The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall

 

Summary:
Willow is desperately hungry for clues to the family life that preceded her, and especially Polly's life pre-Willow. Why did she leave her hometown of Bethel, Louisiana, fifty years ago and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long-ago suitor who possibly killed a man? And will Polly be able to outrun the Bear, the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past?

My take: 3 looks

This was a good summer book. Light, funny, and not a lot of reading effort required.  With seven books to her credit, several of which are on my TBR, Hepinstall is a solid member of the fiction world.

To write about a young girl (Willow) so preoccupied with the death of her aging mother (Polly) was a little bit of a stretch for me. After all, I was a young girl once, and I know that an obsession about death is pretty far from the typical preteen's mind.

On the other hand, I like the treatment she gave to Willow's older brother and sister. They were introduced on the periphery and the reader gets to know them both as they weave in and out of Polly and Willow's every day lives. It was the perfect way to see quirks, likes, imperfections, and finally, the love they both have for the matriarch of the family. Digging a bit into the personal lives of each, but only as deep as you would as an outsider looking in, there really was a nice balance to their characters.

Add a variety of colorful neighbors, a brother's childhood friend who returns to their lives, and a dog who can smell cancer in people, and you have a pretty good ride. It's not high literary fare, but it will hit the spot.

Recommended.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Summary:
In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded in a deserted high school, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.

In this smart, suspenseful, and intense literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel pulls you in from the very first page…and never lets you go.

My take: 2.5 looks

I started this one over three times. It was so easy to put down when I needed more time or was feeling overwhelmed. However, it was also very easy to read, enabling me to start from the beginning each time. At less than 300 pages, I felt as if I had to finish it.

The story was interesting enough. I didn't get a good feel for any of the characters, and was not overly surprised by the ending. Some of the scenes felt forced, some of the dialogue choppy, and internal monologues were a bit too heavy-handed. However, because of the nature of the "surprise" ending, all of these things may have been as-designed. With a little more writing experience, I expect this kind of thing will naturally fall into place.

It read like a first novel, and upon looking, found that it is Reid's first novel, but not his first book. Because it was fairly easy to read, and because I am intrigued by the title of one of his previous works ("The Truth About Luck: What I Learned on my Road Trip with Grandma"), I am not yet crossing him off my list of TBRs.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Alma Singer is trying to find a cure for her mother's loneliness. Believing she might discover it in an old book her mother is lovingly translating, she sets out in search of its author. Across New York an old man called Leo Gursky is trying to survive a little bit longer. He spends his days dreaming of the lost love who, sixty years ago in Poland, inspired him to write a book. And although he doesn't know it yet, that book also survived: crossing oceans and generations, and changing lives...

My take: 3 looks

Okay, this is weird.

My sorority sister Laura just texted me about a week ago and recommended a movie: The Words. It has Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Jeremy Irons, and Dennis Quaid, among others. I watched it last night. The night before finishing this book by the pool.

The storylines turned out to be the same. The same.

How weird and serendipitous is that? Almost scary, in a cosmic way.

If I tell you any more, I will give away spoilers. However, I will say that there is a young girl trying to find the story of a woman and the author who loved her. Was she the reason for this book, which goes on to win accolades? Is there a father/son relationship that can be healed? Will her mother find happiness with anyone after the death of her father?

I admit that I didn't give this book its fair recompense. Subjugated as a "pool book", I put it aside only when I was by the pool. With that, it has taken me far longer to read it than others. Because of that, I had to occasionally go back and familiarize myself with situations and characters. However, I never lost sight of the overall story. With that said, I was not as deeply entrenched in the text as I could have been.

I recommend this one, along with the recommendation that you then watch "The Words", and let me know how intrigued you are at the similarities in the premises.

Ill Will by Dan Chaon

Summary:

Two sensational unsolved crimes—one in the past, another in the present—are linked by one man’s memory and self-deception in this chilling novel of literary suspense from National Book Award finalist Dan Chaon.

My take: 3 looks

Dan Chaon's "Await Your Reply" sits with me still. It is one of those books that I will think of every now and again for years and years to come. Because of that, I leapt at the opportunity to get an ARC of his latest from LibraryThing.

The writing style is marvelous, as we have come to expect from Chaon. Going back and forth in time, using columns on the page to present various perspectives in the same timeline and various timelines from the same person, and presenting different points of view ... all of this added to the intrigue, breakdown of collected evidence, and confusion of our various characters. The book is full of unreliable narrators, wild goose chases, and misread assumptions. Like a mystery at its best, page after page of reading brings little solid fact.

It is so beautifully written that the ending was all the more disappointing to me. There was no explanation, no resolution, no reconciliation, no redemption. While I am sure that was part of the point, perhaps to be more like reality than a novel, I expected a more nuanced ending from an author of Chaon's caliber. There were so many avenues left unexplored that I feel there could be a series here, although I don't think that is the author's intention. In all, I was left disappointed.

Not recommended.

Thanks to LibraryThing and Random House for an advance reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

Summary:

Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse but John's not here. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month old resident of Trudy's womb. 

My take: 3 looks

Brilliant premise: the story is narrated by an unborn child. He can hear what goes on around him, as well as feeling his mother's feelings, and noting her heart rhythm and adrenaline surges. He is also very aware of her alcohol consumption and none-too-happy with the high activity level of her sex life.

Writing: I found the wiring to be a touch verbose, overly descriptive. However, at less than 200 pages, the editor of this one was probably hesitant to cut too much.

Overall: It was a fast and easy read, albeit unexceptional. I recommend it if you need a quick "palate cleanser" to assist in getting over a book hangover. Otherwise, look past this one.

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

Summary:

Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art.

Their children called it mischief.

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents’ strange world.

When the lives they’ve built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance -– their magnum opus -– whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what’s ultimately more important: their family or their art.  

My take: 3 looks

I am not sure at all how I feel about this book. Well, I should be clear and say the "story" ... the "subject matter" ... the "outcome". The book was well-written. It has to be well-written to elicit this much emotion from the reader.

Caleb and Camille Fang are completely committed to their art, so much so that when they have two children, they are called "A" and "B", for Annie and Buster. Unfortunately for the two children, the art in this case is performance art.

Now, I didn't know much about performance art other than the examples of an artist eating his own feces, and an artist being crucified to the back of a Volkswagen. In the book, the art is best when it is forced on an unsuspecting public, making them a part of the piece, enhancing it with their reactions.

When Annie moves away to begin her own career, and then Buster does the same, the Fangs must make due with an abbreviated team, and it's just not the same.

The main slant of this book is the relationships between family members, expectations of parents for their children, and the long term effects of making children a part of an adult world. In the end, I was hurt and hopeful, sad and angry.

It's a short book, opened my eyes to the intricacies of performance art and its purpose, spurred me to research a few real-life artists, and made me think of the story long after I read the last page. Recommended.

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch

Summary:

Once a celebrated writer, M's greatest success came with a suspense novel based on a real-life disappearance. The book was called The Reckoning, and it told the story of Jan Landzaat, a history teacher who went missing one winter after his brief affair with Laura, his stunning pupil. Jan was last seen at the holiday cottage where Laura was staying with her new boyfriend. Upon publication, M.'s novel was a bestseller, one that marked his international breakthrough.

That was years ago, and now M.'s career is almost over as he fades increasingly into obscurity. But not when it comes to his bizarre, seemingly timid neighbor who keeps a close eye on him. Why?

From various perspectives, Herman Koch tells the dark tale of a writer in decline, a teenage couple in love, a missing teacher, and a single book that entwines all of their fates. Thanks to The Reckoning, supposedly a work of fiction, everyone seems to be linked forever, until something unexpected spins the "story" off its rails.

My take: 3 looks

Beautifully written, with finely crafted sentences that almost made me want to highlight the hardcover, first American edition. Not quite as mesmerizing as I found "The Dinner", "Dear Mr. M" is told in several sweeping sections, each giving voice to a different character. The fibers of the tapestry weave together pretty quickly, but we are left with the question of who did what to whom until the very last few pages.

A number of twists and turns, red herrings, and overly long sections made parts feel as if Koch was rambling, especially Laura's section, but this is no reason to overlook the book as a whole. I was overall satisfied with the ending, albeit after a bit of suspending belief. That's why I gave this one 3 looks instead of 4. However, it is recommended.

Many thanks to BloggingForBooks for a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

small great things by Jodi Picoult

Summary:

Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?

My take: 3 looks

Like the other Picoult books I have read, this one had me hooked from the beginning. The writing is so compelling and the subject of current-day racism is so relevant.

I jumped right in, hating Turk, pulling for Ruth, wary of Adisa, and cheering for Kennedy. Living in the deep south, where the most heinous acts occurred during the civil rights era, I have a different perspective than I think people in other regions of the US may have. Like Kennedy's mother, I don't tend to look at how far we have yet to go, but how far we've come.

With that said, it was very difficult to read some of the sections, and made me put the book down so I could consider the text. I didn't read this book lightly, and am glad of the conversations that I feel it will inspire. Conversations that need to happen.

Then I got to the end. I am not going to spoil it for you, but the ending of the book left me completely deflated. I wanted the situation to be handled realistically. I wanted a real-world outcome, with all of its consequences. I wanted commentary on how the struggle for racial equity continues. I wanted evidence of small steps making a difference. I wanted to see how people changed perspectives from both sides of the color wheel. This struggle is not a tidy one, and that's what I expected to see reflected here.

Instead, I felt robbed of all of that. Instead, I got theatrics. And not even realistic, at that. The ending is out of left field, and so out of any realm of remote possibility that it almost ruined the rest of the story for me. If it were not for the strong social commentary throughout, I would have put this at a rating of two, but I think Picoult had more to offer than that rating would indicate. However, she also had a great opportunity to shine a spotlight while holding a mirror up to her readers. That opportunity was squandered.

Recommended, but prepare to be disappointed.

This book is available October 11, 2016.

Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers for a copy of this prerelease in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach

Summary:

The Fault In Our Stars meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Seventeen-year-old Ivan Isaenko is a life-long resident of the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. For the most part, every day is exactly the same for Ivan, which is why he turns everything into a game, manipulating people and events around him for his own amusement.

Until Polina arrives.

She steals his books. She challenges his routine. The nurses like her.

She is exquisite. Soon, he cannot help being drawn to her and the two forge a romance that is tenuous and beautiful and everything they never dared dream of. Before, he survived by being utterly detached from things and people. Now, Ivan wants something more: Ivan wants Polina to live.  

My take: 3 looks

What an odd book. I don't totally disagree that it's The Fault in Our Stars meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next. However, I think that diminishes the worth of this book on its own. It is nicely written and easy to read from a structure perspective. On the other hand, it is very difficult to read. It is, after all, a slice of time in the life of an institutionalized 17-year-old child of Chernobyl. If you don't know exactly what that means, look it up on the internet.

Ivan struggles with a strong mind in a horribly broken body. He even laments this, commenting that most of the other children in the hospital are spared the horror of what they are because they don't have the mental faculty to understand. Ivan has a nice cadence to his days, dealing with new patients, trying to determine who will die within three months, and be abreast to all of the personal business of the nurses.

In walks Polina and everything changes. If there can be a coming-of-age book for a boy with nubs for legs, one arm whose hand has only three fingers, and lack of muscle strength on one side of his face ...  but all of the feelings of a 17-year-old boy, this is it. It is not a sweet story, but shows with occasional harshness the reality of knowing things will always get worse.

I can't rave about this book like other reviews I have seen. It is well-written, and about a subject that doesn't get much page-time. However, it is also not illuminating, doesn't give you any info that you don't already know (even if it's deep in your mind), and will probably not have you rush to the bookstore to see what else Stambach has on the shelves. What it will do, however, is make you think about it for days after the last page is turned.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Summary:

Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work – her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don’t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. 

Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There’s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost.

When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?

My take: 3 looks

Vinegar girl is entertaining and very easy to read. A re-do of William Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew", it is relatively faithful to the spinster-finds-marriage plot, but that's about it. It is not as experimental as Tyler's other books "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant", "Breathing Lessons", or the beloved "Accidental Tourist".

The Hogarth Shakespeare series now has four titles, and this is the first I have read. Again, it is easy to read and entertaining, but also just as easily forgettable. Kate, Pyotor, Dr. Battista, and Bunny are all just characters in a story already told several times.

At less than 250 pages, it's not a commitment, and you will have another Anne Tyler title under your belt. Recommended summer supplement book.

The Barkeep by William Lashner

Summary:

Justin Chase is the perfect barkeep, tending bar as he lives his life, in a state of Zen serenity. At least until Birdie Grackle, a yellow-haired, foul-mouthed alcoholic from Texas, walks into his bar, orders a Mojito, and makes a startling confession. Six years ago Justin's life was ripped apart when he discovered his mother's bludgeoned corpse in the foyer of the family home. Now Justin's father is serving a life sentence and Justin, after a stint in an asylum, drowns his emotions in a pool of inner peace. But when Birdie Grackle claims to be the hit man who murdered Justin's mother for the money, Justin is hurled back to the emotions, the past, and, most frightening of all, the father he tried to leave behind.

My take: 2.5 looks

An entertaining read, for sure. I was drawn in from the startling revelation at the end of the first chapter, and held, for the most part, through the majority of the book. While some of the other reviews cite the characters as being flat and stereotypical, I found it to read more like a noir book from Hammett or Cain. I am not comparing the quality to these authors, merely the style.

The one problem I had with the book, and keeping me from a hearty recommendation, was the plot. It became so convoluted and ultimately unbelievable that, if the end was not already in sight, I may have put this one down. I agree with another reviewer that "the plot became overly complicated in an effort to give us surprise twists". As a matter of fact, I am still not sure exactly what happened or who the true murderer was. Unfortunately, I wasn't invested enough to reread to find out.

Since there are so many other great mystery/thrillers available, this one is not recommended.

Can You Keep a Secret? by R.L. Stine

Summary:

Eddie and Emma are high school sweethearts from the wrong side of the tracks. Looking for an escape their dreary lives, they embark on an overnight camping trip in the Fear Street Woods with four friends. As Eddie is carving a heart into a tree, he and Emma discover a bag hidden in the trunk. A bag filled with hundred-dollar bills. Thousands of them. Should they take it? Should they leave the money there? The six teens agree to leave the bag where it is until it's safe to use it. But when tragedy strikes Emma's family, the temptation to skim some money off of the top becomes impossible to fight. There's only one problem. When Emma returns to the woods, the bag of money is gone, and with it, the trust of six friends with a big secret.
My take: 3 looks

An easy read, and probably well-suited for the YA crowd who likes a little bit of a scare, a tad of romance, and an end with a twist. It took me longer to read this one that it should have, but I found it easy to put down. However, it's a good choice for the middle-school set.

The Sisterhood by Helen Bryan

Summary:

Menina Walker was a child of fortune. Rescued after a hurricane in South America, doomed to a life of poverty with a swallow medal as her only legacy, the orphaned toddler was adopted by an American family and taken to a new life. As a beautiful, intelligent woman of nineteen, she is in love, engaged, and excited about the future — until another traumatic event shatters her dreams. Menina flees to Spain to bury her misery in research for her college thesis about a sixteenth-century artist who signed his works with the image of a swallow — the same image as the one on Menina’s medal. But a mugging strands Menina in a musty, isolated Spanish convent. Exploring her surroundings, she discovers the epic sagas of five orphan girls who were hidden from the Spanish Inquisition and received help escaping to the New World. Is Menina’s medal a link to them, or to her own past? Did coincidence lead her to the convent, or fate? Both love story and historical thriller, The Sisterhood is an emotionally charged ride across continents and centuries

My take: 3 looks

Going back and forth in time, this is an epic tale spanning centuries, continents, and lives. It was gripping from the first chapter, and very easy to get lost in the story. However, as the past was explored and a number of characters were introduced, I found myself getting a little confused by the number of nuns, orphans, sea voyages, and nunneries.

 While the story of Menina started the tale, I felt that it quickly took a backseat to the events in the 1500s, including the Spanish Inquisition. I was left with many questions about Menina's life, whether or not she returned to the United States, and the possible estrangement from her adopted family.

On the other hand, I knew all I wanted to know about several nuns and novitiates, and young girls living under the protection of them. Without giving too much away, I felt a little cheated at the end, where time lept to the future, sharing what had become of Menina with little description of how she had traveled much of the path to get there. There were also questions about the suspicious people looking for Menina. What happened to them? What happened to Theo and his family? Did he ever get his comeuppance?

While this was an entertaining historical fiction tale, it left me less than satisfied. I will read one more by Bryan before recommending.

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

Summary:

Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone on the Long Island Sound in his family home, a house perched on the edge of a cliff that is slowly crumbling into the sea. His parents are long dead, his mother having drowned in the water his house overlooks.

One day, Simon receives a mysterious book from an antiquarian bookseller; it has been sent to him because it is inscribed with the name Verona Bonn, Simon's grandmother. Simon must unlock the mysteries of the book, and decode his family history, before fate deals its next deadly hand.

My take: 3 looks

Not at all what I expected. It was a blend of mystical realism - dysfunctional family - coming of age rolled into one. It was an easy read, and entertaining, but it didn't quite meet my expectations in the writing.

For example, I was confused by the first-person vs. third-person narration in the book. It may have had rhyme and reason, but it seemed to come and go, not really paving a path that made sense to me. Also, there were characters who I think Swyler intended to evoke compassion, but I found annoying instead. I think the house should have played a more major role, even to the point of becoming one of the characters. Instead it was sent to the side, as a wallflower.

The back and forth in time was a nice touch, and how the past meets the present is interesting, but I lacked too much here to give more than three looks. However, it is recommended.

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

Summary:
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Iverson is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder. As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory.  Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?

My take: 3 looks

A very nice debut mystery by a new author. While it was a bit predictable, and there was at least one instance where I actually rolled my eyes, the story was very interesting. The premise of a college student interviewing a convicted killer just months before his death was a little reminiscent of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Also, Tennessee William's famous play "The Glass Menagerie" shadows the story, in a less subtle way. While the entire setup of the stories are very individual, I appreciated what I considered a nod from Eskens to both Capote and Williams.

A very fast and satisfying read, I recommend this one.

Fever by Mary Beth Keane

Summary:
Mary Mallon was a courageous, headstrong Irish immigrant woman who bravely came to America alone, fought hard to climb up from the lowest rung of the domestic service ladder, and discovered in herself an uncanny, and coveted, talent for cooking. Working in the kitchens of the upper class, she left a trail of disease in her wake, until one enterprising and ruthless "medical engineer" proposed the inconceivable notion of the "asymptomatic carrier" — and from then on Mary Mallon was a hunted woman.
  
In order to keep New York’s citizens safe from Mallon, the Department of Health sent her to North Brother Island where she was kept in isolation from 1907-1910. She was released under the condition that she never work as a cook again. Yet for Mary — spoiled by her status and income and genuinely passionate about cooking—most domestic and factory jobs were heinous. She defied the edict.
 
Bringing early twentieth-century New York alive — the neighborhoods, the bars, the park being carved out of upper Manhattan, the emerging skyscrapers, the boat traffic — Fever is as fiercely compelling as Typhoid Mary herself, an ambitious retelling of a forgotten life. In the hands of Mary Beth Keane, Mary Mallon becomes an extraordinarily dramatic, vexing, sympathetic, uncompromising, and unforgettable character.

My take: 3 looks

I would think that it is a little difficult to write a fictional account of a real event. The author has to make many assumptions and take some literary license with thoughts, feelings, etc. when it comes to fictionalizing an historical figure. I have a feeling that Keane did a pretty good job here with Mary Mallon, better known as "Typhoid Mary".

I found Mary to be an extremely likable character. At first, that is. She was no nonsense, hard-working, respectful, and very talented at her occupation as a cook to the affluent. However, once it was obvious that she was a carrier of typhoid fever, she absolutely refused to believe that it may be true, and do what the authorities asked of  her.

With that said, the book was very easy to read, and compelling. It was factual, as far as Keane could research, and the characters were very realistic. I had no sympathy for Mary, despite the author trying to convey a sense of sympathy in her writing. Nor did I have any sympathy for Mary's partner, Alfred. As a matter of fact, I came to the point of thinking that they deserved one another.

I enjoyed the book, recommend it, and will read more by this author.

The Silver Crown by Robert C. O'Brien

Summary:

On her tenth birthday, Ellen wakes up to find a silver crown on her pillow; a few minutes later her house burns up, her parents disappear, and she is launched on an adventure involving a trek through the woods, a castle full of brainwashed captives, and the powerful Hieronymus Machine which wants her crown.

My take: 3 looks

This was a fun, well-written book. Specifically for the younger reader, the book is a page-turner with lots of action and rich characters.

The protagonist, Ellen, finds a fast friend in Otto, as she sets out on an adventure that may or may not end up with her being the queen of ... well, something.

Very entertaining, and a book this size and this pleasant to read is sure to encourage tentative readers to read more.

Recommended.

House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

Summary:

 Enter House - where you'll find yourself thrown into a killer's deadly game in which the only way to win is to lose...and the only way out is in. The stakes of the game become clear when a tin can is tossed into the house with rules scrawled on it. Rules that only a madman - or worse - could have written. Rules that make no sense yet must be followed. One game. Seven players. Three rules. Game ends at dawn.

My take: 3 looks

***SPOILERS***

Entertaining and fast read of yet another "game" in a creepy house with strangers brought together under suspicious circumstances.

The difference with this one is that it's Christian fiction, which gives it a bit of a different flavor and none of the gore, sex, or language that you'd find in a Clive Barker, Joe Hill, or Stephen King book.

With an interesting twist that the horrors in the house are of the guests' own making, with sin directly from their own souls, this delivers frights of the supernatural kind. Angels? Check. Demons? Check. Good vs Evil? Check.

However, it wouldn't be Christian fiction without a salvation message. Of course, in the course of the game, two players see their need for Jesus and it ends well for them. The others? Not so much. What happens to the house? Well, I guess you'll have to read it to find out.

It's a very quick and easy read. It probably won't change your life, but it's a recommended read for Halloween month.

Oh! And there is also a movie! Released in 2008, you can watch the trailer here.

Out on the Wire by Jessica Abel

Summary:

Go behind the scenes of seven of today’s most popular narrative radio shows and podcasts, including This American Life and RadioLab, in graphic narrative. Every week, millions of devoted fans tune in to or download This American Life, The Moth, Radiolab, Planet Money, Snap Judgment, Serial, Invisibilia and other narrative radio shows. Using personal stories to breathe life into complex ideas and issues, these beloved programs help us to understand ourselves and our world a little bit better. Each has a distinct style, but every one delivers stories that are brilliantly told and produced.

 Out on the Wire offers an unexpected window into this new kind of storytelling—one that literally illustrates the making of a purely auditory medium. With the help of This American Life 's Ira Glass, Jessica Abel, a cartoonist and devotee of narrative radio, uncovers just how radio producers construct narrative, spilling some juicy insider details.

My take: 3 looks

Podcasts and narrative radio are genres that are changing the way listeners get information. A wide variety of topics, appealing to a vast audience doesn't just happen, but is born of much work and preparation.

Jessica Abel's graphic book is a great format for a book on how visual radio is, and how much work goes into a story. Wow! I had no idea that there were so many components to work out before going on the air, from the story pitch to the timing of the pieces, to the music used to support the tone. The nuances like segues from story to story are something that I have forever taken for granted. Now I know how many people it takes to make these shows work.

But that is not all. Abel uses a wonderfully visual format to get all of the information to the reader. Laid out like how I imagine storyboards are prepared, I almost felt like a voyeur in a graphic world. A topic introduced in one chapter shows up again in another chapter, as that story goes through the entire process of conception to presentation. The personal reflections of those intimately involved in this genre add to the down-home feel of the book.

The only drawback I had in reading this is that I felt that it was a little long. In the effort to bring it from informational only to something understandable to the lay-reader, I got a little bogged down more than once. I don't fault Abel with this, however. She has taken a very intricate subject, laden with components and options that would otherwise make my head spin, and placed it within my grasp.

If you love listening to these shows and podcasts, this is a book that you must add to you shelf.

Many thanks to BloggingForBooks.com for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Centuries of June by Keith Donohue

Summary:
Face down on the bathroom floor after "a conk on the skull," Jack, the narrator of Donohue's unconventional latest, embarks on an epic and darkly funny journey through time and space without traveling much beyond his own bathroom.

My take: 3.5 looks

I don't like to give 1/2 looks, but this one demanded it. Falling past 3 looks, but just short of 4, this was a book that held my attention, but seemed to take a long time for me to read.

The book opens with Jack having a terrible blow to the head, and while he is lying on the bathroom floor feeling the blood seeping my his body, things being to get kind of weird. Visited by seven women, from different time periods and various backgrounds, each tells a story of their lives and lost loves.

Most of the action takes place in the bathroom of Jack's home.
There is also a mystery man who resembles Jack's father, or perhaps he is author Samuel Beckett; Jack can't be sure. There is also the mystery of an eighth woman lying on the bed in Jack's bedroom. He finds her vaguely familiar, but she keeps her back to him, and he can't quite remember why he should know her. And that cat which always seems to show up...

The title is clever in that it doesn't really draw on the characters or story, but instead embraces a feeling that we have all experienced:

That is what I longed for, what I needed. Another June, another eternal summer stretching out before me and a chance to recover. Centuries of June, life by life, bring the primrose of another beginning.

Recommended.