http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This is the story of a mysterious illness striking teenage girls in a high school. It was interesting, albeit a little dark, and the ending was a surprise.
Friday, January 2, 2015
The Fever
Fiction by Megan Abbott
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This is the story of a mysterious illness striking teenage girls in a high school. It was interesting, albeit a little dark, and the ending was a surprise.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This is the story of a mysterious illness striking teenage girls in a high school. It was interesting, albeit a little dark, and the ending was a surprise.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Those Who Wish Me Dead
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Wicked Ways
Fiction by Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This book started out okay, but it got less and less believable as it went on. Also it's either a part of a series (which it never alerted me to on the cover) or they have left out a lot of backstory on purpose.
I didn't really care for it.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This book started out okay, but it got less and less believable as it went on. Also it's either a part of a series (which it never alerted me to on the cover) or they have left out a lot of backstory on purpose.
I didn't really care for it.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
You should have known
Fiction by Jean Hanff Korelitz
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
Grace is a psychologist who's just written a book called You Should Have Known. It's a different kind of marriage self-help book, one that teaches the reader to recognize the clues a potential partner gives early in the relationship that will let her know he is wrong for her. Grace wants to help couples in crisis BEFORE the crisis happens, before they even become a couple. By carefully looking at a potential partner before marriage, a woman can avoid being blindsided later by a husband with a gambling problem, a secret homosexual relationship, or the like. After all, this problem was there all along, and the wife should have known it was coming. Right?
Her publisher is very excited about the book, saying it is perfect for release in the new year. It's just what the women of America need: someone who has it all together to explain to them what they should have known all along, someone like Grace. But then, just before Christmas, karma comes in to bite poor Grace in the butt.
Her own husband has a secret. A big one. One that she should have known...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
Grace is a psychologist who's just written a book called You Should Have Known. It's a different kind of marriage self-help book, one that teaches the reader to recognize the clues a potential partner gives early in the relationship that will let her know he is wrong for her. Grace wants to help couples in crisis BEFORE the crisis happens, before they even become a couple. By carefully looking at a potential partner before marriage, a woman can avoid being blindsided later by a husband with a gambling problem, a secret homosexual relationship, or the like. After all, this problem was there all along, and the wife should have known it was coming. Right?
Her publisher is very excited about the book, saying it is perfect for release in the new year. It's just what the women of America need: someone who has it all together to explain to them what they should have known all along, someone like Grace. But then, just before Christmas, karma comes in to bite poor Grace in the butt.
Her own husband has a secret. A big one. One that she should have known...
Friday, December 26, 2014
Leaving Time
Fiction by Jodi Picoult.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
To begin with, I'll point out that Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. This is because of her ability to tell a good story about realistically-drawn characters, and to tell that story from diverse points of view. Sometimes the people she invents are likable and sometimes they are not, but they are always believable.
Often she writes about an "Issue" (political or otherwise), but the important part of the story is always, to me, the characters. Also, her stories always elicit a strong emotional reaction, which can be good or bad. (See her reviews! Wow. But watch for spoilers from the disgruntled.) To me, this is the point of a good novel , and what makes it Art: the emotion it wrings from the reader. (Although, to be fair, I don't like a novel that makes me feel bad, no matter how Arty it is. See We Need to Talk About Kevin.) But the emotions I get from Jodi Picoult's novels are not bad ones, and I think often it is the "Issue" that upsets the angry reviewers.
Anyways...
This particular story is about Jenna, a thirteen-year-old girl who wants to find her mother Alice, an elephant researcher who disappeared without a trace when Jenna was three. The story is told by both Jenna in the present (she hires a detective AND a psychic) and Alice in the past, and many of the Alice segments are about her obsession with elephants. (The fact-heaviness of the elephant parts apparently bothers some readers, but I thought is was interesting, and consistent with Alice's character.)
I was beginning to read this book when I went to the dentist and she asked me about it. I explained the basic premise, and the dentist asked me, "So does she find her mother?"
"Well," I said, "I'm only on like page fifty, so I don't know yet."
But now I know the answer is...
Read the book and find out. Heh heh heh....
I also read by this author: The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Sing You Home
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
To begin with, I'll point out that Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. This is because of her ability to tell a good story about realistically-drawn characters, and to tell that story from diverse points of view. Sometimes the people she invents are likable and sometimes they are not, but they are always believable.
Often she writes about an "Issue" (political or otherwise), but the important part of the story is always, to me, the characters. Also, her stories always elicit a strong emotional reaction, which can be good or bad. (See her reviews! Wow. But watch for spoilers from the disgruntled.) To me, this is the point of a good novel , and what makes it Art: the emotion it wrings from the reader. (Although, to be fair, I don't like a novel that makes me feel bad, no matter how Arty it is. See We Need to Talk About Kevin.) But the emotions I get from Jodi Picoult's novels are not bad ones, and I think often it is the "Issue" that upsets the angry reviewers.
Anyways...
This particular story is about Jenna, a thirteen-year-old girl who wants to find her mother Alice, an elephant researcher who disappeared without a trace when Jenna was three. The story is told by both Jenna in the present (she hires a detective AND a psychic) and Alice in the past, and many of the Alice segments are about her obsession with elephants. (The fact-heaviness of the elephant parts apparently bothers some readers, but I thought is was interesting, and consistent with Alice's character.)
I was beginning to read this book when I went to the dentist and she asked me about it. I explained the basic premise, and the dentist asked me, "So does she find her mother?"
"Well," I said, "I'm only on like page fifty, so I don't know yet."
But now I know the answer is...
Read the book and find out. Heh heh heh....
I also read by this author: The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Sing You Home
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Ransom
Fiction by Lois Duncan.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This book starts out with a group of high school students who get on the bus after school, not concerned that the man at the wheel is not their regular driver. Instead he is a kidnapper! (I don't consider revealing that fact to be a spoiler, by the way, seeing as the name of the book is "Ransom".)
This was an exciting story. I've recently been enjoying rediscovering Lois Duncan's young-adult books, many of which I read over twenty-five years ago as a teenager myself. They are definitely worth the re-read for me, and should be still quite readable for teens today.
I also read by this author: They Never Came Home
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
This book starts out with a group of high school students who get on the bus after school, not concerned that the man at the wheel is not their regular driver. Instead he is a kidnapper! (I don't consider revealing that fact to be a spoiler, by the way, seeing as the name of the book is "Ransom".)
This was an exciting story. I've recently been enjoying rediscovering Lois Duncan's young-adult books, many of which I read over twenty-five years ago as a teenager myself. They are definitely worth the re-read for me, and should be still quite readable for teens today.
I also read by this author: They Never Came Home
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