthrow the shackles of their loveless marriage to a tyrannical old man and reach for freedom in a country torn apart by civil war.

 

A beautiful story, wrenching at times with its brutal detail of life for women under the Taliban, A Thousand Splendid Sons will have you falling in love with Kabul and its people, rooting for the heroines and their fight for freedom at any cost. 

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:

 

To a one, we all loved this book and were very happy for the opportunity to read it.  Many questions about the Islamic faith and Afghanistan were brought forth and patiently answered by F, who shared her knowledge of the faith and region with us.  I for one, love learning about new cultures, so it was a treat to not only read this book, but listen to F share her experiences with the group.  One of my favourite book club meetings to date!

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

TBR Bookcase Read: Summer and the City

I can’t resist a Sex and the City novel, even if it doesn’t always deliver as well as the TV show did.  Candace Bushnell’s second Carrie Diaries book, Summer and the City, takes us back to Carrie’s arrival in the Big Apple, the summer after high school, where she first meets “the girls”. Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. 

 

With a dream to become a writer, Carrie Bradshaw moves to New York City for the summer before heading off to college.  She has a spot in a prestigious writing program and hopes to make the most of it.  But the city is not all it’s cracked up to be.  The tiny boardinghouse she’s staying at has too many rules and too little privacy.  Thankfully she has an introduction to a classmates cousin, Samantha Jones, who lets Carrie crash at hers while Carrie explores what the city has on offer.

 

One of those “offers” is a much older playwright Carrie falls for and who inspires her to write plays too, only he’s so wrapped up in his own life and career, Carrie becomes little more than a convenient diversion.  The roots of 30-something Sex and the City Carrie with her questionable choice in men are well and truly sown.

 

While exploring the city, Carrie meets Miranda, a feisty social justice protestor, man-hater, and social misfit.  Not too far from the Miranda we come to know and love in the TV series.  Although the three women bump along together, their lives slowly but surely intersecting, they are far from the close-knit group of 30-something women they will later become, and here for me, lies the weaknesses of the Carrie Diaries series.

 

While I love the idea of reading about how these four women met and became friends, the young adult Carrie is super annoying, as she waffles around trying to figure out her life.  Man-hater Miranda has more rough edges than a brillo pad, and her doom and gloom outlook on love and life left me cold.  Successful Samantha, on the other hand, already climbing the PR corporate ladder, with designs on becoming the next Classic 6 housewife on the Upper East Side, was a surprisingly realistic portrayal of a woman I’d really like to get to know better.  She was unfortunately a minor character in the book, and her scenes left me wanting more … more Samantha and less Carrie and her angst.  With luck there will be another Carrie Diaries installment, one in which Samantha breathes new life into the other characters.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

TBR Bookcase Read: Big Trouble

Dave Barry is a humour columnist who was syndicated in newspapers internationally.  You may have read his column back in the ‘80s or ‘90s, or one of his many non-fiction books.  Big Trouble is his first fiction novel.

 

The plot is fairly simplistic and is mostly about being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.  A couple of high schoolers playing a harmless game of killer inadvertently get mixed up with arms dealers, petty thieves and contract killers in a goofy romp that will have you laughing and groaning alternatively.  My absolutely favourite parts of the novel involve the family pooch.  Barry has an uncanny knack at getting into the mind and heart of a dog and portraying it with eerie realism.  To write too much of the plot is to give it all away.  Suffice it to say, you’ll spend an enjoyable afternoon with Barry’s capers and won’t regret the time wasted.  It’s a book that requires not a whole lot of thought, which is sometimes just what you want in a lazy day’s read.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

TBR Bookcase Read: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman Series

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An Assembly Such as This

I am mad for all things Jane Austen.  I have all her novels, and only have Mansfield Park and Lady Susan left to read (I’m trying to savour them, since she only wrote and published a handful of them).  I own all the BBC adaptations on DVD and watch them regularly, never getting tired of the trials and tribulations of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, Catherine’s silly childish, gothic imaginings, and Eleanor’s quiet yearning for Edward.  Then for a special treat, I pop in the 6-DVD set of Pride and Prejudice, waiting with breathless anticipation for Colin Firth’s wet-shirt scene.  Yum!

 

My fervor for all things Austen often leads me down the path of fan fiction, oftentimes much to my peril.  Among the gems, I have unfortunately read some ghastly books which promised to modernize my most beloved author’s characters and plotlines, to which I proclaim: “why mess with perfection?”  To date, I have thankfully been successful in avoiding the zombie war on Miss Austen’s work (sacrilege!), and hope to continue to do so!  But as I mentioned there are some gems among the fan fiction onslaught, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to one of them: the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series by Pamela Aiden. 

 

In the first installment of the series, An Assembly Such as This, Aiden takes us through the first bits of Pride and Prejudice, the moment Darcy and Elizabeth meet at the ill-fated assembly, forward to the first marriage proposal and Elizabeth’s utter refusal of Darcy’s hand.  What makes this series so unique for me, is that it chooses to tell the beloved Austen tale from Darcy’s point of view.  And Aiden does an incredibly good job of getting into Darcy’s head and being true to the character as created by Austen.

 

Where the work is lacking, is that Darcy is a bit of an Austen cardboard character as most of her men are.  The true delight in reading Austen is in her female characters and their gambols through society.  So unfortunately much of Aiden’s rather slow-paced tale is Darcy pointing out to himself how unsuitable Elizabeth is to his world and station, information that Austen sums up much more succinctly and with greater skill, but then she is “the” Jane Austen!

Duty or Desire

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The second book in the series, Duty or Desire, was actually a library read for me, as I only owned book one and three of the trilogy, so this isn’t technically a TBR read.  It also was the worst book in the series as it diverts completely from Austen’s novel and follows Darcy’s movements after the failed proposal to Miss Elizabeth Bennett.  Not only do we have more of the waffling between his “duty” to the Darcy name and estate and how unsuitable Elizabeth and her relations are to those constructs, and his “desire” for the enchanting Miss Bennett, but we see Darcy enter a world that is completely foreign to him, and frankly I would have thought the man more sense!  Determined to forget Elizabeth and to find a suitable bride, Darcy accepts an invitation to a house party at the country estate of a former school chum.  Needless to say, those making up the party are all reprobates and Darcy finds his reputation at serious risk!  Poor decision making indeed!

 

The slow-pace of this novel and the deviation from Austen’s work nearly turned me off the rest of Aiden’s series, but I persevered and happily closed the back cover on this book with some anticipation of getting back to the Pride and Prejudice story I know and love in the final book of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman.

 

These Three Remain

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The third and final (thank God) book in the series sees Darcy once more thrown into the company of Miss Elizabeth Bennett, and the beloved details of Pride and Prejudice once more reassert themselves, making the series once more enjoyable.  Again, the story is told from Darcy’s point of view, so I quite enjoyed reading about his anticipation that Elizabeth may be coming around to liking him, only to be foiled by the elopement of her sister and his archenemy, Mr. Wickham!  In Austen’s novel, we have to wait for word to reach Elizabeth at Longbourn about the outcome of the elopement, whereas Aiden takes us to London with Darcy in his attempt to track down the lovers and make them wed.  As far more political intrigue occurred in the male sphere, there is also an interesting subplot involving Darcy’s best friend turned spy, routing out Irish conspiracies to attack the throne, etc. etc.  Yeah, give me Austen and the gentle sipping of tea and gossipy chat of society matrons any day.  Political I am not!

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :)

 

 

 

 

TBR Bookcase Read: By Nightfall

Michael Cunningham is probably best known to readers for his novel The Hours, which was turned into a pretty decent movie starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman.  I enjoyed the movie so much, I made sure to read the book, which was pretty decent.  So when I stumbled across a copy of By Nightfall by the same author, I couldn’t resist picking it up.  It was also a pretty decent read.

 

Peter Harris is a SoHo art dealer in his mid-forties, married to Rebecca and going through a mid-life crisis.  While on the outside his life is seemingly perfect – good job, lovely wife, beautiful home, etc. – Peter finds himself beginning to question his judgment in art and whether the artists he’s been making his living showcasing are really worth anyone’s while.  Then there is Rebecca’s 20-something younger brother Mizzy who comes to stay with them.  A striking resemblance to his wife combined with drug problems, Mizzy represents Peter’s lost youth and all the possibilities that could have been, culminating in a bizarre attraction that threatens to unravel Peter’s marriage as he battles the self-doubt inherent in his mid-life crisis. 

 

Examining the way we live now and the value of art and love in our lives, By Nightfall is well worth a read. 

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

~ Phillip Pullman

Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home

40-something Rhoda Janzen finds herself moving back in with her parents and rediscovering her Mennonite roots.  First, her husband of fifteen years leaves her for Bob, a guy he met through Gay.com, then a car accident leaves Rhoda unable to work, let alone pay the bills on a huge lake house that would have been a stretch on her single scholar’s salary to begin with.  Seeking solace and healing time, Rhoda moves back in with her folks, who are deeply religious and very active in their Mennonite community.  What ensues is a hilarious self-portrait of one woman’s journey to rediscover herself, family and the roots of her faith.

 

Many times throughout reading this book I positively laughed out loud.  Janzen’s unique voice and ability to poke fun at herself and the misconceptions of her faith are incredibly endearing.  Below are a couple of quotes from the book that I found particularly memorable:

 

“Usually scholars take a less fixed, more interpretative approach to deadlines, preferring to think of them as suggestions, not firm commitments.”  -- on getting paid to ghost-edit a book on sacred dramatic literature of the fifteenth century.

 

On Borscht, the number one Most Embarrassing Shame-Based Food to find in your school lunch pail

“Borscht … the hearty winter soup of the Russian steppes.  Our people borrowed it from the Russians during the long Mennonite occupation of Ukraine.  Borscht has a distinctive ruby color, a stain to anything it touches.  This distinctive color comes from beets.  The soup also has a distinctive smell, a noxious blast of savage fart.  This  smell comes from cabbage.  As if that isn’t appetizing enough, Borscht is served with vinegar and a dollop of sour cream.  The vinegar curdles the cream so that the whole thing looks and smells like milk gone bad.  Yet there is more.  The bottom note, the lingering afterwhiff, presents with an intensity reminiscent of our friend the soldier’s lumpy Hosen.”  -- that latter is a reference to the song her mom used to sing about Hot Potato Salad which in English goes like this:

 

“On the hillside

stood a soldier.

In his pants

he made potato salad!”

 

Clearly a culture unique in its own history and folklore, not unlike pretty much every other.  A delightful little book that will have you laughing out loud and give you much food for thought; pick up a copy of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, you won’t be disappointed.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  Reviews were mixed amongst the group for this book.  Some liked it, others did not and some found it boringly long (okay, she does start to ramble a bit towards the end, almost as if she had a certain word-count to meet, but no longer knew what to write about).  Our discussion morphed into the difference between faith and religion, where it should be noted that Janzen left her religion in her twenties to marry an atheist and earn a Ph.D.  Upon returning to her parents’ house, she learns the value of faith, and realizes that though educated she could still have faith in her religious beliefs without needing to become a sheep, following the tenants of her religion, well, religiously as it were and without thought.  The thread of religion verses faith runs strong in this book and led to much rousing discussion, after which we trekked over to Kelsey’s for drinks and nibbles and more fabulous discussion of a non-bookish variety and a good night was had by all.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

TBR Bookcase Read: Alice I Have Been

A few years ago I enrolled in a Children’s Literature course at my local University where I am studying part-time, working towards a degree in English Literature.  Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland was on our reading list, and I quite enjoyed studying it from a scholarly perspective.  It’s a story a quite enjoy, though it was never a treasure of my childhood.  As always in Literature courses, the professor gave background information to the class on the life of the author and how the book came to be published.  For those who don’t know, Alice in Wonderland had an incredibly interesting beginning.

 

See, Lewis Carroll is the pen name of Charles Dodgson, and when he was a young man studying at Oxford University, he befriended the children of the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, notably three young sisters, Lorina, Alice and Edith, who spent many a summer day in his company, playing, picnicking and rowing down the river.  He would amuse them by making up stories.  One day while rowing on the river he made up a story about a girl named Alice.  After the story was finished, the real Alice begged him to write it down, but he demurred.  From that day onward, as often as she could, Alice continued to persuade Dodgson to write down the story.  It wasn’t until several years had passed however, that Dodgson finally gave in, wrote the story and published it.  Alice in Wonderland was an immediate success and continued to be for generations afterward.  Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, henceforth forever became known as the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland.

 

In Alice I have Been, Melanie Benjamin pieces together what is known about Charles Dodgson and Alice Liddell and their relationship, and provides us with a decent, highly fictionalized tale of Alice’s life from childhood through to old age, including the speculation that Dodgson had interfered with the child Alice, though as there is no concrete proof that anything untoward happened between the two, these events are merely hinted at and shrouded in mystery, left up to the reader to come to whichever conclusion suits them best.  I for one believe as my professor did, that Dodgson was a young man with a stunted maturity, feeling far more comfortable relating to young children than his contemporaries. 

 

Benjamin’s book, though slow-paced, was a pretty interesting read, and I quite enjoyed exploring the impact of being a wildly popular book’s inspiration had on the adult Alice.  For years she wanted nothing to do with the book, not even sharing the stories with her own children, until as an old woman, financial troubles forced her to go public and tour the U.S. as “the” Alice who inspired a most beloved story.  Quite fascinating, really, learning more about the real woman behind the fictional character.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

Indigo Lakeshore Book Club Reads: Fifty Shades of Grey and L Reviews the Complete Trilogy

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Fifty Shades of Grey

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Omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgogmgomgomgomgomgomgomgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I loved this book.  Loved the characters, the banter, the love story, loved it loved it loved it!

 

This book is getting a lot of press lately, and unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about it, and heard what it’s about.  Yup, it’s a sex book.  A kinky sex book at that.  But, that’s not all this book is.

 

At its core, this book has a decent romance plot.  Young, naïve, virginal Anastasia Steele, about to graduate from Washington State University is sent to interview billionaire Christian Grey for her school paper.  It is attraction at first sight, and though Christian tries to warn Anastasia away, knowing that his dark predilections are too much for her to handle, still he can’t resist the sweet charm that is Anastasia Steele.  And Anastasia is just as enamored of Christian.  It is typical romance genre writing, and what’s more important, it works.  Anastasia cannot stay away from Christian, even when she learns about his kinky BDSM lifestyle, even when she’s introduced to his “Red Room of Pain.”  There is something about Christian that draws her like a moth to a flame, and she’s willing to burn for the chance of being Christian’s girl.

 

Beyond the subject matter, and the oh so numerous sex scenes (I mean really, is Christian a robot?  Who has that much stamina??  I was exhausted just reading those scenes….) these characters come together in a most delightful way.  Christian has a painful, abusive past he won’t share with Anastasia.  Anastasia wants to love Christian and bring him out of the dark desires he inhabits into a world of love and light.  It creates for some great tension and verbal sparring, and makes from some really addictive reading.  Ending on a most delicious cliffhanger, I’m left breathlessly yearning for the second book, Fifty Shades Darker.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  Again I wish I could tell you, but I missed this book club’s meeting too. :(   Which sucks cause apparently they had “prizes” made of chocolate in themed shapes, and that’s all I’m gonna say. 

 

 

Fifty Shades Darker

 

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Omgomgomgomgomgomgomggggggggggg What is this crap?!?!

 

Before I was even halfway through the first book, I jumped on Amazon.ca to order the trilogy (I was reading a borrowed book, and loved it so much, I know I just had to own it).  The cliffhanger at the end of the first book left me breathlessly yearning to read this next book and as soon as it arrived on my doorstep, I ripped open the box and dived into the book only to discover it was just more of the same.

 

Nothing much happens in the second book, except you learn a little bit more about how Grey got into this Dom lifestyle and who introduced him to it.  And you meet one of his former, very obviously emotionally disturbed submissive.  And, Anastasia turns into a green-eyed monster and becomes so neurotically jealous of Grey and his past that you just want to smack her.

 

Thankfully it was an easy read and so I turned to the third book, hoping, that like many trilogies, the third would satisfactorily wrap up this story for me.

 

 

 

Fifty Shades Freed

I read this final book in the trilogy not so much out of anticipation for what happens next, but just because I like to know how things end.  Having not enjoyed the second book, Fifty Shades Darker, I wasn’t all that excited to dive into Fifty Shades Freed, but read it I did, and well, what can I say?  It’s typical romance novel material.  Good girl meets bad boy and changes him through her love.  Not the most realistic plotline.  This book contained some extra material at the end, notably the first meeting between Christian and Ana as told from Christian’s point of view, and let me just go on record as saying thank god E.L. James wrote the series in first person from Ana’s perspective because had I gotten into Christian’s head from the get-go in the first book, I never ever would have read the entire series, let alone the entire first book.  The man is an idiot!!!!   And I just wanted to slap him silly!  But as seen from Ana’s rose-coloured vision, he has redeemable qualities that kept me reading.

 

The buzz on the street these days is all about the movie version and who will be cast to play the main characters.  Knowing Hollywood’s penchant to re-write novels to screen, I’m actually quasi looking forward to the movie, if only to see Hollywood’s take on this story.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L :) 

 

Windsor Book Club Reads: The Catcher in the Rye

This was the June book selection and yes, I’m quite behind in my blog posting.  Let’s just say, I’ve taken a little vacation this summer.  J  But I promise to catch up with all that I’ve been reading if you’ll but be a little patient. J

 

I read The Catcher in the Rye back in high school.  Grade 10 to be exact.  And I fondly remember it as “that banned book” our rebel of a teacher had us read.  I still remember that day Mr. Dempsey walked into class with a ratty box of books tucked under one arm.  The book was not on our prescribed reading list, and so it felt very sinful to pick out a tattered copy from the box.  Lord knows from where he scrounged together a class set of mismatched copies, but read them we did, and I found myself very disappointed.  A few swearwords peppered the book, but frankly, I’d read much worse by that age, so why was this book on the banned list?

 

Anyway, maybe I fondly remember the book so much because it was given to us by Mr. Dempsey, a crazy old bird who used to call all the boys “cretinous cretins” and nearly had a fit when he asked one boy to shut a window who responded with “that there window?”  His rants about sports player interviews and their atrocious grammar still echo in my head to this day.  But the greatest influence he had on me was helping me understand that crazy language used by William Shakespeare.  It is with thanks to Mr. Dempsey that I can read and enjoy a Shakespearian play without stumbling through the antiquated language.  So yes, you could say he is a little bit of a hero as many of my English teachers were in those days, and so I think I loved The Catcher in the Rye just because I read it in his class.

 

Fast forward about 15 years, and you find me a young woman branching out into different reading territory.  I’d read romance novels since my early teens, when suddenly I felt like rediscovering the classics of my youth, and revisiting novels read in high school, among them The Catcher in the Rye.  I have to confess, after a second reading I still didn’t “get it.”  The book was good, but not earthshattering.

 

Move forward a few more years, and this book popped up on my book club reading list.  Always game to re-read a classic, and still looking for the brilliance behind the designation, I once again idled away a few summer days with Holden Caulfield.  Finally though, I was seeing the light.  Holden wasn’t just a typical bratty teenager, but a deeply disturbed young man, ignored by his parents, and grieving over the loss of a younger brother.  Suffering a psychological breakdown, he runs away from his boarding school and spends a few days in New York City, experimenting and growing up, and ultimately reconnecting with his little sister and finding the help he needs.  It’s a good book, and definitely one worth reading, although you’ll get the most out of it if you can take the time to peel back the surface layers.

 

What my fellow book clubbers had to say:  I wish I could tell you, but unfortunately I missed the June meeting.  If any of them are reading this blog post, I encourage you to please leave a comment about your thoughts on the book or what was discussed at the meeting.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

TBR Bookcase Read: The Sacred Blood

Several times a year my University’s bookstore holds clearance sales, and when books are selling for $0.99 each, I’m not too discriminatory about what I pick up.  No book is a bad book in my opinion and I attempt to read each and every one.  Sometimes you get a dud, other times, like in the case of Michael Byrnes’ The Sacred Blood, you get a really good read.

 

I was not aware that this book was a sequel to The Sacred Bones until I was a few pages into the book, but enough information is given about what went on before to easily follow the action of the present book, and it’s enough of its own standalone story that I didn’t feel I was missing anything, not having read the prior book, so I continued to plow forward, losing myself in the intrigues and conspiracies. 

 

In the first book, an ossuary is discovered that purportedly contains the bones of Jesus Christ.  The Vatican very kindly returns the ossuary to Israel, but the bones and other contents “disappear”.  Working with the group of archaeologists is American geneticist Charlotte Hennesy who extracts DNA from the bones and discovers something very surprising – a strange genome that appears to replicate and repair all genetic disorders.  Suffering from bone cancer, she injects serum made from the genome and is miraculously cured,

 

In The Sacred Blood, we learn of a century’s old plot to return the Testimony, or the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the very spot where God handed Moses the Ten Commandments and where Abraham went to sacrifice his son Isaac.  According to legend, a new Messiah will be chosen, will open the Ark of the Covenant, and so will begin a Messianic Age whereby God will smite down those who blaspheme and fail to follow his covenant, and raise up a new Temple and reward true believers.

 

Unfortunately, the rabbi who is purportedly a direct descendant of Aaron, and whose family has passed down this secret plot for generations upon generations is also incredibly corrupt, killing at will those who get in his way.  Adding to the problem is the fact that the sacred spot the Ark must be returned to is located in the Dome of the Rock, a place of Islamic worship.  What the rabbi is proposing to do could very easily set off World War III.  Racing to prevent this disaster is Israeli archaeologist Amit Mizrachi who rapidly pieces together the rabbi’s plans.  It’s a breathless race to the finish, and a delightfully delicious story of religious conspiracy akin to The DaVinci Code.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

L Reads Alex Cross #12: Cross

Having reached a dozen Alex Cross books, James Patterson branches off from his childhood rhyme titles with Cross, a book that finally allows the titular detective to catch his wife’s killer.  It’s a good book, still corny in parts, but finally I’m seeing some decent writing in this series and it’s a pleasure.

 

The book opens in 1993, the last days of Maria Cross’ life, as she’s brutally gunned down in the streets of Southeast Washington.  At the time, Alex has little realization that the mob hitman, “The Butcher”, who he’s trying to catch, is directly responsible for Maria’s death.  

 

Fast forward eleven years.  Alex has finally quit the FBI, opening up his own psychotherapy practice, though agreeing to consult occasionally for the Washington PD and the FBI.  Nana Momma and the kids have finally had enough of his absentee parenting and putting himself in constant danger.  It’s a nice change from the constant whining that permeated the previous books as Cross tried to decide to stay a cop or find another line of work.  One of the cases he’s handed is that of a serial rapist, whose identity is finally revealed to be The Butcher.  Teaming up with his former WPD partner, John Sampson, Cross is hot on the trail, slowly unearthing more and more details of this depraved rapist and killer, and quickly realizing the trail leads back to his wife, Maria.

 

For me, this book was a breath of fresh air.  Lots of loose ends in Cross’ past are finally getting tied up into neat little bows.  Hopefully in subsequent books, Cross can move forward with his life and begin to grow as a character.  I think that lack of growth is what has irritated me the most with this series.  This twelfth book, Cross, gives me hope.

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

 

L Finishes up the Hunger Games Trilogy with Mockingjay

I am so irked at this series right now I could spit!

 

Warning:  Contains SPOILERS!!!

 

To give the book justice, I wasn’t really in the mood to read Mockingjay, but as it was already a week overdue at the public library, I figured I’d better read it now, or return it and wait a few months for my name to hit the top of the hold list again.  Considering how ambivalent I’ve been about the series, that was probably a mistake.

 

I was looking forward to this final novel in the trilogy, hoping to finally see the Capital fall and Katniss Everdeen and her friends and family triumph.  It’s blatant good vs evil territory, after all.  So when the book opens to find Katniss firmly entrenched in District 13 and part of the rebel plot to overthrow the Capital, I had some hopes.  Quite obviously, she’s expected to transform into the Mockingjay and become the face of the rebellion, helping 13 rally the districts in the war against the Capital.  She agrees to do this but has some conditions:  first, the victors captured by the Capital, including Peeta, must be given immunity.  Second, Gale must accompany her.  Third, she gets to kill President Snow.

 

District 13 is an interesting place to live.  Built solely underground, the community lives by very strict rules, under the leadership of President Coin.  It’s quite obvious Katniss has merely swapped one dictatorship for another, though Coin appears to be far more human and concerned with the welfare of her subjects than Snow ever did.

 

As the war wages ever closer to the Capital, Katniss is once more torn between the two loves in her life: Gale and Peeta.  Who will she choose?  A lot of the book is still taken up with this question making the trilogy bear a striking resemblance to another series of books known to many of you as Twilight.  Yes, Katniss, Gale and Peeta could easily be Bella, Jacob and Edward.  And the very things that irritated me about Twilight (which I quite loved btw), irritate me about the Hunger Games:  that is wishy-washy females who can’t decide which guy they want and who play one off the other while they take their time seeing who kisses the best.  Okay, so maybe not quite that bad, and it’s obvious that I’m not doing one iota of justice to this book because of one very simple fact:

 

The author kills off Prim!!!!

 

Yes, Katniss’ reason for being, the innocent, sweet little sister she lives for, determined to create a better future for, the one and only person who makes Katniss even remotely human and likeable DIES!!!!!!!!!!

 

WTF?!?!?!?

 

I nearly threw the book at the wall, but I felt the wall was undeserving of such abuse.

 

There is, if not an overly satisfying happy ending to the series, at least an ending filled with hope and improvements for the future, and yes, an end to the despicable Hunger Games.  I am very glad however the series was only three books and not more. 

 

Till next time, happy reading!

L

 

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read.  One does not love breathing”

~ Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird