The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

This was my second try at this novel and it took this time. The first time I tried to read this I was put off by the prologue which describes the death of an elderly nun. For some reason it was distasteful to me, but this time it made sense. The Birth of Venus is set in 15th century Florence at a time of great upheaval. The main character is Alessandra Cecchi, a sixteen-year-old, headstrong, intelligent aspiring painter. When the story opens she is contracted in marriage to an older man. The marriage seems like it will be a perfect solution for both of them, as her husband Cristoforo needs an heir and Alessandra needs a husband who will allow her the freedom to paint, which Cristoforo does. However, all is not as it seems in their relationship and when a fiery monk, Savanarola, takes control of the city and institutes a suffocating crackdown on sin, their marriage and Florentine society begins to fall apart. Add to this mix Alessandra's love for a fellow painter and her husband's secret life and you get a very passionate and dramatic plot. I really loved reading about 15th century Florence and art and was mesmerized by the details of daily life during this time period. I was also pleased that the plot of this novel did not take the reader where you think it should go, but twisted to fit the reality of what would really happen to someone like Alessandra during this era. I plan to read the second novel in Dunant's Renaissance trilogy, In the Company of the Courtesan, within the coming weeks and hope it will be as satisfying.

What I'm Listening To

I haven't had a lot of time to read lately, so I've been getting books on CD. I listen to them while I clean the kitchen, put on make-up, etc. I listened to a GREAT book recently called Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey. It's the first in a series called A Resurrection of Magic. It has a dual plot-taking place in two different times. The story switches back and forth every chapter between the story of a magically gifted girl in a time where true magic is outlawed and a young boy who attends a wizard school where the boys are forbidden from helping one another and they will starve to death if they cannot magically produce food. My kitchen has never been so clean as I would find any excuse to be in there while I still had CDs of this book left to "read." Skillful writing that was able to maintain both plots while keeping the reader interested (inability to do this is why it took me so long to finish The Historian) was impressive. Thoroughly enjoyable read. Bad news: the second book of the series is not out yet, meaning it will probably be a few years before I can satisfy my curiousity about Sadima and Hahp's fates.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

This is a ghost story. Or is it? The Little Stranger fits into my favorite gothic novel category and is an excellent example of a scary, horror story that is not bloody or gory. Set just after World War II in Warwickshire, England this novel is narrated by Dr. Faraday, a 40-year-old bachelor and country doctor. When he is called out to a case at Hundreds' Hall he meets the Ayres family; Mrs. Ayres, her daughter Caroline and her son Roderick. They are an old, aristocratic family who live in a beautiful, yet crumbling and falling apart mansion. Their financial situation is precarious and Roderick is under extreme stress trying to keep them solvent. Injured in the war, he walks with a limp and when Dr. Faraday proposes an electrical treatment for his muscles Rod reluctantly agrees. Dr. Faraday begins spending many hours with the family administering Rod's treatment and eventually becomes entangled in their strange affairs. Soon, mysterious and tragic events begin to befall this isolated family and Dr. Faraday details it all as it is told to him as he rarely witnesses the events himself. As the novel progresses the reader starts to feel that "something isn't right here" feeling, but it is hard to pinpoint why. Eventually, the family comes to believe that they are possessed by a supernatural force that is trying to destroy them. I loved the pacing of this novel. Waters uses the slow build-up method that makes the reader uneasy and creeped out. Though the pacing is deliberate, I couldn't stop reading and stayed up long into the night to discover the mystery of Hundreds Hall. If you like gothic reads such as The Historian or The Thirteenth Tale, this is a perfect read for you. It is also perfect if you just want a good old-fashioned ghost story. I loved it!

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I am a huge fan of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, but I hadn't read anything else by her so I decided to read this newest book of hers. Wintergirls centers around Lia, a senior in high school who is battling anorexia. We follow her through the death of her former best friend and through her struggles to maintain a healthy facade while, secretly, she is starving herself, experiencing hallucinations and cutting herself to relieve the severe hatred and loathing she feels for herself. (How many times can I say herself in a sentence?) It was interesting to see what the mindset of an anorexic girl might be and to see how her false beliefs fuel her illness. Anderson's unique writing style perfectly mimics the jagged and jumpy thoughts that Lia has and the mood she creates gives the reader an understanding of Lia's mental suffering. However, I didn't really like this book. I understand it on a creative level, but as a story it was nearly unbearable to read. I felt such despair reading it that I had to stop about half-way through and leave it for a while. I didn't want to finish it because entering Lia's world again was not enticing in the least. But I did want to see how Lia would come through. The ending was a bit forced and melodramatic, but I was just glad it was over. I wouldn't recommend Wintergirls. Read Speak instead; it's a more successful effort.

Teaser Tuesday - The Little Stranger

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

"What was I to do? It was clear to me - horribly clear - that over the past few weeks Rod had been the victim of some very powerful hallucinations."

From The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

My Reading List

I thought I'd share a list of the books I am reading at the moment. I'm a terribly spastic reader and I always have tons of books going. Here's my current list:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore -- 1/3 read
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson -- 1/2 read
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes -- 2/3 read

The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon -- just started
When her fiance falls ill while serving in the Crimean War, Mariella Lingwood travels to Italy to care for him only to discover that her cousin, a volunteer in Florence Nightingale's nursing corps, has gone missing.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley -- just started
Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is propelled into a mystery when a man is found murdered on the grounds of her family's decaying English mansion and Flavia's father becomes the main suspect.
Wondrous Strange by Leslie Livingston -- just started
Seventeen-year-old Kelley discovers her secret heritage after meeting Sonny, a guard of the gate that separates the fairy world from the mortal one, while a war band of fairies plan to force their way through the gate on Halloween night.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - almost finished
Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins -- just started
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.

Coventry and The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys

Helen Humphreys is a Canadian poet and novelist who has an amazing eye for detail and for finding beauty in the mundane. I recently read two of her novels back-to-back and was grateful to have discovered such a lyrical writer whose World War II-set novels resonate with longing and loss.

Coventry mainly takes place on the night of November 14, 1940 when the English city of Coventry was nearly completely destroyed by German bombs. It follows the efforts of two women, Maeve and Harriet, to survive the bombing that devastated the city. There are periodic flashbacks to the First World War when Harriet lost her husband and Maeve conceived her son and how those experiences now impact how the women react to the current war and bombing.

The Lost Garden also takes place during World War II. Gwen Davis is 35, single and lonely. She is a gardener who works for the Royal Horticultural Society in London and is looking for an opportunity to leave the city she loves so she doesn’t have to witness its destruction by bombs. She gets that opportunity by joining the Women’s Land Army and going to Devon to plant potatoes on a neglected estate. Here she receives her first experiences with love and intense friendship, and ultimately, loss. Her discovery of a hidden, overgrown garden and the plants it contains is a perfect metaphor for her experiences and Humphreys’ descriptions of the gardens and flora on the estate match well with her descriptions of Gwen’s emotional landscape.

Both of these novels deal with love, but more intensely with loss and how people let it shape their lives.

As the author herself says “Every story is a story about death. But perhaps, if we are lucky, our story about death is also a story about love”.

Depressed Teenage Girls

So I've read 1 novel and 2 graphic novels this week that all centered around very disgruntled and suffering teen girls. And I love them! Why? Maybe it takes me back to my own teen years when I was also very depressed, disgruntled and suffering, but why would I want to recall those days? I don't know, I just know that I like reading about these girls.

You Know Where To Find Me by Rachel Cohn
Miles is overweight, lonely and too intelligent for her own good. Her only friends are a popular black guy and her cousin Laura. When Laura commits suicide Miles descends into a numbing depression that she only makes worse by abusing prescription pain-killers. Sarcastic, funny and painfully self-absorbed Miles is a gem of a character who is surprisingly sane considering her situation. I enjoyed this novel for her character alone, but I found it lacking for some reason that I can't pin down.

Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
This graphic novel was on all of the Best YA book lists last year so though I normally don't read graphic novels I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. I really liked this story of another disgruntled teen girl, Kim (called Skim, "because she's not") and her struggle to fit in with her peers and find a place for herself at school and at home. The illustrations are amazing and I look forward to reading more work by Mariko and Jillian.

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
This classic graphic novel stars Enid and Rebecca. They are not in school anymore and have no goals except to be seen at the right places and with the right people. They are mean and hateful to each other and everyone else in a desperate attempt to rise above the crowd and their crappy, aimless lives. They are fascinating characters, especially Enid, and I enjoyed their story though it was hard to take at times.

So Sorry

Sorry I haven't been able to post lately. My computer crashed at home and it is hard to find time on my lunch breaks at work to post. I'm not really reading anything exciting lately so that's probably a good thing.
Kyla, guess what? My book group is reading The Giver! Don't you wish you could be here to discuss it with us?

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I just finished reading Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I love Sherlock Holmes. I've watched every A&E Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and was really struck by how well done this show was. The stories were short, which I guess lends itself to making a good show (not a lot of details to try to include in an hour and a half) and there were always interesting plot twists. Unfortunately, I knew most of them already from watching such a well done show. Anyway, that's all I've read lately. I'm now reading an old favorite, Cold Comfort Farm.

Sisters by Danielle Steel

I recently read this novel for our genre study at work.

What madness will ensue when four beautiful, successful, wealthy sisters converge on their parents’ home in Connecticut for the Fourth of July Weekend? This being Danielle Steel you can be assured there will be plenty of tragedy, drama, descriptions of clothing, jewelry and residences and terrible dialogue.

Sabrina, a high-powered attorney, Tammy, a big-shot Hollywood producer, Annie, an artist studying painting in Florence and Candy, the biggest supermodel in the world meet for a traditional weekend in July. Tragedy soon strikes when their beloved mother is killed in a car accident in which Annie is blinded. How will the sisters survive this horrible ordeal?

At first, it was hard for me to discern the appeal of Ms. Danielle, until it was pointed out to me that people like junk reading just as they like junk TV. For some reason, junk reading doesn't appeal to me as junk TV does. I found the plot of Sisters to be standard Lifetime Movie fare, which I love to watch, but it was unpalatable to me in book form.

The positive aspects of Danielle Steel's writing are that she does give you a glimpse into a moneyed and unfamiliar world that can be fascinating to read about. There are many descriptions of what the characters wear, where they live, where they go on vacation, how their houses are decorated and the fabulous places they frequent. She also does a good job of providing a dramatic and varied plot.

The negative aspects, for me, outweighed the positive. The characters are one-dimensional and not well-developed. They are interchangeble except for their hair color and careers. The writing style is abysmal and so flat and wooden that I found the novel hard to get into. The lack of any lyrical beauty or imaginative writing was depressing.

I am glad that I read this novel so that I know why Steel is popular, however it still saddens me that people love her novels and devour each and every one that is published.

Borders Coupon

Hey Girls, There is a forty percent off Borders coupon at this site for anyone interested.

http://www.bordersmedia.com/coup/coupon400327.asp?cmpid=SA_20090326_NR

Thanks Anbo!

I just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as previously reviewed by Anbo. I loved every second of this book. I started reading it this afternoon and could not put it down. I love this book not only for its story, but because of its celebration of the written word. I have a new found desire to learn about Guernsey and its people. As Juliet writes to Dawsey, "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometically progressive--all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment." I never thought anyone else could possibly understand this until I read it in better words than I could ever come up with. This book will ever be near and dear to my heart and I may have to buy a copy for my own private library. An honor indeed when I already have too many books for our 560 square feet, but well deserved.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Cutting for Stone is one of those books that sweeps you away. It is an epic tale of family, love, loyalty and betrayal that is set in the unfamiliar landscape of Ethiopia. Conjoined twin boys, Marion and Shiva, are born in a harrowing and traumatic scene as their mother, who is a nun, lies dying on the operating table. Their presumed father abandons them and they are adopted by Hema and Ghosh, Indian doctors who work at Missing Hospital, where the poor and suffering people of Addis Ababa are treated. The story glides through the decades of their youth, detailing the formation of the boys’ very differing personalities, the changes in the Ethiopian government and the way that medicine and the experience of growing up at the indigent hospital shapes their future lives and professions. An act of betrayal eventually splits Marion and Shiva apart and its consequences rebound through the years affecting every aspect of not only their lives, but their family's as well.
This is a first person narrative, told from the viewpoint of Marion. Written very descriptively with lush depictions of the Ethiopian vista and vivid portrayals of surgical procedures, the story is beguiling in its ability to pull you into the lives of this unusual family. If you enjoy winding sagas with engaging and memorable characters, try Cutting for Stone.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Skeeter Phelan is a young, white woman who’s graduated from Ole Miss in the early 1960’s. Directionless and bored living at home with her parents in Jackson, Mississippi she has plenty of time to observe and reflect on the southern tradition of white families employing black maids to run their households and raise their children. When an opportunity to write a book for Harper & Row arises Skeeter decides to enlist several black maids in Jackson to tell their stories of what it’s like to work for white families. Aibileen, the maid of Skeeter’s friend Elizabeth, agrees to help. Despite being fearful of losing their jobs and even their lives, many other maids, including Aibileen’s feisty best friend Minny, come to Skeeter with their stories and their book, despite several set-backs, is eventually written.
The Help is told from the multiple viewpoints of Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. Because of this we get both sides of the story – what it was like to be white and privileged in Jackson, and what it was like to be black and invisible. This novel is very much character-centered and Stockett does an amazing job of creating realistic and sympathetic characters. Her use of historical details helps draw the reader into this world and her measured pacing keeps you hooked until the very last page. Though tragic at times, the novel’s message is essentially hopeful. I really enjoyed this book and was engrossed in it for several days. A lovely read.

Tuesday Tasting

Turn to page 56 of the book you are currently reading and read the fifth sentence on the page:

"Her father was a man who cherished no sentimental reverence for Woman, but a firm belief in the equality of the sexes...From the time she could speak and go alone, he addressed her not as a plaything, but as a living mind...He called on her for clear judgment, for courage, for honor and fidelity."
- from A Jury of Her Peers: American Women Writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx by Elaine Showalter

Changes

Okay, I got bored with our old look so I took the liberty of changing it. I hope nobody minds! Let me know what you think.

BIGUO

I got half-way through The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark before I finally realized it was a lost cause. My main problem with the book is that it was boring! There was hardly any plot development and it left me restless and itching for something to happen. I kept reading because I thought "Surely, in the next chapter we'll get something to further the story along.", but no! It just kept meandering. So, I gave up.

Disquiet by Julia Leigh

I'd heard many great things about this novella, so I was happy to be the first person to get it at the library. I have to say that I was disappointed.The writing, though, definitely lived up to its billing. It is simple, pure and unadorned. I always admire writers who can convey so much by saying so little. I suppose this is just not the right type of novel for me at this time in my life. I am mostly looking for escape and authors who are high-impact storytellers. I want to fall into a novel and feel that I am living right alongside the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel. Disquiet doesn't provide that level of engagement. We never know what the characters are feeling and because of the clues we get into their lives, we probably don't want to. The plot is straightforward (or so it seems): Olivia and her two young children move in with her mother after she flees her abusive husband. Olivia's brother Marcus and his wife, Sophie, also return to live in the family mansion. The strangeness then begins. I won't say more as it would give the entire novel away. Great writing, wonderful imagery, but not an escape.

Tuesday Tasting

Turn to page 56 of the current book you are reading and read the fifth sentence on the page:

"Aside from the torments of longing I endured , away from her, swinging bouts of mild elation and terror lest she should change her mind, the one cloud on our horizon was the question of where we were to live".
- from The Seance by John Harwood