Wise Blood

Every time I read a classic or something well known and highly regarded, I have a hard time judging it. I keep feeling that there is little to say that hasn't already been said and if I didn't like it, who am I to think my opinion matters in regards to this book. Still, I have to say that Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood was rather hard to read, more difficult to understand, and nearly impossible for me to really enjoy.

Wise Blood concerns a young man, Hazel Motes, and his efforts to escape from his own belief in Jesus. Thrown into the mix are a blind preacher, his daughter, Sabbath, and another young man who claims to have "wise blood." I found it to be very slow reading and while it is not difficult to figure out the actual events that are happening, their significance seems to be very obscured.

I think the hardest thing for me was O'Connor's writing style and trying to understand the significance of the events in the book. It was didn't strike me as enjoyable and I had to make myself pick the book up several times. I am sure many others love this book but I think I am done trying to read O'Connor for a good long time.

Rating: 2.5

Practical Magic

The first thing that has to be said is that this book has very little to do with the movie with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. Really, the only thing in common between the two are the characters names.

With that aside, I think that Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic was fairly good. Practical Magic is the story of Sally and Gillian Owens, two sisters who were orphaned very young and subsequently were raised by their aunts who never imposed any rules on them. Their childhood was also strongly effected by the legends that the Owens women were and are witches, and that their aunts often meddled in the love lives of the people in their small Massachusetts town. This singular childhood had very different effects on the two girls and finally, a crisis brings the two sisters together.

This book wasn't fabulous and I wanted more magic (both in the sense of the storytelling and in the sense of a family of witches) but Hoffman portrayed the relationships between sisters, different as night and day but bound by blood and experience, very well. One problem I had with the book was the verb tenses used by Hoffman: everything past a certain point is in the present tense. Perhaps it is because I am not used to a style of writing that uses the present tense so heavily but it got on my nerves.

I might try reading more of Hoffman's work but I wasn't thrilled. As I said, there were some good elements, including the relationships between the Owens women, but there wasn't enough for me to fall in love with it.

Rating: 3.0

The Memories We Keep

I recently found myself reading another novel centered around the Holocaust, written by Walter Zacharius. In The Memories We Keep, previously published as Songbird, Mia Levy is a farmer in Isreal when she recieves a letter from an old friend that dredges up memories from the war thirty years ago. Back in August 1939, Mia and her family were very well off, living in Poland and Mia had no greater joy than playing her piano. At 17 years old, her most immediate desire was a measure of freedom. Of course everything in Mia's life changes with the German invasion.

The story was interesting and Zacharius succeeded in making wonderfully human characters. In many stories concerning the Second World War and the Holocaust, any German characters are shown as irredeemably evil while the Jewish characters are nobely suffering saints. However, Zacharius has created dynamic characters who do not often fit into any one mold. Many German characters are shown with redeeming qualities and vice versa.

There were parts of the book that I didn't appreciate but they were few in number. I am not sure this book is appropriate for younger audiences as there was a bit of sex and SM described in the book, but the passages tended to be short and the rest of the book was enjoyable. It was also nice to see a different view of the war.

Rating: 4.0

If You Could See Me Now

What if imaginary friends were real? If they were people who worked to help children and just happened to be invisible to everyone but the child? In Cecelia Ahern's If You Could See Me Now, Luke has just made a new friend named Ivan but he's the only one who can see Ivan. His very strait-laced aunt, Elizabeth, avoids additional complications in her life and thinks this imaginary friend business is ridiculous, but then, one day, she meets a man named Ivan.

To some extent, the book was absolutely great but I am also not completely in love with it. I don't even know if I can explain why. It is a cute story and there is drama and romance and a unique idea but it just didn't grab me the way some books do and it was made more obvious by trying to get through it for the Read-A-Thon. It wasn't something I needed to set down and it wasn't dry or boring but it just didn't have that hold on me. The ending was pulled off beautifully but I just felt like the middle dragged a bit, though the fact that I was reading this at 4 o'clock in the morning might have a teensy little bit to do with it.

Apparently though, it is being made into a movie which I think I might actually like more than the book. Different stories work better with different mediums and I think a film might do better in this case. I'll have to wait and see.

Rating: 3.5

Odd Thomas

I have been hearing about Odd Thomas for a while now and I finally decided that the Read-A-Thon would be the perfect time to read the first book and see what I thought about the series. I hadn't heard much, only that it was about a character named Odd Thomas and that it was really good. I have to say, just the first few lines grabbed my attention and made me look forward to the rest of the book:

My name is Odd Thomas, though in this age when fame is the altar at which most people worship, I am not sure why you should care who I am or that I exist.
I am not a celebrity. I am not the child of a celebrity. I have never been married to, never been abused by, and never provided a kidney for transplantation into any celebrity. Furthermore, I have no desire to be a celebrity.
In fact I am such a nonentity by the standards of our culture that People magazine not only will never feature a piece about me but also might reject my attempts to subscribe to their publication on the grounds that the black-hole gravity of my noncelebrity is powerful enough to suck their entire enterprise into oblivion.

Who can resist a beginning like that?

As you can see, Odd's voice is very unique and often very amusing. Add that to a rather interesting plot, where Odd has the singular ability to see the dead, at least when they decide to show themselves, and this book was a very enjoyable read. It was also perfect for the Read-A-Thon as it was easily devoured. I had a great time with this book and can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Rating: 4.5

Veil of Roses

When Tamila Soroush, known to her friends as Tami, turns 27, her present from her parents is a one way ticket to America, with the hope that she will never return home to Iran. With luck, Tami will find a good Persian man to marry so that she can live in America. Of course, she has only three months before her visa expires and she will be living with her older sister and her brother-in-law while she searches.

Veil of Roses is about Tami's search for freedom and her desire to experience the freedom that so many of us take for granted. In the book, Tami experiences many firsts and finds an interest in photography.

The book is also about her sometimes comic search for a husband and for love. Her sister is trying to find an eligible young (or not so young) Persian man and this search is sometimes aided by Tami's new friend Eva, from her English class. Aside from all the dedicated searching, Tami also meets a young man in a coffee shop who see grows to like.

This was a beautiful story that I was happy to dive into. I loved Tami's voice in the story and the insertion of Persian terms made it seem authentic. Granted, my only experience with anyone Persian is a Persian-American family I know but Tami's voice seemed to fit right in with what I have seen of that family. I loved it and recommend it to anyone seeking a sweet love story or a light book to pass a bit of time with.

Rating: 5.0

The Princess Bride

I think almost everyone has seen The Princess Bride with Cary Elwes and Robin Wright playing the main characters of Westley and Buttercup. I mean, who can forget Andre the Giant playing the role of Fezzik, and Mandy Patinkin saying those classic lines: "Hello, my name is Inogo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die." And that's not to mention Miracle Max and his wife, Prince Humperdinck, Vizzini, and the evil Count Rugen. This movie is a classic and I absolutely love it. Thus, when I saw that there was a book, I had to buy and read it.

William Goldman presents The Princess Bride as an abridgement of a work by Florin author S. Morgenstern, who wrote the book as a political satire mocking the monarchy. Goldman also presents the story of his father reading this story to him when he was a small boy sick with pneumonia. Of course, all of it is false but it is an enjoyable plot device, for the most part. There were points when I wanted to skip the fictional Goldman parts to read the basic story but it wasn't often enough that I actually did skip anything.

The book and the movie are very similar; very few changes were made by the film crew when the adapted Goldman's book but, to be honest, where the two diverge, I tend to like the movie better. This is still a great book, full of humor and adventure, but this is one of the few examples where the movie may be better. Perhaps that is because, for me, Mandy Patinkin will always be Inigo, and Andre the Giant will always be slow, sweet Fezzik, and so on. I will say that the reader gets more of the back story in the book and it all adds to understand the characters.

To sum it up, the movie is iconic but the book is still pretty darn good. If you liked one, you will probably like the other.

Rating: 4.0

The Goose Girl

I am not sure why I grabbed this book. It might be because I have looked at in the bookstore about ten times and hadn't bought it yet. It might be because I have heard several people speak very highly of Shannon Hale's work. It may be that my friend told me to go back and get it since I couldn't find anything else I wanted. Either way, I am very glad I got this book.

The Goose Girl is a retelling of a fairy tale by the same name by the Brothers Grimm. It is the story of the Crown Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee (more commonly known as Ani), who was the first daughter born to the king and queen of Kildenree. When she was a child, her aunt spent a lot of time with her and taught her about the world. Her aunt also teaches her how to speak to the birds, telling her that each person is born with a word on their lips - the ability to speak to people, animals, or perhaps the elements themselves. I don't want to give to much away but you can read the fairy tale and know the general plot-line. Then again, even after I had done so, I didn't see everything that was coming in this book. Hale's characters were interesting and it was nice to see a fairy-tale princess that wasn't perfect and articulate.

While I did find this book in the YA section, where I seldom go, it didn't seem to me that it was a book that could only fit within the realms of YA novels. Since there is a sequel, called Enna Burning, I think I know what I will get next time I am at the local bookstore.

Rating: 4.0

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

To be honest, I didn't think I was going to like this book. It was short but it also isn't my normal fare. Still, the idea of it, that of a young immigrant's experience in America changing after the September 11 attacks, held interest for me.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Moshin Hamid, is the story of Changez, a young Pakistani man who, in May of 2001, has just graduated from Princeton, found a great job, and has met a girl. Life seems to be going very well for him and he looks to be on the way to happiness. Of course, the September 11 attacks happen and, in his home country of Pakistan, war with India seems increasingly possible and eminant. All of this drives Changez to look around and reassess his life.

One of the best things about this book was the narrative style. Changez is telling his story to a mysterious American as they eat dinner in a Lahore cafe. We hear it from Changez's point of view.

There is also a good deal of suspence in the novel and there are definitely questions remaining at the end of the book. Sometimes I like that and sometimes it annoys me. I am not sure whether I like having these questions left but the device has made me think and ruminate on the book.

End thoughts: this is a good, suspenceful read that is very relevant to the current world situation. I am very glad I picked this one up and I recommend it to people who aren't put off but current issue type reads.

Rating: 5.0

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance

In Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis wrote about a book he found on a train station when he was a young man. This book, written by George MacDonald, left such an impression upon Lewis that when he wrote The Great Divorce, his guide through Heaven is MacDonald himself. With such a recommendation, I felt that I simply had to try reading it myself.

Phantastes: A Faerie Romance chronicles the travels of a young man, known to the readers only as Anodos, who found himself in Fairy Land the morning after his birthday. In Fairy Land, he meets many beings, from the kind Beech tree to the evil Ash who seeks to devour him. Soon though, he is followed by his own Shadow, a dark, malevolent creature that he cannot escape. All the while, he is traveling through Fairy Land, seeking his white woman, a woman he loves.

I will admit that I found Phantastes rather difficult at times but that is probably due to the language used and how descriptive MacDonald gets at points. It was written in 1856, so some of the words and usage are archaic but once the reader gets past that, this is a wonderful tale.

I also found my favorite quote in this book:

Nor do we know how much of the pleasures even of life we owe to the intermingled sorrows. Joy cannot unfold the deepest truths, although deepest truth must be deepest joy. Cometh white-robed Sorrow, stopping and wan, and flingth wide the doors she may not enter. Almost we linger with Sorrow for very love.

Isn't that just lovely.

Rating: 4.5

The Fourth Bear

In the world of The Fourth Bear, characters from novels, nursery tales, and other ideas are made real. In fact, those characters originating from nursery tales have their own police department, called the Nursery Crime Division. The NCD is headed by Jack Spratt who was last seen solving the mystery of the murder of Humpty Dumpty, in The Big Over Easy, along with Sergent Mary Mary, and Constable Ashley, an alien from Rambosia. Now, Jack has had a few bad breaks (letting Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother get eaten isn't good for a inspector's career) and Goldilocks goes missing, followed by the escape of the Gingerbread Man, a psychotic killer. Add to that a car bought from a man named Dorian Grey and the fact that Punch and his wife, Judy, have moved next door, and Jack's life is going to be interesting.

Jasper Fforde authors wonderfully amusing reads with his quirky style and his visions of many of our favorite childhood characters. Talking bears who have won the right to live among men and use honey and porridge as a euphoria-inducing substance and seven foot tall cookies (or is he a cake?) that tend to murder random people are stand-out examples of Fforde's anthropomorphication efforts. The characters understand that they are in a story and often ask what plot device they will use. Will they decide to go with number twenty-six, garnering glory by solving the mystery behind the backs of their superiors, or number thirty-eight, waiting until they are begged for help and then saving the day? There is also a point at which a joke is finally fully revealed and Spratt and Mary comment that they don't know how the author gets away with such lame jokes. All of it works well towards making a good detective story that also amuses till the very end and makes you look forward to the next Nursery Crime novel.

Rating: 5.0

Manalive

G.K. Chesterton is one of my favorite authors for his lyrical style. Manalive is one of his remarkable pieces of fiction and it opens with one of the most wonderful descriptions of wind:

A wind sprang high in the west, like a wave of unreasonable happiness, and tore eastward across England, trailing with it the frosty scent of forests and the cold intoxication of the sea. It a million holes and corners it refreshed a man like a flagon, and astonished him like a blow. In the inmost chambers of intricate and embowered houses it woke like a domestic explosion, littering the floor with some professor's papers till they seemed as precious as fugitive, or blowing out the candle by which a boy read "Treasure Island" and wrapping him in roaring dark. But everywhere it bore drama into undramatic lives, and carried the trump of crisis across the world… Many an unnoticed girl in a dank walled garden had tossed herself into the hammock with the same intolerant gesture with which she might have tossed herself into the Thames; and that wind rent the waving wall of woods and lifted the hammock like a balloon, and showed her shapes of quaint clouds far beyond, and pictures of bright villages far below, as if she rode heaven in a fairy boat… There was in it something more inspired and authoritative even than the old wind of the proverb; for this was the good wind that blows nobody harm.

With this, the reader is introduced to the young men and women staying at a boarding house in London.

Innocent Smith is a strange young man who is blown by this wonderful wind into the boarding house's garden and he brings much more than a breath of fresh air into the lives of several people "who had long been consciously imprisoned in the commonplace." Mr. Smith is quite an original character as we see very quickly.

He talked dominantly and rushed the social situation; but he was not asserting himself, like a superman in a modern play. He was simply forgetting himself, like a little boy at a party. He had somehow made a giant stride from babyhood to manhood, and missed that crisis in youth when most of us grow old.

Soon though, many questions are raised about Mr. Smith and who he is. Is he some insane monster, murdering people, stealing, and tricking young women into a terrible fate? Or is he something entirely different?

I love this story and it is beautifully told. Events are strange but beautiful. This is a story about retaining the beauty in life - living in such a way that you are no longer "imprisoned in the commonplace." This book will make you think and maybe help you to see life in a more positive way.

Rating: 4.5

In Lucia's Eyes

Giacomo Casanova is well known as a man who loved many women but seldom is the story of one of the women told. In Lucia's Eyes is the story of the first woman who was ever loved by Casanova, a young girl who met him when they were both very young.

Lucia tells the story of her life and how she came to fall in love with the young Giacomo and how they planned to marry. Unfortunately, Lucia is struck with a case of small pox and her face is disfigured while Giacomo is away. Before he can return, she runs off and makes her way through Europe in a variety of roles. Now, Lucia is living in Amsterdam as a courtesan and life brings her something which causes her "to see everything in a new light" and Giacomo has become the famous Casanova.

One of the interesting themes of this tale is reason and emotion: by which or both should a person live? Should a person, once educated, live solely by that reason they have presumably gained or should emotion rule a person's actions? Or is there a third course where reason and emotion, education and intuition guide the choices and actions of a person? Japin's ideas are very relevant to the world and I would be interested in seeing more thoughtful work like this.

As the story goes, Lucia grows and learns more about herself, the results of her actions, and love. While this is a very short story, it was very well written and there was a great story to it. It was easy to read but it also brought about some interesting thoughts.

Rating: 4.5

Mila 18

When I first began the A-Z challenge, I came to the 'U' in the author list and I thought about a book I had read years ago by Leon Uris, Trinity, which was about the uprising in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century. I knew he had written other books so I thought I would read one of his. When looking at what he has written, I came across Mila 18, described as a "blazing novel... set in the midst of the ghetto uprising that defied Nazi tyranny, as the Jews of Warsaw boldly met Wehrmacht tanks with homemade weapons and bare fists." That sounded interesting enough but the book exceeded all my expectations. The novel is based on the real Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1943 and after reading this, I am very interested in reading historical accounts on which Uris based his book.

This stunning novel is set in Warsaw and begins with August 1939, weeks prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland. The reader is swiftly introduced to several sets of characters who are all important to the story. One of the most interesting characters is Andrei Androfski, a Captain in the Polish Army and a Jew, who is dating Gabriella Rak, a Polish Catholic woman who works at the American Embassy. Also important is Alexander Brandel, who we first meet through his journals chronicling the war and the life in Warsaw for the Jews. The reader sees the experiences of many people, from Horst von Epp, a German in charge of propaganda, to Paul Bronski, an academic who is set up as a puppet in the Jewish Civil Authority; from Wolf Brandel, the son of Alexander and a young man at the beginning of a terrible chapter in history, to Gunther Sauer, an officer in the Gestapo in charge of getting information from people.

While it may be difficult to balance this many characters on a normal basis, I found it very easy to keep track of who everyone was and how they were connected with one another. The story was very well told and, even though I knew in general terms how it had to end, I still had to keep reading to see what happened to the wonderful people in this terrible situation. This was a tragedy but not in the same way that so many recently published books have been. The tragedy seems almost incidental, somehow, while the main thrust of the book is about fighting against tyranny in many ways, even at the cost of your own life, and about finding nobility in the hardest situations one could ever face.

One note of comment is how Horst von Epp's character had very interesting comments and insights into the Nazi party and about how the world would react to the crimes of Nazi Germany. While some of them were mistaken, all of them are interesting to read in light of some knowledge of the past sixty some-odd years.

I loved this book and will have to pick up more of Uris' stories in the future.

Rating: 5.0

Change of Heart

In Jodi Picoult's most recently published book, Change of Heart, Shay Bourne has been convicted of murdering Elizabeth Nealon, a seven year old girl, and her step-father who is also a police officer. Because of the heinous nature of the crimes for which he is convicted, he is sentenced to death and will be the first man in New Hampshire to face the death penalty in about 60 years. June Nealon wants nothing to do with him, but now her daughter (who was born a few months after the deaths of Elizabeth and Kurt Nealon) is in need of a heart and Shay Bourne is offering his. This book, which had some very Green Mile type elements, revolves around the relationship between Shay and the Nealon's and religious beliefs.

I have to say that I regularly felt completely fed up with Father Michael's character. Father Micheal seemed to be a man who had chosen to take Holy Orders for no other reason than a feeling of guilt related to his service on the jury that sentenced Shay Bourne to death. A man who is supposed to be leading the faith ends up with his faith completely shaken within such a short amount of time and having no strength in his faith. Quite frankly, I found myself despising the silly little man and wanting to set down the book every time the chapter was narrated by him.

June Nealon's character found a little more sympathy in my heart: at least she had the excuse of having lost a husband (not so long after losing her first one) and a daughter all in one terrible day. Now, faced with the possible death of her only remaining family, it would be easy to be as bitter and cynical as June Nealon is. Still, I didn't enjoy reading her narrative until the latter parts of the story.

To be honest, the only narrative I actually enjoyed was that of the ACLU lawyer helping Shay, and that was because I understand the body and family issues and found her budding relationship to be sweet and humorous. I wasn't expecting to like her but she was quickly my favorite character and, quite possibly, the only reason I continued to read this book.

There were several instances of false information regarding the Catholic Church which tended to annoy me. None of them were huge, except one regarding the Seal of the Confessional, but it showed a lack of research which concerns me when I am reading a novel that revolved so strongly around religious beliefs.

As I am coming to find out about Picoult's writing, there were a few twists, but nothing I didn't expect from the beginning. While some of the story may have been very good, my disgust with the priest's lack of strength in his faith (which was due to why he chose the priesthood) made it very difficult for me to enjoy this novel and that was compounded by my frustration at the instances of poor research done regarding some elements of the Catholic Church, which played into the story. I suppose I can see a final point to all of it but not enough to make me really enjoy this book.

Rating: 2.5

The Time Traveler's Wife

I am sure that many people have heard of The Time Traveler's Wife, a novel about a man, Henry DeTamble, who has some sort of genetic disease that causes him to time-travel to various locations and times at odd moments in his life. Each time he time-travels, he arrives naked and must steal clothes and money to survive until he is pulled back into the present. The Time Traveler's Wife is also about Clare DeTamble, his wife, who first met Henry when he landed naked in her backyard, when she was six years old.

While I wasn't glued to this book, I did enjoy it. I didn't like some of the scenes and some of the language but it was a good story. At times, it was hard to follow the time changes, but Niffenegger helps by including a reference to the date and the ages of Henry and Clare before each section.

This book is sad, due to events and the fact that Clare is often left waiting for Henry. First, she waits for the days when he will show up near her house, and then, she is waiting for him to come back. Still, I liked the book and found Niffenegger's idea of a disease that makes you travel through time to be very different.

One bothersome factor is that I didn't see the explaination for some of the scenes that I though should have been there. It was like Niffenegger had an idea for a scene but only wrote half of it. I might have missed it but it was something that took away from the book for me.

Rating: 3.5

The Lovely Bones

I must have looked at the cover of this book a million times and every time, I wondered what it was about. The cover is very simple and, for that reason, always caught my attention but, I was usually busy looking for something else and I never took the time to pick this one up. That is until a friend lent her copy to me. I am very glad she lent this to me, because, otherwise, I would never have read it and then I would have missed out on a very good novel.

The Lovely Bones opens with Susie Salmon introducing herself and explaining that she was brutally murdered in 1973, when she was 14. Susie narrates the book from her Heaven, where she stays and watches her family, friends, and even her murderer as they continue in life. While Susie's mother and father begin to grow apart because of the murder, her 13 year old sister tried to deal with the effects as best she can. Her crush and a girl from Susie's school, Ruth, begin to grow closer after the situation. At the same time, Susie must grow up in many ways, even though she is dead.

Sebold uses Susie's voice to tell the story of a family's unexpected loss in a very unique way. While I had hoped for some things to happen, I wasn't disappointed with the choices Sebold made in her book. The beginning was tragic, as Susie explains how she died and the time immediately after her death, but the end is more joyful. I really liked this story and the way Sebold told it.

I just found out that The Lovely Bones is being made into a movie. I have mixed feelings about this since the movies are usually no where near as good as the book, but I enjoyed this one enough that I may brave the movie when it comes out.

Rating: 4.5

My Sister's Keeper

After hearing so much about this particular book, I decided that I should read it and see what I think. First of all, I have to say that I am a little concerned with how many people seem to love reading depressing books. Why is that? When I was younger, I read stries with heroes and knights and very clearly marked "bad guys" because it was an escape. I could fall into another world. With these books, I fall into a world that is worse than my own, which I suppose could make me grateful for the life I have but also makes me rather depressed because I know this stuff really goes on in other peoples' lives.

With that said, this My Sister's Keeper was still a very engaging book and one that was good enough for me to read, even if I was depressed by what was happening in the plot. Anna, a thirteen year old girl, was concieved as a genetic match for her sister Kate, who was diagnosed with a particularly harsh form of luekemia at age two. Since she was born, Anna has undergone several procedures to help her sister but now, when her sister's kidneys begin to fail, Anna may have other ideas and has hired a lawyer to sue for medical emancipation.

This story is told from several points of view, including Jesse, the eighteen year old brother and resident troublemaker, Sara and Brian, parents to Anna, Kate, and Jesse, Campbell Alexander, Anna's attorney, and Julia Romano, Campbell's ex-girlfriend from high school. It is a very well written narrative and the characters are well rounded and dynamic, even if the story takes place over a period of ten days. I liked that the font was different for each character, further seperating each individual and helping to give each of them added personality. I liked the side stories; if nothing else, they added to the process of humanization.

This book and Picoult's writing has the habit of raising many questions in the readers mind about what could or should have been different and what you might have done in the character's place. It is a mark of Picoult's skill that you do ask these questions and know enough about the characters to love them, even if you disagree with what they have done. The one flaw in that, for me, was the mother. I wasn't sure of her feelings until the very end but I still don't know what could have been done differently.

The one thing I disliked about the book would be a sudden plot twist near the end that I thought was simply too much. I won't say any more than that, so each person can decide for themselves, but I disliked Picoult's choice there.

My Sister's Keeper was a good book. I am not sure how many books like this I could read before being really depressed but this was a good story and I think Picoult did a good job handling rather sensitive material, though I feel she must live in a very dark sort of world. It seems to work for her but I think I am going to go read something fluffy soon, for the preservation of my sanity.

Rating: 4.5

Additional Reviews:
gautami tripathy

Salem Falls

I have been hearing so much about Jodi Picoult's writing lately and so I decided to give her a try and I grabbed Salem Falls when I was last at the library. While the subject matter and tone of the book is a bit heavy, I decided to go for it and see if I would also enjoy Picoult's work.

When Jack St. Bride was released from prison, after serving eight months for a crime he says he didn't commit, he was looking for a quiet town where he could try to rebuild his life. What he found was Salem Falls, a sleepy little town in New Hampshire, and Addie Peabody, a woman with ghosts of her own. Just when Jack thinks he has found someplace he can stay, four bored high school girls are at the center of the shattering of this life.

This book is the same story of the Salem Witch trials in many ways. In fact, I could call this story a modern incarnation of the witch hunts - Picoult re-enforces this similarity by choosing to place her story in the town of Salem Falls, though I think she may also mean that here, Salem, and the story of those times, falls. I am not sure about that but I do know I enjoyed the book. The characters were human, some with lots of flaws and some with just a few, but all humanly flawed. It was a great depiction of small town life, with all the secrets buried under the skin of the town's life. There were some characters that I grew to detest, based on their actions, but I disliked them more because they were realistic in their thoughts and choices.

All in all, I was very happy with this book and am now very interested in other books by Picoult. Luckily for me, I have a copy of My Sister's Keeper waiting on the nightstand for me to pick up and I think I will be diving into that as soon as I next sit down to read.

Rating: 4.5

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I was searching my local library for something that looked decent and I came across The Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards, which I have seen before but never really looked at until now. I figured that many people thought it was good and as I am currently attempting to expand my horizons and read items that would normally have passed under the radar, I decided to give it a go.

The story begins with a young family - a doctor and his wife who is pregnant with their first child. Norah, the wife, goes into labor in the middle of a snow storm and so Dr. Henry is forced to deliver what turns out to be twins, with the help of a single nurse, Caroline. The first child is a healthy boy but the second is a girl with all the signs of Down's Syndrome. In a flash decision, Dr. Henry gives the girl to Caroline, telling her to put the child in an institution and then tells his wife that the child died. Caroline, unable to leave the child in the institution meant for the feeble-minded, takes the child to raise as her own. What follows is the story of how these two children, Paul and Phoebe, grow up.

This is essentially a story about consequences: what happens to a family with just a single decision and how it can change lives forever. Even those who are not aware of the decision are directly affected by the waves made. The story-telling is well done and you care about the characters, even when poor decisions are made. For the most part, the main characters are fulled rounded off - they are human, at their best and, in places, at their worst. They make mistakes but there is usually a surrounding mass of history underlying each choice, just as real life often seems to work out.

While I was left with a few questions, besides the inescapable "what if's," I found the story compelling and empathized with the plight of several of the characters. It's not a fun book but I am glad I found this one, and may have to get a copy of my own in the future. This is definitely a piece of literature worth re-reading.

Rating: 4.0