Saturday, Feb 28, 2009

I Got Some New Books For Review!!!

So So So Happy…

From Penguin Books:

From Random House:

From B & B Media Group:

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Thursday, Feb 26, 2009

Friday Fill In… February 27th

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Thursday, Feb 26, 2009

Thursday’s Thoughts: Lisa See Grabs Me!

What Author Grabs Me… And, Why?

For this week’s Thursday’s Thoughts MEME, the question begs…

Which author’s writing surprised you when you first read their work and what about it grabs you?

I’ve been reading A LOT since Spring of 2008.  Before that, I had my favorites, Nicholas Sparks and Jennifer Weiner.  I picked up books here and there, but was never really “grabbed” by a certain author.  After major life changes last year, I drowned myself in books, justifying to myself that it was “healthier” than television.  Ever since, it seems like I’ve had a book in my hand.  I’m sure that my knitting misses me!

What I’ve read since 2008 has been a diverse reading list.  I’ve been gobbling up review books as well as books that I’ve read about in others’ blogs.  My friend, Lisa, recommended to me Lisa See’s books: Snow Flower & The Secret Fan and Peony in Love.  Lisa has typically never been wrong when it comes to recommendations.  So, I purchased them both.  

After reading Snow Flower & The Secret Fan, I was totally hooked by Lisa See.  I just loved that book and her writing.  I’m currently reading Peony In Love and shortly I should be receiving Shangai Girls for review.  Plain and simple, Lisa See grabs my attention and I love her books!   Oh… and what about it grabs me?  I think the truth in her writing and the ties to the actual history in China.  Lisa has done an outstanding job researching her books and the history that she brings forth is extremely engaging.

Please visit Thursday’s Thoughts and participate in this week’s question provided by Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit.

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Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009

Book Review: Never Let Me Go

Author:           Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher:      Vintage / Random House

Website:        Click (HERE)

Type:             Fiction

ISBN #:          978-1-4000-7877-6

Pages:           288 Trade Paperback

Purchase:      $11.20 at Amazon.Com (HERE)
  

 The Story Line

Kathy (“Kath”) is a “carer.”  What, you ask, may that be?  A carer is one who takes care of organ donors while they are recuperating.  She is the narrator of this novel and shares with the reader her history at a school called Hailsham, located in England’s countryside.  At Hailsham, Kath is an observant young girl and very sensitive to the feelings of those around her.  Her two closest friends are Tommy and Ruth, who eventually couple-up.  Despite this coupling, Kath maintains a level of feelings for Tommy.

Kathy also recounts her time at The Cottages, where a portion of the students from Hailsham went to live upon their graduation from Hailsham.  At The Cottages, these “special” students learn more from life experience than from the books they read at Hailsham.  This is a time for them to form couples, learn to drive, and make some minor decisions about their future. 

My Review

Confused?  Yeah, I was too until I was 1/2-way into the book!  I’ve read wonderful reviews of this book where the story-line is carefully avoided and a proper review conducted.  The best review I’ve located on this book is at Books on the Brain and I believe that she liked this book.  SPOIL ALERT:  I’m not going to dance around the story line in this review.  So, if you’d like a review which keeps the storyline well protected for future readers, click on over to Books on the Brain and read Lisa’s review.  Don’t return to mine.  

What I am most disappointed about was the lack of what could have been great content to this story.  Here’s the premise… humans are being “created” in laboratories to serve as organ donors.  As they are created in a lab, it is my impression that they are viewed as non-human and “soul-less.”  After some time had passed, some felt that it was their duty to pull the more “gifted” donors from these labs/farms and raise them in a protected environment in which they could have some semblance of a childhood and young adulthood.  All the while, they would be schooled to the fact of what their life purpose was to be… to be an organ donor for the “real humans” (you know, us, the one with souls!).  Ugh.

Let’s start with what I did like.  The premise of the book is a good one.  It’s highly thought provoking.  I mean, what is it exactly that makes us human?  When does God breathe a soul into us?  What are the characteristics of human nature that reflect that we have souls and aren’t just these electrically charged mechanisms with the ability to have critical thinking?  Another thought… is the life of one worth less than the life of another?  And, then there’s the question of what makes a life complete?  What needs to happen in your life for it to be complete, for your life to be exhausted?

Stay with me.  Here’s why I didn’t like the book.  With such an AMAZING premise, much could have been done with this book.  This book could have been written with such depth.  But, for me, it was BORING.  Perhaps if the reader didn’t have to get 1/2 way into the book to understand what the book was about, it may have meant more while reading it.  To me, this book was “soul-less.”  The characters were too shallow for me and their motives confusing.  The author tries to incorporate a test by which the “guardians” of these donor children of Hailsham would show they actually had souls.  They did this by judging their art and poetry.  What?  So, if I suck at art, I have no soul?  Whatever!

The author gets into details about the donors’ sexuality, but never explains why it is that they can’t have children.  I mean, if they can grow lungs and a spleen, why not an uterus?  Are they “fixed” at birth/creation?  If so, why?  The book never really divulges how these donors derived from their “models,” which I found disappointing.

I think that I could go on for days about what I didn’t like about this book.  For the positives about it… it did have a thought-intriguing story line (once you understood it).  The book was well-written.  Oh… that’s it for me!

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale”:

As you can summarize from the review, this book was NOT my cup of tea.  But, one person who reviewed it made a comment on Lisa’s review.  She stated that this seemed to be the type of book where you either loved it or hated it.  I didn’t actually “hate” it.  But, I definitely did not love it.  Let’s just say that I would have rather cleaned out the hall closet than read this book.  And, I despise my hall closet. Strictly from my PERSONAL viewpoint, I am awarding this book for the genre Fiction: (God Knows What SubGenre), a 5 out of 10. 

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Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009

Book Review: Something Borrowed

Author: Emily Giffin

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Website: http://www.emilygiffin.com/

Type: Fiction: Chick Lit

ISBN #: 978-0312-32119-2

Pages: 322 Trade Paperback

Purchase: $11.16 at Amazon.Com (HERE)

The Story Line

“Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl—until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy’s fiancé.

Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren’t always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.

(Above excerpt is from www.emilygiffin.com)

My Review

When I first became a book review blogger, I was preparing my Books Page for the website.  I went through my books and input them all into The Library Thing.  Now, of course, there are many books that I’ve read over the years that have since left my home never to return.  However, somehow over the past 5 years, books have started to stay and my book collection born.

I finally purchased a bookcase and was excited to organize all of my books.  That’s when I came across Something Borrowed.  Had I borrowed this book and forgot to return it?  I don’t think that was it.  The color had faded on the cover and the pages beginning to brown.  I can always tell when I’ve read a book.  Something that doesn’t belong there is shoved in there somewhere… a receipt, a lotto ticket… something.  This book had nothing.  It’s pages obviously never turned.  So, I flipped through the pages.  Nothing seemed familiar.  Had I purchased this book and not read it?  That’s not like me.  But, guess what?  That is the case!  It just slipped right through.

So, it was added to my “TBR Pile” like an abandoned child.  I promised myself to read it for the Just For The Love of It Reading Challenge.  Yesterday, it got its turn.  And, as quickly as I opened it, I finished it.  I’m finding that I’m getting to be that way with Chick Lit/Women’s Fiction.  I just love it.  Yes, I can read the classics and the prize winners.  I love them too.  And, I can read historical fiction and biographies… they too are great.  But, when I relax the most is when I read “Chick Lit.” I look back at my book reviews… for all of the women’s fiction/chick lit that I read, I can see that I’m really pretty happy with most of them.  I guess it’s my favorite genre.  That’s one good thing that Something Borrowed gave me.  I really like this genre no matter its age.  I can compare it to going to see a Romantic Comedy in the theatre.  I’m wearing sweats, eating popcorn, and pleased as punch to be there lost in the story line.  I see myself feeling the same way in reading books like Something Borrowed, wearing jammies, drinking tea, and engrossed in a story.

Onto Emily Giffin and this book.  As you can summarize from the story line section above, our heroine, Rachel, is a 30-year old lawyer in New York City.  She ends up in bed with her childhood best friend, Darcy’s, fiance Dex.  Now, there are many in’s and out’s of their history and Rachel, in all, is not a bad person.  The love affair between Rachel and Dex was, in fact, meant to be.  Darcy is really more the “pain in the pah-too-kah” than Rachel.  The reader wants Rachel and Dex to be together and Darcy to be humbled from her “ME ME ME” lifestyle and character.  The story is fun, classically chick-lit, and I enjoyed it.

Let me tell you what I think is so smart about Emily Giffin.  At the end of Something Borrowed, she provides the readers the first two chapters of its sequel, Something Blue.  Something Blue is told from Darcy’s viewpoint.   So, now I HAVE TO get Something Blue to find out what happens to Darcy and her baby.   I mean, how smart is that?  Giffin’s got her readers hooked into TWO books in one!  Smart, smart, smart!  I was just cruising through her website and she has a new book called Love the One You’re With. I’d love to read and review it along with Something Blue and tell you guys more about Giffin and her writing.

I’d compare Giffin to Beth Kendrick, Jennifer Weiner, or Jane Porter.  She’s a solid writer and her book was really good!

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale”:

What I liked most about this New York Times Bestseller are the characters.  Rachel is just somebody that you can’t help to root for, just as much as Darcy is somebody that annoys the heck out of you!  I also didn’t hate Dex for being a “cheater cheater pumpkin eater.”  Rather, you can see that he just fell for the right girl at the wrong time.  When you feel this way about characters, you know that the author has written a book that you can relate to and enjoy.  And, that I did.  From my PERSONAL viewpoint, I am awarding this book for the genre Fiction: Chick Lit an 8.5 out of 10.  It might have otherwise earned an “8,” but I just loved the response that Rachel gave Darcy about Dex’s watch!

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