Title:
Olive Kitteridge
Author: Elizabeth Strout
Genre: Literary Fiction
Rating: ****
^winner of the Pulitzer Prize (2009: fiction)
I often peruse the front tables at Barnes & Noble and make note of any books that look and sound interesting to me. I think
Olive Kitteridge made that list a while back. Being a Pulitzer Prize winner and a best-seller definitely drew me to it as well.
The format of this novel is a bit unusual. Each chapter is like its own short story, but all the stories involve characters who live in the small town of Crosby, Maine, and Olive Kitteridge makes an appearance in each. Sometimes she is the focus; sometimes she is just a blip.
When I shared with a friend that I had started this book, she told me that she has not read it yet because she had heard that Olive was a rather unsympathetic individual. While I can see why a person might feel that way, I think it comes from a misunderstanding about her character and her purpose in the novel. Olive has many flaws, but the book is full of flawed characters because the world is full of flawed people, and Strout's aim is to help her readers understand a bit more about what it means to be human. Everyone has their secrets, and all relationships have their ups and downs. What
Olive Kitteridge does, and does beautifully, is use a collection of "complex, relentlessly human narratives" to provide the reader a glimpse of these secrets and relationships that we might come away more sympathetic and better for it*.
*O: The Oprah Magazine
Title:
City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, Book Two)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Rating: ***
Since I enjoyed the
first Mortal Instruments book, I decided to continue the series. In
City of Ashes, Clary and Jace continue to fight demons and their complicated feelings for each other. As Voldemort is to Harry Potter, Valentine is to The Mortal Instruments. He is the ultimate evil guy that the characters will have to face in new ways in each installment as he tries to collect the mortal instruments and basically rule the world. He also just happens to be Clary's father. I had some conflicting feelings about certain aspects of the plot as I read, but I enjoyed it overall and was ready for the third as soon as I finished.
Title:
Safe Haven
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Genre: Romance
Rating: ****
Nicholas Sparks is my guilty pleasure author. In the summer of 2005, I met a girl from North Carolina who is a big fan of his, and she gave me
The Rescue to read. Since then, I've managed to read all of his novels, including the memoir he wrote with his brother.
Safe Haven came out last fall, so it naturally was added to my list of books to read. I probably would have waited for the paperback to come out, but then my book club picked it as our February/March book. I read it in one day.
Katie moves to Southport, NC because it seems like a safe place to escape her past. While she is content to keep to herself, living in a small Southern town makes that nearly impossible. Her new neighbor, Jo, reaches out to be Katie's friend and to encourage Katie to be open to Alex, a handsome single father who runs the general store and has been showing particular kindness to Katie. However, Katie still fears that her past will catch up to her and ruin any chance she has for future happiness.
If you've ever read a Nicholas Sparks book, then you have a pretty good idea what to expect in any other of his novels. While
Safe Haven has all the usual Sparks cliches (ill-fated love, strong father, absent mother, letters, outsiders, death, and of course the small beach town in North Carolina setting), it is still an enjoyable read, and fans won't be let down. I especially enjoyed the last quarter of the book, which was packed with suspense, and I couldn't put it down.
Title:
City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, Book Three)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Rating: ****
The third book in
The Mortal Instruments series is definitely my favorite. The relationships, love triangles, action, suspense and mystery build throughout and the end is satisfying.
Author: Philip Pullman
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Rating: ***
I read
The Golden Compass back in 2007, and though I enjoyed it, I didn't feel compelled to continue the
His Dark Materials series at that time. However, a couple weeks ago I happened to catch the film version of
The Golden Compass on TV and then really wanted to follow up and read the rest of the series.
The Subtle Knife opens with a scene set in our world and introduces an important new character: Will Parry. Eventually, Will's path crosses with Lyra's. Having been the star of The Golden Compass, Lyra now shares the spotlight with Will as the two of them discover new paths and doorways between worlds. "As Pullman moves between his young warriors and the witch Serafina Pekkala, the magnetic, ever-manipulative Mrs. Coulter, and Lee Scoresby and his hare dæmon, Hester, there are clear signs of approaching war and earthly chaos. There are new faces as well. The author introduces Oxford dark-matter researcher Mary Malone; the Latvian witch queen Ruta Skadi, who 'had trafficked with spirits, and it showed'; Stanislaus Grumman, a shaman in search of a weapon crucial to the cause of Lord Asriel, Lyra's father; and a serpentine old man whom Lyra and Pan can't quite place."*
I got a little lazy with writing a summary, yet I did enjoy reading the book. I wouldn't give it the glowing recommendation that Publishers Weekly did, but the characters are well-developed, the plot is well-paced and engaging, and the themes are intriguing. Though some religious groups take umbrage with His Dark Materials because the story is, at heart, about killing God, I think it provides great discussion material. Why do the characters feel like they have to kill God? What are the problems within the church that causes those feelings? What inconsistencies and hypocrisies exist in real-world churches and religious organizations today? What parallels can we draw? Let's use controversial books to spark thoughtful, engaging conversations instead of fights.
*Amazon.com review http://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Knife-Dark-Materials-Book/dp/0345413369
Title:
Little Bee
Author: Chris Cleave
Genre: Fiction, British Contemporary Fiction
Rating: *****
Little Bee is one of the many books that caught my eye because it was at the front of a bookstore and had an interesting cover. Even though I was taught not to judge a book by its cover, I have to admit that I do. The truth is that cover artists know how to appeal to certain audiences, and I've learned what kind of art represents books that I will like. Covers are by no means the only thing that I use to choose my books, but a good cover certainly helps.
Little Bee is currently #6 on the New York Times Best Seller list for Paperback Trade Fiction.
I am not sure if I should take the advice of the book's editors and not reveal the story to you. What I can do is tell you after the first 30 pages or so, I turned back to read the flap copy because I realized that I didn't know what the book was about. Sometimes I'll read a book's description and put it on my list to read, and then by the time I get around to reading the book I will have completely forgotten what it is about. This was the case with
Little Bee, and this is what I found when I turned to the flap:
We don't want to tell you WHAT HAPPENS in this book.
It is a truly SPECIAL STORY and we don't want to spoil it.
NEVERTHELESS, you need to know enough to buy it, so we will just say this:
THIS IS THE STORY OF TWO WOMEN. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again--the story starts there . . .
Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds.
This technique may intrigue you or it may drive you crazy. In any case, here's just a little more to go on:
The two women in the story are Little Bee, a refugee from Nigeria who is in a detention center in England, and Sarah, a wife, mother, and editor-in-chief of a British magazine. Each woman takes a turn as the narrator every other chapter, and their stories do intertwine. I loved Little Bee's voice, and I think Chris Cleave did a wonderful job portraying her and developing her character through the events in the novel. The story is touching, poignant, and unflinching. I highly recommend it.
Title:
Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Genre: Fiction
Rating: ****
This was a month for really good books. I usually give most books three stars because I like most books. Some that really move me or engage me will get four stars, and the few that I really LOVE and would reread or buy just to loan to friends get five stars.
Room was the fifth book to get four or more stars in February. I remember having heard about the book and considered reading it, and then a good friend gave me a signed copy for my birthday, so naturally, it was automatically added to my list.
Jack, the 5-year-old narrator, has only ever known Room. It is his entire world. He plays with his mom on Rug, sleeps in Wardrobe, eats at Table, and believes that everything outside Room is Outer Space. TV shows him an imaginary world, and he doesn't realize any of it could possibly be real. When his mom finally decides to "unlie" to him, sharing the story of being kidnapped at 19 (She is now 26.) by Old Nick and being made a prisoner in Room, Jack's mind can barely wrap itself around the concept of lots of people existing right outside his Walls. As Jack and his Ma start to feel the burden of their shrinking world, they must face the serious question of what to do next.
Room is a beautiful story, both disturbing and full of hope at the same time. Emma Donoghue's use of Jack's point-of-view is genius. Seeing the world through his eyes opens the reader's to moments of beauty and small joys. This is a truly special story of two amazing people, even if they are fictional.
