A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty
by Libba Bray

Sometimes catching up on books I've owned for a long time simply means purchasing more books in the end. This book is the first of a trilogy and of course now I must read the other two, right?

When I purchased this book I was not aware of the supernatural aspect of the story, even though it refers to it on the back jacket. Silly me. I was expecting a period piece about a young girl in a British boarding school in the late 1800's. I thought the visions and powers referred to were about social power and status. I was a little put off when I realized the book was indeed of the fantasy/sci-fi genre. However, I carried on and discovered a story I very much enjoyed.

Gemma has been raised in India her entire life and very much wants to go to England to school. When her mother commits suicide she sadly gets her wish only to discover it's not the perfect life she'd been dreaming of.

She finds herself at Spence, a school for young ladies, and feeling much out of place. She tentatively makes friends with some of the girls and together they delve into the supernatural, visiting a realm, another world, of beauty and peace where Gemma finds her mother alive and the forgiveness she seeks.

But of course what appears to be wonderful on the surface has dark and evil currents below and Gemma and her friends are soon in danger.

I was thoroughly entertained by this story and particularly enjoyed the time period it takes place in. This book is found in the young adult section, where I find many enjoyable books. I'm ether young at heart or just never matured into full blown adulthood.

Sundays at Tiffany's

Sundays at Tiffany's
by James Patterson

Another book that has been in my inventory for quite some time. Yes, I am finally trying to work my way through some of those books I've owned since my days as a Barnes & Noble bookseller before I invest in more. I'm only being partially successful, as I still frequent the bookstore and continue to purchase books, but even "partially successful" is better than just letting them sit on my bookshelves unread forever.

Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.

This book was featured as a Lifetime made for TV movie this month. That was my impetus for getting it out and reading it. I very much dislike watching a movie if there is a book to be read first. Books offer so much more insight into the characters. And I will also know if the screenwriter butchered the book or not.

In this case I didn't feel there was too much of a book to be butchered. I'm all for some light fluff in my library, but this was so fluffy it lost most substance. I think the movie version, although quite different in some significant ways, was probably a better story, although I felt the book did a better job of defining an imaginary friend.

As an adult, Jane Margaux becomes reacquainted to the man who was her imaginary friend as a child. The premise of the story is quite fun as we discover the realm and rules of imaginary friends. But the story is totally predictable, which I wouldn't really mind, if it wasn't so full of the same questions repeated over and over again.

It's a quick read and could have been lots of fun, but I don't really recommend it unless you just don't have another book anywhere on hand that interests you.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

I finished reading Edgar Sawtelle quite some time ago - 2 full books ago actually. I was so mad when I finished this book, I couldn't write a review. Now I hope I still recall enough of it to do so.

I glanced at some (non-spoiler) reviews prior to reading the book and one that stuck in my head in particular referred to the book as one people either hate or love... or have a love/hate relationship with it. That definitely sums up my feelings.

I started Edgar with a lot of hope and enthusiasm. The author writes beautifully and drew such wonderful pictures in my mind. I don't have patience for a lot of detail usually, but I was drawn in by the author and could clearly see the landscape of his book. It was almost like watching a movie and thoroughly enjoyable.

Edgar Sawtelle, the main character of this book is a young mute boy growing up on a rural farm breeding dogs. The dogs they breed are extraordinary. Much of the story revolves around their history and evolution and sometimes does bog down on the details of these mystical dogs.

Edgar, although young has a maturity about him and his role on the farm. He takes his responsibilities very seriously. Tragedy strikes and we watch him deal with his father's death and his mother's subsequent depression. The events that follow kept me cheering on Edgar, worrying for him & his dogs and desperate with curiosity of how it would all be resolved. Edgar is the hero, the champion of his dogs and his mother and I knew he would expose the evil and resolve the issues.

***Spoiler Alert***

It doesn't happen that way. With all the emotion I invested into Edgar's odyssey, he loses the fight. Not only does he lose, everyone loses. There are no winners at the end of this book. Right up until the end I loved the book. Honestly, I hated the ending so much I almost wish I hadn't invested all the time in the first 500 pages.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I put off buying this book for a quite a while because I kept hearing so many poor reviews of it. "Not as good as her first book" (The Time Traveler's Wife) is inevitably written where ever I looked. That alone was not enough to deter me since a follow-up to TTTW would be very hard to match. But the reviews went further than that and I wondered if I really wanted to read this novel at all. But the synopsis had me hooked and I decided I finally must find out for myself.

The story centers around the lives of twin girls, themselves the daughters of a twin girl. It begins with the death of their aunt (Mother's twin) who they've never met, nor heard of. The twins inherit their aunt's estate and must move from Chicago to London to live in their aunt's flat for a year.

It is in London where the story develops amid the people who were formerly part of the aunt's life. This is a love story, a ghost story, a story of secrets and betrayal. There are some turns and twists, some expected, some maybe not.

Niffenegger's style is very readable and enjoyable. What I get most from other reviews is that readers had enjoyed the first half of the book but not the second half. One was a little more specific and said the first 2/3 as opposed to the last third. I mention the 2/3 vs 1/3 ratio because I believe that is likely the point where most dissenters fell out of the story.

As in TTTW, Niffenegger asks her reader to suspend belief and follow a story that is supernatural in nature. It's not too difficult to do in the beginning when the ghost character is introduced to the story, in fact the introduction of the ghost is quite charming as she discovers what it is to be a ghost. But further developments in the story require the reader to go outside the normal (?) boundaries of suspension of belief. The elements of the story seem no longer feasible or likely, even supernaturally.

I found myself falling down that same rabbit hole, thinking, "Nah, couldn't happen." But in an effort to really continue enjoying Niffenegger, I decided to suspend my beliefs just a bit further and go with it. If skepticism was to destroy my enjoyment of the tale, I should have let it take over much sooner. As long as I had come along this far, why stop now? I decided to play along and go for the entire ride.

I am glad I did. The story didn't play out how I wished it would but that was never the author's intention. It did, however, keep me thinking about the characters and their lives (or deaths) even after I closed the final page.

Me & Emma

Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock

This story is told through the voice of an eight year old girl, Caroline (Carrie), growing up in a poor family in North Carolina. She and her little sister Emma are taunted for their unkempt appearances and Carrie in particular for her wandering mind. Carrie loves and admires her tough little sister who always seems to rise above the taunts.

Before the story begins, these girls have lost their father. He was the victim of a murder which Emma witnessed. Their mother has remarried a cruel alcoholic drifter. Their lives are full of violence which causes these girls to try to stay as unobtrusive in their home as possible as they watch out for each other. Carrie often drifts back in thought to the happier days when their father was alive.

The book is as easy as talking to an eight year old but as difficult as interviewing the victims of abuse. This book will make you angry and sad. Unfortunately, there is no fairy tale ending.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel

There is not a lot I can say about this book. It's a holocaust survivor story from a man who was 16 when he was liberated from the camps.

It's horrific. It's terrifying. It's simply stated.

The fact that any man, woman or child had to endure such atrocities is beyond comprehension and probably explains more than anything why the book was written.

It's required reading in many high schools now and I highly recommend it. It seems more pertinent in today's world than ever. Where there is so much hatred toward groups of people, it's so very frightening to see what can happen.

This story differs somewhat from others I have read in that Wiesel expresses more hopeful thinking toward the beginning of his town's eventual evacuation of Jews. If it was reality or his youthful opinion, at each step of narrowing down their world, from complete freedom to living in ghettos, he talks about the Jews thinking things weren't so bad. They had heard and had been warned, but in the beginning they more or less accepted the German invasion and their moves as signs of protection.

There are a few places in the story where Wiesel and his family or father can make some choices. It's particularly heartbreaking when the realization hits of how differently things could have turned out if only the other choice had been made.

The book ends with Wiesel's liberation, leaving me with questions about the females of his family, if his mother or sisters made it through the camps or if he ever heard of their fate.

Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I finished this book over a week ago and I just couldn't bring myself to review it. I loved the book, much more than I ever anticipated I would, but I don't know how to share it.

Gilbert shares a year of her life and whatever background necessary to understand it. The year is spend in Italy, India and Indonesia. The months in Italy are about pleasure, her love of all things Italian and especially the language and food. In India she lives in an Ashram searching for her inner peace. Indonesia, Bali in particular, she "studies" with a medicine man and falls in love.

That's the simple version.

My reluctance to ever start this book was that it just didn't sound interesting. Not only that, but I was a little worried about it being preachy as well.

Not to worry.

The book is completely and totally about Gilbert and her experience. And Gilbert writes in a totally entertaining manner.

What I came away with instead was a desire to travel and immerse myself in another culture. She writes so easily and humorously about her experiences, I wanted to be there, or at least in the country of my own desire having my own experiences.

Each section of her book has it's own personality. "Eat" is about letting herself follow her nose and enjoy everything around her, each and every experience. "Pray" becomes more somber as Gilbert faces her own demons and tries to get herself out of her own way to overcome her life's obstacles. I have to say there were many times in this part of the book I simply wanted to shake her. But I also wanted to experience real mediation and what it could bring to me. "Pray" was so much more informational than "Eat" and I loved the education she gave me. "Love" I have to describe as the afterglow. Gilbert had come a long ways personally when she arrived in Bali and her story was more relaxed. Different from "Eat" in that she didn't seem to be pursuing pleasure as much as just letting her life and her learning be pleasurable.

This book is truly a vicarious pleasure. It left me wanting more in my own life, particularly spiritually. My only peeve about the book? The chapter breaks.

This is going to sound silly and petty but....

Each chapter has a big black dot at the beginning of it, representing a bead. There is a particular symbolism to this and I understand the meaning, it's explained at the beginning of the book. However, where the chapters are particularly short there may be as many as 3 of these "beads" on a page and they jump around.

Seriously.

Maybe it's my astigmatism, or not. But those "beads" flashed at me, black & white and jumped all over the pages. I had to physically cover them with my hand to continue reading.

And that is my only complaint.