Review: The Creation of Eve

The Creation of Eve
by Lynn Cullen

From the back cover:
"The Creation of Eve is a novel based on the true but little-known story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first renowned female artist of the Renaissance. After a scandal in Michelangelo's workshop, Sofi flees Italy and joins the Spanish court of King Felipe II to be a lady-in-waiting to his young bride. There she becomes embroiled in a love triangle involving the Queen, the King, and the King's illegitimate half brother, Don Juan. The Creation of Eve combines art, romance, and history from the Golden Age in Spain in a story that asks the question: Can you ever truly know another person's heart?"

The Renaissance is probably my favorite historical period. The art and wisdom of the time was amazing. So to read about the lives of some of the more influential personages of the sixteenth century is always a treat.

Before reading this novel I had never heard of Sofonisba Anguissola. I knew very little about King Philip except the Spanish Inquisition. I really only knew about the great artistic pieces of Michelangelo. I've gained so much knowledge about life in the royal courts and the expectations and hardships of women in this time and place in history. It is quite fascinating.

The story is told slowly at first, but told well. Sofi felt real and natural. There is a good balance between keeping her within her historical context yet making her sympathetic for modern audiences. King Felipe is painted with a sympathetic eye as well. The author explains in a note at the end of the book that she believes him to have been vilified throughout history.

I would certainly recommend The Creation of Eve to historical fiction buffs and those who enjoy a good story about royalty and/or the Renaissance. It won't disappoint.

Thank you TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of The Creation of Eve for review. As always, it has been a pleasure to work with you.

Review: Dream House

Dream House
by Valerie Laken

Kate always had an eye for the broken and unwanted. That was what made this house her dream house: it's potential to be more than it appeared. And maybe it was a symbol of her marriage that had turned out to be not all that she thought it would. Maybe fixing up this old place would fix something at the heart of her and Stuart. Until they hear about the brutal murder that took place in their home 15 years prior.

Walker also views this house symbolically, as a place of happiness before the incident that would lock him away in prison for so long. This house was part of himself, a vital part that he cannot ignore.

*shiver*
Each character is struggling with where they belong. Each person is bumping abrasively into everyone else, all in a search for completeness. All are looking for it in this one inanimate object that can grant no peace and can return no love. I read with a sense of doom. Where is this going to end? How bad is the damage going to be?

I had a strong remembrance of House of Sand and Fog while I was reading. I don't think it was executed at effectively, which is good in this case since I thoroughly detested House of Fog. In Dream House, I liked the characters. I wanted them to find a resolution that would leave them as little torn up as possible. It lost some depth but that was fine with me. I always wanted to continue on to find out what would happen next. I enjoyed the process of following the story. It was a good story with not too much tension. I'd certainly recommend it.

Thank you TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of Dream House for review. Once again it has been a pleasure to work with you. And readers can visit Valerie Laken's web site for more info. about Dream House.

Review: My Life in France

My Life in France
by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme

I was not planning to read Julia Child's memoir of her time in France. It was enough for me to have seen the movie and to cook my way through MtAoFC. But Mom bought the book and couldn't get through it. She thought I'd probably like it. And I did need a French themed book for the Four Month Challenge. What the hell. I read it.

Starting with her marriage to Paul Child, Julia tells her readers about her time in France, falling in love with it's food and it's people. She calls it her spiritual homeland. She explains how she got into cooking. Julia had a driven and scientific mind. She wasn't satisfied to cook a good meal; she had to know how and why it worked the way it did. When she was brought into collaboration for the now famous cook book, she worked each recipe multiple times to make sure it worked every time. Then, when she was brought back to live in the States, she had to work them all over again because American ingredients were much different. We also learn a little about her TV career and her 2 other cook books.

It was a great memoir. It made me want to live in 1950s France. Though they loved France, the Childs lived a cosmopolitan lifestyle. They took road trips, enjoyed art and photography, local cuisine where ever they went. They had no trouble finding like minded friends. They were not interested in an Americanised version of France but in the real deal. The same was true when they lived in England and in Germany. It was always about experiencing the culture and local color.

The ghost(?) writer of Julia's memoir is a family member. Alex is the grandson of Paul Child's twin brother. Using Paul's multitude of letters written to his brother, Alex was able to interview Julia and get a very accurate account of events as they took place and the impressions they left on Julia. This gave the memoir a voice that was a mix of both Paul and Julia that is playful and expressive. I loved the use of funky words throughout, like cookery bookery, that were totally Julia.

While she didn't live to see the book published, I think she would have been very proud of how it turned out. Thank you Mom for passing your copy to me. I highly recommend it.

My Life in France counts for the Four Month Challenge and the 2010 Challenge.

Classics Circuit Tour Stop: Edith Wharton

Welcome to the final stop of the Classics Circuit Tour. I'm so excited to welcome Edith Wharton to my blog today. I'm a huge fan. If I had to name my two all time favorite authors, Wharton would be on the list, along with Ian McEwan. I've chosen to read Summer but as you will soon see, I take a broad path through all her works. Get comfy. I'm feeling long winded today.

Summer
by Edith Wharton

I was first introduced to Edith Wharton as I was reading through the classics in The Well-Educated Mind. The House of Mirth was probably my favorite book on the novel list. Since then I have read Age of Innocence, The Buccaneers, Madame de Treymes, a book of short stories, The Children, and Ethan Frome, which is my favorite by far. I've also read about 300 pages of the 800 page biography of Wharton written by Hermione Lee.

If you were to ask me why I love her writing so much I'm not sure I could articulate it well. On the surface there is nothing remarkable about the writing but once I start I must keep reading. There is no point where I stop and say, "that paragraph was poetic in it's description." The writing never, ever draws attention to it's self. It's not poetic but the descriptions are effective in drawing a picture in your mind. And every description, every setting, tells you about the story. I'll explain more in just a bit. First let me tell you what Summer is about.

Beware of Spoilers!
Rescued from the slums in the mountains, Charity Royall is being raised by her guardian in a small town near New York. After Mrs. Royall's death, Dr. Royall makes an advance on Charity, followed by a marriage proposal. Disgusted by this, Charity throws herself headfirst into a relationship with Mr. Harney. As the relationship gets more serious, Dr. Royall becomes more protective, but Charity wants no help from her lovesick guardian. She is willing to go to any lengths to escape him.

In the case of Summer, the setting has so many layers of meaning. For example, we generally have a positive idea about summertime. It's warm and we are outside a lot. Fourth of July is celebrated with picnics, BBQs, and fireworks. But summer will soon come to an end. The trees will lose their leaves. The air will become cold. The sun will fade as the sky becomes dark and grey. This mimics what will happen with Charity's hot romance. It will catch fire but it will not last.

Then there is the lovers' secret getaway. It's a ramshackled hut in the middle of the woods, heading up the Mountain that is known to hide the poverty stricken. The hideaway is first described as a cozy place that the lovers have fixed up. They've fixed some things that were falling apart. They've added a few things to make it livable. It's become a rustic home for them. Until the romance has some trouble; then it becomes a hollow shell, a make believe put together with rotting wood and torn scraps of fabric. It's compared with the hovel that Charity's mother dies in deep in the Mountains. When you look back at the setting of nearly any point in the novel you can see how it pointed to the unfortunate ending of the book. The lover's broach that meant so much to Charity but cost her so dearly. The white castoff slippers that she wears to the fireworks show with Harney. Every part of the story carries some kind of meaning. Deciphering it, peeling away the layer of the onion at each point is one of the reasons I will always be a fan of Edith Wharton. I already wish I could go back and reread the story to gain deeper insight.

Wharton's novels have another facet to them that I love. They all share a moral message. Some of the books are cautionary tales. Some are examples of people doing the right thing despite the personal cost. Life is never simple and is often messy. Each character must decide if what they want is worth what they must give up to attain it. Some make the right choice and some don't. I love this because it is life. It really is. We all must choose what we value. Sometimes the things we want cannot work together and we have to decide between the them.

While searching for a cover photo I came across this movie trailer. There is not yet a movie of Summer. It looks as if they developers are looking for funding. If it ever does become a movie I would certainly be interested in seeing it.

Review: Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo

Opal Buloni (pronounced like the lunch meat) is new to the small town of Naomi. She's in need of a friend and so is the mutt she finds wreaking havoc at the Winn-Dixie grocery store one day. The two are a pair suited to each other perfectly. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal makes friends with an interesting cast of locals and brings them all together. Along the way she learns that life is full of sorrow and sweetness all mixed together.

This is a great story for kids of pretty much any age and adults who enjoy a story with a good moral tone. Not so much about faith and religion as it is about the common lessons of life.

The best part of the story for me was that Opal, and thus the reader, is encouraged to not judge a person by their past or their mistakes but by their heart. It's a simple but powerful message.

The movie was just about as good as the book. They added a couple of characters that I felt were unnecessary but they didn't hurt the story. I always enjoy AnnaSophia Robb with her piercing almond-shaped eyes and her pure and fun characters. I love that Dave Matthews was in it and that he did an excellent job, though they didn't have nearly as much of him singing as I would have liked. It has it's corny moments but they are easy to overlook because the story is so fun and positive. It's worth a family read aloud or movie night.

Because of Winn-Dixie counts for the Read the Book, Watch the Movie Challenge even though I technically didn't read the book. Which is why it also counts for the Audio Book Challenge. I'm counting it as a Win! Win! pick for the 2010 Challenge and the Proper Name leg of the Four Month Challenge for an extra 5 points. That was some book, eh?

Review: Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted
by Susanna Kaysen

I grew up with Winona Ryder. "Lucas", "Heathers", "Mermaids", "How to Make an American Quilt", etc. She's good at angst/under confident. Whenever she is taken out of that role, as in "Edward Scissorhands" or "Autumn in New York", she is not convincing. I have always felt that "Girl, Interrupted" was a movie hand picked just for her. It was her last, great movie. (Too bad. I'd love to see her shine again.)

I didn't know it was a book. Did you know it was a book? I mean, it makes sense but it never occurred to me. So I swooped it up when I saw it at the local Friends of the Library Book Store. It was not what I was expecting.

If you've seen the movie, and I'm venturing to guess that most of you have, it is the chronicle of the 2 years that Susanna Kaysen spent in a medium security mental facility. We meet the other "crazies" on her ward while she tries to figure out why she is there and what to do with her life. Angelina Jolie plays the sociopath Lisa convincingly. Whoopi Goldberg is the compassionate and fearless Nurse Valerie. The late Brittany Murphy makes an appearance as the disturbed Daisy.

But the book is totally different. I don't mean that it's essence was changed. I mean the book is not written as a story of two years in chronological order. It is chunks of episodes, some out of order, told as the author feels the need to share them. Daisy's story, or what little is known of it, is told in a 3 page chapter. It's not a catalytic moment for the author as it is in the movie.

The differences remind me heavily of the differences in the book and movie versions of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The books share glimpses of life at it's most interesting; the movie weaves an elaborate story with the bare facts.

I enjoyed both the movie and the book. Occasionally the book gets hard to decipher but that is something one should expect when it is written by someone with a personality disorder. Most of it is easy and interesting reading.

Another tally mark for the 2010 Challenge Charity book as well as for the Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge.

Review: Fireworks Over Toccoa

Fireworks Over Toccoa
by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Lily, age 17, married 2 weeks before her husband was deployed to fight in WWII. She loved Paul and he loves her. It's now been 3 years of being alone with her domineering mother and her strong but silent father. Her life has been in suspended animation, waiting for her husband to return so her life can begin. Then she meets Jake, the passionate fireworks operator hired for the big July 4th homecoming celebration planned for the soldiers. She is swept away in a whirlwind by Jake and now must decide which path to take: that of true love or of commitments already made.

I thought there was a lot of potential for a moving love story here. But there were a few strikes against it from the beginning. First I read it on the heels of Alias Grace which is a truly well crafted literary fiction with a lot of depth and historical context. Fireworks, indeed many novels, couldn't survive in its shadow. Second, I detest the idea of adultery in the name of true love.

One of the biggest things that bothered me was that the author kept butting in to tell me how passionate Jake was. There was little evidence to back it up. Lily could tell he was a passionate man after just a few minutes talking with him. Really? How? Because she looked deep in his eyes? Because he was incredibly handsome? Also, every hour that passed Lily's and Jake's feelings grew into a consuming fire that multiplied exponentially. It kept hitting infinity and then growing times 100, times 1000. Not good. It broke the first rule of good writing: show, don't tell.

There was so much potential. I was disappointed that I wasn't given more to enjoy. The characters could have been developed better; the setting could have been brought more to the forefront; the situation given more thought and depth. I was left wanting it to be more than it delivered. My mind kept saying, "Just like Bridges of Madison County except I don't really care whether she picks Jake or Paul."

I will give credit where it is due. I loved the character of Lily's mother, Honey. She was a true Georgian matriarch. She brought flavor to the story though she didn't serve much purpose beyond that. The research was there too. A knowledge of the area of Toccoa during the war years and the operation of fireworks was evident, as well as all the little details of an upscale household in the 1930s. There was a good base story. The skeleton was workable. The ending was well suited to the story. It just needed more padding.

I tend to be pickier about what I read. I want a love story to have some point beyond two hearts aflame coming together. There are many positive reviews that I've seen so this book could be a good fit for a lot of people. If you like a lot of romance and a little history, if you like moral dilemma, then you should check it out.

If the author reads this review I hope he will not take offense but will tuck these critiques into the back of his mind for future novels. I want more. Make me believe it. Make me care about these people. I want to sweat in the Georgia heat as I sit here in the damp, January cold of the west coast(It's 39* as I write this review). I want to cry for the difficult decision of a young woman who was married before she understood what a lifetime commitment meant. I want to understand why a man being too perfect is something to run away from.

This title counts for Something New in the 2010 Challenge.

I received this free review copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program. Thanks go to St. Martin's Press.

Review: Alias Grace

Alias Grace
by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is a name that rates up there with Ian McEwan and John Irving. The idea of reading her books has intimidated me for long enough. I have finally taken the plunge and found her to be praiseworthy.

Grace Marks is convicted of murder in 1843, but is surprisingly spared from the death penalty. She is considered an accomplice with James McDermott in the murder of her employer and his housekeeper/mistress. There are discrepancies in her story and in those told by James, who was executed for his involvement. Was she an innocent who was forced into helping for fear of her life or was she the mastermind who enticed James with promises of a carnal nature. Dr. Simon Jordan, a doctor of mental illness, is driven to find the truth.

This is a book that caused me to ponder. I was fascinated by the story yet repelled by the characters even as I sympathised with them. Grace tells her life story in such detail. She expresses her emotions through her narrative. The reader is drawn in along with Dr. Jordan to wonder if she is telling the truth or spinning a yarn. Then there is the secondary story of how this murderess is affecting Dr. Jordan's personal life. This too can be interpreted as either the draw of innocence or a masterful manipulation. By the end I still couldn't make up my mind.

This is not a quick and easy read. This is one of those books that is meant to be considered at length. Do I like these people? Can any of them be trusted? What the heck really happened? Can anyone know truth with certainty? What about the differences between the upper and lower classes? Do we all have the same discrepancies of character? There are so many questions that it brings up. Be prepared to grapple with them if you choose to read any of Atwood's books.

None of this is to say that it is difficult to understand. The writing is clear and effective. It makes an impression.

I was blown away with the integrity of the context. This book could have been written in the time that it is set. It didn't give a hint of modernity. There were no judgements based on the morals of the 20th or 21st centuries. That is not an easy thing to pull off. Atwood, I am a fan.

This book is a 3 for the price of 1. It counts for 3 challenges:
Canadian Writer for the Four Month Challenge
Set within the time frame for Our Mutual Read
Charity book for the 2010 because it was bought from a Friends of the Library sale

Review: The Snowflake

The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty
text by Kenneth Libbrecht
photos by Patricia Rasmussen

I noticed this book at bookstores last winter. I thought it looked like a stunning coffee table book. The photography is just so beautiful. It was hard to believe that these are pictures of actual snowflakes, not glass ornaments. The quilter in me thought, "Quilter, you could make quilt patterns from these photos." And then I thought, "Quilter, you are so totally right."


Thinking a coffee table book would be a good choice for the Four Month Challenge, earning me 20 points, I checked it out of the library. Surprise surprise! There are words in this here book. Not just a few but many. And big ones at that. This is more than a coffee table book; this is a scientific text put into layman's terms. The author is a physics professor and head of the physics department at Caltech. He's been studying snowflakes since he was a young boy growing up in North Dakota.


Prof. Libbrecht explains what a snow crystal is, what the different forms consist of, and the conditions in which each type develops. There are plates and branching and high humidity... I won't pretend to have understood everything I read but what I read was certainly interesting.

For example, did you know that most snow crystals have 6 branches or plates? Occasionally you will find 12 sided crystals and rarely the 3 sided kind. But there was also columns, bullets and needles. The weather conditions must be very specific to create each kind. He deals with the commonly held belief that no 2 snowflakes are alike. I am now an amateur expert on snow crystal trivia.

Even if you don't want to read all about snowflakes, at least check out the book for the photographs. There are several of them, including one called a Photographic Album. They will make you appreciate winter and nature.

And that quilt idea? Plans are in the making.

Fairies, Reluctant Dragons, Rogue Tooth Fairies and Stitches

I've noticed that there are 4 books in my sidebar that haven't yet been reviewed. We can't have that now, can we? So here are my very small reviews:

The Reluctant Dragon - What a cute story about a pacifist dragon who is more interested in poetry and acting than in frightening the people in a local village. I've read it more than once and I always enjoy it. It's short and great for kids.

The Coming of the Fairies - Sir Conan Arthur Doyle wrote this non-fiction book in 1920 in defense of the sensational photos of the Cottingley fairies. It pretty much ruined Doyle's credibility with the public. It was dry and repetitive and definitely written from a slanted POV. To learn more about the Cottingley story, which is very interesting in its self, go here, or watch the movie Fairy Tale: A True Story. My family loved the movie even though it is not very accurate. It's on par with The Little Princess and The Secret Garden.

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy - It was difficult as a read-aloud because there are duel stories going on so the switching back and forth was awkward but the story was fun and made my kiddos LOL often. The vocabulary is broad and will stretch the minds of many young kids. We enjoyed it.

Stitches - I read Stitches because of several recommendations from book bloggers. I didn't find it fascinating. His family was riddled with mental illness and he suffered as a result but there was no real reason why I needed to know about it, unlike Maus or Persepolis which have something important to say. There was one drawing that was amazing. It's of the author's mother when he walks in on her in a compromising situation. It conveyed the emotions of deep sadness and fear that she must have felt. Otherwise I wasn't impressed.

Review: When She Flew

When She Flew
by Jennie Shortridge

Wow! I know it's become cliche to say a book is compelling but never was a book more fit for the verb than When She Flew. From the moment I broke the spine I had to find out what happened next. I even neglected my precious computer. This is seriously good reading.

Thirteen year old Lindy has been living undetected with her Iraq vet father for 5 years in a wildlife sanctuary in Oregon when she is spotted. Police are sent to investigate and make sure the girl is in no danger. Officer Jess Villareal disagrees with her Sergeant who has decided that Lindy should be put in foster care until her safety is verified. Jess has a sense about people and her sense tells her that separation from her father will cause more damage to Lindy than good, so she does something she has never done before: she goes against protocol and helps the father and daughter escape from police custody. Jess is just doing what she believes to be right but it will have farther reaching consequences than she could have imagined.

There is just nothing about this book that I didn't love. The characters were all sympathetic (except the mom who, thankfully, was given very little ink) and courageous. Lindy was beautiful and brave. Jess was strong and full of righteous conviction. The reactions of the police department as well as the community felt genuine. Even the excessive cussing was what I believe would be accurate to this type of situation. This was a story that could definitely be real. In fact it was based on a real circumstance that the author touches on in a small interview in the back of the book.

What I admired the most about this novel was that everyone (except mom) was trying to do the right thing. They were all honorable in their own way. They stayed in character and they developed consistently within that character. I kept rooting for the good guys and dreading the dangerous possibilities. The cover blurb says, "Taut, beautifully rendered." I agree 100%.

You should read this book. Seriously. Now!

Review: Breaking Her Fall

Breaking Her Fall
by Stephen Goodwin

What would you do if you got a phone call in the middle of the night that your 14 year old daughter was drunk and acting inappropriately at a party that you didn't even know she was attending? That is the opening premise of Breaking Her Fall. Action, tension, and inter relational conflict. It fell short of the first two and ran long on the last.

The book was mostly about how Tucker relates, or not, with his daughter, Kat, after she makes a mistake that affects her reputation among her peers, her family and herself. It was interesting to see a man's perspective of fatherhood, especially that of a single father who is the primary guardian. The realization that she is no longer his little girl is as violent emotionally as it ends up being physically. Kat may have made a possibly life changing mistake but Tucker's rash reaction causes more damage and is just as life altering.

I didn't like Tucker or Kat. I didn't care for any of the secondary characters. The only one I did like was Lily, Tucker's closest friend, until she too threw her respectable nature out the window. While the characters that people this book are presented as good, they all lack morals. No wonder the children behave the way they do. I'm so glad my own kiddos don't act even remotely like these ones do.

This was the second to last leg of the Take a Chance Challenge. I won't bother looking up anything else by this author.



I am so disappointed that I will miss completing this challenge by mere days. I am reading the last book now but it is too long for me to finish it by the end of the month, especially since I am driving home from visiting out of town family and I continue to work on The Novel for NaNoWriMo. But this challenge was a hoot. HOOT HOOT! I loved creating the list and working through it. Thank you so very much to Jenners from Find Your Next Book Here. If you have a Part 2 of this challenge, Jenners, I want to be notified of it.

Review:Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana

Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana
by Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fleiss

Have you ever heard of the term "chocolate read?" It describes a book that you read just as a treat. A guilty little pleasure. You don't read it out of obligation or for its "nutritional value" but just because sometimes it is just right for the moment. I adore books that make me ponder life and question my ideals but every once in a while I crave a simple love story with a guaranteed happy ending. In Lonesome Prairie, Montana I found my love story, though it wasn't always so simple; and I got a reminder of some of the deeper spiritual lessons that I have learned along the way. That's like organic chocolate. :D

Julia Cavanaugh travels from New York to Montana on the orphan train in 1889 to deliver a group of young girls she's been caring for to their new families only to find out that she's been secretly set up as a mail-order bride to an uncouth miner. Having never left the city before she finds it hard to adjust to life on the prairie. The young Parson, Isaac Shepherd, can offer protection, friendship, and spiritual guidance, and maybe his heart too, but only God can direct Julia to her true home.

With a number of less than satisfying novels under my belt in recent months, I was in sore need of some good, clean fun. This Christian romance came just in time. It had everything I crave in a "chocolate read"; pleasant characters, lively adventure, and a happy ending. I even detected just a touch of Jane Austen shadowing. One can never go wrong with Ms. Austen as a guide.

Lonesome Prairie is unapologetically Christian. That means no unrealistic and unhistorical smut involved. This novel is pure. I like that. It means the good are good and the bad are treated judiciously. Forgiveness is promoted and so is repentance. It has just the right mixture for a relaxing afternoon chocolate read.

I almost forgot! There's a contest for some great treats from Montana. Click the button to find out how to enter.


Thank you, LitFuse, for providing a copy of Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie, Montana for me to review.

Review: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
by Jean-Dominique Bauby

What an incredible accomplishment! For a man in this state to have written such an eloquent book is astonishing.

At the age of 42, Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor-in-chief for the French Elle magazine, suffered a stroke leaving him in the almost completely paralyzed state known as locked-in syndrome. With the use of only his left eye, Jean-Do was able to blink his way through the French language frequency-ordered alphabet, an alphabet set in the order of letters most commonly used to the least, in order to write his memoir. It took him 10 months working 4 hours a day with an assistant to write this 131 page book.

Within its pages there is some truly lovely prose. There is poetry in his descriptions when he writes about his struggles after the stroke and some of his life before. It's not always cohesive but that is more than forgivable. And Bauby has a sense of humor too. I felt that it was okay to laugh at this passage because he was laughing along with me:

"Having turned down the hideous jogging suit provided by the hospital, I am now attired as I was in my student days. Like the bath, my old clothes could easily bring back poignant, painful memories. But I see in the clothing a symbol of continuing life. And proof that I still want to be myself. If I must drool, I may as well drool on cashmere."

This book is not exactly life altering but the story behind it is inspirational.

But I have to back up a little bit here. Before I read the book, I watched the movie; and before the movie was glowing review of the book that I read at Bending Bookshelf. When the movie arrived in my mailbox I was surprised to find that it was a French film but some of my favorite movies have been foreign films so I hunkered down to read my way through the movie.

It started off really disorienting. The beginning depicts Jean-Do waking in the hospital and realizing what condition he is in. It is viewed from his perspective so it is foggy with flashing scenes that don't make much sense. There is a really gross scene of one of his eyes being sewn shut but it gets better as it goes. Throughout the movie it moves back and forth between being inside his head and what happened the little while leading up to the stroke.

The movie was moving and very effective in showing what life must have been like for Bauby. However, upon further investigation it seems that the movie took some liberties. The mother of Bauby's children (I'm not sure if she is in fact an ex-wife) is made to be the "butterfly" that keeps his spirits up with her loving devotion but according to his friends she had little to do with him during his last year of life. This was disappointing but it doesn't change my adulation for the film. It was beautifully done.

I would recommend the book and the movie to anyone. They compliment each other and should be viewed and read as companions. This is a case where watching the movie first enhanced my experience with the book.

This review of both a movie and the book it was based on is another challenge completed for the Take a Chance Challenge, the Movie/Book Comparison. I am so grateful to have been exposed to such a life affirming duo. Thank you Jenners for the challenge and Charley for the recommendation.

Review: The Hidden

The Hidden
by Tobias Hill

It seems unnanimous so far that book bloggers are less than enthusiastic about The Hidden. I'm not about to disagree. What was hidden in The Hidden was interesting storytelling, engaging characters and appropriate puncuation.

Let's start with story. Ben Mercer, running from a failed marriage, becomes entangled with a mysterious team of archaeologists trying to uncover the glories of ancient Sparta. There is history, mystery and danger. Sounds intriguing, yes? Not so much. Actually, the history parts were interesting. The details of archaeology were alright also. It was the wreck of Mercer's life that was like trudging through a mucky swamp. His obsession with his ex-wife was pathetic. His endless questions and need to be a part of the group of folks he was warned away from was tedious. There was no substanse and nothing to compel the reader to continue reading. The action finally picks up near the end but the contents of the action were bewildering. They seemed out of place for this particular story. There were some attempts at foreshadowing but not enough.

Now the characters. I didn't like any of them. Ben Mercer was the worst. He was a whiny, snivelling child. He let everyone walk on him. I could never get a true sense of who he was. Maybe that was the point, to show that even Mercer didn't know who he was but, again, it fell short for me.

Lastly, puncuation. Was this an attempt to push the restrictive bounds of literature? Was there a deeper reason for leaving out quotation marks? All dialogue was confusing. I could never be sure who was talking to whom. There is a reason we follow standard puncuasion rules: clarity.

To be fair, there is a great deal of research into many different subjects from ancient Spartan history to archiology to the more recent history of the specific regains of Greece dealt with in the novel. The characters, while unsympathetic, were unique and distinc. The themes all followed each other smoothly. The Thesis chapters were effectively revealing about Mercer's mental state, moreso than his inner thoughts. Unfortunately, it was all for nought due to the book's confusing and boring nature.

Tobias Hill is a man of some scholarly statue in England. He is an accomplished poet and writer of short stories, a winner of some few honors. I would be interested in reading some of his shorter works. I believe he could be interesting in a more concise writing style. The Hidden might be more up the alley of men who read fiction since their tastes seem so different from those of women.

Go check out what others are saying about The Hidden at TLC Book Tours. There are some interesting comments, not all of them as prickly as mine.

Review: Green Angel

Green Angel
by Alice Hoffman

This little book has been lounging on the kids' bookshelf for a while. I bought it second-hand mainly for the cover. I could not find a pic of the back of the cover which is too bad because it is just as emotionally evocative but contrasted. Where Green, the protagonist, is lonely and searching on the front, she is transformed into Ash, someone untrusting and full of pain.

Green is the only survivor in her family of some kind of terrorist attack in a nearby town. Her world is left starkly empty and covered in ashes. Her beloved garden can yield nothing under these conditions. In self preservation Green changes her name to Ash and embodies her pain in her appearance; she shaves her head, sews rose thorns into her clothes, hammers nails into her boots and tattoos black roses with thorns and crows all over her body. Gone is the patient nurturer, drowning in her pain. But changes take place in her heart and her body as she slowly reaches out and tends to the pain of others without the strength to take care of themselves.

I thought this story a beautiful one. Green wears her pain on her sleeve literally. She desires to be someone else but, though for a little while she can pretend, she can never fully get rid of who she always was before her life was turned upside down.

I believe that this novel is written for a YA audience. The imagery, while raw and sympathetic, was laid on pretty thickly. There is no mistaking Hoffman's meaning. But for me this made no difference. I still loved it.

I can't decide if this is an allegory for the common struggles of teenage hood or if it's about the reactions everybody goes through with a traumatic experience. Green is suddenly left without her parents and she is sorely missing her sister who visits her in her dreams, a girl full of life and spirit. Could the sister represent childhood? A past self? Or maybe happiness? I suppose this is where the reader contributes to the story. For me, trauma leaves me feeling alone and self protecting, even hurting others to protect myself from being hurt again. But eventually the pain subsides and the essential person returns, worse for wear but the same in her being. This book encapsulates the transformation of innocence into experience with all it's agony. Those struggling with depression will see themselves within the pages and recognise the hope that is offered at the end.

Have you read anything by Alice Hoffman? Is her adult work similar to this? I'm hoping that it shares the same richness but adds some sophistication. Which of her books would you recommend I read next because I am most definitely reading more of her work.

Review: Confessions of a Slacker Wife

Confessions of a Slacker Wife
by Muffy Mead-Ferro

It's kinda funny how I came to read Slacker Wife. It was at DogEar Diary that I heard about Mead-Ferro's book Confessions of a Slacker Mom. Jeane made it sound like a book that would affirm, in part, what I try to do with my family. It was so appealing that I went straight to my library's website and reserved a copy. But when I picked it up, the cover was slightly different. It took me a couple of days before I realized this was not Slacker Mom but Slacker Wife. Oops! No biggie. I'll read this one while I wait for Slacker Mom to come in. But when I went back to the library website to request it it said that I already had a copy of Slacker Mom, not a copy of Slacker Wife. It's a clerical error. It was their mistake, not mine.

Okay, so maybe you had to be there.

Anyway, my household runs rather traditional. He brings home the bacon and I fry it. For the most part I like it that way. So I was a little nervous that this would be a treatise on women's liberation from housework or something like that. "Let him wash his own damn underwear," and all that but it wasn't. I'd call Mead-Ferro an equalist, if that's a word. She does challenge the traditionally held ideals but only in the sense that they often go unquestioned. Don't just do things this way because mom did; do it because it works for you. She admits that in her marriage she does the laundry while he does the minor home repair but it's because that's where their talents lay. I like that idea.

Slacker Wife reads like Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman, sort of. It's like a collection of Mead-Ferro's thinking processes about various issues that relate to marriage. Everything from body image to child rearing to s*x is discussed. It doesn't come across as a woman holding herself up as some kind of expert out to teach the women of the world how to chill. It's more like chatting with a friend and learning a few things based on her experiences that are different than my own.

I do disagree with one part of her book. I think showering ought to be a daily activity for all people. I don't care if other countries aren't as hung up on cleanliness as the US is. It's not the germs I care about. I'm not overly occupied by antibacterial disinfectants. I eat food that's fallen on the floor. Shoot, I used to chew my mom's ABC gum(already been chewed). I'm not the Queen of Lysol. But a daily shower is a necessity, for me and for you too please. When I've had a shower I feel better and you don't have to find subtle ways to plug your nose in my presence. Seriously, consider those around you. Shower. Daily.

So the book was fun. Nothing really new but a nice reminder to give yourself a break. Everything doesn't have to be perfect all the time. In fact, it never will be. I think that Slacker Mom will be even better. If only I can figure out how to get the right one from the library. Maybe I should request Slacker Wife and see what shows up.

Review: The Persian Pickle Club

The Persian Pickle Club
by Sandra Dallas

I was having a hard time putting my impressions down about this book. I thought Payers for Sale by Dallas was beautifully told and entertaining. This one was more conventional, nothing extraordinary. The characters were still good, if too many to keep track of. I've heard complaints about the names (Queenie Bean, Ella Crook, Cheed Root, Prosper, Skillet) but I think they are fun, especially when the subject matter is serious or dull. They add humor and character.

But I decided that rather than write a boring old review about a book that was nice but nothing special, instead I'd use this opportunity to fulfill a leg of the Take a Chance Challenge and write my review in poetic form. Enjoy.

Haiku
Small town quilting bee
New girl solves a mystery
Happy endings abound

Limerick
There was a young lady named Bean
Who at a quilting bee was seen
She made a new friend
With a mystery to attend
In the end everyone did come clean

Free Form
Tough times
Heat and drought
Everyone struggles

Pressure mounts
Innocence doubted
Comfort not to be found
Keeping secrets kept
Loyalty is sacred
Everlasting support

Review: Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J.K. Rowlings

I warn you up front that I blow off some steam about certain religious types. As I am a religious type I think that what I have to say is important for both sides of the controversy but I understand if you don't feel like going there with me.

So I know that I am not the last person on the planet to read Harry Potter but it sure feels that way sometimes. Maybe it's just because when people like it they love it and when people don't care for it they claim it is a sneaky way that Satan is using to turn their children into witches and warlocks. Interesting how that works.

Since everybody actually knows the story I will skip the summary and move into the opinionating.

I liked it. As everyone says, it is not stunning literature. It's not that original. The character development is fairly 2 dimensional. It is 100% plot driven and in this case it works. It is a story written for kids, more for boys but girl are not excluded from the pleasure. Hermione is an intelligent and loyal character that will attract many girls. Snape isn't so convincing to me but it was still a fun story.

I was really dreading reading it. I've avoided the book for so long. I ranked it up there was an Oprah Pick telling myself that it was way too overblown to actually be good. I can admit when I'm wrong. Occasionally Oprah picks a winner and occasionally the public rallies around a worthy book. Harry Potter will go down in the annuls of time as a book that attracted the attention of millions by first, getting children, specifically boys, reading, and second, because Christians everywhere left their common sense in the closet and took it way too seriously.

I have touched on the effect of HP in the christian community for a reason. See, I am a christian. There was a time when I was ostracized for having the dreadful books in my house. People avoided me because I didn't think it was that big of a deal. After all, Christians everywhere had no problem with the Narnia books or Lord of the Rings, both of which contain witches and wizards. My family had decided that as long as good overcame evil in the stories then we were OK with our 10 year old son reading them. We used our reasoning minds instead of fear to direct our decision. But it didn't matter. Some of our closest friends claimed we were exposing and enticing children to witchcraft.

Guess what? I won't go to hell because I read a book, whether it contains witches, golden compasses, different religions or is about Satan himself. I won't go to hell for anything wrong I have done if the God of heaven and earth claims me for his own and forgives my sins. Period. I am not perfect. I will never be perfect. What a relief to know that I am secure in Christ!

Clearly this is still a sore subject with me. It hurt to be judged harshly over something so stupid(now that I've read it myself it seems even more ludicrous). But I try to release the hurt and forgive because they also are not perfect. They are trying to do what is right in their eyes and that is to be commended. Not many live by convictions anymore. I do my best to live by my convictions, one of them being the freedom to read what I like without guilt.

So I liked it. I'm told they get better as they go. I will read the rest of the series when I get a round tuit. Does anyone happen to have a spare round tuit?

I'm reposting this picture because it is magical. I wanna attend a boarding school that looks like that.

Review: The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer
by John Harwood

Gerard's mother is a woman with many fears and many secrets; because of it, Gerard lives a very sheltered life. His only act of rebellion is writing to a penpal, Alice, a paraplegic living in England. Soon the two are madly in love over their years of correspondence. But Alice has secrets of her own. She will not send Gerard a picture of herself. Nor is she ever around to meet him when he travels from his home in Australia. But soon Gerard must confront his family history and the woman he loves to unravel the lies that are the only truth he's ever known.

I'm trying to decide if I should start with the good or the bad. How about a sandwich effect?

The bad: that cover. It's not creepy so much as unattractive, which is fitting in some ways but mostly not.

The good: the stories within the story. I always love a story that tells many littler stories, especially if they are fairy tales or, in this case, ghost stories. I think these littler stories were the best parts of the book.

The bad: the confusion. The final story was long and interrupted and very similar to the main story so that the line between the two became very blurry. Actually, I believe this was done on purpose but my little brain hurt from the effort of sorting the two out. Then, elements of the other two ghost stories crept in. By the end I didn't know if I was up or down.

The good: it gave me the willies. As you read the little ghost stories and you start sensing that things aren't right with the characters, you do become scared of all the little sounds and shadows in your house. I reverted back to my fear of mirrors while I was reading it. Harwood built the suspense before he did anything freaky with the story. Clever.

The bad: overly descriptive. As the English Manor that is at the heart of the bigger story (and one of the littler ones) is described, all the furniture is placed in it's proper corner, all doors are put just so in the walls, all four floors are given their own blueprint, or so it seemed. My eyes glazed over. And the physical description of "the machine" was too complicated, though the explanation of what it actually was and how it was used was very interesting. But talking about pieces of metal shaped like A with tubular glass bulbs projecting out of point B wasn't at all helpful.

The bad: the ending. So I am really, really good at figuring out the endings of mysteries. All those years watching Matlock, Diagnosis Murder, and Law and Order taught me a thing or two. One of the things I learned was that everything in a story has a purpose. Did the murder victim's neighbor speak? They have some kind of useful information or they are the killer. Did the camera linger a little longer on a certain scene? There is a clue in that shot. First you gather your suspects and your suspicions and then you start eliminating them. But this book didn't do that. Gerard considered every possibility, no matter how ridiculous and threw them all out and gathered them all back up again. By the end there were so many outrageous theories running to and from that it was hard to pick which one to stick with. I believe this to be a sign of a poorly plotted mystery. It's kind of like when some poor schmuck calls you to solicit money over the phone. Instead of telling you simply what they have to offer and give you a chance to say yes you need that service or no you don't, they will bombard you with words. They will throw out compliments and act like your best friend from college. When they feel resistance they will ask you stupid questions like "don't you want to save money?" or "you honestly can't afford just $10 to join our gym?" They figure if they can keep you on the phone longer then you are more likely to give them your money. That is what this book does. It bombards you with ideas, making the ridiculous sound plausible and the logical seem unrealistic to disguise the fact that the answer is clear from somewhere in the middle. tsk tsk What a disappointment.

It looks like the bad outweighs the good but I will say that the good is really good and the bad is only partially bad. Like I said, I think the author accomplished what he set out to do, that is, making the reader as dazed and confused and second guessing their every idea as Gerard was. I just didn't like being dazed and confused. Your mileage may vary.

One Word Review
So-so

Matlock, you ruined me for mysteries.

Anyone remember Puck? He's the poppet I won in the original RIP Challenge. He stands sentry while I read, especially when I read ghost stories for the RIP Challenge.

Speaking of which, this makes the first book read (finally!) for the RIP IV Challenge. It also counts for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge since it has been lingering on my book shelf for over six months. I'm all about multitasking.