Framed's 2007 Book Reviews

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Canadian Book Challenge: Nova Scotia
This book begins with Russell, an ornithologist, telling about his flight from New York to Holland when something goes seriously wrong. In that first chapter, you get a slight introduction to several of the ill-fated passengers on the plane. The next chapter, we meet Kevin, an innkeeper on Trachie Island who sees the plane as it hits the water. Kevin and his partner, Douglas, gear up for the newly arriving guests, friends and family of the victims. The main character from this point is Ana, Russell's wife, and a fellow ornithologist. From that first gripping chapter, through the arrival of the grieving families, to five years later, we are taken on a journey through grief, acceptance, and moving on. Along the trip, Kessler weaves in facts about the migratory habits of the birds who pass over the island each spring and fall. Even though the subject matter is incredibly sad, Kessler maintains a matter-of-fact level that keeps the novel from becoming too maudlin. The characters are easy to identify with and their situations and manner of dealing with their losses make sense and are never over the top. And the bird facts are fascinating and a lyrical addition to this beautiful novel. I love this particular quote:
"How is a story like a bird? It keeps us aloft. It flies. It goes from one place and lands at another, seemingly at random. But its movements are carefully choreographed, and if you look closely, you'll know exactly where it will next perch."
I truly enjoyed Kessler's style of writing and look forward to reading other books he has written.
Rating: 4.5
Posted by Framed at 11:11 PM

4 comments:
John Mutford said...
Though I haven't read it, Edward Riche's Rare Birds, set in Newfoundland, also intertwines bird trivia into the story. Sounds good.
12/26/2007 7:13 AM
Literary Feline said...
I read another blogger review of this book not too long ago. It does sound like a worthwhile read. Thank you for the great review!
12/26/2007 10:12 AM
Booklogged said...
Very nice review. I liked this book, too.
12/30/2007 7:04 PM
Crafty Green Poet said...
this sounds like a book I need to read, I love reading about birds, especially when they're woven well into a story

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Challenge - Canadian Book Challenge - Nunavat
This book takes place on Baffin Island in 1896. While the Eskimos have heard of the men from the south with light skin, they have never seen one. Into their orderly village lives come three such men who were swept overboard and managed to reach the island. Two men are light-skinned, the other black, but their appearance into the village of twenty or so Eskimos, manages to change things immensely. The story is told by a young, crippled man who lives on the outskirts of village life because of his disability. While telling how the three strangers are taken in and cared for, Avinga also shares many details of how the Eskimos lived and how their society functioned. Houston also made small sketches of utensils and snow houses throughout the book. Even though this is a novel, the facts about the people are historically correct and absolutely fascinating. It's quite humorous when Avinga discusses the white men's (dog children) strange customs because they seem so normal to me. What the story eventually comes to share is how a society which worked so well for these people becomes corrupted by the influence of the outsiders. My main advice for anyone planning to read this book is to do it in the summer. I really struggled with page after page of blowing, blinding snow and frigid temperatures while I'm suffering with the cold from hell in frosty Vernal, UT. I know I've got it easy. Thank heavens for my furnace, soft bed and down comforter. No dark, musty snow house warmed only by a seal-oil lamps and sleeping on a snow shelf wrapped in caribou skins for me. Not to mention the bathroom facilities. Ycch.
Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 7:56 PM

3 comments:
Susan Helene Gottfried said...
I read this a few years ago and simply loved it. What a great book! Glad to see you've discovered it, too.
12/22/2007 1:32 PM
John Mutford said...
I recently read his Whiteout and just about despised it. Perhaps White Dawn is much better, but I'll have to take your word on it.
12/23/2007 3:02 PM
Booklogged said...
Sounds like summer would definitely be a better time to read this chilly tale.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Canadian Book Challenge - Ontario
This book is set in Northern Ontario in a very small farming community. Kate Morrison lives on a small farm with her parents, much older brothers, Luke and Matt, and her baby sister, Bo. The family seems fairly normal if a touch bit reserved and undemonstrative. Then tragedy strikes. As the narrator, Kate tells the story of her youth interspersed with the present. It's interesting because you can see a direct correlation between what happened when she was seven and how it affects her twenty years later. "Crow Lake" is beautifully written, never melodramatic, but emotional. There is humor mixed in to many sad moments and a wealth of wonderful characters. I loved the description of Mrs. Stanovich, the large-bosomed neighbor who likes to hug the reticent Kate, and who cries at the drop of a hat. The novel really illustrates how misunderstandings can become overblown, how we can resent those who gives us the most, and mostly the importance of family love.
Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 9:51 PM

9 comments:
John Mutford said...
Wow, this book has almost become an official selection of the Canadian Book Challenge. I think you captured a lot of the appeal when you wrote "never melodramatic, but emotional." Not an easy task, but I agree she pulled it off. Any plans on reading Other Side of the Bridge now?
12/15/2007 10:16 PM
gautami tripathy said...
Thanks to you, I got to read this book. I am very glad I did. I even passed it around to few of my friends.You summed it up so well!rootedreading room
12/16/2007 7:01 AM
Joy said...
Hi Framed! I'm glad you enjoyed this one, too. I'm picking up The Other Side of the Bridge very soon.
12/16/2007 8:00 AM
Lauren said...
I loved this book!!! I'm glad you enjoyed it too! :)
12/16/2007 10:05 PM
Stephanie said...
Nice review!! I have this on my list for the Canadian Challenge as well. Man, I really need to get to work on this one!!
12/18/2007 5:56 AM
Les said...
I've read both this and The Other Side of the Bridge. This was the better of the two, but I did enjoy both. I thought the humor Bo provided helped keep this from being too terribly depressing, didn't you? I look forward to her next novel. Let's hope it's soon!
12/18/2007 5:55 PM
adam said...
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12/19/2007 1:29 PM
Booklogged said...
Sounds good. Are you mooching this book off? If not, can I borrow it?
12/30/2007 7:15 PM
Framed said...
Booklogged, I was planning to mooch it but you can borrow it first.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007


Challenge: Christmas Theme Books
Our narrator, Doug, is a twelve or thirteen-year-old telling about his life in 1960, with special emphasis on the Episcopal Christmas pageant that year. The story is a wonderful one for those who wax nostalgic for a simpler time. And because the writing is very basic, it's also a great book to read your children at Christmas time. At first, I found Barry's style a bit boring as it was obviously geared toward a much younger audience; but as the story progresses, I became caught up in the humor of adolescent boys' antics and the love of a dog. The story contains tender moments and tearful moments, and a hilarious finale at the pageant.
Rating: 4
Posted by Framed at 9:20 PM

2 comments:
Debi said...
Hello!I'm stopping by to let you know that I've set up a separate blog for the What's in a Name? challenge. I hope you'll be able to stop by once in while to see what contests are going on and to leave links to any reviews you write. Thanks again for joining!--Annie
12/13/2007 10:29 AM
Bookfool said...
Dave Barry's style is kind of nerdy, elbow-in-the-ribs humor. I think that's what I like about him. You don't have to do a whole lot of thinking and you get some great laughs.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Canadian Book Challenge: Manitoba
This hilarious book is the the third in a series about twin brothers living on a island, who turn their home into a bed and breakfast for readers. Sounds appealing, doesn't it? Don't ask me why I started with No. 3, but I fully intend on reading the other two as soon as I can get my hands on them. The brothers, Virgil and Hector, are over fifty and wonderfully eccentric. Actually, all the characters in this delightful novel are, well, characters. There's Hector's girlfriend, Altona, who paints his toenails while he sleeps; Caedmon Harker, the handyman; Mrs. Rochester, the parrot who has a fitting quote or scripture for every situation; as well as neighbors, past patrons who write letters, and interesting pets. Then there are the quotes from a local deceased author's book, "Hygiene for Boys." Don't read this poem if the subject of zits makes you queasy:
When you find a pimple, lads,
You mustn't make a fuss,
Although I know you're eager, boys,
To see that gush of pus.
Leave the nasty welt alone--
Don't give the thing a squeeze.
And if temptation proves too great,
Then wipe the mirror, please.
So I was totally grossed out, but rolling on the floor laughing. Along with the chuckles and guffaws, I enjoyed Richardson's style of writing. He uses such a wonderful variety of words, words that I knew and understood, but don't come across very often. I wish I had such a awesome command of the language. Here are some passages of the many that I particularly responded to:
From the chapter: Hector's books for bathroom browsing ----- "There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn't seek to enliven the time we spend attending to the baser dictates of biology. Nor is there any reason why we shouldn't feed, or a least tickle, the mind while we disabuse ourselves of the slag for which the body has no further use. A good bathroom book (as opposed to a good bathtub book, which is something else altogether) should be provocative, enduring, entertaining, educational, and sufficiently pithy that it can be absorbed in brief spurts. It should be easy to put down and inviting to come back to, but not so enthralling that it keeps the reader enthroned for hours at a stretch, mindless of the queue that might be forming outside the door."
Virgil's rant about the world's move away from sentimentaility: "When did "sentimental" become a perjorative barb? I do not at all share the notion that a piece of music, or a poem, or a film that bypasses the brain and aims straight for the heart, and canvasses for an emotional rather than an intellectual response, should automatically be heaped with scorn. I think it is symptomatic of a sad and dangerous impoverishment of spirit."
After many years, Hector conquers the hula hoop: On this frabjous day I won an unexpected victory and made the wounded welkin ring with raucous cries of praise and thanksgiving. Glory be! Hallelujah! Laud creation! Hot damn! Given that no historian will consider my accomplishment worthy of attention, and as I am certain it will rate not even a footnote in the eventual annals of these, our perilous times, I will set down the news here. Perhaps some future curiousity seeker will read it and be coaxed haltingly to the understanding that the thunderous, flesh-tearing, terrain-sundering doings of the generals and industrialists are not what power the turning of the planet, but rather the dull, quotidian and largely overlooked progressions of ordinary pilgrims."
Along with these marvelous passage are some great chapters that I must mention: A letter from a former guest who tells of the bittersweet experience of visiting his childhood home to find his parents have changed everything; Virgil's books for baby Matirna's first five years; the letter from a woman whose bookclub had recently visited the B & B; and Hector's chapter, "A dishwasher is a wonderful thing." BBBPB was such a fun book to read, with memorable gentle characters, and beautiful writing. I recommend it for when you need something lighthearted and funny.
Rating: 4.75
Posted by Framed at 9:48 PM

7 comments:
Candleman said...
Great little poem, I'm going to have to memorize that one.
12/11/2007 4:54 AM
Cassie said...
This sounds like a fun read, I'll have to borrow it from you, so no mooching.
12/11/2007 8:52 AM
Carrie K said...
Oh, I'd forgotten about these books! Or more properly, I didn't realize there were more.
12/11/2007 6:07 PM
Stephanie said...
This is one of the books I want to read for this challenge. I liked the Title!! Sounds like a good one!
12/12/2007 10:13 AM
Les said...
I loved the first in the series, but didn't care too much for the sequels. If you loved this one, you're in for quite a treat (and lots of laughs) with the first. Enjoy!
12/12/2007 5:00 PM
John Mutford said...
Your the second participant to go for this book this month. I agree it's a funny book- and one most booklovers would be into.
12/12/2007 7:37 PM
Nan - said...
I think I am the other one John means, but I didn't read the third; I read the first. Speaking just for me, the second and third were too "over the top" for me. I preferred the more serious tone of the first book, though there was humor, it wasn't quite so broad.

Saturday, December 08, 2007 2nds Challenge "A Wind is the Door" is the sequel to L'Engle's fabulous "A Wrinkle in Time," and the perfect way to finish my 2nds Challenge. I think I liked Wind even better than Wrinkle. Maybe I find becoming microcosmically tiny and inhabiting one of your younger brother's cell structures more appealing than being transported off in space to face a menacing brain. Like Wrinkle, Wind is a classic tale of good versus evil. With the help of cherubim and farandolae, Meg and her friend, Calvin are able to triumph over the evil Echthroi and save Charles Wallace's life in the process. Even though this story is a sequel, there is no reference to the previous book, and I thought it odd that Megg seemed so surprised and disbelieving when a dragon shows up in their garden. Even so, the characters are appealing and L'Engle's writing is creative and entertaining. The messages are loud and clear: Love is necessary to overcome adversity and wrong; and even the tiniest personality can have universal impact. Who can argue with that? Rating: 4.75 Posted by Framed at 8:54 AM 5 comments: Nymeth said... I bought A Wrinkle in Time just the other day. I have it on my list for the YA challenge and I really look forward to reading it. This sounds like a wonderful series. 12/08/2007 9:54 AM Sandy D. said... I loved the appearance of the principal in this book. Mr. Jenkins just stole the show!My son and I are now in the middle of "A Swiftly Tilting Planet", and it's just not as satisfying for us as the first two. It's still good, though, and we'll be reading "Many Waters", too. :-) 12/08/2007 4:20 PM Candace E. Salima said... Mmmm, sounds like I'll have to pick that up and add it to my library.By the way -- the six finalists for the Best Husband in the World contest are posted on my blogspot. Please pop on over, read through them (they really are wonderful men), vote and then spread the word far and wide. Merry Christmas! 12/10/2007 7:16 AM Shelley said... A Wrinkle in Time is one of my favorite books; but I've never read the others in the series. Thanks for the recommend. 12/10/2007 11:13 AM Tristi Pinkston said... I love this whole series -- anyone who hasn't read them is seriously missing out

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Read for The Canadian Challenge
A baby girl is found on an iceberg floating in the ocean east of Newfoundland. The family who takes her in, names her Aurora and raises her as their own child. The book follows her life from that point to old age. Having been born in Newfoundland myself, I was so interested in the history and character of the island that was captured in this story. Joan Clark writes beautifully. Her descriptions of the landscape and the ocean are quite breathtaking. However, the story of Aurora herself didn't touch me very much. The book covers a period of over eighty years, including the sinking of the Titanic, and the birth of Aurora's children and their lives. The beginning of Aurora's story seemed a little magical and the rest of the book was quite prosaic. But Clark weaved the story of Newfoundland into Aurora's story wonderfully, and I really liked how she did that. I do recommend the book as it was interesting and well written.
Rating: 4
Posted by Framed at 8:53 PM

6 comments:
Literary Feline said...
This does sound like it would be good. Thanks for the great review, Framed.
12/05/2007 10:11 PM
Carrie K said...
Nice review! I'd probably have been really disappointed at the magical beginnings being dropped.
12/07/2007 1:41 PM
Booklogged said...
Clark does give a good feeling for Newfoundland. I read somewhere that there really was a baby from the Titanic found alive on an ice pan.
12/07/2007 6:53 PM
Laura said...
I read this book a few years ago when it first came out. I checked it out of the library, and liked it so much I bought a copy. I agree with your assessment, but one of the things I liked about Aurora was that she read an entire set of The Book of Knowledge, and that's something I've always wanted to do!Anyway, I thought Latitudes of Melt was worth recommending to my daughters, and so far three of them have read it, too. Thanks for the concise review!
12/08/2007 10:45 AM
John Mutford said...
This post has been removed by the author.
12/10/2007 10:23 PM
John Mutford said...
It's been a while since I read this, but your summary seems pretty accurate to what I remember. Her Audience of Chairs is supposedly pretty good, too, but I haven't read that yet.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

I listened to this book on my way to Salt Lake and back on Sunday. Like the rest of the "Cat Who" series, the mystery takes a back seat to the interplay and oddities of the inhabits of Moose County, "400 miles north of everywhere." There's a lot of strange people up in those woods. Not to mention a couple of extraordinary cats. The story revolves around the planning and exeuction of those plans for Pickaxe City's 150th year celebration. Jim Qwilleran, of course, is totally involved and manipulates things with a light hand. Whenever funds are needed, the K Foundation is ready to cover expenses. The actual murder happens quite near to the end of the book and is solved almost immediately, so you can see it is only incidental to the book. Even so, reading or listening to these books takes very little time or thought. When you want an amusing, light read, pick this one up.
Rating: 3

Posted by Framed at 8:41 PM
2 comments:
SuziQoregon said...
My husband and I use this series for road trip listening. We giggle about it being dangerous to live in Moose County, particularly if you help Jim Qwilleran ;-)

We haven't listened to this one yet.

12/06/2007 8:54 AM
Booklogged said...
I like listening to these stories, too. Qwilleran is a great character.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Challenge: 2nds
Andy Carpenter's affair with Laurie and how that relationship progresses is a sidebar to the main courtroom action of Andy defending a famous football player from the charge of murdering a player from a rival team. A Hollywood screenwriter sent to write about a previous case that Andy had won, helps with that defense; finding a series of deaths that may get Andy's client off the hook. In this novel, I found Andy's insecurities about Laurie out of character with his expertise and cunning as a trial lawyer. His whining was annoying and often the dialog, flat. But, as in the first book, the investigation and courtroom antics were riveting and entertaining. And Andy's love for his dog, Tara, is quite endearing. While I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one, I'm willing to read more of the series since I've heard so many good things.
Rating: 3.5
Posted by Framed at 9:56 AM

4 comments:
Literary Feline said...
That's too bad that this one didn't quite live up to its predecessor. Hopefully future books in the series will be better.
11/24/2007 5:06 PM
Carrie K said...
I love Andy and Tara's relationship. Laurie's? Not so much.
11/26/2007 4:50 PM
Bellezza said...
Please consider joining my Japanese Literature Challenge. The details came be found at:http://dolcebellezza.blogspot.com/2007/11/youre-invited.htmlI'd love to talk more books with you!
12/01/2007 7:29 AM
Booklogged said...
I won't add this series to my list until you read 1 or 2 more. I'll let you continue to test the waters before I jump in.Just thought I'd let you know that since Candleman has retired he's regularly posting on his blogs, Carpe Crustulum. They are interesting posts and he would love to hear from you.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

"The Secret of Lost Things" was one of the first audio books that I downloaded to my new Ipod. Unfortunately, I'm severely challenged with this new technology. The other book I downloaded skipped after a minute of each track which was terribly annoying and I finally gave it up. With "Secret", only the first two or three tracks skipped, so I was able to follow the storyline quite well. But about halfway through, it started back on the tenth track and did that a couple of times. I gave up and checked the book out from the library so I could finish it. Because I desperately wanted to know how it turned out. The novel is the story of Rosemary Savage who loses her mother when she is eighteen and never knew her father. She decides to leave her native Tasmania for New York City. Shortly after arriving, she lands a job at the Arcade, a huge bookstore which specializes in rare and antique books. Listening to this part was fascinating because the narrator did the accents so well, and Hay makes each character memorable. Besides the naive but lovely Rosemary, we meet among others: Oscar, the handsome manager of the nonfiction section, who only loves the quest for knowledge; Pearl, the transsexual with a heart of gold who will shortly have his/her life altering surgery; Mr. Mitchell, the overweight fatherly figure from the Rare Books room; and Walter Geist, the lonely, extremely odd albino who is the general manager of the Arcade. With such a varied and eclectic cast, who can blame me for being slightly ?? put out when my Ipod starting acting up. Hay takes her time building up these characters and setting the scene for the intrigue that follows as they try to obtain a lost manuscript that would be incredibly valuable. I especially loved that most of the action takes place in a bookstore that is chaotic and as eccentric as the staff who works there. Upon visiting the city library, Rosemary says: "I knew books to be objects that loved to cluster and form disordered piles, but here books seemed robbed of their zany capacity to fall about, to conspire. In the library, books behaved themselves." The conflict at the heart of the book builds up to a crashing crescendo that I probably would have enjoyed even more if I had listened to it instead of reading it. The lost manuscript becomes an allegory for the losses that Rosemary suffers during the year covered by the novel. At the end she holds an unopened present given to her by a friend when she left Tasmania. "There it was in my lap: a secret that told me that nothing is truly lost, but is simply replaced." This was such an interesting, well-written book that I'm sure I would have liked better if I had been able to read or listen to it all in the same medium. There is one weird and disturbing sexual encounter and I found the ending a little flat, otherwise, this was a really good book.
Rating: 4
Posted by Framed at 5:43 PM

3 comments:
Booklogged said...
Sounds good. Maybe we should get together and see if we can figure out what's wrong with the iPod. (I mean with the help of kids who are more techno-wise than we are.
11/19/2007 12:46 AM
Cassie said...
I'll have to take a look at your ipod when I come home and see what's going on.
11/19/2007 8:52 AM
Carrie K said...
Glad my iPhone isn't doing that. But I did go and buy the book I was listening to on it because it was just taking too darn long to hear it! Secrets sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.

Thursday, November 15, 2007


Challenge: Christmas Theme
Book Around the States - New Jersey

I thought it would be fun to read this book for the Christmas Theme Book Challenge plus it was one of the few books that I found set in New Jesery. And I have always found the Stephanie Plum novels to be fun, light, and slightly bawdy reading. But the elements that I truly enjoyed: the relationship of Plum with her boyrfriend, Joe Morelli, and her attraction to the very dangerous Ranger were missing from this novel. The Elements that annoyed me: her raucous and dysfunctional family were a key ingredient. Granted this is a book about Christmas and should play up the family angle, but I didn't enjoy it. The mystery and the Christmas cheer were slight. True, there was a good-looking male for Plum to spar with, but the humor seemed flat to me. All in all, not what I expected. What a letdown.

Also, even though the book is set in Trenton, New Jersey; the flavor of that city was missing from this particular Plum novel.

Rating: 2


Posted by Framed at 9:04 PM
3 comments:
Literary Feline said...
I've come to believe that the non-numbered books may not be worth reading. I was less than impressed with Visions of Sugar Plums also. As you said, it was missing some of the elements that I like in the series.

11/15/2007 11:02 PM
Joy said...
I've only stuck with her numbered series. This confirms my decision. :)

11/16/2007 6:36 AM
Lynne said...
I haven't been thrilled with the between-the-number books either. I want more Joe and Ranger!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

2nds Challenge
**I was so impressed with Zusak's "The Book Thief" that I wanted to read some of his other works; and "I am the Messenger" did not disappoint.
**Ed Kennedy is your basic nineteen-year-old loser. He drives a cab because his best friend, Audrey, got him the job. He lives in the same town where he grew up even though his father died a year ago and his mother hates him. His home is a prefab shack where he lives with a smelly dog, The Doorman, inherited from his dad. The book begins with Ed lying on the floor of a bank with his friends, Marv and Ritchie, while a robbery takes place. The robber is incompetent and Ed ends up apprehending him. This act leads to a chain of events in which Ed receives four cards, beginning with the Ace of Diamonds and ending with the Ace of Hearts. Each card has clues which Ed must decipher and take action on. How Ed's life changes along with those he comes in contact with is at the heart at this fascinating novel.
**I really like the way Zusak writes and how he draws you into the lives of his characters. Ed Kennedy is a truly sympathetic and entertaining character. Some of his antics were funny, some sad and some a little scary, but always engrossing. While this book did not have the same emotional impact as "The Book Thief", it was very thought provoking and rewarding.
Rating: 5
Posted by Framed at 1:53 PM

11 comments:
raidergirl3 said...
I really loved this book too, I think I liked it even more as I remembered it afterwards. I loved Ed's faith, to do the right thing, and trust in himself to figure out what to do. Zusak is amazing - and I haven't even read The Book Thief yet, but I plan to.
11/13/2007 6:18 PM
Booklogged said...
That Zusak kid is really talented, isn't he. Both books are so different but both are so good. Hubby liked this one even better than Book Thief. I think I favored Book Thief most.
11/13/2007 8:25 PM
SuziQoregon said...
Woo Hoo!! I've got this one planned for next month for a couple of challenges. I'm really looking forward to it.
11/13/2007 9:51 PM
Joy said...
Hooray...another positive for Zusak! :)You've made me want to get to it sooner rather than later.
11/14/2007 5:28 AM
Nymeth said...
He really sounds like an author I will like. I'm going to read The Book Thief next year, and then this one at some point in the future.
11/14/2007 6:08 AM
gautami tripathy said...
I think I will read him in the new year. I have wanted to for some time now.
11/14/2007 9:16 AM
Framed said...
I envy those who get to read the Book Thief for the first time. Much as I like Messenger, I liked The Book Thief even more.
11/14/2007 8:25 PM
Orange Blossom Goddess (aka Heather) said...
This sounds really good. I haven't read The Book Thief - I'll have to add these both to my Mountain!
11/15/2007 9:34 AM
gautami tripathy said...
I need to read both!!
11/17/2007 10:40 AM
Stephanie said...
I just picked up this book from the library!! I read the first chapter last night after work, and I can tell I'm going to love it!!
11/18/2007 10:30 AM
Les said...
I must read this!! Soon!!

Thursday, November 08, 2007

"I Capture the Castle" has been on my TBR list for ages so it was great that I could read it for the Book to Movie Challenge. The book is composed of Cassandra Mortmain's journal entires over a six-month period. Her family lives in a crumbling castle on the edge of poverty as her father has suffered from writer's block for 13 years. Big sister, Rose, wants to marry a wealthy man and escape hunger, cold and old clothes. Younger brother, Thomas, is quite a wise soul, but we really don't get to know much of him until the end of the book. Step-mother, Topaz, is a free-spirit with a hard-working housewife's soul. Stephen is a boarder whose wages keeps the family from starving. He is also incredibly good-looking and in love in Cassandra. And Cassandra herself is seventeen and dreams of being a writer. Enter two rich brothers from America who have inherited the castle along with a nearby manor home. I enjoyed reading Cassandra's thoughts and enjoyed the glimpses into the workings of her English, teen-age mind. But when she decides she's in love with the wrong man, I was a bit disenchanted. I guess I was rooting for Stephen. Sigh. I found the book to have the flavor of "Pride and Prejudice" and really enjoyed most of it. I just thought the ending was unsatisfying.
Rating: 4.00
Posted by Framed at 7:18 PM

5 comments:
Cassie said...
I felt the same way.
11/09/2007 8:33 AM
Booklogged said...
Oh, darn. I've been wanting to read this for a long time, too. Sorry to hear it was disappointing.
11/09/2007 2:03 PM
Nymeth said...
I really look forward to reading this one. It's too bad the ending was disappointing. But it sounds worthwhile all the same.
11/09/2007 3:21 PM
Melanie said...
I actually loved the ambiguity of the ending. Early in the book Cassandra says that she likes books in which there are some loose ends, so that you keep wondering about the characters after the book is over. I wondered if that was really the author's opinion of a good book, considering the ending of this one!
11/15/2007 5:40 PM
Shelley said...
I very recently read this and was rooting for Stephen too! I would link you to my review, but I don't know how!

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I read this book for the 2nd's Challenge. It continues the story of Clair Randall who mistakenly falls through a time portal in Scotland two hundred years earlier. This book tells us the story through Claire's words as she relates her experiences to her daughter and a friend in 1970's Edinburgh. Again, it is a great romantic love story. Most of the time, the bond between Claire and the Scottish laird, Jamie Fraser, is beautiful and believable. There were times when it did get a bit treacly, and I skipped the sex scenes. As in the first book, Jamie seemed too good to be true especially for a 22-year-old Scots who was raised in a much cruder and male-dominated society. Still, Gabaldon conveys a good sense of the way people lived in 18th century Paris and Scotland. All in all, it was a fun travel through time.
Rating: 4
Posted by Framed at 9:10 PM

4 comments:
Cassie said...
I don't know when but I will read this series some day. The books are somewhat daunting looking but if it's got romance then I am all in for that.
11/07/2007 9:28 AM
Carrie K said...
I enjoyed the series but DG seems to have abandoned Claire & Jamie. When she finishes the series, I'll read the last few books.
11/07/2007 1:27 PM
Booklogged said...
Treacly - that's going to be one of my new words. Jamie does seem too good to be true, I guess that's why he's such a dream. They are quite the hefty books, aren't they? I have book 4 but who knows when I'll get to it.
11/07/2007 2:34 PM
gautami tripathy said...
I have this book somewhere. All lost and forgotten. Yet to read. Now I will search for it and read. Thanks for your review!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Last spring I asked for suggestions of humorous books to read; and Tristi Pinkston recommended this one. I'm so glad she did. There were some laugh-out-loud moments while I was reading; and, like sometimes while watching British comedy, a sense of irritation at the slapstickishness (New Word Alert). However, I keep revisiting scenes in my mind and chuckling over them. Just like I need a dictionary for Australian slang, I find It would be nice to have one for English slang as well. What on earth does "bung a spanner" mean? or "gas and gaiters?" Jeeves, of course, is the epitome of the "veddy proper" British manservant and is famous for his knowledge and gift of solving every dilemna. His employer, Bertie Wooster, is charming, aristocratic, vaguely cowardly, and totally inept. He reminds me of Melrose Plant of the Richard Jury series. And the young Boy Scout, Edwin, cracked me up. As I read, I kept picturing the story being played out on PBS. I wonder if I will be disappointed when I finally get around to watching it. I will definitely pick up Wodehouse any time I need a quick giggle.
Rating: 3.75

Posted by Framed at 7:49 PM

11 comments:
GeraniumCat said...
Not sure about the context of "bung a spanner" here, but if you say someone has "bunged a spanner in the works" it means they have done the equivalent of throwing a large piece of unyielding metal in the working parts of an engine, thereby causing considerable disruption.
Senior Church of England clergymen used to wear gaiters - they were made of black cloth and buttoned to the knee (they wore breeches with them). So "all gas and gaiters" referred to the tendency to excessive wordiness of these individuals.

Any more? :)

10/26/2007 3:51 AM
Framed said...
Thanks, Geraniumcat. I checked the context and it was "bung a spanner in the works." Now it makes perfect sense. I couldn't find "gas and gaiters", but there were some characters in the book that definitely fit this description.

10/26/2007 7:57 AM
Cassie said...
Sounds interesting and I rarely come across funny books. Everyone is so serious these days. Is this a series? If not, then I may add it to my list.

10/26/2007 8:56 AM
Tristi Pinkston said...
I'm so glad you liked it, Framed!

10/26/2007 4:11 PM
Booklogged said...
Sounds good. I had the same problem with English slang when reading Spot of Bother. Unfortunately, I didn't mark any of the phrases. Bung a spanner in the works is a great phrase and one I could use often.

10/26/2007 9:11 PM
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
Tristi is a great one for recommending books. Framed, if you ever want to review one of my books, let me know and I'll email you a copy.

10/28/2007 7:01 AM
gautami tripathy said...
I love Wodehouse any time. He was a prolific writer and there are lot many books to read.

I even own 6 of his rare books.

This I read long time back. I think I will read it again.

10/29/2007 7:45 AM
SuziQoregon said...
This sounds fun. I've never read any of Wodehouse's books. Maybe I can work one into the Decades Challenge for 2008.

10/29/2007 9:47 PM
Bookfool said...
I love, love, love Wodehouse. And, there are actually British slang books available. I've got a British English/American English dictionary and a couple of other books about the language differences (all of which have been helpful, although there's nothing like having an English friend to "translate").

You will soooo not be disappointed in the series. It's hilarious. Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry were perfect in the roles of Wooster and Jeeves. The only annoyance was that they changed some of the actors, from season to season. Madeleine (the woman who says goofy things like, "The stars are God's daisy chain") was played by three different actresses. Ugh. But, fortunately, Fry and Laurie were consistent as Jeeves and Wooster and they were the most important characters.

10/29/2007 10:06 PM
gautami tripathy said...
I received crow lake by mary lawson and finished reading too. I really like it. Thanks!

10/30/2007 10:17 AM
Framed said...
Cassie, it is a series but I think they can be enjoyed on an individual basis. This isn't the first in the series and I didn't feel like I missing something. Better yet, let's get the series and watch it together.

Tristi, thanks for the recommend.

Booklogged, can you say "bung a spanner in the works" with an British accent. I don't think it will work otherwise.

Candace, I would love to review one of your books. However, my computer is so slow that I would never try to download a book.

Gautami, Wow, you got the book so quickly. And read it already. I haven't even opened my copy yet. I'll be visting to read the review.

SusieQ, great choice for the Decades Challenge. Maybe I should add Jeeves to my Decades list.

Bookfool, I really want to watch the series. Sounds hilarious.

10/30/2007 4:28 PM

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

I couldn't believe it when I started this book. It's another stark, bleak, dark novel with a choppy narrative. Is this the writing of the future? The first two pages contain these gargantuan sentences that fill an entire long paragraph. I couldn't make heads or tails of what was being said. And most of the book is dialogue. Jeez. You would think I really hated this book, wouldn't you? Nada! John Grady Cole is such an interesting and intense character. At the age of sixteen, he and his friend, Rawlins, ride their horses down to Mexico to make a living. Just before crossing the border, they run into Blevins, a thirteen-year-old boy riding a gorgeous bay. Letting Blevins tag along is the worst mistake of many they make while in Mexico. And John Grady is such a capable old soul that I keep forgetting he is only sixteen. In fact, you have to suspend belief a little to think a boy his age would survive all his experiences. Even though this is not my favorite style of writing, McCarthy pulls you into the story. I felt the grit in my teeth as the three boys ride across the Mexican desert. My muscles ached after John and Rawlins spend three days breaking sixteen horses. The despair was real when John is pulled away from his love, Alejandra, and sent to a Mexican prison. And I felt the romance of horses that I knew when I was ten. "The old man shaped his mouth how to answer. Finally he said that among men there no such communion as among horses and the notion that men can be understood at all was probably an illusion. Rawlins asked him in his bad spanish if there was a heaven for horses but he shook his head and said that a horse had no need of heaven. Finally John Grady asked him if it were not true that should all horses vanish from the face of the earth the soul of the horse would not also perish for there would be nothing to replenish it but the old man only said that it was pointless to speak of there being no horses in the world for God would not permit such a thing." I can understand why "All the Pretty Horses" was a National Book Award winner. I have another book by McCarthy that, at one point, I wasn't sure I would read, but now I'm sure I will. The book has also been made into a movie with Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz which I think I will try to see. Is it any good? A few complaints: There were too many dialogues in Spanish that I didn't understand and the punctuation or lack of it made me a little crazy. It's don't not dont. And the too-long sentences.
Rating: 4
Posted by Framed at 6:51 PM

11 comments:
Literary Feline said...
I haven't yet read a book by this author, but I do have a couple of his books in my TBR collection. I've heard such great things about him recently. Maybe if I like the two books of his I have, I'll try this one. Your comment about feeling the grit between your teeth, is very promising, even with the flaws. Thanks for the review!
10/23/2007 11:11 PM
Orange Blossom Goddess (aka Heather) said...
I think this is the style of his writing - The Road is the same but does have good punctuation. :)
10/24/2007 7:29 AM
Cassie said...
i saw the movie a while ago so I don't really remember it but Matt Damon was good in it and I think it was sad.
10/24/2007 8:21 AM
Jeane said...
I actually have seen this book on shelves many times and always passed it up. You've made it sound so interesting I'm putting it on my TBR.
10/24/2007 2:35 PM
Les said...
I loved this book when I read it a few years ago. I thought it was beautiful/lyrical and was pleasantly surprised, as I wasn't expecting to like it so well. I remember that the untranslated Spanish was a bit bothersome, although I was able to figure some of it out by the context. Funny, I don't remember the punctuation (or lack thereof) problem. Maybe I was used to it having recently read Plainsong (Kent Haruf).
10/24/2007 3:25 PM
Booklogged said...
I've never been tempted to read McCarthy even with his awards. I may have to reconsider after that great review. Or maybe not, because I have so many books already sitting around wanting to be read. Sigh...
10/24/2007 7:00 PM
Joy said...
I'm interested in reading another McCarthy, but it's not this one. (Can't remember the title right now.) Although, I'm glad to know that this one is good, too.
10/25/2007 6:16 AM
Framed said...
Maybe I exaggerated the punctuation. I do know that the word don't was never printed with an apostrophe. Funny how such a little thing can bug you. I discovered I have two other McCarthy books on my TBR list.
10/25/2007 7:43 PM
hellomelissa said...
i actually liked the film more than the book. that's rare!
10/27/2007 3:04 PM
Carrie K said...
I saw and liked the movie despite Penelope Cruz (I hate her quite unreasonably) but picked up the book hoping it would explain the movie. It didn't, but they did lift huge passages verbatim from the book, which I found oddly heartening.
10/30/2007 6:27 PM
Lotus Reads said...
Hi, Framed!What Melissa said. I, too, preferred the movie over the book. The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful too!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I can't believe I have never read Katherine Paterson before now. She writes so wonderfully and captures the joy and angst of the pre-teen years so well. I imagine everyone has read this story or seen the movie (except me) so I won't tell it again. I'll just say that it's a beautiful tale for young adults. I read it quickly but was thoroughly entertained and touched by it. And surprised. I had seen trailers for the movie and now I'm glad that I read the book first. It was not at all what I had expected. And the ending . . . well, if you haven't read it, I don't want to give it away. It was very unexpected. I will gladly add this to my collection of books that I can't wait to share with my grandchildren someday. I think I've been most impressed with the Newbery books that I've read for the Book Award Challenge than any of the others. Maybe I'm still a kid at heart myself.
Rating: 5
Posted by Framed at 6:27 PM

8 comments:
3M said...
I love this book as well.
10/21/2007 8:02 PM
Booklogged said...
I read this one years ago and really liked it. When the trailers came on tv I began to wonder if I had the right story in mind. So I reread it and then watched the movie. The movie was good, but the book was better, I thought.
10/21/2007 10:24 PM
Nymeth said...
I read this for the first time a few months ago and I agree with everything you said.
10/22/2007 10:25 AM
Bellezza said...
I've picked this up, and laid it down, so many times I can't remember. Knowing that this book is sad, sad, sad keeps me from fully experiencing it, which I know is just plain ignorant. Someday I hope to finish it...
10/22/2007 3:07 PM
Literary Feline said...
I hope to get to this one before the year is out, but I have my doubts. :-) I am glad you enjoyed it so much. I read another of the author's books years and years ago. I really liked it and still have the copy on my shelf to this day.
10/22/2007 9:39 PM
Stephanie said...
It's so funny you mentioned the trailer in your review. I just read this and reviewed it about a week ago. I had actually seen the movie, although the ending surprised me in the movie. I thought the trailers were so misleading. People that saw them could pick up the book thinking it was high fantasy...and it just wasn't. But it was a fantastic book!
10/23/2007 1:54 PM
Tristi Pinkston said...
"Come Sing Jimmy Jo" by the same author was also very good.
10/26/2007 4:11 PM
michelle said...
I thought the trailers were misleading as well. The book was wonderful though! Glad you enjoyed it.

Sunday, October 21, 2007


"The Sea" is a short book (195 pages) and takes place mostly in a seaside resort in Ireland. The narrator, Max Morden, returns to the Cedars and reminisces about his childhood vacation there, his meeting with his wife and her death. I was very disappointed in this novel. Banville overuses highbrow words which I didn't even feel like looking up in the dictionary. They just didn't seem that appealing. He draws analogies constantly some of which I found to be dead on and others making no sense to me at all. Almost every description, analogy and character is negative, unpleasant or sad. "My life seemed to be passing before me, not in a flash as it is said to do for those about to drown, but in a sort of leisurely convulsion, emptying itself of its secrets and its quotidian mysteries in preparation for the moment when I must step into the black boat on the shadowed river with the coin of passage cold in my already coldening hand." Wonderful analogy this time, but how dark can you get? Even the descriptions of the Irish seaside were disparaging. While this was touted as a book about grief, mortality, death, childhood and memory, I found Banville's elegant and precise prose to be too exact, the book more about the words he wrote than about the feelings he was trying to convey. He jumps from memory to memory, from present to distant past to recent past in a way that took me most of the book to catch on to. In fairness, I am going to share a passage about a storm that I thought was very powerful: "I enjoyed it outrageously, sitting up in my ornate bed as on a catafalque, if that is the word I want, the room aflicker around me and the sky stamping up and down in a fury, breaking its bones. At last, I thought, at last the elements have a pitch of magnificence to match my inner turmoil! I felt transfigured, I felt like one of Wagner's demi-gods, aloft on clashes of celestial cymbals. In this mood of histrionic euphoria, fizzing with brandy-fumes and static, I considered my position in a new and crepitant light." For such a short book and a winner of the Man Booker Prize, it took almost a week to read because I really had to force myself to it. I acknowledge that I am not a fan of the dark, depressing and overly cerebral novel. Obviously others are and this may be the perfect book for them. However, I don't plan on reading any more books by this author.
Rating: 1.5
Posted by Framed at 1:15 AM

2 comments:
Booklogged said...
Beautiful passages, but I would hate to read a whole book like that. Very cerebral. I'm glad you shared the one about the storm because that's an awesome passage. It's refreshing to read a review and not feel compelled to add the book to my list. Thanks, Framed.
10/21/2007 5:14 PM
Stephanie said...
I can't agree with you more. I HATED this book!!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

"Cloudstreet" is a book that I purchased at least a year ago and hadn't gotten around to yet. When I saw that it matched the criteria for three of the challenges I had entered, I decided this was a great time to read it.
Unread Authors Challenge I had never even heard of Tim Winton before I picked this book up. His writing is such a turn-about from the last book I read (The Story Girl) that I had a difficult time with it. L M Montgomery has this wonderful, flowing, flowery, descriptive prose while Winton writes in a stark, abrupt, choppy manner. The book contains a lot of dialogue without the standard punctuation (absolutely no quotation marks). Montgomery's book is filled with innocence, naivete, familial affection, and imagination. There is very little innocence or naivete in any of Winton's characters. In fact, they are wise and cynical. It highlights family dysfunction, but is no less imaginative even though it takes a completely different tack. Because of the three challenges, I was determined to plow through the book even though I was disillusioned at the first. Somewhere along the line though, I got caught in the cadence of Winton's writing and the sad story of his characters. Then I found it be well-written and compelling.
Armchair Traveler Challenge This book is set in western Australia, mostly in the city of Perth. It was certainly not written for the purpose of attracting visitors to that part of the world as the setting is almost as bleak as the story. And I had a hard time understanding the Australian dialect. Carn, bonzer, orright, cod my wallop, are just some examples. Some I never did figure out. In a way, it was fun trying to figure out what was going on.
Book Award Challenge "Cloudstreet" won the Miles Franklin Award. I have never heard of this award so I'm not sure what it's criteria is. But like many award-winning books, it does not tell a pretty tale. It is a saga of two completely different families: The Pickles, an alcoholic mother, gambling father, anorexic daughter and two odd bothers; and the Lambs, a large, noisy family, with an emotionally distant, hardworking and intense mother, an easy-going father, three sisters and three brothers, whose existance revolves around the handicapped brother and the accident that caused his handicap. These two disparate families come to inhabit the same large haunted home, and the book follows their lives over the course of twenty years. Even though it was rough going, the book eventually captured my attention as the families grow and come together and find their love for each other even if they fight that love all the way. By the time, I finished the book, I had become involved with the characters and the story. I can see why it would have won an award.
I really only liked two characters: Quick Lamb and his father, Lester, but Winton took you into the mind of several characters so you knew them and understood them, even though I could never quite understand some of their self-destructive antics.
I'm glad I read the book. It was interesting and very different from most of the books I read. Quite a look into human nature from a dark point of view. I probably would have liked it better if I had read it after another darker novel like "The Ambidextrist." As is, I can't say I enjoyed the experience very much.
Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 10:42 PM

5 comments:
Cassie said...
Sounds a little like something I might like to read, only because I love dark but I'll probably pass on this one.
10/18/2007 9:31 AM
Bookfool said...
You need a Dinkum Dictionary. There is so much incomprehensible slang in Australian books that I bought myself a book to translate! I've only read a couple of the Miles Franklin award winners, but I enjoyed them. I think I just love the setting. Australia's way up there on the top of my wish list of places to go.
10/18/2007 7:29 PM
Booklogged said...
I think I can pass on this one, too. The Dinkum Dictionary sounds good, tho.
10/18/2007 10:01 PM
gautami tripathy said...
Thanks for the review. I do go for dark books...But not horror genre..:D
10/19/2007 11:17 PM
Framed said...
Gautami, I wouldn't call put this book in the horror genre. A ghost appears in maybe two paragraphs. It was an odd inclusion having very little to do with the story. It's appearance causes an accident which could have happened from any number of catalysts. Really odd.

Thursday, October 11, 2007 I recently learned that the book I read for the 1910's decade, "A Tangled Web," by Ms. Montgomery, was actually published in the 1930's. To be true to this challenge, I quickly found another Montgomery masterpiece. "The Story Girl" has the same flavor and magic as the "Anne of Green Gable" series, and Sara Stanley (the title character) is every bit as memorable and endearing. Her voice is fantastic: "If voices had colour, hers would have been a rainbow. It made words live." Her stories can make the listener cry, laugh, or shiver in terror. Montgomery shares many of her stories interspersed amongst this tale of eight children spending an idyllic life on Prince Edward Island. It's an enchanting story of a time and place I wish I could have experienced. As always, the author paints beauty, innocence, humor and charm in the pages of this delightful novel. I marked so many passages, but will just share a few: "Harvest was ended; and though summer was not yet gone, her face was turned westering. The asters lettered her retreating footsteps in a purple script, and over the hills and valleys hung a faint blue smoke, as if Nature were worshipping at her woodland altar. The apples began to burn red on the bending boughs; crickets sang day and night; squirrels chattered secrets of Polichinelle in the spruces; the sunshine was as thick and yellow as molten gold; school opened, and we small denizens of the hill fams lived happy days of harmless work and necessary play, closing in nights of peaceful, undisturbed slumber under a roof watched over by autumnal stars." "She loved expressive words, and treasured them as some girls might have treasured jewels. To her, they were as lustrous pearls, threaded on the crimson cord of a vivid fancy. When she met a new one, she uttered it over and over to herself in solitude, weighing it, caressing it, infusing it with the radiance of her voice, making it her own in all its possibilities for ever. "Even skeptical Dan prayed, his skepticism falling away from him like a discarded garment in this valley of the shadow, which sifts out hearts and tries souls, until we all, grown-up or children, realize our weakness, and , finding that our own puny strength is as a reed shaken in the wind, creep back humbly to the God we have vainly dreamed we would do without." "The dusk crept into the orchard like a dim, bewitching personality. You could see her--feel her--hear her. She tiptoed softly from tree to tree, every drawing nearer. Presently her filmy wings hovered over us and through them gleamed the early stars of the autumn night." I did not originally list this on my Canadian Challenge for Prince Edward Island, but I'm including it anyway. I like to think of it as a good representation of that place even though I've never been there. (Maybe someday). I just learned that there are several books in this series so I am going to try to read more of them in the future. I just love Mongtomgery's books. Rating: 5 Posted by Framed at 9:07 PM 7 comments: Joy said... Oh! I had this as my 1910's choice for the Decades Challenge 2008, but decided to read Anne of Green Gables for 1900's and didn't want to read the same author, so I chose something else. However...I'm glad to know it's a winner! I will save it for another time. :) 10/12/2007 5:26 AM raidergirl3 said... I always like when people enjoy LM's stories. I read some darker short stories for the RIP challenge.Let me know if you are coming to PEI - booklogged and I and her husband met for chowder and a great visit. It really is beautiful here, but don't cme in January. It's still beautiful, but green is so much nicer than white. 10/12/2007 3:16 PM Booklogged said... What a wonderful title. And a rating of 5. Are you going to put this on your mooch inventory? 10/14/2007 8:10 PM Framed said... It was on my bookmooch list along with the sequel and then I read it again. I must have been crazy. This is too good a book to give away. But maybe we can work something out on the side. 10/15/2007 11:36 PM John Mutford said... I'd never heard of this book before. Thanks for sharing! 11/18/2007 11:29 PM Court said... I just love Montgomery's books too. :) Happy to hear you enjoyed this book, it's positively adorable, as is the sequel.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

"This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and of what a Man's resolution can achieve."
So begins Collins' popular novel written in the nineteenth century involving mistken identities, asylums, abductions, amnesia, illness, love, hate, greed, and generosity. Like "The Moonstone," "Woman" involves a large cast of interesting characters who can inspire, invoke laughter, make your lip curl or just irritate you to death. It also tells the tale through a variety of narrators who each contribute their own take on the very involved plot. Walter Hartright, the first narrator, begins his employ as a drawing master for two wealthy young women at Limmeridge, their country estate. Of course, he falls in love with one, is totally unsuitable and she is engaged to another, so he leaves the country. Before coming to Limmeridge, Walter encounters a young woman who has just escaped from an insane asylum. Her uncanny resemblance to the lovely Laura causes a wonderful twist in the story. The marriage between Laura and the charming but sneaky (think Snidely Whiplash) Sir Percival takes place, leaving Marian, the faithful but homely sister behind during the honeymoon. Six months later, the sisters reunite as the honeymooner return home bringing in tow Count and Countess Fosco. I love the characterization of Fosco, who is grossly fat, incredibly charming, intelligent, and manipulative. His voice is mesmerizing and, despite his wide girth, he moves in total silence, often catching people completely unawares. His total influence over Sir Percival and The Countess is very scary. Fosco and Percival are both deeply in debt, and Laura possesses a large fortune. Need I say more? While I didn't enjoy this book as much as "The Moonstone," it was still a very fun read although not terribly spooky. It did have a fair share of intrigue and sinister maneuvering; and Count Fosco is a terrific villain. He is also the most intelligent character in the story as evidenced by the fact that he is completely enamoured with Marian. Marian is described as having a beautiful, graceful body, with lovely white hands, but an ugly face. Even so, she is the most sensible, selfless, courageous and, most importantly, interesting woman in the book; and only Fosco falls in love with her. I know Laura is beautiful, but she is so insipid and sniveling compared to Marian who has fire and personality. It's too bad that she is destined to be the auntie all her life. Isn't there a man (okay, a good, honest man) to love and appreciate her? Aside from this quibbling, Collins writes magnificently. His prose is very evocative of the nineteenth century, and he employs so much humor in the right places and suspense in others.
This is also my first book read for the 2nds Challenge. About time I got going on that one.
Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 10:24 PM

9 comments:
SuziQoregon said...
I have to confess - I skipped most of your post because I'll be starting this book myself later this week. I scrolled on down to see the rating and I can't wait to read this one. It'll be my final RIP II book too.
10/10/2007 8:36 AM
Booklogged said...
Glad to hear you liked Woman in White. I'm just curious if you enjoyed this one more, less or about the same as The Moonstone? Congrats on finishing the challenge. One down, eight hundred 63 more to go, right?!
10/10/2007 5:54 PM
Literary Feline said...
Congratulations on completing the challenged, Framed! I hope to read The Woman in White one day. Thank you for another great review!
10/10/2007 9:49 PM
Framed said...
SuzieQ, that was wise. I probably gave away more in this review than I like to.Booklogged, I liked Moonsstone better.Wendy, Thanks. It's a fun book to read. I've not read a bad review of it yet.
10/10/2007 10:22 PM
Framed said...
Did I date myself with the Snidely Whiplash comment. It will be interesting to see if anyone recognizes him.
10/10/2007 10:25 PM
Nymeth said...
I've been meaning to read either this or "The Moonstone" one day. I suppose I'll start with "The Moonstone", but this one sounds intriguing as well!
10/11/2007 3:30 AM
gautami tripathy said...
I have wanted to read this for sometime now. I have not read any of her books!Thanks for the review.
10/13/2007 7:56 AM
Heidi said...
I loved Woman in White when I first read it years ago. I agree with you about Marian and Laura. She was definitely the better woman!Moonstone was excellent as well. I think I enjoyed it even more because of the butler's narration...the story had more personality. Great books!
10/13/2007 9:26 AM
3M said...
Looks like I might have to get to The Moonstone sometime.

Thursday, October 04, 2007 I acquired this novel from Bookmooch after reading some glowing reviews of it. It follows the growing up of Gerald Freeman, who lives in Australia with his weird, over-protective mother and a detached father who plays with trains. In his early adolescence, Gerald begins a correpsondence with penpal, Alice Jesell, a handicapped girl about the same age. It's a strange coincidence that the orphange and nursing facility where Alice lives closely resembles Staplefield, the home where Gerald's mother grew up and which he has dreamed about and longed to see for years. I found the quickly budding sexual content in the letters between the two to be very creepy, not scary creepy, just disturbing. And I found it odd how Alice was able to control Gerard so completely through her letters. Eventually, Gerald travels to England to meet Alice and also to see his mother's childhood home. There are stories within this story, as, through his life, Gerald comes across ghost stories written by his grandmother which foreshadow so many later happenings. I just didn't care for this novel. I thought it was confusing. the characters unappealing, and the ending abrupt. It did have a great deal of suspense, and the old English house was a great setting for horror, but I found myself not caring if Gerard was in danger or not. Rating: 2 Posted by Framed at 9:06 PM 6 comments: Cassie said... Too bad you didn't like it. Wow, you are getting through this challenge really fast. Good job! 10/05/2007 8:33 AM Kristina said... I read this book awhile back and found myself so excited to read it. Once I got to the end, I was so mad that I'd even wasted my time...so I agree with you, didn't care for it. 10/05/2007 9:45 AM Literary Feline said... I am sorry you didn't care for this one, Framed. I'm one of those who really liked it. Gerard wasn't my favorite character, but I liked the book for so many other reasons that my opinion of Gerard didn't really matter all that much in the end. 10/06/2007 12:07 AM Booklogged said... I was feeling sad that I didn't get to the mooch in time to get this book from you. Now I'm glad. 10/06/2007 3:38 PM J.S. Peyton said... Oy, I've been thinking about reading this one too. Now I think I just might pass... 10/11/2007 8:09 AM Bookfool said... What perfect timing. I had put this one on my wish list and decided I was uncertain about it when it came up for grabs at PBS. After some thought, I decided that I didn't want to spend one of my few remaining credits on a book that I wasn't gung ho about; I only had three credits left and two books became available at once - I chose to go with Eat, Pray, Love, which has been on my wish list for over a year, and turn The Ghost Writer down. I'm really kind of happy to see a negative review, after that decision!! But, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it. I always hate it when I close a book and think, "Oh, wow. Why did I waste my time?"

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Last By the Decade Challenge Book

by Edith Wharton
Susy Branch and Nick Lansing are hangers-on of the very rich. Because of their good looks and great personality, they are popular guests and basically live on the largess of their rich friends. Then they meet and fall in love. They decide on a grand experiment. They will marry and feel they can live for a year on the wedding cheques they receive plus free stays in the honey-moon villas offered by their connections. However, Susy soon finds there are strings attached to the stay at the villa in Venice. She is asked to send a letter each week on behalf of her hostess to her husband to hide her extra-marital shenanigans. When Nick finds out, his integrity is outraged and the pair split up. The remainder of the book follows the two on their separate paths. The lack of communication between the two, their reponse to rumor and vague hints, and their ridiculous pride makes the whole novel a comedy of errors. Even though they are shallow and selfish, you can't help but like both Nick and Susy, and they definitely mature through the course of the book. It's a biting satire on the way the rich carried on in the 1920's and a fun read. And I've finished this challenge. Yay!!
Rating: 4

Posted by Framed at 7:08 PM



7 comments:
Literary Feline said...
Congratulations on finishing the challenge, Framed!

I haven't read anything by Edith Wharton, but I keep meaning to. She's a prolific writer and so there's plenty to choose from. This one does sound good.

9/26/2007 10:07 PM
Cassie said...
This sounds really interesting. I liked the other Edith Wharton book I read so I might have to check this one out.

9/27/2007 10:13 AM
Framed said...
Thanks, Wendy, it was a fun challenge. I'm writing a summary soon.

Cassie, I thought of you often while reading this, that you would like it. I'll let you read it before I mooch it away.

9/27/2007 6:01 PM
Booklogged said...
I don't know if I'm brave enough to tackle Edith Wharton, but this one sounds good.

9/28/2007 8:18 PM
DebD said...
I have yet to read an Edith Wharton. Perhaps this will the be the one.

9/29/2007 6:14 AM
gautami tripathy said...
My book seller insisted I take this book. He even gave me 30% discount on it.

Thanks for the review. I am going to read it soon!

9/29/2007 9:00 AM
Carrie K said...
I love Edith Wharton. I'll have to pick this one up, haven't read it.

You finished! Awesome. I'm hoping to catch up w/all the challenges in.....December.

Saturday, September 22, 2007
Three Challenges in One

How wonderful that this book fits three of the challenges I've entered. It's great when you read a really good book and find so many reason to write about it.

Unread Athors Challenge It's unbelievable that this is Kostovo's first novel. She writes so beautifully with fantastic attention to detail, wonderful descriptive phrases and such in-depth characterization. She took the old tale of "Dracula" by Bram Stoker and expanded it into a gripping and fascinating story of evil. With all its emphasis on tracking down Dracula and the accompanying terror involved in that chase, the book also includes a beautiful romance and a father/daughter relationship that was so touching. Since most of the main characters are historians, I found myself wondering which one was the namesake of the novel. The answer to that question was just one of many twists and turns that made this book such a great read.

Armchair Traveler Challenge Tracking down vampires takes the characters on journeys to many countries in Europe. Through Kostovo's unique travelogue, I found myself reading about the wonders of Istanbul, the majesty of the Carpathian and Pyrenees Mountains, the age-old beauties of Budapest, Hungary and Bucharest, Romania, and the timelessness of Oxford University. I liked her portrayal of the people living in Eastern Europe under a Communist regime in the 1950's. Kostovo doesn't preach but manages to show how repressive these governments were while also displaying the warmth, friendliness, and humanity of the regular people who lived there. I have now added Istanbul, Budapest, and Bucharest to my list of places I'd like to visit.

R.I.P Challenge The main reason I decided to read "The Historian," aside from the fact it's been on my bookshelf for months, is for this spooky challenge. For someone who hates scary movies and things that make me jump, I have found a whole new genre of great books that I have been avoiding. Just like Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere," "The Historian is an incredibly well-written book. The atmosphere of the book is so menacing that you can almost hear the scary music in the background. Kostovo builds a scenario for this book that almost makes you believe that vampires, and Dracula in particular, really exist. The historical touches are so well done. And for some reason, reading about vampires doesn't spook me like a movie would, so I was able to enjoy the atmosphere so skillfully created and the tensions as the story builds to its ending.

Slight quibbles with this book: The novel is 642 pages long. I really enjoyed it most of the way through and then started being a little tired of it. So I would like it about a hundred pages shorter although I can't imagine what she could have left out. And even though I thought it was too long, I found the final confrontation to be resolved too quickly. That said, I still would call this my favorite of the R.I.P Challenge so far.

Rating: 4.75


Posted by Framed at 3:04 PM



20 comments:
Becky said...
I am reading this one right now. I only have about a hundred and fifty pages to go. It is very good.

9/22/2007 4:36 PM
3M said...
Wow! Might have to read this at some point.

9/22/2007 5:43 PM
Literary Feline said...
I am so glad you enjoyed this one, Framed! It was one of my favorites last year and had quite an effect on me.

Excellent review, by the way. I like how you addressed each challenge while discussing the book.

9/22/2007 5:56 PM
Chris said...
What a great review Framed! I feel the same way about this book. I absolutely loved her descriptions of the different locations of their travels. I would've never thought of these cities as places I'd like to visit, but I certainly would after having read this book. I couldn't get over the fact that this was her first novel. It really was so well written. I agree that it was a bit long, but like you said, I couldn't for the life of me think of what she could leave out! Great book, glad you enjoyed it!

9/22/2007 9:10 PM
Eva said...
I enjoyed the parts discussing communism as well. Glad to see another person who loved the book! Lately, I've been seeing some who didn't like it, and it made me sad. lol

9/22/2007 9:57 PM
Booklogged said...
What an excellent review, Framed. You express yourself so well. I agree with Literary Feline about how you address each challenge with a paragraph describing the book. I usually don't get 'creeped out' when reading a book, but this one did creep me at places. Absolutely love it and can't wait for her next book.

9/23/2007 1:25 PM
SuziQoregon said...
Clearly this is going to be this year's RIP book that I have to read soon.

It's been on my TBR list for a while, but it's moving up to the read soon list quickly

9/23/2007 9:05 PM
Cassie said...
This makes me even more excited to read this. I might have to finish up my other books really fast and read this to get me in the Halloween mood.

9/24/2007 8:48 AM
Kristina said...
I love your reviews, you are always so thorough. Even though I've read this book, I found myself hanging on your every word like I was going to have to run out and buy the book. Anyway, I'm glad you loved it, so did I. I have never been scared by a book or "creeped out" like booklogged, but this novel did it to me! I absolutely loved it!!

9/24/2007 12:07 PM
Stephanie said...
This is one of those books that are so polarizing. People love it or hate it!!

I'm glad to see you liked it!

9/24/2007 1:14 PM
hellomelissa said...
i also really enjoyed this book. kept me on the edge of my seat for almost a week!

9/24/2007 4:36 PM
Orange Blossom Goddess (aka Heather) said...
Great review! I absolutely want to dig out my copy again for another read!

9/25/2007 11:42 AM
Cath said...
Excellent review! I loved it too and found, like you, that the travelling aspect fascinated me as much as the vampire theme. Unusual in a fiction book. I think I'm going to have to read it again one day as I'm sure there's more to be gleaned from a second read.

9/25/2007 4:47 PM
jenclair said...
There were a few slow spots, but I loved this novel!

9/26/2007 3:13 PM
gautami tripathy said...
I like long books! Gotta pick it up!

9/29/2007 9:02 AM
Rhinoa said...
Everyone seems to love this book and now that I have read Dracula I must get around to it...

10/03/2007 7:51 AM
Nymeth said...
Wonderful review! I really really want to read this book. I'm really drawn to Eastern Europe, so the fact that it's set there makes it even more alluring.

10/08/2007 8:23 AM
alisonwonderland said...
this one is on my RIP list too. i'm hoping to get to it before the end of the month.

10/14/2007 10:34 PM
Bookfool said...
I've avoided this book specifically because of the page count, but I loved your review and the way you described it via the challenges and how it fit within them.

10/15/2007 5:53 PM
Anonymous said...
Read this book back in 2006. Absolutely brilliant read. DaVinci Code eat your heart out. This book is a fantastic historical race through time and makes you think - 'did (or does) dracula exist'? At the start of Chapter 72, a pretty freaky part of the book, and I was reading late into the night (it's the kind of book you can't put down), a neighbours dog started to howl (not bark) outside and it freaked me out. I put the book down for the rest of the night and went to bed. When I finished the book tonight one of the lights in the room started to flicker. Pure coincidence (I hope) but it certainly added to the atmosphere of the book.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Richard Mayhew is a exceedingly normal man in a normal job with a normal life. HIs fiance, the impossibly arrogant Jessica, dictates what he wears and where he goes, but he loves her and is satisfied with his normal, slightly boring life. Then a bleeding girl falls on the sidewalk in front of him, and, despite Jessica's imperative demand to leave her for someone else to take care of; Richard takes the girl to his place and helps her recover. This small act of kindness completely changes his life, and boring becomes only a fond memory. Richard has joined the legion of people who have fallen through the cracks and now inhabit the place below the streets of London, the tunnels and dead-ends and sewers, called London Below. Although not invisible, these people never seem to be seen by the above-Londoners which makes some very interesting circumstances as we follow Richard when he tries to help the girl, Door, on her quest to find the reason behind the murder of her family. The book teems with a cast of the most bizarre characters: some incredibly creepy and sinister like Mr. Vandemar and Mr. Croup, the ambiguous Marquis de Carabas, feisty Door, female bodyguard, Hunter, (what a great female character, obviously the toughest, ablest personality in the book) and the mysterious Angel Islington, just to name a few. There were disgusting moments, suspenseful moments, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments all interspersed with a delightful sense of fun and humor. The visuals that Gaiman creates with his descriptive talent were amazing. I wonder if the movie was able to capture the eerie, fantastical world of London Below. I found this book to be a great read for the R.I.P Challenge. It's my third Gaiman book. "Good Omens" is still my favorite, but, so far, they've all been good.

Rating: 4.5


Posted by Framed at 8:47 PM



21 comments:
Chris said...
Great review Framed :) I love this book! I have the BBC series on DVD and I've only watched the first 2 episodes so far and they capture the feeling of the book perfectly! I don't know why I haven't finished it yet. I would say that this is one of my favorite Gaiman books, but they're all "one of my favorites" :p I love the feel of this book though. You're absolutely right...his descriptive talent really is amazing. He creates an atmosphere so well and the cast of characters in this book are some of the most memorable that I've read.

9/14/2007 1:44 AM
Nymeth said...
The BBC series was actually created before the book - he ended up writing the novel because he felt that the series didn't quite tell the story he wanted to tell, but mood-wise it should be fine. I haven't seen it yet; I really need to one of these days.

Anyway, I'm very glad to see you enjoyed this book so much!

9/14/2007 2:00 AM
Cath said...
I really need to get around to reading some of Gaiman's novels. I've read Good Omens of course but nothing else other than the odd short story. I have added his short story collection, Smoke and Mirrors, to my RIP pool because I saw a good review of a couple of stories in that, so that's a start. But your excellent review has intrigued me.

9/14/2007 4:32 AM
raidergirl3 said...
Oh! I'm 100 pages from finishing, so I didn't read your review yet. I'll come back tomorrow. I'm loving this one!

9/14/2007 5:41 AM
Cassie said...
I'm excited to read this book someday. Sounds dark an foreboding..just what I like.

9/14/2007 8:20 AM
Debi said...
Why can't there just be twice as many hours in a day?!! This is one I'm really anxious to read!

9/14/2007 11:10 AM
Becky said...
I'm with Debi on this one. Why can't there be more hours in the day! My TBR list is too long already. But this one does sound good. :)

9/14/2007 12:37 PM
Booklogged said...
He does create the perfect atmosphere, doesn't he? I didn't realize there was a CD. We'll have to get together and watch it sometime.

9/14/2007 5:34 PM
Rhinoa said...
I read Neverwhere this year too and enjoyed it more than I was expecting. I like his graphic novels but wasn't too taken with a lot of the stories in Smoke and Mirrors. This was my first full length prose novel by him and I will definately be reading more. It was cool referencing all the underground stations and areas of London as I get the tube here most days so I could picture it all the more clearly.

9/15/2007 4:20 AM
Eva said...
I'm rereading this this month! (although not for the RIP challenge-I'm doing it for the single author one)

Now it seems everyone is reading it. :) I love Gaiman, but this isn't in my top three of his books. I thought it was fun, though!

9/15/2007 6:56 AM
3M said...
Glad you liked this! I just skimmed your review because I haven't read it yet but plan to.

I really loved Coraline and liked Stardust quite a bit.

9/15/2007 8:14 AM
gautami tripathy said...
I have not read Gaiman. I think I should get around him. I just glanced through your review. I want to read this book.

9/15/2007 10:00 AM
raidergirl3 said...
Great review for a great book. I want to go to London! I think this was my favorite Gaiman yet.

9/15/2007 1:11 PM
Jill said...
This is one of the ones I have on my list for Carl's RIP Challenge as well. Your comments are intriguing so maybe I'll do that one sooner rather than later.

9/15/2007 4:20 PM
Stephanie said...
Great review!! This is the first year I've read any Neil Gaiman...and I've read 3 books, and have Fragile Things sitting next to me now!

I just love the RIP challenge!! Such fun books to choose from!

9/16/2007 8:38 AM
gautami tripathy said...
You have been tagged here

9/16/2007 11:34 AM
Melody said...
Ooh...I've this book in my pile! Thanks for the great review. :)

9/16/2007 6:14 PM
Matt said...
I just finished reading this as well and posted my review. I didn't like it as much as you it looks like, but I thought it was pretty good. I still want to read more of his books.

9/17/2007 8:55 AM
Nicola said...
Wonderful review! I've only read Coraline so far. This sound so good!

9/26/2007 11:13 AM
Carrie K said...
Good Omens is my favorite too, but Neverwhere was fun.

9/29/2007 11:07 AM
Cereal Girl said...
I have seen the screen version and envy you for having read it first. The DVD is very good. It sounds like the adaptation is very close to the original. I recommend it.

Gaiman said in an interview that he was especially pleased with how the actors brought it to life in ways he hadn't imagined. The Marquis de Carabas, for example, is played by a charismatic black actor.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

When you read this book, does it make you wonder what kind of a mind did Bram Stoker have? It's pretty spooky and gory and filled with all kinds of evil. I guess the legends about vampires have been around for ages and it was good to finally read the book that really defined these weird folks. I almost wanted to see the movie because Gary Oldman is such an amazing actor. Oh, I just looked at Amazon and saw Keanu Reeves is in it as well. Now, I'm really torn.

As I started this novel, I kept questioning myself because I hate scary and creepy thngs. And this book is creepy almost immediately as Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to help Count Dracula complete a real estate transaction. The villagers try to warn him and, many times, he observes them crossing themselves. He becomes a little apprehensive, but that's nothing to what he faces later. Soon the action moves to London as Dracula searches for fresh blood. This is where we are introduced to a group of impossibly brave people: Mina Murray Harker, Dr. Seward, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, and, of course, the invincible Professor Van Helsing. Van Helsing is nothing like the super-hero played by Hugh Jackman in the movie, "Van Helsing." He is old, emotional, and very learned. He is also Dutch; and Stoker incorporates his Dutch accent into the dialog. In fact, there were a number of dialects in this book that I had a hard time understanding. How this band tries to defeat a foe who is becoming increasingly canny and bold makes for a gripping final third of the book. Even though, I found the novel to be too wordy and often skipped passages, I became caught up with the terror and suspense of who would be triumphant before that final sunset. I liked how Stoker expressed compassion and friendship. He also describes several seemingly unrelated incidences during the first half and then deftly begins to draw them together as the story races towards the final showdown. The story is told through a series of journal entries and letters written mostly by Jonathan, Mina and Seward. This gave me an opportunity to really get to know those characters and see others through different perspectives. Plus I grew up seeing vampires as these kind of funny, one-dimensional monsters and "Dracula" certainly gave me an whole new perspective. Overall, I enjoyed this book more than I thought when I began it. I'm sure that I will not read it again but feel that it was a worthy book to read especially for these two challenges.

Rating: 4


Posted by Framed at 4:01 PM



19 comments:
Literary Feline said...
I am glad you enjoyed Dracula, Framed! I admit that I was surprised at how much I liked it too. I hadn't really known what I was in for when I started it. Great review!

9/08/2007 5:30 PM
jenclair said...
I'm glad you liked it, too! It is a favorite of mine. When I was young and watched the old Dracula movies, I was scared witless, but couldn't help my attraction to the movies. In one of them (the first film? 1920's or early 1930's) there is a scene in Dracula's castle in which rats are swarming-- but they aren't rats, they are 'possums! Don't know how they managed to get that many!

My favorite comic rendition is Love at First Bite, and Renfield steals the show in that one. A charming and funny version.

The Coppola film changes so much of the intent; it may be worth watching just to see how the novel could be misrepresented, but I was busy disputing everything about it.

The Historian is written in a modern version of the same writing style and makes great use of Stoker's novel to present a contemporary extension of the story. I loved it. Since it is in your list, I hope you do, too!

9/08/2007 7:40 PM
Becky said...
I am currently reading Dracula for the R.I.P II challenge. I'm almost halfway through, and I'm loving it so far. I didn't expect to get so "hooked" on it. But it really is hard to put down. Though I agree with you on some of the dialect being too hard to understand. I skimmed some of it. I figured if I could read a whole paragraph and barely understand a thing, I didn't need to pay too close attention til the scene changed.

9/08/2007 7:58 PM
Booklogged said...
When I read this for last year's RIP I was surprised that I liked it so much. So you're still planning on watching the movie? Do you need some company for that? I'll bring the fat-free popcorn.

9/08/2007 11:16 PM
Booklogged said...
BTW, I tried to respond to your email and it wouldn't send. Some error message that didn't make sense.

I would love to mooch Ghost Writer when you finish. I'm not in any hurry so take your time. Do you own Woman in White?

9/08/2007 11:18 PM
Cath said...
Excellent review! I like the way people can read the same book and come up entirely different views and points. The dialects were difficult, I agree. I often had to read Van Helsing's over again to get the gist. Some of the local dialect was hard too and I'm English!

I'm not sure but wasn't Van Helsing played by Sean Connery in the movie? Your comment still applies though - he was *nothing* like the real one. LOL!

I see you're planning to read The Historian too. Look forward to your comments.

9/09/2007 2:14 AM
Nymeth said...
I watched that movie version when I was something like twelve, and it was the reason why I picked up the book some years later. I liked it back then (even though I had nightmares for a week or so), but later I realized they'd taken many, many liberties with the story.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the book!

9/09/2007 4:06 AM
SuziQoregon said...
I'm glad you liked it. I read early this year for the Classics challenge and was surprised at how wrong all the movie versions were.

9/09/2007 10:26 AM
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
Hugh Jackman played Van Helsing in the movie.

So the book was really that good? I never read it because I didn't want to give myself nightmares and like you I have some trouble with the pre-Hollywood way of writing. Meaning that what we capture in a phrase "the Eiffel Tower" back then had to be painstakingly described because everyone hadn't been there, seen a picture, seen it in a movie, etc.

Maybe I'll give it a shot.

9/09/2007 1:04 PM
Tristi Pinkston said...
Hmmm -- I don't do spooky very well. I think I'll leave this one to you braver folks.

9/09/2007 1:08 PM
Framed said...
Cath and Candace, there are two movies referred in my review. I wasn't too clear. I haven't seen "Bram Stoker's Dracula" which stars Gary Oldman as Dracula. Hugh Jackman plays Van Helsing in the movie "Van Helsing" which is really quite cartoonish but creepily so. But if Sean Connery plays Van Helsing in the Bram Stoker version, I may see it after all. Get the popcorn out, Booklogged.

Tristi, I didn't think I did spooky very well either. But I believe I read it better than watch it in movies. There's no spooky music playing in the background. Even so, I may go see that movie. It gives me shivers to think about it.

Jennclair, I did see "Love at First Bite. It was pretty funny, but I don't remember Renfield. Maybe I should watch it again. I keep trying to get psyched up for "The Historian" but it's so big.

Becky, I'll watch for your review. It will be fun to compare.

Wendy, Nymeth, Booklogged, etc. I probably would never have read this book if it had not been for the reviews I read this past year.

Booklogged, I'll let you know when I finish "The Ghost Writer." I spending those moosh points pretty fast so I'll need more soon.

9/09/2007 5:30 PM
Petunia said...
The movie with Keanu was gross and stupid. Keanu's part was particularly bad. He's come a long way since then. I don't mean to be such a Negative Nelly, just giving fair warning.

9/10/2007 12:26 AM
Carrie said...
You've inspired me to give the book a try. I'm not fond of the word-e ness of the clasics, but, I'll give dracula a go.

9/10/2007 8:33 AM
Debi said...
I loved your review! I don't have Dracula on my list, but I'm tempted to add it now.

9/10/2007 9:13 AM
Cassie said...
Framed, in fact you have seen the movie of Dracula because I was with you. I remember that we rented to watch on the first Halloween that I didn't go out trick or treating. I remember being surprised that you were letting me watch it, but you may not have been that much attention to it in between giving out candy and stuff.

9/10/2007 9:27 AM
Carrie K said...
I think it's Anthony Hopkins in the Dracula movie. It's not the best movie ever made, but it's got it's good points.

I never have read the book. I suppose I really should.

9/10/2007 3:27 PM
Framed said...
Carrie, Debi and Carrie K, you should read it. Very atmospheric.

Cassie, you know I read books when you were watching movies I didn't really want to see. I vaguely remember renting this one and seeing Gary Oldman, but that's about it.

9/10/2007 8:53 PM
Stephanie said...
I love creepy and eerie books. And I love vampires. So it's completely weird that I have never actually READ Dracula!! But for this challenge, it's definitely on my list for October!!

Great review!

9/11/2007 10:40 AM
LK said...
I couldn't agree more! Reading Dracula versus viewing the Hollywood version really gave me an insight over how books can bring so much more dimension than films.

10/08/2007 4:21 PM

Monday, September 03, 2007
Final Newbery Challenge & First Unread Author

Karana grew up on an isolated island southwest of Low Angelos. At the age of fourteen, her life and that of the villagers around her changes forever. Aleuts visit the island to harvest otters and, after a serious altercation, leave the island with many of the village men killed. Soon another ship arrives and the remaining villagers board the ship to leave the island forever. Karana sees that her young brother is missing and swims back to the island to stay with him until the ship returns. The brother is killed by wild dogs leaving Karana to wait for the ship alone. This book tells of her struggles to survive and the friendship she develops with the lead pack dog. Eighteen years later, the ship finally returns and Karana sails away to civilization. This woman actually existed and is known as The Lost Woman of San Nicholas. The island is now the site of secret nuclear testing.

The novel reminds me a great deal of the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away." It showcases the main character's resiliency and fortitude. It's a great book for older children. While I enjoyed it, I probably won't read it again.

Rating: 4


Posted by Framed at 12:11 PM



4 comments:
Booklogged said...
I really liked this one and probably rated it higher than you did.

9/03/2007 1:58 PM
Carrie said...
Amazingly enough, not only have I never read this book but I did not know what it was about. Therefore I appreciated reading your review and "getting a clue." Thanks!

9/08/2007 8:02 AM
Literary Feline said...
As I was re-organizing some of my bookshelves, I came across this book. It's been ages since I read it--back in elementary school probably. I was quite taken with the story back then. I wonder how I would take to it now.

Thanks for a great review!

9/08/2007 11:52 AM
Carrie K said...
I loved this book as a kid. It was one of my absolute faves.

Sunday, September 02, 2007
5th Newbery & 6th Book Award Challenge

Consequence: That which logically or naturally follows from an action or a condition; an effect; result.

"Tale" is all about the consequences of the actions of Despereaux, a pint-size mouse, who falls in love with a princess; Roscuro, a rat, seeking revenge against the princess; and Miggory Sow, a 12-year-old girl, who longs to become a princess. DiCamillo creates a fun and imaginative story revolving around these three characters and how the consequences of their actions and others move toward a heart-warming conclusion. I love how the narrator talks to the reader throughout the book. I imagined reading it to children with those great breaks in the story to more completely involve the reader. And Timothy Basil Ering's illustrations were perfect, the mouse is cute, the rat, horrible; and Miggory is comical. It was such a fun and easy book to read, well-deserving of a Newbery Award.

Rating: 4.5


Posted by Framed at 4:03 PM



4 comments:
Booklogged said...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. When everything comes together at the end it's truly fun. However, I didn't like how the narrator talks to the reader. That part annoyed me somewhat.

I've tagged you for a meme. You can read the rules at my blog, In Seasons. You don't mind memes, do you?

9/02/2007 6:35 PM
Stephanie said...
Oh...I have this on my list to read. I have loved all the Newberry's that I've read. I'm sure this one will be no exception!

9/02/2007 7:27 PM
Nymeth said...
I've heard such good things about this one. I really need to read it.

9/03/2007 4:44 AM
Mindy Withrow said...
I loved this book, too; I reviewed it awhile back on my blog. I'm with you, Framed, in finding the narrator's asides delightful!

Friday, August 31, 2007
Book Around the States - MONTANA

I bought this book at the Great Salt Lake Book Festival after listening to Ivan Doig discuss his writings and the importance of libraries. (as opposed to finding facts on the internet that aren't always facts) I've had the book for almost a year and found my personal reading challenge was a good way to finally make myself read this book. MAKE MYSELF?? I feel bad that I didn't read it immediately. It is so good. At first the western style of writing put me off, but it meshed so well with the story and the narration, and truly fit the memorable character of Jick McCaskill. Here are a few adages Jick fits into his narrative that tickled me:

"Trouble never travels lonesome."

"I was discovering that, in terms of entertainment, braiding is pretty much like chewing gum with your fingers."

"Life is wide, there's room to take a new run at it."

"By my third afternoon shift of digging, I had confirmed for myself the Two country's reputation for being a toupee of grass on a cranium of rock."

Doig was close to fifty when he wrote this book, but his dead-on portrayal of the humor, sarcasm, curiousity and confusion of an almost fifteen-year-old boy was most impressive. The story covers Jick's life in northwestern Montana during the summer of 1939 as told by Jick many years later. People are still feeling the bite of the Great Depression, but still manage to live rich lives. The main source of conflict is between two of Jick's heroes, his father, Mac, a Forest Service ranger, and his brother, Alec, a cowpuncher, who elects to get married that coming fall instead of attending college. He struggles to understand the dynamics of this conflict and the distance it creates in his family. But there are so many other tales and great characters involved in this novel. Jick gets roped into helping an old drunk friend of the family as he delivers supplies to various sheep camps in the mountains above English Creek with hilarious results. The depiction of the Fourth of July community picnic and late-night square dancing make you long for a more simpler time and place. The hay-hauling incidents brought back less-than-delightful memories for me. And Doig's description of fighting a huge fire in the National Forest before the days of drop-planes was mesmerizing. It's a truly memorable summer for Jick as he delves into the mysteries of relationships and growing up.

"All the people of that English Creek summer of 1939--they stay on in me even though so many of them are gone from life. You know how when you open a new book fo the first time, its pages linger against each other, pull apart with a reluctant little separating sound. They never quite do that again, the linger or the tiny sound. Maybe it can be said that for me, that fifteenth summer of my existence was the new book and its fresh pages. My memories of those people and times and what became of them, those are the lasting lines within the book, there to be looked on again and again. "

There are two more books in Doig's Montana trilogy. One tells the story of Jick's grandparents and the other is about Jick's daughter. I want to read them both. And, of course, "The Whistling Season," the book that first sparked my interest in Doig, is still lingering on my TBR list. As for the BOOK AROUND THE STATES CHALLENGE, "English Creek" is a fantastic illustration of the state of Montana for that era with mouth-watering descriptions of the beauty of the eastern slope of the norther Rockies.

Rating: 5


Posted by Framed at 7:03 PM



8 comments:
Booklogged said...
I don't remember hearing Doig present at the festival. Judging from your review I should have. Are you going to hold on to this one or put it up for mooching? What am I thinking?! I already have too, too many books already waiting to be read. (Still, let me know if you decide to mooch.)

8/31/2007 10:01 PM
Framed said...
Book, You went to a presentation upstairs while Mom and I went to Doig. Sorry, but this is an autographed copy so I won't be mooching it. But you can borrow it if you'd like.

9/01/2007 7:38 AM
gautami tripathy said...
Can I borrow it too?!!

:D

9/01/2007 8:10 AM
Tristi Pinkston said...
It sounds great -- I'll put it on my TBR.

9/01/2007 11:57 AM
Framed said...
Sorry, gautami, I know where to find Booklogged. But I noticed Amazon has used copies for sale at a reasonable price. I highly recommend it.

Tristi, when do you find time to write with all the reading?

9/01/2007 8:14 PM
Jeane said...
My mother was always a fan of Doig but I never read him. Did you find it a slow start getting into the book?

9/02/2007 7:38 AM
adam said...
Hi, this is not so related to your page, but it is the site you asked me 1 month ago about the abs diet. I tried it, worked well. Well here is the site

9/02/2007 1:31 PM
Framed said...
Jeane, it didn't take very long to get into. Mainly because Doig is so humorous.

Adam, I didn't go anywhere when I clicked on the link. Could be my computer. But thanks anyway.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Based on a Norwegian folk tale, this 500 -page novel explores the character of Rose, the daughter of a indulgent father and a very superstitious mother. The story involves many elements of travel, from the four directions of the globe, the wind rose found on maps, maps themselves, and journeys from Norway to France to Greenland and the North Pole. Pattou uses a literary format she found after reading "The Poisonwood Bible" (not one of my favorites) which works very well in this story. The narrators alternate from the father; the older brother; Rose herself; the Troll Queen; and the White Bear who speaks in poetry. This style wonderfully captures the essence of these five characters as well giving you insight into other characters as you view them from different perspectives. We also meet four characters helping Rose on her journey who symbolize the four points of the compass, East, South, West and finally North. As in Shannon Hale's "The Goose Girl", the fairy tale aspects are obvious but in such a charming and delightful manner. And Pattou's descriptions of the journey to the hidden land of the Trolls and the Ice Palace are freezingly beautiful. In a cast of fascinating characters, Rose stands out from the moment of her North-facing birth to her attempt to rescue the White Bear. I kept putting off reading this book as it seemed too long, and then raced through it in two days. What an elegant tale of family, travel, love and adventure with just the right touch of enchantment and suspense. Rating: 5

Posted by Framed at 6:41 PM



5 comments:
Eva said...
Thanks for reviewing this book! It's now on my TBR list-it sounds great. :)
My bookmooch account is astripedarmchair, but I go by Shari since it's my legal first name and I don't want to worry about the postal system! I prefer Eva, though. ;) I don't have a very large invetory right now, but feel free to look!
What's your account?

8/26/2007 7:25 PM
Framed said...
My account is under Framed. I'll try to add you as a friend if that's okay and if I can figure that out.

8/26/2007 7:28 PM
Nymeth said...
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" is my favourite fairy tale, and I didn't know this novel existed! Thank you for this review. The book sounds wonderful and I really have to read it.

8/27/2007 5:03 AM
gautami said...
It sounds interesting. I might check it out. Your reviews always interest me.

9/01/2007 8:08 AM
Framed said...
Thanks, Guatami. I think you will enjoy this book.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

**Donald Smurthwaite has written another beautiful story about love and family and friends. He has such an eloquent way of expressing feelings that we all know but can't quite put into words. No other author pulls at my heartstrings the way Smurthwaite does.
**"The BoxMaker's Son" is told by a son as a tribute to his father. What a collection of nostagia is bound up in this story of growing up in a lower middle class neighborhood during the late 50's and early 60's. We relive the childhood games of kick-the-can and street baseball, when everyone knew their neighbors, when time moved more slowly. The book doesn't contain any earth-shattering experiences, just a collection of simple but profound truths. It's a feel good read as Neal talks about the lessons he learned from his father's examples. As in his other books, Smurthwaite also illustrates a wonderful understanding of the Resurrection and Atonement of Christ, as he finds small acts and life experiences that are daily reminders of those supreme acts. While this is a deeply religious book, it doesn't preach to or work at improving the reader; it simply lets you feel.
**I marked so many passages in this book that spoke to me. Here are some that I hope will convey the flavor and poignancy of Smurthwaite's work.
"A man can dream of making boxes. I know that. My father made boxes. The Savior was a carpenter. I wonder if He ever created a wooden box. I think He must have. What tender care He must have used in creating his boxes, to make sure the corners fit and were tight and that they would last a long time. His boxes last for eternities. . . My father has something to show for his life. The boxes he made.
This was an analogy after the boys lost their one and only baseball:
"And then, when we were about to give up, when we were hopeless, sometimes, at the last possible second, someone would spot the ball, and the game would be resumed, with joy. The game went on, its life renewed. He died, He rose. From something lost to something found, something destroyed to something restored. From lost ball to found ball, and then the game, and our life, went on."
"I have learned that greatness is not often born at the head of armies or standing before large gatherings of people. I have learned that it is only rarely manifested in grandiose words or bold action and that it has little to do with position or title or authority. Rather, true greatness most often comes from small turnings within the soul, in quiet ways, in actions that the world will little note. Greatness is around us, below us. It is not often above us. We need to reach down for greatness, where the small things are at our feet. It comes in small, simple words and sublime magnanimity."
This quote comes after a young man has asked for the oldest sister's hand in marriage:
"This is not like making boxes at a factory, where you feed the fiber into the machine and the machine stamps out the box, perfect lines, perfect creases, right angles in a world that loves right angles. This is a part of life, a part of who you are and what you must experience, this is a part where you feel for the wind and set your sail and let the breeze take you wherever it may. And you can fight the breeze or you can let it blow you to the shore where you are supposed to land.
This is a part of the picture where God lets you put your experience and what you know and what you feel to work for you, and He steps back and thinks with loving kindness, "All right. Show me. Prove to me. This is where I have given you the outline and now you fill it all in with the colors you select. It is your picture. It is your painting. You can choose the colors."
At the end of the book, many years later, the narrator returns to his old church and visits with the man who served as his bishop when he was young.
"How can I explain to him all that I feel, all that seems to have come together and converged at this tender moment, at this place? I can only tell him this one thing, curious as it sounds.
"I can make boxes."
He nods. He knows. He also has made boxes. We have something in common, as do all who humbly follow. Our sturdy lives, square corners. The greatness we see when we bow our heads. The Savior was a carpenter. I think He made boxes. I can also build beautiful things.
My father once told me, I like people who try.
I am a boxmaker, too."
Rating: 5

Posted by Framed at 7:44 AM



3 comments:
Candleman said...
Thanks for the great review. I've seen and wondered about this book several times. Now, it is certain, I will read and enjoy it.

8/25/2007 9:52 AM
Booklogged said...
Wonderful, stirring quotes. I was just thinking I should buy it for Candleman. Now I wonder if he's already ordered it. I'll read it, too, but I'll let him go first. I like to read a book after he has marked what touches him. Actually, I'd like to read your copy, too.

8/25/2007 9:56 PM
Framed said...
I used book darts and then took them off. My other Smurthwaite books are all marked up. The next time I read this one, I'm using a marker.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 I am certainly a fan of Shannon Hale and "The Princess Academy" only enhanced my enjoyment of her work. This is a great novel for young teens and teaches some valuable lessons about finding your potential and realizing your worth. Also, there is a great plug for the value of education. Miri is very small for her fourteen years and is not allowed to work in the quarry with the other villagers. Ths restriction makes her feel worhtless and a burden to the others. Then word comes that the next princess of the kingdom is to be chosen from the firls of her village. But first, the twenty girls, including Miri, must be educated and trained before they can compete for the Prince's affections. The girls are taken from their families and put into a harsh and exacting learning environment where they learn to read, dance, converse, even diplomacy. Soon these lessons and Miri's leadership skills take a bunch of argumentative and competitve girls and help them form a cohesive group that eventually enhances the value of the village itself. As always, Hale's descriptions are breathtaking and her characters fascinating. This is probably my favorite of all her books, and I loved the Bayern series. A definite must-read for young girls and pure entertainment for all. Rating: 5 Posted by Framed at 8:08 PM 2 comments: Cassie said... This was my first Shannon Hale read and I too loved it. I thought it was so interesting and I love the heroine. 8/22/2007 9:23 AM Booklogged said... I can't decide which is my favorite. The tie is between Goose Girl and Princess Academy. It's nice to come across books like these. 8/22/2007 5:56 PM

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

"Moo" is a humorous depiction of a ficitonal ag college in the midwest. The cast of characters is huge and is composed mainly of the students(customers, as the administration calls them) and staff who spend most of their time on the campus of Moo U. This is the first book I've read by Jane Smiley who won a Pulitzer for her book, "A Thousand Acres." I didn't know what to expect which is just as well because this novel was highly unexpected. The first eight chapters or so are devoted to introducing the multitudes. Very gradually, all these people are tied into the plot with their various stages of life and emotions. I disliked the smug and famous economist, and the self-important dean of extension the most. At first, I disliked the English professor and novelist but he grew on me. Most of the students left me indifferent, and most of the staff were unloveable. My favorite characters were Mrs. Walker, the provost's secretary who truly runs the entire campus, Bob, the freshman student who is quite naive and diligent, and, most of all, Earl Butz, a hog at the center of the action whose experimental huge growth symoblizes much of the successes and failures of a university gone amok. Some reviews I have read suggest this is an accurate satire of actual university politics and policies. There is one chapter, "Who's in Bed with Whom", that I found way too graphic and not terribly important to the overall plot except to illustrate the weird relationship between the language teacher and the head of the horticulture department. There is quite a bit of profanity as well. And occassionally, Smiley would throw in these long sentences that I would read and re-read and still couldn't quite follow. It's definitely a book to mull and ponder to really get the full flavor of, and I'm not much into mulling and pondering. Still, I was suprised to find that at the end I did like the book, even though I felt I was dragging myself through it. The ending and the eventual fate of Earl Butz just pulls everything together and made sense of all the different characters and plot lines. Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 7:19 PM

3 comments:
Literary Feline said...
I admit that from reading the backs of Jane Smiley's books I haven't felt the urge to bring any of them home. Maybe one day I will find myself doing so though. This one does sound interesting. If I do read it, I will keep in mind that it all comes together in the end. :-)
8/21/2007 10:55 PM
Cassie said...
I don't think I'll read this as I am not prone to dragging myself through a book unless it is a book club book.
8/22/2007 9:22 AM
Booklogged said...
I agree with Cassie. The dragging myself through a book doesn't sound like something I want to do right now.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Disclaimer: I can't believe I forgot this book was on my 2nds Challenge and not to be read until October. It just caught my eye when I was deciding on what to read next. I believe I'll replace it with Tess Gerritsen's "The Surgeon." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Review: David Farland's first book in the Ravenspell series, "Of Mice and Magic," was a delightful, funny fantasy involving a young female mouse wizard, Amber, and her ten-year-old human familiar, Ben, whom she has turned into a mouse. "The Wizard of Ooze" continues the story of these two mice and their friends as they face as new threat to the world in the form of a 12-foot Wyoming Thunder worm named Sebaceous Ooze. If the name doesn't gross you out (it did me), his creations--slobber goblins and snot spiders--may. Ooze has the evil intention of destroying the world by unleashing the powers of the inner earth. This is to accomplished by mesmerizing mice to dig a giant whole into the inner core and releasing a huge volcano. Any creatures remaining will be slimed to death. Amber also wants to take over the world in order to make it safer for mice and their friends. But first, they have to destroy Ooze and free the millions of hypnotized mice digging under a mountain in Wyoming. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**I enjoyed the character of Thorn the most. Amber has magically turned him into a mouse smarter than Einstein with incredible results. There is a slight romance going on with Amber and Ben. Amber thinks Ben is the handsomest mouse she has ever seen but, as a ugly, hairless human, quite repelling. Ben has seen Amber as a lovely young girl, but can't fancy her as a mouse. Quite the conundrum. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**This book was a disappointment to me. While wildly creative,it didn't have the charm and humor of the first book, and the worms and slime were just disgusting. I'm sure younger readers will absolutely love the grossness. The two books together cover only the space of a week and there's a lot going on in Book Two. So, in addition to the slime, I got a little confused. The big question is: will Ben ever become human again? Rating: 3

1 comments:
Booklogged said...
Too bad it was disappointing. I was planning on reading this one, but I think I can safely pass it up and find something more worthwhile. Thanks, Framed.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"A Bell for Adano" tells the story of the American take-over of Sicily during WWII and its effect on the small town of Adano. Major Joppolo, an Italian-American, is assigned as the senior civil affairs officer. The beauty of this story is how much the major comes to care for the townspeople and does all he can to improve their lives and the town. Since the orignal town hall bell was melted for ammunition, Joppolo makes it his mission to replace it. The book is filled with eccentric characters, both native Italians and the American G.I.'s serving there. Hersey wrote humor and pathos into his novel. I really liked the characters in the story, although sometimes some of the townspeople became almost cartoonish. The style of writing seems better suited to an audience of pre-teens even though the content is written for adults. While I recommend the book because it's a great story, I disliked the ending and the stilted prose.
Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 8:22 PM

3 comments:
Booklogged said...
I have heard such really good things about this book. Is it short? If so, I may still try and read it some time.
8/14/2007 12:06 PM
Framed said...
It's an inspiring story, and not hard to read. 288 pages. It's on my bookmooch inventory.
8/14/2007 6:43 PM
Literary Feline said...
This one does sound interesting story wise. I may be willing to take a chance on it. I'll keep in mind your thoughts though--sometimes that helps balance out my expectations.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

"Caddie Woodlawn" was far and away my favorite book when I was ten or eleven. I read it countless times. So it was great fun to rediscover the wonder of this well-told story for these two challenges. Written in 1935, the book is pleasantly old-fashioned with values we would be wise to hold onto in these days.
Since Caroline Augusta Woodlawn was so frail as a toddler, her father asked if he could raise her in a very unconventional manner for the 1860's. Caddie was allowed to run and play and work with her brothers, exposed to nature and all the wild things boys like to do. Her tomboyishness is a source of great embarassment to her mother and older sister, but, with regaining her health, Caddie is a well-adjusted pre-teen with a sense of humor, kindness, and integrity. Her antics and adventures make this story a true gem, especially because Caddie grew up to become a loving and accomplished woman who was the grandmother of the author. The book gives the reader a feel for life on the prairies of Wisconsin, with its remoteness from "civilised" society and the ever-present danger of an Indian uprising. But, mostly, it is the story of a family who lives, works and plays together. Not earth-shattering but comforting.
One quote illustrated to me how our memories of childhood are so vivid just like these memories became for Caddie: "One April afternoon she went by herself to gather flowers in the woods. The mourning doves had come back and they were making a little sad refrain through the singing of the pines. The buckets hung empty on the sugar maple trees, for the syrup season was ended. There were some new pines slashings that filled the air with perfume. Like the birch smoke and the smell of clover, the pine smell was a Wisconsin smell, and, because she loved them so, they were a part of Caddie Woodlawn."
Father's lesson to Caddie is one which helps her to begin thinking about the kind of woman she wants to be: "It's a strange thing, but somehow we expect more of girls than of boys. It is the sisters and wives and mothers, you know, Caddie, who keep the world sweet and beautiful. What a rough world it would be if there were only men and boys in it, doing things in their rough way. A woman's task is to teach them gentleness and courtesy and love and kindness. It's a big task, too, Caddie--harder than cutting trees or building mills or damning rivers. It takes nerve and courage and patience, but good women have those things.. . . I don't want you to be the silly, affected person with fine clothes and manners, whom folks sometimes call a lady. No, that is not what I want for you, my little girl. I want you to be a woman with a wise and understanding heart, healthy in body and honest in mind."
At the end of the book, Caddie analyzes the previous year: Folks keep growing from one person into another all their lives, and life is just a lot of everyday adventures. Well, whatever life is, I like it."
Rating: 5
Posted by Framed at 6:43 PM

7 comments:
Booklogged said...
I wish I would have been a reader when I was younger. I feel like I've missed out on so many good books and trying to catch up now that I'm and old woman is hard. This is one that I'm definitely going to make an effort to read.
8/12/2007 8:24 PM
3M said...
I read this as an adult and loved it as well.3m3am.wordpress.com
8/12/2007 9:04 PM
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
Oh, Caddie Woodlawn was one of my favorite books as a child. In fact, I still have the copy my mother gave me all those years ago. Thanks for reviewing it today. It took me back.
8/13/2007 7:48 AM
Cassie said...
I remember finding this book in grandma's library and when you told me how it had been one of your favorites as a young girl, I had to read it right then. I loved it too.
8/13/2007 11:58 AM
Framed said...
I have an old copy of this book but I don't think Grandma does. I bought it when you were just a baby so you could read it someday.
8/14/2007 7:27 PM
Carrie said...
This was one of my favorites growing up also. Can't count the times that I read this. Your review makes me want to read it again!
8/18/2007 3:27 PM
Carrie K said...
That was one of my favorite books growing up too. I'll have to pick it up for a reread. Thanks for the review and the memories!

Friday, August 10, 2007

I have avoided this book for quite some time thinking it would be dark and depressing . After all, it is the author's account of the time he spent in the Nazi death camps at the age of 15. And it is dark, depressing, excrutiatingly sad, macabre, sobering, and incredibly, beautifully written. Elie's words as translated by his wife, Marion, convey vividly the dashed hopes and the realized fears of the inmates of these camps. At just 120 pages, this book manages to instill in the reader the horror of what happened to 7 million innocent people and the need to never let it happen again succinctly and eloquently. Even though it doesn't elaborate as gruesomely as other accounts I have read about the concentration camps, the emotional toll on the prisoners is almost as compelling as the deaths, hunger, sickness and torture. I found the most awful aspect is the author's repudiation of the God he had worshipped so strongly before his incarceration. Truly awful is that I could understand why. I found it a redeeming feature to include his Nobel acceptance speech in which he seems to have rekindled his relationship with God. This is a story that the world mustn't forget. I marked so many wonderful passages but here are a few that illustrate that power of Wiesel's writing.
"Did I write it so as not to go mad or, on the contrary, to go mad in order to understand the nature of madness, the immense, terrifying madness that had erupted in history and in the conscience of mankind?" Preface to new translation
"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget would be akin to killing them a second time." Preface
"The absent no longer entered our thoughts. One spoke of them--who knows what happened to them?--but their fate was not on our minds. We were incapable of thinking. Our senses were numbed, everything was fading into a fog. We no longer clung to anything. The instincts of self-preservation, of self-defense, or pride, had all deserted us. In one terrifying moment of lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any hope of finding either." "Night"
"This is what I say to the young Jewish boy wondering what I have done with his years. It is in his name that I speak to you and that I express to you my deepest gratitude as one who has emerged from the Kingdom of Night. We know that every moment is a moment of grace, every hour an offering; not to share them would mean to betray them." Nobel prize acceptance speech
Rating: 4.5
Posted by Framed at 9:17 PM

4 comments:
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
My father was a child in Amsterdam, Holland during WWII, on the run from the SS in Germany during the latter part of the war, and in a Dutch Concentration Camp after WWII where he, his sister (who were half Dutch and half German) and their mother (a German married to a Dutch citizen) treated with the same despicable and inhumanity the Germans treated the Jews. Before his death, my father traveled the United States speaking of life when freedom is lost, in fighting for what you believe in and uppermost in his mind, was the incredible privileges we have as Americans.So thank you for blogging about this book. You reminded of the father I recently lost and how much I miss him. He was a great, great man.
8/11/2007 7:38 AM
Framed said...
Candace, thanks so much for sharing your insights. Your father sounds like he was a wonderful man.
8/11/2007 1:23 PM
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
He was amazing, Framed. I miss him a lot. And you're welcoming, I will always tell about him. He lived an amazing life always reaching for the next great adventure.
8/11/2007 7:07 PM
Nymeth said...
This sounds like one of those books that really should be read. I will have to gather the courage to do it someday. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.

Friday, August 10, 2007 In my younger days, I read Jakes' series of "The Kent Family Chronicles" and "North and South." They were what I would call lurid historical romances and very good for that genre. "Gods" fits right along with those other books. This is a story of Sam Driver, a robber baron, and his daughter, Jenny, who set out to break into Newport high society. The ruthlessness of Sam's ambitions are interspersed with details of the ostentation and excesses of Newport during the 1890's. Jakes included some great stories about the out-of-control spending of the truly rich. Having visited Newport and gone on a tour of one of the mansions, I can easily believe how these people set themselves above normal morality and common sense. But it was fun to read of some of the more outlandish things that took place in that era. The book details Sam's rise to riches, his unsuitable marriage, and how reaching the pinnacle of high society enables him to marry Jenny off to nobility. The glitch is that Jenny has fallen in love with a poor Irish boy in Newport and that romance supplies the conflict for the book along with Sam's feud with long-time Newporter, Bill Brady. Maybe, this wasn't the right book to read after "A Thousand Splendid Suns" because I just didn't care for it over all. I thought the plot was unbelievable and Sam's motives too conflicting. The character of Jenny rarely made sense. At one time she is a sensible, self-possessed young woman, then she's falling in love with a boy she just met, finally she marries the Count who is obviously wicked. The flat characters and plot line didn't make up for the fun glimpse into the Gilded Era. Rating: 2 Posted by Framed at 7:37 AM 1 comments: Booklogged said... When I first started reading your review, I was excited to get my hands on this book. It sounded like a good premise and a fun read since we had visited Newport. In the end you convinced me not to bother. Maybe we can find a really good book about the Gods of Newport someday. That I would like to read.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

I spent the last two days listening to the audio version of this book while cleaning house and crocheting. And I've learned a few things about myself and audio books. I do my best listening while I'm driving or crocheting, maybe when I get around to walking with my iPod, other activities tend to distract me and I have to turn the player up really loud so I can hear it all over the house. This particular book fills 11 discs, and the first five really dragged for me. I found the actress's reading to be a little monotone and the book has a very slow start, setting the stage and delving deeply into the two main characters, Miriam and Laila. But I gradually found myself pulled into the compelling and tragic lives of these two very different women who are thrown together by circumstances and then find each other to be a true sister and friend. The book covers the last thirty years of history in Afghanistan, from the Russian invasion to the overthrow of the Taliban after 9/11, and how each woman's life changes along with the changes in regimes. It is an interesting look into a different culture and way of life. Hosseini is to be commended by how well he is able look into a woman's mind and reveal her inner thoughts and feelings, most of which I could identify and sympathize with. Another problem with listening to the book was that I was unable to mark some quotes although there were some beautiful lines. I'm glad that I have "The Kite Runner" in printed form. Something tells me I will enjoy that format even more.
Rating: 4
Posted by Framed at 5:58 PM

11 comments:
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
I'm so glad you reviewed this book. I've been trying to decide whether to buy it or not. I really don't like book that take chapters and chapters to get into. So I'm not going spend my book money on this. You rock!
8/08/2007 2:34 PM
Framed said...
Candace, eveyone else has raved about this book so I suspect I would have got into it easier if I had read it and not been so easily distracted. Still there are libraries. . .
8/08/2007 8:04 PM
Carrie K said...
It's the raving that sets my expectations up for a fall, but OTOH, I did really like The Kite Runner even if I wanted to whackthe protagonist n the back of the head half the book. And still wanted to know what happened.That's part of my problem with audiobooks. In the car, perfect. Anywhere else, even knitting, I tend to get really distracted.
8/08/2007 9:34 PM
Booklogged said...
What a coincidence. Both of us posting this book on the same day and both listening to it instead of reading it. I wish I didn't have stacks of books waiting to be read because I would like to go back and actually "read" this one.I was concerned that it wouldn't live up to the first book, but I think it was pretty close. I definitely loved the Kite Runner. It will be interesting to hear what you think having read Splendid Suns first.
8/09/2007 11:59 AM
SuziQoregon said...
I'm picky about what I'll listen to vs. read. I do most of my listening while commuting and dfiving around town in 10-20 minute segments. I almost exclusively listen to light mysteries. Anything too intense or heavy won't work as an audiobook for me (just my preference).
8/09/2007 3:31 PM
sally906 said...
As much as I loved this book and gave it an A rating. it just dipped out on the 'WoW' factor when compared to 'The Kite Runner' i am jealous that you will get the joy of reading it for the first time :)
8/10/2007 11:43 PM
Bellezza said...
I will never forget Kite Runner. It sticks with me in much the same way as Atonement did. You are brave to listen to the audio; I always miss more auditorally than I do when I read the text myself, but it's nice to have your hands free (for crochet).
8/12/2007 5:11 PM
Melody said...
A great blog and so many interesting reading challenges! I'll be adding your link onto my blogroll. :) Please visit mine if you've the chance.BTW, I've this book in my pile, and I've The Kite Runner too. Have read great reviews about them, so I can't wait to read The Kite Runner during one of the reading challenges. ;)
8/13/2007 6:30 PM
Framed said...
I'm glad to hear that most of you like "the Kite runner" better. I really need to get to it soon. Bellezza, I just mooched "the Atonement." So I'll compare notes with you on that one.
8/14/2007 7:37 PM
Mindy Withrow said...
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment at my review of this book. I read it (as opposed to audio) and still thought it got off to a slow start. Do hope you read Kite Runner soon -- it's superb!
8/16/2007 10:02 AM
Mercy's Maid said...
I also listened to this on audio book and I just wrote a review of it yesterday. This was my first time trying an audio book, and I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been an actual book. I felt like I didn't have time to let things sink in very well or something.Still an excellent book, though. The kind that you keep thinking about after you finish it.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Nearing the end of her life, Hannah Gray returns to Dundee, Maine to relive the summer of her seventeenth year:
"My children think I'm mad to come up here in winter, but this is the only place I could tell this story. They think the weather is too cold for me, and the light is so short this time of year. It's true this isn't a story I want to tell in darkness. It isn't a story I want to tell at all, but neither do I want to take it with me."
She begins her story: "Somebody said 'true love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.' I've seen both and I don't know how to tell you which is worse."
Between the telling of Hannah's story of love and suspense is the story of a family who lived in the area years earlier. This novel joins the two stories to create a truly memorable tale.
I had "More Than You Know" listed as a romance, but it is also a ghost story, and, fittingly, Gutcheon's writing is hauntingly beautiful. "In the stillness of the sunset, when the wind drops, a boat leaves a path like a scar across the water that remains long after its wake has flattened and the boat is out of sight. I always remembered that, in landlocked years, that scar across the water, a mere disarrangement of molecules, lovely and purposeless but an illustration that everything matters, everything that happens changes something else." I felt Hannah's pain at her step-mother's indifference, the wonder of her first love, and the terror she experiences as she encounters the specter with eyes like dry ice. Even the ending, like a good ghost story, gave me chills. Because the book starts with the end of Hannah's life, you know how things end, but the suspense builds as you delve into why and how it came about. Here are some other quotes that illustrate Gutcheon's wonderful style:
I'll visit Ralph's grave while I'm here. It will be a year ago he joined the Silent Majority, as Grandfather would have said, on January 12, his birthday. As if his life was a circle, and he closed it by dying on the day he was born. Ralph led a charmed life in that way, finishing what he started. He was a soul at peace, in life and in death. An old soul, and a restful one, with no wild strains to haunt him and no invisible burdens to carry. You can't mourn for a life like that. You can mourn for a life like Conary Crocker's." So we are first introduced to the Conary, the love of Hannah's life.
On Christmas Eve, right beside this fireplace, we read our letters to Santa Claus. Grandpa had a big fire going, very hot. He crumpled the letters and stuck them on the end of his pitchfork and held them in the fire. They blazed up, and were carried up the chimney with a whoosh. Then we ran outside to watch the sparks flying out from the chimney and off on the night wind to the North Pole, flickering orange against the cold white stars. It made you feel you could write a letter to anyone like that, living or dead, and mail it in the fire. Perhaps I believe it still." Wonderful imagery.
"Irony doesn't explain it. I'm not sure I believe in irony, I think it's just a conceit of ours to explain the way our notion of God's plan differs from the evidence." Very thought-provoking.
I bought this book from Barnes and Noble knowing nothing about it. What a serendipitous decision and probably one I wouldn't have made if I had known the fearful side of the story. I enjoyed the flavor of the Maine coast, the poignant love story, and even the ghost story. I look forward to reading more of Gutcheon's work.
Rating: 5
Posted by Framed at 8:39 PM

9 comments:
Joy said...
I love the title and the cover of this book! They made me quickly check to see what you rated it and was pleasantly surprised! :) This book deserves more looking into. Thanks.
8/05/2007 6:47 AM
SuziQoregon said...
This one sounds really interesting!
8/05/2007 10:34 AM
Lynne said...
I read this one a while ago. I can't remember too much about it (senior moment), but I know that I liked it. I like her books.
8/05/2007 3:10 PM
Cassie said...
That sounds really cool, I'll think I'll add that to my list. That is amazing imagery in those quotes.
8/06/2007 8:37 AM
Bookfool said...
I think I actually passed up a copy of this book when our bookstore went out of business. I'll have to look. It sounds wonderful! Thanks for the terrific review.
8/06/2007 11:42 AM
Carrie K said...
It does sound wonderful, I like her turn of phrase, and it doesn't sound like something I'd normally pick up.
8/06/2007 8:47 PM
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
Thank you so much for putting excerpts from the book into your blog. I love the way this woman writes. Your review of it has encouraged me to go out and buy the book today. Thank you so much!
8/07/2007 8:56 AM
Booklogged said...
Framed, this is a lovely review, so well written. Love the quotes you chose to share. Your review is so enticing that I will be knocking on your door soon to see if I can borrow this book. Does Gutcheon have other books out or is she a new author?
8/09/2007 12:27 PM
Framed said...
Booklogged, she did write some other books. I think I will be on the lookout for those.

Friday, August 03, 2007 Lutz's debut novel follows the machinations of one of the most disfunctional familes I've read about. Mom and Dad Spellman own their own private investigations business, and their children join the work in their early teens. Actually, Rae, the youngest, starts surveillance at the age of six. Izzy is the middle wild child, trying to get attention from her perfect older brother, David, who later becomes a lawyer. She is also the narrator, telling the story in a straightforward manner while trying to justify some of her loonier actions. Her relationships with men are hopeless: one of her many lists contains all her ex-boyfriends, the duration of the relationship, and the parting line. While there is one small mystery which Izzy is assigned to investigate, it is merely a sidebar to the highjinks of the Spellman Agency and the disappearance of fourteen-year-old Rae Spellman. Because a car with a broken tail light is easier to tail, they carry hammers with them. Because the snoopy family tails each other, they all sport broken tail lights. Izzy's affair with the hot Guatemalan dentist is doomed because of her mother's prejudice, not against Hispanics as he assumes, but against dentists. She spends half the book lining Izzy up with lawyers. Interspersed with these antics are the chapters involving the police detective who is trying to help the Spellmans find Rae. While there are many funny moments, I found the whole clan became a little too silly and frantic. It was a fun, light read, but the book has been mooched and I'm not sure if I will read any future Spellman novels. Rating: 3 Posted by Framed at 9:22 PM 2 comments: Literary Feline said... Thanks for the review, Framed! I haven't read anything by Lisa Lutz before. I was thinking maybe I had a book of hers in my TBR collection, but it's John Lutz's books I have. I haven't yet read anything by him either. :-) 8/04/2007 11:03 AM Carrie K said... I haven't read any of her books either. It sounds a bit ditzy.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007 I was so excited to read this book by Geraldine Brooks since I loved "A Year of Wonders." After finishing 'Invincible Louisa" by Cornelia Meigs about Louisa May Alcott, this book seemed the logical follow-up. Like Year, the story revolves one central character and how that character deals with the catastrophe that surrounds him. Year was about a woman living through the bubonic plague in England. March fills in the story of the father who is missing through most of "Little Women," and how he deals with the catastrophe that surrounded this country in the years leading up to and including the beginning of the Civil War. Mr. March is based largely on the life of Bronson Alcott, Louisa's father, whose journals Brooks studied closely. He tries to be a high-minded man of integrity, but is still quite imperfect. In the end, he can't reconcile himself to returning to his wife and family when he feels there are so many events that he needs to recompense for, but has no other choice. The book is a scathing indictment of the practice of slavery, and the descriptions of Southern practices are quite wrenching. But Brooks' greatest condemnation fall on war itself. "I only let him do to me what men have ever done to women: march off to empty glory and hollow acclaim and leave us behind to pick up the pieces. The broken cities, the burned barns, the innocent injured beasts, the ruined bodies of the boys we bore and the men we lay with.The waste of it. I sit here, and I look at him, and it is as if a hundred women sit beside me: the revolutionary farm wife, the English peasant woman, the Spartan mother--"Come back with your shield or on it," she cried, because that was what she was expected to cry. And then she leaned across the broken body of her son and the words turned to dust in her throat. " Marmee March "I wonder where he lies. Wedged under a rock, with a thousand small mouths already sucking on his spongy flesh. Or floating still, on and down, on and down, to wider, calmer reaches of the river. I see them gathering: the drowned, the shot. Their hands float out to touch each other, fingertip to fingertip. In a day, two days, they will glide on, a funeral flotilla, past the unfinished white dome rising out of its scaffolds on a muddy hill in Washington. Will the citizens recognize them, the brave fallen, and uncover in a gesture of respect? Or will they turn away, disgusted by the bloated mass of human rot?" Mr. March Brooks shocks the reader with her graphic prose but the pictures she draws are unmistakable. The book completely puts you in mind of the Victorian era with the words she uses. She also creates two memorable characters in Marmee March, quite a different picture than we read about in "Little Women," and Grace Clement, a black slave who Mr. March first meets at the age of eighteen. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite like Mr. March himself. Although he wants to do good for his fellow men, he is so unbending in his ideologies that he pushes people away. Even though he is able to help a large group of contraband slaves learn to read, he is unable to do what needs to be done to protect them from a descent back into slavery. I found him very impracticable and a little weak. Even though the book is very powerful, I just couldn't reconcile myself to him. Rating: 3.75 Posted by Framed at 8:18 PM 7 comments: 3M said... I felt much the same way you do. I also rated it almost the same--mine was 3.5. 8/02/2007 6:59 AM Cassie said... Maybe I won't read this one. I loved Year of Wonders too. I think I just need to read the original Little Women and leave it at that. 8/02/2007 8:23 AM Carrie K said... He does sounds a lot like Bronson Alcott then. I keep eying the book - I loved Year of Wonders too, but I can't quite bring myself to read it. 8/03/2007 5:32 PM Tristi Pinkston said... Hey Framed --I just gave you an award on my blog. Come get it!http://tristipinkston.blogspot.com/2007/08/im-rockin-blogger.html 8/03/2007 6:57 PM Framed said... Yikes, this post turned screwy. I wish I could get into HTML to edit my posts when this happens, but I can't. I'm pretty sure it's my computer because I can edit them on other computers. I've checked my settings but can't figure out what the deal is. Any ideas?? 8/03/2007 8:56 PM Literary Feline said... I've never really had the interest in reading Little Women and so this one has never really sparked any interest for me. I do plan to read Year of Wonders eventually though. I've heard great things about that one. 8/04/2007 10:42 AM Booklogged said... I liked this book more than you did. I thought of Mr. March as very human, as well as ideological. Being from the north he was ignorant of many of the practices of the south, but I think he basically tried to do what he felt was right. I liked him and felt extreme sympathy for his plight. He definitely was not a man made for war. I look forward to reading A Year of Wonder because I enjoy Brooks' writing.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Cornelia Meigs wrote "Invincible Louisa" in 1933 and it really is a product of its times. I found the prose a little too childish for my tastes even though I usually really like children's books. The atmosphere is very sunny even though Louisa May Alcott lived in poverty for much of her life. Anyone who enjoyed "Little Women" would like reading of the family who served as Alcott's inspiration. The Alcott's were a close-knit, loving family who enjoyed life to the fullest even though they didn't live in the best of circumstances. Louisa' father, Bronson, experimented with education techniques, many of which are still in use today, and transcendentalism. For a couple of years, the family lived in a sort of commune which failed in the end. Louisa associated with such exalted literary figures as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's obvious from reading this biography how much Jo is modeled after her creator and her efforts in trying to care for her family through her writing. There were several things I learned by reading this book:
1. The Alcott's lived for two years in the Wayside, Hawthorne's future home, before buying the Orchard house, where they lived for many years. Louisa hated this house because they were in the process of renovating it before moving in when her sister, Elizabeth, died.
2. Louisa served as an army nurse for one month before contracting typhoid fever which forced her to return home and from which she never fully recovered.
3. Louisa died at the age of 56 just two days after her father. She outlived her mother and father, two sisters and sister, Anna's, husband.
4. When her youngest sister died a month after giving birth to Louisa's namesake, Lulu was sent to be raised by her aunt. Louisa also adopted Anna's youngest son so that he could inherit all the copyrights to her books.
Louisa May Alcott was a fascinating person and Meigs obviously admired her a great deal. Much of the content of the book was garnered from journals which added greatly to the details, but, since this is a small book, much had to have been left out. I would be interested in reading a more adult biography. Maybe David McCullough could tackle this.
Rating: 3.75
Posted by Framed at 6:42 PM

5 comments:
Cassie said...
How interesting. I really should give biographies more of try. It should be more interesting to me to know that this stuff actually happened.
7/31/2007 8:12 AM
Tristi Pinkston said...
I really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about Louisa -- but was heartbroken to find that Laurie wasn't a real person. Sniff.
7/31/2007 11:59 AM
Framed said...
I always hated that Amy got Laurie in the end so I guess, for me, it's good he's fictional.
7/31/2007 6:47 PM
heidijane said...
This is just to let you know that I've tagged you for the "Blogging Tips" meme. Please don't feel obliged, but I think its quite useful really...
8/01/2007 12:43 PM
Framed said...
Chris had already tagged me for this meme. I posted it on my other blog, "Life's a Picture." Click on the link in my sidebar that says me. I've read some tips on other blogs that were very helpful.

Saturday, July 28, 2007 The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly combines the genres of mystery, thriller and courtroom drama. The narrator, Michael (Mickey) Haller portrays himself as a sleazy defense lawyer who will defend anyone and pull any trick to get them off as long as the money's good. True, he does a few pro bono cases but mostly to get his name in the papers in an effort to attract more clients. Those clients seem to be mostly the dregs of society. Then Mickey gets a big break when he is called to defend Louis Roulet, a franchise player (a client who promises a possible 6-figure payout). Roulet is charged with aggravated assault and attempted murder. About halfway through the book, the mystery is pretty much over, then the thriller begins. Now that Haller knows who is the really evil person involved, he has to figure out how to salvage his career while bringing the devil down. The protaganist is extremely clever and is able to frame Haller with a possible murder charge himself. On top of all this plays an outstanding courtroom drama where Haller shines with his courtroom tactics and strategy. There are several surprises along the way making this a fun read for the Summer Mystery Challenge. As in the book, Open and Shut" which I reviewed earlier, Haller develops a conscious during the course of the story. Both his ex-wives still love him so he can't be all bad. Rating: 4 I had to delete my first review on this book since my image of the book had changed to something unacceptable. How does that happen? I know Literary Feline had left a comment but it got deleted too. Sorry, Kitty, can you do another comment? Posted by Framed at 8:37 AM 10 comments: Carrie said... This sounds like a really fun book! I'd like to read it. Thanks for reviewing it. 7/28/2007 9:39 AM Literary Feline said... Good morning, Framed. Great review! I read The Lincoln Lawyer last year and was quite taken with it. Haller was one of those characters that I almost didn't like, but I couldn't help myself. I am glad you enjoyed this one. 7/28/2007 9:50 AM Joy said... I liked this one, too. I gave it a 4.25/5, so we are very close. :) 7/28/2007 10:31 AM Ben said... Yeah, I saw the unacceptable image in my RSS reader. What happened is the person who is serving that image changed it when he saw that someone else (you) was linking directly to his image. By linking directly, you're using his bandwidth every time someone visits your page.To avoid this in the future, you need to serve the image directly from your blog. You'll need to download the image to your machine and then upload it using the blogger interface. 7/28/2007 11:01 AM ben said... Yeah, I saw the unacceptable image in my RSS reader. What happened is the person who is serving that image changed it when he saw that someone else (you) was linking directly to his image. By linking directly, you're using his bandwidth every time someone visits your page.To avoid this in the future, you need to serve the image directly from your blog. You'll need to download the image to your machine and then upload it using the blogger interface. 7/28/2007 11:01 AM Amy said... I just added 2 Michael Connelly books to my Book Awards Challenge list. He sounds like an excellent author, right up my alley.I have enjoyed my visit to your blog and linked to you so I can come back. Happy reading! 7/28/2007 1:17 PM Alyson said... Sounds interesting. I may have to add this one to my TBR list. 7/28/2007 3:00 PM Anonymous said... Look up "hotlinking" in google. It's not good blogging etiquette to link directly to an image hosted on someone else's blog. 7/28/2007 3:09 PM Framed said... Obviously I still have a lot to learn about blogging etiquette so I appreciate the heads up. It wasn't a great picture anyway, but the book was pretty good. 7/28/2007 4:23 PM Bellezza said... Framed, apparently anonymous knows nothing of your character and that you would never deliberately "steal" anything. My goodness, someone got a little chafed and irritable.I keep hearing good things about Connelly, but personally, I could take him or leave him. I'm glad you found such positive aspects of this book.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

I talked with a co-worker today who has never read any of the Harry Potter books. (gasp) She told me that Harry Potter must die in this book because that is the only way that there won't be any sequels. I just smiled mysteriously and moved on. That's right, I don't believe in spoilers and she may read it someday. So what can I say about this book without giving anything away. Oh, there's lots. Let's start with what I didn't care for: 1. Two years between reading Book 6 and this one is way too long. I've forgotten all. 2. The pictures in this book look a lot more like Daniel Radcliffe than they did in Book 1. Don't get me wrong, I like Daniel Radcliffe, but still. 3. The wonder, enchantment and charm that hooked me in the first books isn't nearly as intense. The last few of the series are darker and appeal more to older teens than younger. Let's face it, I'm still a kid at heart. 4. Ron's whining. I know it was appropriate behavior for a 17-year-old under the circumstances, but I've always found his whining annoying. He does step it up more in this book when he quits whining and that was impressive. 5. Why aren't the U.S. book covers as neat as the ones in the UK?
I find these to be very minor complaints, just barely worth mentioning. Please don't let them stop you from reading a great book. So what did I like? 1. Harry's a babe. What else can I say? 2. The Weasley twins are hilarious. 3. The answer to several things that had puzzled me throughout the series. It's nice that my guesses were right several times. 4. The suspense was pretty intense and Rowling built it up very well. She really does spin a fantastic yarn. Although, there was some predictability with the ending, there were still enough surprises to keep things interesting. While Rowling has a great marketing machine who really built up this book, I was not disappointed in the least. 5. This book really is a great finale to the series. All the details are wrapped up and you even get to learn more about wizardry and it's history. 6. Vold . . . whoops, He Who Can't Be Named is one of the great villains of all times.
A couple of quotes I liked:
"Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love."
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
My overall feeling is one of sadness that the story is over. I enjoyed anticipating the next installment. I've read the first book a couple of times and still felt wonder at the creativity of the story, so I hope when I visit Hogwarts again, that wonder will still come through. I fully intend to read the whole series again from start to finish. And, of course, there's always the movies. Rating: 4.75
Posted by Framed at 8:24 PM

10 comments:
Alyson said...
Boy, that second quote has the potential to start a multitude of theories for those who haven't read it yet.I wish everyone had read it so we could discuss it in more detail, but oh well.
7/25/2007 9:24 PM
Candace Salima (LDS Nora Roberts) said...
It is a fantastic book. I enjoyed it immensely. I am going to read them all, beginning to finish, as well.My favorite part is in the battle to end all battles, Ron and Hermione having a moment while Harry reminds them "we are in the middle of a war here. Can't this wait?" I still giggle every time I think about it.
7/26/2007 7:10 AM
Bellezza said...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
7/26/2007 7:34 AM
Dewey said...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
7/26/2007 2:20 PM
Framed said...
This post has been removed by the author.
7/26/2007 6:45 PM
Framed said...
Belleeza and Dewey, Thanks so much for your comments but I felt I needed to delete them as they did contain spoilers for those who haven't read the book yet. Hopefully, we can discuss the book without touching the all-important ending. I'd love to hear how you liked the ending if you can do without giving anything away. P. S. Dewey, I think your point is debatable on a very picky level.
7/26/2007 6:52 PM
Framed said...
Alyson, I see what you mean. Could be interesting. Candace, That was hilarious. I feel the book needed a few more light moments like this.
7/26/2007 6:54 PM
MyUtopia said...
I am one of those freak readers who hasn't read the series. But since everyone else in the free world has I have heard different story lines and plots from the various books through out the years.
7/27/2007 11:57 AM
Mercy's Maid said...
I enjoyed your review!I think my favorite "comic relief" moment was during the radio show when there was a disagreement on what one of the characters' code name should be. It made me giggle. :)
7/28/2007 9:33 AM
Literary Feline said...
I was reading your review and I turned to my husband and said, "There were pictures?" He, of course, replied that there were and that if I thought about it, I would be able to figure out where. I think I breezed through the chapters so fast I didn't even notice (a common habit of mine--I don't always know when I'm moving from one chapter to another). I did go back and look at the pictures though and have to agree, Harry does look an awful lot like Daniel Radcliffe.I agree with many of the points you made in your review. It was a good finale, even with its flaws. Someday I am sure I will go back and reread the books, but it won't be any time soon.
7/28/2007 11:22 AM

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumps, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat." --Theodore Roosevelt
This extremely well-researched book covers the history of one of man's greatest creations: The Panama Canal, specifically the years 1870 through 1914. I have not yet read a historian who presents an epic, historical story better than McCullough does here. The sheer volume of details could have been overwhelming but the author presents all the facts in a manner that was fascinating and attention-grabbing. Here's just a few of the things I learned during my reading: The canal was begun by the French, particularly Ferdinand de Lessup, who built the Suez Canal. It was originally planned as a sea-level canal, a' niveau and sans 'ecluses (without locks). The death toll, especially during the French years, from diseases like yellow fever and malaria was in the tens of thousands. When the American finally became involved in the early 1900's, the desired route was through Nicaraugua. The coup d'etat which created the Republic of Panama was supported by the United States Government, specifically T. R. Roosevelt: "Attorney General Knox, having been asked by Roosevelt to contruct a defense, is said to have remarked, "Oh, Mr. President, do not let so great an achievement suffer from any taint of legality." I felt sadness because of the bigotry and racism shown towards to the vast majority of workers who were blacks from near-by Caribbean islands, and found Roosevelt's callousness particularly disillusioning. The sheer immensity of the project: the cubic yards of dirt that had to be removed, the volumes of equipment and manpower, the planning and execution of feeding, housing and medically providing for the thousands of people who worked on the project--Americans, Barbadians, Jamacians, French, etc., the materials that went into building the locks, the gates and all the safety features were mind-boggling. The incredible engineering amd creative skills that were brought to the table and that developed over the years inspired admiration.
There have been changes in the Canal Zone since McCullough wrote this book in 1977. I believe it was finally turned over to Panama after a 1090-year lease. And even though it was completed in 1914 just at the beginning of World War I which overshadowed its completion, the Canal truly changed the face of transportation and shipping for the entire world. This book celebrates the triumph of man over nature and his great peseverance and ingenuity. John Stevens, who was the American chief engineer over the project for two years and really organized the work to begin in 1904, said something with which all the remarkable men who took part in the endeavor would have agreed--for all that had happened to the world since Panama.
"His faith in the human intellect and its creative capacities remained undaunted, Stevens wrote. The great works had still to come. 'I believe that we are but children picking up pebbles on the shore of the boundless ocean."
Rating: 4.75
Posted by Framed at 12:23 PM

6 comments:
Tristi Pinkston said...
Wow -- this one's going on my list. Thanks!
7/24/2007 1:45 PM
Lesley said...
Sounds like an amazing book about an amazing feat. On to my wishlist it goes!
7/24/2007 6:44 PM
SuziQoregon said...
Oh I want to read this one. I've read two of his books (John Adams and The Great Bridge) and thoroughly enjoyed both of them. I see he also has one about the Johnstown Flood.
7/24/2007 8:44 PM
Literary Feline said...
This does sound interesting, Framed! I have heard good things about David McCullough as a writer but have not yet read anything by him.
7/24/2007 9:38 PM
Joy said...
Wow! So glad this was a winner for you. :) I've only read his book 1776.And congratulations on finishing the Non-Fiction Five Challenge!!! I hope you enjoyed it.
7/25/2007 1:25 PM
Chris said...
Sounds really interesting. Btw, I've tagged you for a meme on my blog.
7/25/2007 6:56 PM