Some of this and a little of that

So we went to Disney World. We got back on Tuesday. It was lovely and we had so much fun. It was one of those vacations where you fall into bed exhausted, but so happy. Good on the vacation front, not so much on the reading one. I am about 200 pages into The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I am enjoying it so much, but it's an intricate book. It's not something you can just breeze through, especially at the tune of 600 plus pages.

Now we are back home and trying to catch up on loads of laundry and phone calls and picking up with our crazy lives. I finally found the missing CD for the audio book I have been listening to on and off (it was in one of David's DVD cases...don't you love when you put something somewhere that makes sense at the time and no sense at all after the fact?). The bad news is that I have no more renewals of Exit the Actress. So it's back to the library with that one. That's sort of sad for me. I hate not finishing books, but it just wasn't holding my interest. That struck me as strange because I studied theatre in college. I know all about Nell Gwyn and she is fascinating! Maybe it's the listening to it that isn't working. A lot of people really enjoyed this book. So for now, I'm letting it go, but I think I will try to pick it up in print in the future.

This weekend, the hubs is hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner for the youth group at our church. Other than that, I hope to get lots of reading done, avoid catching David's cold, and come back with a shiny book review for you at the beginning of next week.

Have a lovely weekend, ladies and gents!

Review: The Midwife's Confession

The Midwife’s Confession

By Diane Chamberlain

Mira 2011

When Noelle commits suicide, her best friends Tara and Emerson are shocked. The women are left with only a mysterious note in which Noelle apologizes to a woman named Anna for something that is left unwritten. Tara and Emerson dig into Noelle’s past, interviewing the women she worked with as a midwife, determined to find out what dark secret caused her to take her own life.

Meh. Is that an appropriate reaction to a book? I was interested enough to continue reading, but that may have been in part because I was leaving to go on vacation and wanted to finish the book before I left. I could figure out what the big secret was fairly early on. Then there was another plot twist, which I also saw coming. The characters just didn’t really hold my interest. I actually had to check a few times if the current chapter was from Tara or Emerson’s point of view.

While Ms. Chamberlain does occasionally have some good insight into grief, it always seems to just be skimming the surface. Tara is dealing with losing Noelle in addition to losing her husband the previous March. When she realizes that her husband’s message is still on the answering machine, “I stared at the phone in my hand for a moment, then started to cry, hugging the phone to my heart. I sat on the stool next to the kitchen island and sobbed so hard my tears pooled on the granite. I’d thought I was done with this part of the grief – this sucking-down, soul-searing pain – but apparently not.”

So this book was ok for me. I didn’t hate it, but I probably won’t pick up another book by this author. There were so many places to go with the topics introduced within the novel – grieving, the relationship between mother and child, the extent to which we really know each other, the experience of childbirth - but it feels like a cursory effort throughout. 

Wednesdays with David: Our Apologies

We regret to inform you that, due to post-Disney exhaustion and the start of a nasty cold, David has declined to comment on any of the books we have been reading this morning while snuggling on the couch.

Please come back next week - we promise to have a great children's book review for you! And coming up tomorrow, The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain!

Review: Sister

Sister

By Rosamund Lupton

Crown Publishers 2010

Beatrice’s sister Tess has gone missing again. Bee is not particularly worried – Tess has done crazy things like this before. Instead, she is ready to give her baby sister an older sister reprimand about taking care of herself and her baby. But when Bee arrives in London, she discovers that her sister has been murdered. When the police rule it a suicide, she knows that it cannot be true. She starts to investigate on her own, barging into the house of her sister’s older lover, questioning the fellow student who was in love with her, and researching the medical study that her sister took part in so she could save her baby.

The reader knows from the beginning something bad has happened to Tess. Bee is actually writing to Tess, telling her what has happened since the moment that their mother called and said that Tess was missing. It is obvious from reading this story that Ms. Lupton is a sister. Her insight into that relationship is nuanced. Bee is certain she really knows her sister, the things she would or would not do. Her sister’s death instigates the first moment when she is unsure of just how strong their bond was.

“Facts of exploding shrapnel were ripping our relationship apart. You didn’t tell me when your baby died. You were depressed, but you hadn’t turned to me. I knew every painting you were working on, every friend, even the book you were reading and the name of your cat. (Pudding – I’d remembered the next day.) I knew the minutiae of your life. But I didn’t know the big stuff. I didn’t know you.”

This novel manages to be an intriguing mystery, a look at the morality of medical practices, and a lovely tribute to the relationship that sisters share. Oh, and have I mentioned the crazy twist ending? Yes, that too. This is a strong debut novel and a good mystery. 

It's Monday and I'm not here...

Nope. I'm not here at my computer today. I'm not even in the beautiful state of New Jersey today.

Today I am right here:



Or maybe here:



That's not the point, really. I'm supposed to talk about books, I think.

I finished reading The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain before I left. I may or may not have made some progress on this novel by the excellent Michael Chabon:



I don't know. I'm writing this on Wednesday night. Who knows what I have done in four days? I will let you know when I get back.

Until then, I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are reading some awesome books that you will tell me all about. Come on back tomorrow for a review of Sister by Rosamund Lupton.

Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern

Doubleday September 2011

Marco and Celia are illusionists, trained from childhood to manipulate their surroundings and the people they encounter. They have been prepared for a battle of magic that will continue until there is a winner. Their battle ground is the mysterious night circus, which appears without warning and features tents of clouds and ice, magicians and contortionists, and a white flame that never goes out.

This novel has been the belle of the literary ball for months. I get nervous about reading highly acclaimed books, but this one deserves all of the accolades. Ms. Morgenstern is a wonderful writer. She has incorporated mythology and fairy tale into a story that is truly compelling. We rush through the rainy streets of London and explore the amazing tents of the circus with Bailey, a young boy who is inexplicably drawn to the circus and a certain red-haired girl. The description and imagination that permeate each chapter are amazing. It’s not just about the magic of the circus, but about the magic of story.

"It is important,’ the man in the grey suit interrupts. ‘Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasure and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, you gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that.’ He takes another sip of his wine. ‘There are many kinds of magic, after all."

Some reviewers have commented that the characters seem undeveloped. But I think they don’t need to be extremely developed – this is a fairy tale. Think of the fairy tales of your childhood. We don’t need to know everything about them, because the important things are the atmosphere and the story.  

Thank God for writers like Erin Morgenstern. So many authors focus on what we already know –we fall in love and relationships break, people become heroes in the heat of the moment and others commit horrendous crimes. Some authors, though, give us new worlds to discover, like Narnia and Middle Earth and Hogwarts. They remind us about the power of imagination and wonder and dare us all to dream again. After all, the Night Circus is called Le Cirque de Reves – The Circus of Dreams. This was a book that I didn’t want to end. 

Christmas and books? Yes, please!

So if you are reading this here blog, you might have a bookish blog of your own. You may also love Christmas or Hanukah or Kwanza or Ramadan or Festivus or another winter holiday that I can't think of at this moment.
So...if you are a book blogger and love you some holiday cheer, read on!

Hop on over to The Holiday Swap.

It goes like this - you fill out a smallish form with your mailing information and what kind of goodies you would like to receive. You have to act quickly, because they are only accepting secret Santas between now and midnight on Friday. So then someone gets your name and you get someone else's name. You send them something awesome and another lady or gent sends you something awesome.

In the end, everyone has a present and we are all really excited about ChristmaHanaKwanzakah...

Ok, enough of my babbling. Go sign up. Now! Go!