Olive Kitteridge

I read this book last month and barely remember it. Naughty book blogger. What I can say is that I was impressed and disappointed by this book.

The novel follows a variety of people in the same small town, all of which are touched in one way or another - some in larger ways than others - by retired school teacher Olive Kitteridge. Each chapter introduces you to a new person and while some stories connect, most chapters can almost stand alone.

The way the author captures a voice is uncanny - I would start to get sucked in to a character, but then that particular plot line would end and another would pick up. Which was the disappointment part. The story telling was so real, and the depictions of relationships (especially marriages) so uplifting and heart breaking at the same time. But you never get any real resolution because of the book's format and for that reason, I'm not sure I can fully recommend it.

The Coral Thief

This was our last book club pick and it had all the ingredients of a great read. But somehow it fell short on almost all levels.

Daniel Connor is a young medical student who is on his way to Paris in 1815 (shortly after Napoleon has been exiled) to study with the top researchers at Jardin Des Plantes. Once there he realizes that his credentials and rare coral specimens that he was to present to his new supervisor have been stolen by the mysterious and beautiful woman who sat next to him on the ride into town. He gets pulled into her secret circle of thief friends, finds himself falling in love with her, and there's French police chases, mystery, and capers. Yet somehow it all.... I don't know... felt a little Snoozeville to me. Which apparently Blogger doesn't deem a real word.

I had a hard time believing the "love" between Daniel and the coral thief - who we come to know as Lucienne Bernard, I didn't find her particularly likable, I thought he was a bit boring and in the end, I had a difficult time feeling engaged in the story. There wasn't anything very specifically wrong with the book, I just never found myself dying to pick it back up. In the end, most of the book club members felt the same way so there was obviously something missing here.

All that said, I don't want to be a complete Negative Nancy so I will say that there are chapters that follow the story of exiled Napoleon and they were great. I'll confess to very little French history and this was a peek into a fascinating era that made me want to read more (about Napoleon, not more of this particular book). I also liked reading about the Paris of 1815 - the underground passages, the police, the stolen art that filled the Louvre, and the exotic animals in the Jardin located in the center of the city. I wish I'd known more about this period in history before we traveled to Paris.

Apologies all around

Um. Wow. I've been supremely negligent. I've read a few books and then written absolutely nothing about them. In my defense, my life lately has been a comdram (do they make those?) I'd call "Three Weddings and an Ear Infection" so before you say anything snotty just picture me up all night with a shrieking one year old, pacing the dark street outside in my pajamas while stepping on snails in my slippers. Who knew there was a secret population of about 5 bajillion snails on our street and that they ALL come out to chill on the sidewalk at midnight? The sound of me accidentally (and unavoidably - did I mention that there are 5 bajillion of them??) stepping on one of those buggers in the quiet of the late night was a sickening crunch that was loud enough to wake the child I had finally lulled to sleep. Gross.

So anyways, I've pretty much lost my readership with my recent apathy and am starting to wonder if I should even bother keeping up this blog? If any of you care to keep reading my infrequent and whiny reviews, speak now or forever hold your peace. See? Too many weddings this summer. What I'm saying is that if you actually read this site and would like to see me continue to post book reviews here, let me know and I'll take it under advisement. But don't just say you read them to make me feel better! This is unnecessary, I promise.

In case you *do* want to see reviews, I've read Olive Kitteridge, The Coral Thief (for book club), Faithful Place (the new Tana French), and am just about finished with Death at Holy Orders.

The Girl Who Kicked the Honet's Nest

The third and final in the Lisbeth Salander series. Boy did I love the first book in this series. Then I think I read the second one shortly after it came out, which was also shortly before I went into labor with my daughter. Which means that it's been almost a year since I read it. For those of you who haven't read this series (are there any of you?) you know that these books are complicated. And have many characters. With foreign, hard to remember names that all sound similar with their crazy umlauts and gasa-stanla-stradas. So when The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest starts off with a bang and very little recap, I was all, "Wha?"

Eventually I caught on and fell back into the groove, but I will say that the language that gave me a slight rash in the second book shifted into full gear in this book. The conversation style is just so unrealistic! I suppose something has been lost in the translation from Swedish, but it's not just the dialogue, the whole book feels a bit bullet-pointish to me. It's all, "She puts on her shoes and leaves the house. It is 4:18pm. She is wearing black slacks and a light blue sweater." And I'm all, "That's all you've got for me?" In my opinion, the beauty of these books definitely lies in the story, not the writing. And the story sucks me in EVERY TIME. I don't even know if I like any of the characters, but I can't stop reading. Oh and I'm totally going to see the movie.

The Imperfectionists

Oh you guys. I don't remember much of anything about this book anymore. I read it over a month ago for my book club and was waiting to post until after our discussion. But then I put it off so long that I actually just entirely forgot about it. The Imperfectionists was actually my book club pick, so I can't really blame anyone for the fact that it gave me a major case of the bummers. The NY Times gave it a pretty fabulous review and the book IS well written; it's smart, interesting and in many ways feels very real. Maybe too real?

Perhaps I should back up and tell you the basic plot first. The book takes place in Rome at an English language newspaper. Each chapter follows one of the employees at the paper and you get a sneak into their life for 30-50 pages. One employee finds that his girlfriend is having an affair, one sad young girl starts dating a total loser and lets him take advantage of him. Their aging stringer living in Paris can't find a story and struggles with finances and his irrelevance. It had a slight short-story feel to it, which if I'm honest I'll admit that I sort of hate short stories. It's just that I like getting sucked into a plot and I love love character development. Short stories just don't have enough space to do either of these things sufficiently for me - I'm always just about sucked in when boom. It's over. Cue disappointment. But I digress. My disappointment in this book wasn't so much about it's short storiness, as much as the crushing statement it makes about humanity. People are so annoying! And petty! And I don't know. It's probably all very true and maybe that's why I didn't like reading about it. But I'm really over focusing on that part. The truth is that the book is really well written, very articulate and a fascinating study in real people. I was worried about the book club meeting, thinking that everyone might have hated it for its sadness, but it ended up making for a very lively discussion.

Outlander Series: Fiery Cross and Breath of Snow and Ashes

I know, I know. But I can't stop! Also, my holds on both of these books came up on the same day. So then I had to hurry and read both in time to return them to the library. Only these books are gigantic. So I ended up having to renew the second one and it took me forever to read them. Also, I think I forgot to review The Imperfectionists which I read over a month ago? Is that true? If so, expect a crappy review (crappily written, not crappy feedback) shortly. ANYWAYS!

So I read The Fiery Cross (book 6)





and A Breath of Snow and Ashes (book 7) of this series and I'm still enjoying them. The thing is, Diana Gabaldon is a good writer! She weaves a fascinating tale speckled with historical fiction, romance, and mystery and it's actually very smart. Granted the last book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes started to get just the teensiest bit ridiculous, but after 5 books (each over 1000 pages) I guess Diana's starting to get creative with the plot. But the truth is that I kind of like that in just one book Jamie and Claire manage to: get hit by lightening, get kidnapped (separately), be attacked and seek bloody revenge, meet historically famous people, have their house burned down, meet time travelers, be accused of murder, and get caught up in a plot involving stolen gold and marauding pirates. It's terrible yet fantastic. That said, I think I really will take a break before reading the final book of the series. I'm a little Jamie and Claire'd out.

I'm currently half way through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and then need to hurry and start the book for my next book club meeting - The Coral Thief.

How I Live Now

This is a young adult book that will take you a day or two to read. The book is narrated by a teenage girl who goes to England to stay with cousins and gets trapped there when a war breaks out. I'm not usually a big fan of the futuristic-type war books (Handmaid's Tale, The Road) because they freak me out a bit. I don't like putting an actual story to the scary possibility of a war in the Western World, in modern times. I suppose that's the whole point of reading books like this though - to gain perspective about those that *do* live in countries torn apart by war.

This story was slightly different as it was told through the eyes of a 15 year old girl and while there were definitely some chilling moments, it seemed more accurate and less creepy than the adult versions of this type of story. I wish I had something more articulate to say about this book (because it deserves it) but what can I say? It's 6:57am and I've already been up for an hour and a half today. And it's SATURDAY. My daughter decided that 5:30am was a fun time to wake up today and as I type this I'm watching her pull each of my books off the shelf and taste them. Her favorite so far seems to be Everything is Illuminated.