Archive for the ‘books’ Category
Friday, July 9th, 2010
“A Fierce Radiance” by Lauren Belfer is classified as historical fiction. But in all fairness, this novel cannot be pigeon holed into the expectations of one category. It combines love with espionage, mystery with idealism and wraps it all in the sweeping tale of Claire Shipley.
Set in NYC just after the Pearl Harbor attack, the book follows the life of photo journalist Claire Shipley. She is assigned to cover a study of a new potentially lifesaving medicine – penicillin – at the Rockefeller Institute. The story intertwines with and changes her life as it builds & destroys relationships.
Although I’m not usually a fan of romance, that particular element in “A Fierce Radiance” was a bonus, not a distraction. A few scenes were more explicit than expected, but given the context of the relationship, it never felt inappropriate. Strong language, which is only an issue for me in excess, was used artfully for emphasis. The mystery/intrigue elements kept the narrative moving at a nice clip. But best of all, the characters were not flat individuals living two dimensional lives. Belfer infuses them with deep personalities and places them squarely into complex situations with no easy or “right” decisions. There are no well orchestrated tidy endings. When you close the back cover you’re left feeling as if you’ve glimpsed into a life that is still burning brightly. And personally, I was glad to have had that glimpse.
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
“32 Candles” was released on June 22. I picked it up this weekend. Review will be up Friday.
He didn’t recognize me. Probably because I was dressed in a large bunny suit, I realized, a little late in the game.
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Hardback fiction new releases:
07/06/10
The Search (Nora Roberts)
Still Missing (Chevy Stevens)*
The Cookbook Collector (Allegra Goodman)
A Hidden Affair (Pam Jenoff)*
The Island (Elin Hilderbrand)*
It All Began in Monte Carlo (Elizabeth Alder)
Thin Rich Pretty (Beth Harbison)
Undead and Unfinished (Betsy Taylor Series #9) (MaryJanice Davidson)
Silent Scream (Anna Travis Series #5) (Lynda La Plante)
Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder (Shamini Flint)
Red Rain (Bruce Murkoff)
Blood Rites (Dresden Files Series #6) (Jim Butcher)
The Cold Kiss (John Rector)*
Song of Dragons (Annals of Drakis Series #1) (Tracy Hickman)*
Father of the Rain (Lily King)*
As Husbands Go (Susan Isaacs)*
Gateways (Elizabeth A Hull)
Discord’s Apple (Carrie Vaughn)*
Platinum (Aliya S King)
Kings of the North (Cecelia Holland)
Think of a Number (John Verdon)
Primeval (Event Group Series) (David L Goleman)
The Hundred Foot Journey (Richard C Morais)
What Is Left The Daughter (Howard Norman)*
The Bone Fire (Christine Barber)
Everything (Kevin Canty)
The King’s Mistress (Emma Campion)*
Midnight Angels (Lorenzo Carcaterra)
The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree (Susan Wittig Albert)
Betrayed (Robert K Tanenbaum)
The News Where You Are (Catherine O’Flynn)
The Cabal (David Hagberg)
They’re Watching (Gregg Hurwitz)*
The Drowning River: A Mystery in Florence (Christobel Kent)
Kings of the Earth (Jon Clinch)
Stork Raving Mad (Meg Langslow Series #12) (Donna Andrews)
The Writing Circle (Corinne Demas)
The Fuller Memorandum (Bob Howard – Laundry Series #5) (Charles Stross)
A Dog’s Purpose (W Bruce Cameron)
The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance (Jeanne Kalogridis)
Legacies (Shadow Grail Series #1) (Mercedes Lackey)*
This Must Be The Place (Kate Racculia)*
July 8, 2010
For the King (Catherine Delors)
The Blind Contessa’s New Machine (Carey Wallace)
The Prophecy (Chris Kuzneski)
Paisley Hanover Kisses & Tells (Cameron Tuttle)
Becoming Kate (Dixie Owens)*
July 11, 2010
Burnt Mountain (Anne Rivers Siddons)
July 12, 2010
Wherever You Go (Joan Leegant)
Ghostgirl: Lovesick (Tonya Hurley)
*Added to my TBR list
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.
| Wall Street Journal Top 5 |
New York Times Top 5 |
| Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich* |
Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich* |
| The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Stephenie Meyer |
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson |
| The Overton Widow Glenn Beck |
The Overton Widow Glenn Beck |
| The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson |
Family Ties Danielle Steele* |
| Family Ties Danielle Steele* |
The Lion Nelson DeMille |
*New this week
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
The vast majority of books that I read are fiction. That’s not to say I refuse to read non-fiction but there it takes a lot more to pique my interest when I know the story is (supposedly) bound by reality. The cover of “The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir”* (Josh Kilmer-Purcell) was all it took to rouse my curiosity with this one.
The book opens with an “Author’s Caution”. One page in and I was already giggling. By the time I finished the prologue, I was loathe to put the book down. Kilmer-Purcell recounts the journey of how he and his partner, Brent, transform from simply an advertising executive (Josh) and employee of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (Brent) to adding “gentlemen famers” and owners of Beekman 1802 to their resumes. Add in a dash of flashbacks to his drag queen days and you have quite a rollicking tale.
The first twenty chapters were lighthearted. Kilmer-Purcell recounts what could have been tense, uncomfortable scenes with humor. Hilarity is intertwined with quiet intimate moments. His jokes can be barbed but those are, more often than not, aimed at his self allowing the reader to laugh along at his antics. I laughed out loud more than a few times and twice so hard that tears rolled down my cheeks and my husband starting showing (more than usual) concern about my sanity.
Reality gives no guarantees of a happy ending and in Chapter 21 the tone turns much more somber, reflecting the conditions in their life. Though the hilarity has been set aside, the story is no less absorbing. Kilmer-Purcell is honest about their faults. He doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulties. He leads us down the dark roads memories as readily as he did the more buoyant ones. The last few chapters are a guided tour through his self-reflection and discovery as well how the realizations impact him and his actions. His recollection is so achingly transparent that I was drawn completely into the account.
If you don’t usually read memoirs, make an exception for this one. If you do, add it to your list. I haven’t read enough memoirs to judge if it is truly unconventional (although some of his stories certainly are!) but I will tell you, it’s worth your time.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher for the purpose of review. I was not compensated in any way by HarperCollins for this review (unless you count a free book) nor did they in any way influence my opinion on this book.
*Since I have a pre-published review copy, the title reads “The Bucolic Plague: From Drag Queen to Goat Farmer: An Unconventional Memoir”. I kind of wish they hadn’t changed it.
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Several months ago when we started this blog and the Twitter account, we tossed around the idea of hosting an online book club. I’ve never participated in a book club but couldn’t tell you exactly why. I would love to so the idea of helping host one was – is - rather appealing.
I have this vague idea to regularly post a brief overview of chapter(s) we’re reading and have participants chime in either with a comment or a post on their own blog. It would be a great opportunity to get other viewpoints on a book while meeting new people (and possibly building some blog traffic if you’re into that)
So here are a few questions:
1. Would this be something that would interest you?
2. Would you want to do a chapter a week? More? Less? Depends on the book?
3. Do you want to jump in with a new(er) release or go old school?
You can respond here, or email me, or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook. This could be a lot of fun!
*Yes, yes…I DID just make an Ice Cube reference. Please don’t hold it against me.
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
I’m about halfway done with “A Fierce Radiance” by Lauren Belfer. It was released on the 15th of this month.
Claire saw her cover story for the magazine taking shape. This was what she was truly here for: not fumbling espionage, but the gift she had for creating evocative images.
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.
| Wall Street Journal Top 5 |
New York Times Top 5 |
| The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Stephenie Meyer |
The Overton Widow Glenn Beck* |
| The Overton Widow Glenn Beck* |
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson |
| The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson |
The Lion Nelson DeMille |
| The Lion Nelson DeMille |
The Passage Justin Cronin |
| Whiplash Catherine Coulter* |
Whiplash Catherine Coulter* |
*New this week
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Hardback fiction new releases:
06/29/2010
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell)
Deadline (Stella Rimington)
Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows (Nick Drake)
Foreign Influence (Brad Thor)
Work Song (Ivan Doig)
A Vintage Affair (Isabel Wolff)*
Kraken (China Mieville)*
In the Name of Honor (Richard North Patterson)
Running Dark (Jamie Freveletti)
Keys to the Repository (Blue Bloods Series) (Melissa de la Cruz)
Inside Out: A Novel (Barry Eisler)
Nights of Villjamur (Mark Charan Newton)*
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (Lola Shoneyin)
The Whisper (Carla Neggers)
Ice Cold (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles Series #8) (Tess Gerritsen)
Five Days Apart (Chris Binchy)*
The Exile (Andrew Britton)
The Grave Gourmet (Alexander Campion)
Shoulder Bags and Shootings (Dorothy Howell)
June 30, 2010
A Rainbow of Blood: The Union in Peril? An Alternate History (Peter G. Tsouras)
Forbidden Fruit (Corinna Chapman Series #5) (Kerry Greenwood)
July 1, 2010
The Sleeping Beauty (Five Hundred Kingdoms Series #5) (Mercedes Lackey)
On the Nickel (John Shannon)
Still Waters (Marilyn Todd)
Life, After (Sarah Todd)*
Witchcraft (Jayne Ann Krentz)
The Magician’s Accomplice: A Commander Jana Matinova Investigation (Michael Genelin)
Danger Close (William G. Boykin)
The Eye of the Virgin (Frederick Ramsey)
A Pig of Cold Poison: A Gil Cunningham Murder Mystery (Pat McIntosh)
The Price of Liberty (Kier Graff)
Koko (Peter Straub)
Resolutions (Jane A Adams)
Dying to Know: A Lance Elliott Mystery (Keith McCarthy)
The Mills of God: A Reverend Nick Lawrence Mystery (Deryn Lake)
Late Rain (Lynn Kostoff)
In Concert (Steve Rasnic Tem/Melanie Tem/Howie Michels)
The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life (William Nicholson)
Caged (Hilary Norman)
July 5, 2010
Death is Not an Option: Stories (Suzanne Rivecca)*
* Added to my TBR list
Friday, June 25th, 2010
A few weeks ago, BookAngel from As I Turn the Pages posted that she had received “The Souls of the Fire Dragon” from debut author John Wrieden for review. She commented that she hadn’t read sci-fi in a long time and felt it was a good chance to step outside her comfort zone. When she realized she couldn’t finish it though, she offered it to whoever would do a review. We all know I’m a self professed sci-fi fan and the book sounded intriguing so I jumped at the chance. (Although I must admit, I cringe every time I refer to myself as a “sci-fi/fantasy” fan because I’m just waiting for someone to contact me with a quote from some obscure cult classic that I’ve never heard of, much less read, and I’ll be exposed as a complete fraud.)
Mr. Wrieden’s debut book had every element that (usually) pulls me into a book: magic and dragons, alternate realities, love and war, rivalries and sacrificing friendships. There’s a lot of clichés but that’s not an issue for me; I consider familiar formulas the comfort food of entertainment. However, the ONLY reason I finished “The Souls of the Fire Dragon” was because I promised to do a review. This is not a fun review to write though. The writing was heavy handed and wooden. It lacked the subtlety that allows a reader’s imagination to take over and draw them in. Elements were introduced, then never mentioned again (ex. Akea’s telekinesis…he never uses it except to play with a chandelier once. Was it only supposed to be a hint of his true power?). There were inconsistencies from line to line, paragraph to paragraph. Descriptions were flat and often repetitive. On more than one occasion I wondered if maybe Mr. Wrieden’s first language is something other than English. I started to compare it to a bad translation of a great book but that’s not accurate. It’s poor construction from the start. It was just…awkward.
There were a few points where I wondered if he wasn’t going for a “punny” tone in the vein of Piers Anthony’s “Xanth” novels. For example on page 63 describes “The sounds of the operations were like a ticking clock, without the ticking.” But if that’s the case, it got bogged down quickly.
I wanted to love this book. I expected to love it. I know every story, including this one, is a labor of love. I KNOW its hard work. And the premise of the book was good – great even. It excited me: Fate (who is married to Chance) discovers that the main character, Akea, has cheated him – he was moved from one reality to another as a baby. Akea turns out to be the most powerful magician of all time and the key to overthrowing the oppressive government. He falls in love with a dragon and with their friends (and the help of Fate, Chance and their twin children Death & Life) they train and embark on their mission. It SHOULD have been fun…especially with the family of Fate, Chance & kids. That idea had me salivating with the possibilities.
Fans of this author, of this book, please stand up. Defend this. Tell me I’m missing the point, the subtle British humor. Tell me I’m dense and that I clearly did not understand the satirical jab at modern society. Show me why I should have loved this book. Because I wanted to but right now, I’m not feeling it.
