Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Eh. Color me nonplussed. This was disappointing after the excitement of the first one. The writing was consistent throughout the book but because the setting was among the light-minded "pretties", it was consistently annoying. I read this book beacuse I loved the first one so much and I am hoping/expecting the next one ("Specials") to be better, but on it's own I'd say skip this one. Except you can't. Oh well. : )

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is an apocalyptic tale of a society where the rich/ruling class control the masses through a campaign of televised intimidation. Katniss Everdeen rebels against the system when she volunteers to take her sister's place in the Hunger Games, a mandatory fight to the death with 23 other teenagers from across the country. This story was very exciting, and not entirely predictable. I read the whole thing in one sitting- about 5 hours and enjoyed all but the last minute of it. The flavor of the book suggested something along the lines of Uglies. If you liked that one, you'll like this one. The writing of The Hunger Games was average but very engaging. I was disappointed that the story came to a screeching halt and left me hanging for the next book to have anything resolved. I hate that. Scott Westerfield handled that so much better in Uglies. In this book I felt like almost nothing was resolved. Still, it was a really fun read so I say it's something more substantial.

Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks

This book is a memoir written about the author's family and experiences growing up. I liked the themes of family solidarity, sibling friendship, and putting your family first. It was fun to read about the people that Nicholas Sparks' other books are based on. Overall though, the book was just a little ho-hum for me. Like this review, it just didn't have any- SPARK. I enjoyed it but I was never so drawn in that I could not easily put it down and when I did put it down, I did not easily pick it back up again. I think it is something more substantial based on content but the writing doesn't quite qualify it for a hearty endorsement.

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

Ooooo. This is so good. This is the other time travel book recommended to me by a friend that I mentioned before. I have to say it was much, much more fun to read than the other one. The only thing about the other one that I liked better was that it was clean.

This book was very realistic. The series is historical fiction chronicling the lives of those involved with the Scottish Rising, Colonial England, the pirates and slave traders of the Carribean, and the American Revolution.

Claire Randall is swept back in time through one of the many "little Stonehenges" that dot Europe and finds herself in Scotland during the mid-1700's. The book follows her adventures as she tries to survive the dangers of life at that time and falls in love in the process. The man she meets there- Jamie Fraser, is the Colonial Era Forrest Gump (sans the slow mind). The series finds Jamie pretty much anywhere that anything historically significant happened. Diana Gabaldon does this so artfully though that it seems completely natural for Jaimie to be everywhere and in every walk of life.

The writing is skillfully executed, often beautiful, sometimes poetic. The books are long and sometimes a little drawn out (think Dickens) but absolutely enjoyable nonetheless. Another thing Gabaldon has in common with Dickens is her extraordinary characterization. Both the detail and the web of interconnections of her characters brought to mind "Great Expectations" (without the boredom). The action is exciting, the time travel is intriguing, the setting is fantastic, and the love story is compelling.

A few words of caution: You won't be finding this series on GoodCleanReads. These books have a lot of foul language in them, particularly the taking of the names of Deity in vain. There is also quite a lot of explicitly detailed sex in these books. (Enough that my mother's local bookstore actually has this book in the Romance section. I disagree with that assessment, BTW.) The sex is not the focus, but it is a facet of the stories which comes up several times. It is, with two exceptions, always between married couples. There are three rapes in the series in addition to those exceptions. Also, there was some pretty brutal torture (including the aforementioned rape) toward the end of the first book which was hard for me to read. Just a word to the wise for those of you survivors out there who prefer not to relive past traumas.

I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction. I'm not sure it exactly qualifies as something more substantial though, if only because I think the objectionable material may not be edifying unto "the improvement of the mind by extensive reading."

My favorite quote from the series is in this first book: "Overall the library held a hushed exaltation as though the cherished volumes were all singing soundlessly within their covers."

I liked this book less than the first one. The love story gets better, but the political intrigue bored me a little. There is a whole part of the book when Jamie and Claire are in France that I found nearly mind-numbing. Interestingly enough, that part is what my friend loved so much about this book. To each her own, I suppose. I liked the book enough to keep going though and it's worth it to continue the story in the third book.

Voyager takes us to the high seas. Our characters travel to the Indies, visit a slave market, and end up shipwrecked more than once. There are pirates, kidnapping, and danger at every turn.

I had so much fun reading this book. However, I think my enjoyment of it may have been augmented by having read "The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle" and watching the Horatio Hornblower miniseries.

There is a little bit of strange voodoo in the Carribean but it didn't detract from the story in my opinion.

I found Drums of Autumn to have a slow start. Diana Gabaldon introduces some new characters in this book and I found myself impatient to find out more about the characters I was already emotionally invested in. Stick with it, the new characters are every bit as good as the old ones.

The Fiery Cross was my most and least favorite. I loved the American history it chronicles but I felt that it should have been two books. To wit- it felt to me like there was one book that was less interesting sandwiched into the middle of another book that I liked very much. The events leading up to the Revolution begin to take shape in this story. The love stories continue and do not disappoint.

Hmmm. What to say about this one? I love the emotional depth which the romantic relationships have achieved by this point in the story. I found the beginning of the Ameican Revolution fascinating. I found the plot interesting, but I confess it was the same interest one might have after getting sucked into a Prime Time soap opera (inaccurately dubbed "drama"). The plot just had one too many twists for me. It was still a good story but I felt a little exasperated by the Young and the Restless quality it had. I liked the book but I felt it lacked the aspect of realism Gabaldon had achieved so well in the prequels.

I will definitely be reading the next in the series, slated for release this fall. One other thing people may want to know about the books is that they are pretty long. (Between a thousand and 1500 pages.) Don't start one if you won't have time to finish it, because trust me- you'll want to finish it. I think I'm going to have to come up with a third rating option for enjoyable books that are probably not the best things to read. I think I'll call it- Refined Sugar. It's so good but you shouldn't try to subsist on it.

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card

I was a little impatient with this book. It is a real-life fairy tale set in the present and in the past; in the United States and in Russia; in reality and in fantasy. I grew frustrated with waiting for the setting to be where I wanted it to be; with the characters interacting how I wanted them to act; and for the plot to get to the good part. The ending was thoroughly predictable- not in a lovely fairytale sort of way but in a poorly executed fashion that was glib and cliche. My impatience was probably due in part to the frazzled state of affairs here at the NotQuiteTheBradys household. (I was throwing three kid's birthday parties in three days.) Mostly though, I was simply not very impressed with story. It had so much potential but I just felt Mr. Card was a little off his game when he wrote this one. I would say it was just o.k. so probably you could skip this one.

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I knew I was forgetting one! Lovely Bones is an interesting story because it is told from the point of view of a murder victim. A girl is raped and brutally killed. She then watches all the people in her former life as they struggle to put the pieces of their world back together without her in it. This means that the book focuses on a lot of pain and dysfunction in many various relationships. The afterlife in this book reminded me of the Robin Williams/Cuba Gooding Jr. movie, What Dreams May Come. It was interesting but strange. I thought the book was depressing and I didn't find any uplifting themes at the end. I think I would say skip this one.

Getting Caught Up

Although it appears I have given up reading, I actually just have not been posting reviews for a while. If you read my other blog you already know that life has been challenging for us these last several months. I am happy to report that things seem to be slowing down and I am getting back into my routines. Here are some of the books I managed to read since you last heard from me.

Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange

I loved this one. It is the Midnight Sun to Pride and Prejudice. I thought Grange nailed Darcy's voice and thoughts. This is the book I was looking for when I read that other one. It is fluff by very gratifying. Can fluff actually be called Something More Substantial?

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

This is a Steel Magnolias-type story set in Manhattan. The problem I had with this book was that the main character was such a closed person that when her crisis finally came, I was not emotionally invested in her enough to care. I didn't dislike the book but mostly felt like it was a waste of my time. Around here time is a precious comodity. If it's not something you have a lot of, I would say skip this one.

Sarah by Orson Scott Card

I absolutely devoured this book. I fell in love with Abraham- maybe because he reminded me so much of my own husband. Sarah was strong, Abraham was kind, and the writing did a magnificent job fleshing out a story for the backbone we are all familiar with. This was my favorite of the Women of Genesis series. It is definitely Something More Substantial.






Rebekah by Orson Scott Card

I didn't like this one nearly as well as Sarah. The writing was every bit as good, but I found Isaac extremely unlikeable. I would prefer to think of him as a better man than he was portrayed as here. The story continues to be good and I would still recommend this book as Something More Substantial.

Rachel and Leah by Orson Scott Card

The third book in an unfinished series, I liked the men of this book better than those in Rebekah but I thought some of the women in this one lacked quite a lot. An arguement can be made for the realism captured in Scott's characterization- we, none of us, are perfect, and there certainly are those among us who shine a little more brightly than the rest. I got into this story more than I did Rebekah but was disappointed a little in the somewhat abrupt ending which left me hanging for the next book. I look forward to the next book with anticipation, but feel a little betrayed by the way this one ended. If you are going to read it I would suggest waiting until the next one in the series is published. Since I don't know how it ends, I give this one a qualified Something More Substantial.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

This is one of those rare instances when I actually liked the movie better than the book. I can't say why exactly. I just think the movie did a good job of covering the story and Kathy Bates and Mary Stewart Masterson bring so much to it. I'd skip this one and rent it instead.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Ooo. I liked this story a lot. It is set in the future in a time when RADICAL plastic surgery is the normal thing to do when you come of age. BUT- what seems like harmless beautification is actually something else altogether sinister and conspiratorial. The book was exciting, easy to read (it is a young adult book) and I enjoyed it very much. I look forward to the next three in the series. Something More Substantial for sure!

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

I thought this was the strangest and most predictable book in the series but it was still good. The name of one of the principal characters was laughable and therefore was irritatingly distracting throughout the entire book. That said, I'm glad I read it. "Substantial" is probably a stretch, but I wouldn't want anyone to skip it so I will say I give it a lukewarm Something More Substantial.

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

I haven't reviewed anything in a while because I've been so busy with my kids home from school for the summer. These Is My Words was first recommended to me by my husband's aunt almost two years ago. Then this January, my sister-in-law borrowed it from the aunt and recommended it as well. I bought the book and put it on my TBR list/A~Z Challenge but had several other books ahead of it in my pile so I put it off. Last week two friends at choir practice were going on and on about it and I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. I came home and the next day I read the book. There is really only one thing I can say:


Dearest Mr. Darcy,

It pains me to have to tell you that I think we need to break up. You and I have had a good run of it and you have always meant a lot to me. I've loved you more than Edward or Jacob. I loved you more than Romeo and Petruchio. Once I had seen the A&E portrayal of you I even loved you more than Gilbert Blithe. But to go on this way would be unfair to you. I've found someone else and now that I know him, you will never again be the literary model of male perfection. I am so sorry to do this in writing but since it is where we first met, I felt it was only fitting. Please know that you will always hold a special place in my heart, but that heart now belongs to the husband of Sarah Agnes Prine.

With love,
Aberjaber

The story is based on the family memoirs of the author and takes place in the late 1800's in the Arizona Territory. It is a heart-warming (sometimes heart-wrenching) tale of a family and the struggles of frontier life. It is exciting, interesting, moving, and filling. I felt like I had a comfortable quilt wrapped around me the entire time I was reading it. Once I finished, I wanted to start at the beginning and read it again. This book is the heart of Something More Substantial.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

In an "Invasion of the Body-Snatchers"-style story, Meyer takes you on an adventure of survival, danger, and desperation as you follow Wanderer and Melanie- two minds sharing one body. The story is well-told, sometimes slow, yet always compelling. I found myself holding my breath many times throughout the book, waiting to see if they would be captured. Meyer does an excellent job of making the reader feel the emotions of the characters. The issues of ethics, trust, loyalty, and what is right are explored. I liked this book overall in spite of the feeling I got that it was a patchwork of dozens of other science fiction plots I have read or watched over the last 20 years. What the story lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in feeling and suspense. Like the Twilight books, The Host is fluffy brain-candy entertainment, but very enjoyable. With uplifting themes and a cast of characters who all fight for what they believe is right, this book is undeniably Something More Substantial.

The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street

Let me start by saying that I have always shunned books like these, written about an author's characters after the author's death. It has always seemed to me conceitedly presumptuous to write such a book. That said, when I saw this book on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble, I found it irresistable. The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy is the story of Pride and Prejudice as told from Mr. Darcy's point of view. All I can say is that once again I have been shown that sticking to your principles is always the wisest course of action. I did not think it would be possible to take a story I love and turn it into pure drudgery. The story was choppy, and completely lacked imagination. I was sorely disappointed, particularly at the lack of introspection. Here is a character who clearly is both extremely intelligent and very reserved. This would suggest that he spends a lot of time with his own thoughts. You won't find them in this book. I almost feel like saying it is unnecessary since many of you probably accept this as a no-brainer, but skip this one.