I move, you get a book, everyone wins!

As I have mentioned, our happy little family will be moving at the end of this month. We have filled many, many boxes to the brim with our books and we are looking to lighten our load a little bit.

That means...it's giveaway time!

Today, I have two books for the giving! I will be sending both books on their merry way in the middle of next week.

Book #1
Another Piece of My Heart (ARC) - the link goes to my review
By Jane Green



Book #2
The Parting - link goes to Goodreads
By Beverly Lewis



So, here's the deal. Leave me a comment telling me how many times you have moved plus the book you would prefer and your email address. I will pick two winners on Monday night and send an email their way. Hooray!

Review: Jane Eyre Audiobook

Jane Eyre 

By Charlotte Bronte

Read by Emma Fielding

Naxos Audiobooks 2009

I had the embarrassing distinction of being one of the last people on the face of the earth to get through the story of Jane Eyre. I sort of knew the concept, but this was the first time I heard the story from the beginning to the end…or so I thought. I was dismayed to read the tiny print sometime during the second disk that this was the abridged version. Sigh. I was more than halfway through, so I just went with it.

In case you live under a bigger rock than I do, Jane Eyre is the story of a young orphan. She lives with her cruel aunt and cousins until she gets the opportunity to attend and then teach at a boarding school. Searching for a change in her life, she takes a job as a governess. She loves teaching her young pupil and is intrigued by the girl’s mysterious guardian Mr. Rochester.

I don’t know how many of my issues with this book have to do with the unexpected abridgement. I felt like there wasn’t a narrative throughout. Her terrible childhood with her relatives had practically nothing to do with the rest of the book. Bronte could have taken it out entirely with little consequence. I was really interested in the crux of the story - her relationship with Mr. Rochester, the mystery of Thornfield Hall, and the ways that Jane changes as she grows up.

I enjoyed Jane as a protagonist. I admired her determination and her unwavering belief, even when honoring those beliefs could hurt her. Despite this, I always felt a distance from her. She continuously seemed like someone I was reading about in a book, not someone who I could actually meet and get to know.

I enjoyed listening to this, and I think that sometime down the road I will pick up the (entire) book and actually read it. I know that many people count Jane Eyre as one of their favorite novels, and it’s a great story that has endured for generations.

Alright readers, tell me about your feelings for Jane. Do you love her, despise her, find her overrated? Do you read this every year because it’s your favorite book? Are my problems because I listened to a third-rate abridgment? I want to hear all about it! 

Wednesdays with David: Mirette on the High Wire

Mirette on the High Wire

By Emily Arnold McCully

Scholastic 1992

From our bookshelves

Sorry we are a little late posting this today. I'm not feeling so great today. I was the one taking a nap at rest time instead of David!

The story: Mirette lives in Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. She helps her mother run a boardinghouse that is home to actors, musicians, and circus stars. A mysterious stranger comes to stay at the house and Mirette discovers that he is the famed Bellini, a tightrope walker. But Bellini does not walk anymore - he is afraid. Can teaching Mirette to walk on the tightrope help Bellini find the courage to do the same?

Mama opines: This book is actually mine! Do you all remember book fairs in elementary school? I bought this book at the fair my kindergarten year. I loved this story as a girl - the colorful illustrations, the idea of living among artists in Paris, and Mirette's courage and determination. The fact that it's a Caldecott Medal recipient doesn't hurt either. 

Thoughts from David:  I like when the stranger comes.  I think that they have a great time in the book and because I love the part where they tight walk.

Favorite part: When she crosses the rope and my really favorite part is the end when they are tight walkers together. 

Happy Reading! 

Review: Housekeeping

Housekeeping

By Marilynne Robinson

Picador 1980

219 pages

From the library

Ruth and her sister Lucille live in the dreary town of Fingerbone. Their lives are upended by the appearance and disappearance of the women of their family – their mother, grandmother, great-aunts, and finally, their peculiar Aunt Sylvie. As the two girls grow up, they find themselves following different paths. Lucille tries desperately to be accepted within the constructs of their small community, while Ruth finds that the Fingerbone cannot contain her wandering spirit or wounded heart.

This was my first novel by Marianne Robinson, and I found myself savoring it. This is not a book that can be read quickly. The writing is very perceptive, but in a lovely, quiet way. Robinson begins by examining family. Ruth and Lucille are constantly abandoned by the very people who should stay in their lives – their mother, their grandparents, and their great aunts. The only one who will remain is their aunt, whose unusual habits and personality could threaten to tear apart the little family they have left.

“And I was left alone, in the gentle afternoon, indifferent to my clothes and comfortable in my skin, unimproved and without the prospect of improvement. It seemed to me then that Lucille would busy herself forever, nudging, pushing, coaxing, as if she could supply the will I lacked, to pull myself into some seemly shape and slip across the wide frontiers into that other world, where it seemed to me then I could never wish to go. For it seemed to me that nothing I had lost, or might lose, could be found there, or, to put it another way, it seemed that something I had lost might be found in Sylvie’s house.”

This novel reaches down into the depths of grief and examines the way that it stays alive for years after loss. The sadness these characters feel is constantly reflected in their surroundings, particularly in the lake where Ruth’s grandfather died in a train crash and her mother drove off of the bridge. The family cannot escape their ghosts, since a reminder is always in view. Robinson does a beautiful job of really creating this atmosphere – the water’s potential to heal and destroy, the claustrophobia of a small town, and the way memory can be more powerful than the present.

Housekeeping is a gorgeous novel; it’s small and quiet and will sit in your soul for a long time after you read it. It’s a perfect choice to read on that rainy day when you are feeling a bit melancholy and need an author who truly understands how that feels and what that means. I have a feeling that I will frequently return to the writing of Marilynne Robinson and hope that this book and her others will find a home on my bookshelf.

It's Monday and life is crazy!

Hey there, bookish people. How are you doing? It's been a crazy week around here. We are in the midst of packing and getting ready to move in two weeks; and then we had a wedding, Mother's Day, and celebrating five birthdays. A happy Mother's Day to all of you beautiful mamas! 

So with all of that going on, not too much reading is getting done right now. 

Still Reading:

The Secret History

By Donna Tartt
This one is moving rather slowly. I'm about halfway done, but I'm really feeling the length of this one.

Posts from this Past Week:

It's Monday

Wednesdays with David: Frog and Toad are Friends 

Half Blood Blues Audiobook

Reviews of The Slap and Love You More

Up Next: 

Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected

By Kelle Hampton


The Maze Runner
By James Dashner


So, what are you reading this week? 

Review: Love You More

Love You More

By Lisa Gardner

Bantam March 2011

351 pages

Borrowed from that lovely building full of books

Detective D.D. Warren is looking forward to a quiet weekend when she receives a phone call from her former boyfriend and fellow detective Bobby Dodge. A state police trooper claims to have shot and killed her husband in self-defense. But as the investigation proceeds, things aren’t adding up. Tessa’s story doesn’t ring true to D.D. Why would a police officer allow her husband to abuse her? Why did she reach for her gun instead of her baton or taser? And why does Tessa seemingly refuse to help them find the couple’s six year old daughter?

This was an excellent mystery, with plenty of twists and turns. I saw this book all over the internet, and decided to give it a whirl despite the fact that it was the fifth in a series. The good news is that it stands by itself. Gardner gives you just enough background about D.D., Bobby, and their relationship, so that you feel informed, but won’t be bored if you are a devoted reader of the series. I am not a big mystery reader, but I was hooked from the beginning and had the pleasure of a day off on my birthday to get comfy and read Love You More from cover to cover.

The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of D.D., the detective in charge of the case, and Tessa, who is alternately criminal and victim. Love You More succeeds in being both a taut thriller and a meditation on what it means to be a mother. Tessa has placed her love for her daughter above all else. D.D. is about to find out the lengths and depths a mother will go to for her child.

I appreciated that Gardner wrote two strong female protagonists. It’s so refreshing to see a battle of wits between two women. D.D. knows the delicate dance that Tessa must perform as the sole female cop among her male colleagues, but doesn’t allow this to excuse Tessa’s decisions. In the same way, Tessa know what she has to do regardless of the effect it will have on D.D.’s investigation. She hopes that the detective will be able to help her, but she can’t afford to wait for D.D. to figure it out.

Gardner does an excellent job of slowly bringing the reader into the loop. You have to work for each lead, just as D.D. does. The twists and turns and strong, fascinating characters will keep you turning pages long into the night. I will definitely be going back and reading the other adventures of Detective D. D. Warren. 

Listening to Half Blood Blues

Hello there, readers! How are your weeks going?

You may remember that I reviewed Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan a few weeks ago. The novel is short-listed for the Orange Prize, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, and the winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Half Blood Blues tells the story of a group of jazz musicians dealing with racial tensions and the Nazi invasion in Berlin and Paris.

I know some of you ambitious people are trying to read through the prize lists this year. If you are working through the Orange shortlist or the Booker finalists, you may want to break it up by adding an audiobook to your library pile. The audiobook for Half Blood Blues is narrated by Kyle Riley.

I am psyched to give you a sneak peak of the audio, courtesy of Esther Bochner of Macmillan.Click on the link below and decide if Half Blood Blues will be the next track on your Ipod.

http://media.us.macmillan.com/video/olmk/macmillanaudio/halfbloodbluesclip.mp3

Of those books nominated for the Orange shortlist, I have only read Half Blood Blues and State of Wonder. You can check out nomadreader for reviews of all of the books on the shortlist. The winner will be announced on May 30.


P.S. Happy Birthday to my handsome hubby who will be graduating from seminary in a week! Hooray!