0 stars
Only got a few pages into this one and found myself too annoyed to continue. Way too cutesy (says the reader who just enjoyed a cupcake book) and sort of smug. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a series as I didn't understand the characters or the setting particularly well. Kind of weird. Very likely more my problem than the book's, as many people loved this book.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Shorecliff by Ursula DeYoung
*** 3 stars
This was an interesting book. I wasn't really sure where it was going and it seemed quite slow at times. By contrast it all wrapped up in the end quite quickly and I'm not sure entirely convincingly. Without spoiling the book too much, our main character, who has truly served mainly as a narrator is suddenly a catalyst for a major event. That shift was a little jarring but not really unfair, I guess. What I had a problem with was the quick resolution without a perspective on how that event changed him.
I think this sort of thing has been done before and perhaps better. I think it's similar to Atonement in that regard. Youthful mistake leads to tragedy, that sort of thing. I think the book would have been a whole lot stronger if we had some evidence from the narrator that he'd been impacted by this event. A more skillful writer would have left hints along the way and made the reader see how the narrator was effected. As it was, he was a pretty bloodless and generic character for much of the book.
I think there were way too many characters, too. Something like eleven cousins and all the aunties were a lot to keep track of. There were opportunities for interactions and interesting dynamics that didn't really happen.
But I didn't hate the book by any means and was mainly interested in watching it unfold. It just failed to live up to a potential.
This was an interesting book. I wasn't really sure where it was going and it seemed quite slow at times. By contrast it all wrapped up in the end quite quickly and I'm not sure entirely convincingly. Without spoiling the book too much, our main character, who has truly served mainly as a narrator is suddenly a catalyst for a major event. That shift was a little jarring but not really unfair, I guess. What I had a problem with was the quick resolution without a perspective on how that event changed him.
I think this sort of thing has been done before and perhaps better. I think it's similar to Atonement in that regard. Youthful mistake leads to tragedy, that sort of thing. I think the book would have been a whole lot stronger if we had some evidence from the narrator that he'd been impacted by this event. A more skillful writer would have left hints along the way and made the reader see how the narrator was effected. As it was, he was a pretty bloodless and generic character for much of the book.
I think there were way too many characters, too. Something like eleven cousins and all the aunties were a lot to keep track of. There were opportunities for interactions and interesting dynamics that didn't really happen.
But I didn't hate the book by any means and was mainly interested in watching it unfold. It just failed to live up to a potential.
The Troop by Nick Cutter
**** 4 stars
If there was ever an indication of what an indiscriminate reader I am, it would be these side by side posts about 1) a cupcake book and 2) this book about boy scouts stranded on an island with little hope of survival. And yes, I was reading them pretty much simultaneously, flipping back and forth because....that's how I roll!
This was straight-up, pure, old school horror. Definitely had echoes of some of Stephen King's stuff; put me in mind of The Body (basis for the movie Stand By Me). Other reviewers compared it to The Ruins (which I utterly hated) and I get that. It's almost as bleak as The Ruins but for some reason, I liked this a whole lot more.
I had to set aside the whole unlikely premise that a bunch of young teens could go on a camping trip with a single adult leader. Maybe that's done in Canada (where this is set) but I rather doubt it. It's an unnecessary oversight, too, because I think the same plot could have been managed with the requisite adult to child ratio. ;)
Anyway, that nit aside, this was a bleak and pretty gross read but it kept me engaged and interested. The premise was very good. I read where the author modeled the story structure after Carrie. The main story was interspersed with news articles, legal documents, etc. It was a good use of this technique. I was definitely hooked by this read and moved through it very quickly.
If there was ever an indication of what an indiscriminate reader I am, it would be these side by side posts about 1) a cupcake book and 2) this book about boy scouts stranded on an island with little hope of survival. And yes, I was reading them pretty much simultaneously, flipping back and forth because....that's how I roll!
This was straight-up, pure, old school horror. Definitely had echoes of some of Stephen King's stuff; put me in mind of The Body (basis for the movie Stand By Me). Other reviewers compared it to The Ruins (which I utterly hated) and I get that. It's almost as bleak as The Ruins but for some reason, I liked this a whole lot more.
I had to set aside the whole unlikely premise that a bunch of young teens could go on a camping trip with a single adult leader. Maybe that's done in Canada (where this is set) but I rather doubt it. It's an unnecessary oversight, too, because I think the same plot could have been managed with the requisite adult to child ratio. ;)
Anyway, that nit aside, this was a bleak and pretty gross read but it kept me engaged and interested. The premise was very good. I read where the author modeled the story structure after Carrie. The main story was interspersed with news articles, legal documents, etc. It was a good use of this technique. I was definitely hooked by this read and moved through it very quickly.
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan
*** 3 stars
Charming, fluffy fun! What's not to like about a cute book set in London and revolving around cakes. Perhaps a little bit long, the pacing was a little odd but I found myself enjoying it quite a lot. I will happily seek out other books by Jenny Colgan, although they seem hard to find! Our library only has a few of her titles and only a slightly larger handful of her titles are available on Kindle. Perhaps she's not well-published in the US yet; the author is Scottish, so maybe she's not entirely "arrived" here. Shame because this was a delightful read and just the titles of some of her other books make me want to read them!
Charming, fluffy fun! What's not to like about a cute book set in London and revolving around cakes. Perhaps a little bit long, the pacing was a little odd but I found myself enjoying it quite a lot. I will happily seek out other books by Jenny Colgan, although they seem hard to find! Our library only has a few of her titles and only a slightly larger handful of her titles are available on Kindle. Perhaps she's not well-published in the US yet; the author is Scottish, so maybe she's not entirely "arrived" here. Shame because this was a delightful read and just the titles of some of her other books make me want to read them!
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths
* 1 star
I did not like this book at all. I thought it was pretty boring and a pretty standard mystery with few surprises. I expected to like the main character and the unusual setting but I actually liked neither. I did not connect with the bleak landscape or care about the history. I think I found the main character so unlikeable, I didn't care much what she had to say about her field of expertise.
Ruth's self-loathing was pretty hard to take and unrealistic. The morals of pretty much all the characters were gross. The casual "romances" (if that's what they were) were baffling and did not seem to serve much purpose. Perhaps only to set up the characters for future books, which I, thankfully, will not have to read.
I also very much disliked the lack of respect toward conventional religion. I get that it was supposed to be a characteristic of several of the characters but it was so ham-handed and awkward, it was clear to me it was part of the author's own personal agenda. Did not like this book and had to force myself to finish it.
I did not like this book at all. I thought it was pretty boring and a pretty standard mystery with few surprises. I expected to like the main character and the unusual setting but I actually liked neither. I did not connect with the bleak landscape or care about the history. I think I found the main character so unlikeable, I didn't care much what she had to say about her field of expertise.
Ruth's self-loathing was pretty hard to take and unrealistic. The morals of pretty much all the characters were gross. The casual "romances" (if that's what they were) were baffling and did not seem to serve much purpose. Perhaps only to set up the characters for future books, which I, thankfully, will not have to read.
I also very much disliked the lack of respect toward conventional religion. I get that it was supposed to be a characteristic of several of the characters but it was so ham-handed and awkward, it was clear to me it was part of the author's own personal agenda. Did not like this book and had to force myself to finish it.
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
0 stars
Disappointed because I so liked Room. In reading others' thoughts on Donoghue's books, it seems many did not like Room because it was so different from her typical books. It sounds as though this book is more along the lines of what she had done before. It was just unappealing to me; the characters were not interesting and the dialect and tone of the writing was annoying.
Disappointed because I so liked Room. In reading others' thoughts on Donoghue's books, it seems many did not like Room because it was so different from her typical books. It sounds as though this book is more along the lines of what she had done before. It was just unappealing to me; the characters were not interesting and the dialect and tone of the writing was annoying.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi
*** 3 stars
This was a fun and easy read. It felt like it didn't need to be quite so long; there was a least one subplot (Scott's mom and the dog) that I could have done without. It also took far too long to get to the point and it wrapped up far too quickly. But it was charming and fluffy and I look forward to reading more by this author.
This was a fun and easy read. It felt like it didn't need to be quite so long; there was a least one subplot (Scott's mom and the dog) that I could have done without. It also took far too long to get to the point and it wrapped up far too quickly. But it was charming and fluffy and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth
** 2 stars
Sequel to Call the Midwife. I did not enjoy this one quite so much; it seemed a bit drier. There were fewer stories but they went into more detail. I think I preferred the episodic nature of the previous book; it made the reading more dynamic. There was still overlap to the television series, so I enjoyed reading more about those characters. I'll read the third book to round out the series.
Sequel to Call the Midwife. I did not enjoy this one quite so much; it seemed a bit drier. There were fewer stories but they went into more detail. I think I preferred the episodic nature of the previous book; it made the reading more dynamic. There was still overlap to the television series, so I enjoyed reading more about those characters. I'll read the third book to round out the series.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Storm Front by John Sandford
0 stars
Wow! I'm glad I've been backed up on reading, so Sandford isn't an automatic Kindle purchase for me anymore because his last two books have been disappointments. There's lots of discussion on the Internet about whether or not this was ghost-written. His "official" channel seems to say it was not; the ambiguous dedication at the beginning as well as the quality of the writing and the bizarre plot would seem to indicate it was.
The WTF-plot takes us into adventure and treasure hunting stories with a stolen artifact from an Israeli archeology site. It's like a bad Dan Brown novel, and since even a good Dan Brown novel is pretty bad (bad but entertaining) this is pretty disappointing.
I plodded through to about page 100 and just couldn't take it anymore. The Virgil Flowers character doesn't even seem like himself. I have too many other books to dip into to waste my time on this one.
Wow! I'm glad I've been backed up on reading, so Sandford isn't an automatic Kindle purchase for me anymore because his last two books have been disappointments. There's lots of discussion on the Internet about whether or not this was ghost-written. His "official" channel seems to say it was not; the ambiguous dedication at the beginning as well as the quality of the writing and the bizarre plot would seem to indicate it was.
The WTF-plot takes us into adventure and treasure hunting stories with a stolen artifact from an Israeli archeology site. It's like a bad Dan Brown novel, and since even a good Dan Brown novel is pretty bad (bad but entertaining) this is pretty disappointing.
I plodded through to about page 100 and just couldn't take it anymore. The Virgil Flowers character doesn't even seem like himself. I have too many other books to dip into to waste my time on this one.
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