Fiction

Midwives

9 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Fiction /

I hate it when I enjoy Oprah Book Club books. I really hate it, particularly if Oprah has chosen the book before I’ve read it. But, I liked Midwives and I wonder why I didn’t read it sooner. What’s not to like?

I’m always surprised at how well Chris Bojhalian (link to his blog), handles women’s topics. Water Witches and Midwives, very cool. His choice of narrator, Connie – the daughter of the accused Midwife, was excellent. I can’t imagine how the story might have been told from the Rand’s perspective (Rand is Sybil’s husband) and I think if it had been told from the midwife Sybil’s perspective, it would have been to clunky. Connie was a good choice.

I enjoyed it, darn Oprah. I hate it when she does this sort of thing to me.

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The Shadow of the Wind

3 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Mystery /

I wasn’t looking forward to reading The Shadow of the Wind. I kept pushing it back further on the “to be read” list. I kept picking it up and putting it down. I even read Vanity Fair before The Shadow of the Wind because I was sure this was going to be a dud. I was soooo wrong.

From the first paragraph to the last, I was totally hooked. I love the idea of a Cemetary of Forgotten Books. I loved every single character in this novel, including the “bad guys”. I loved the twists and turns and the impossible connections between the characters. I even loved the ridiculous and completely impossible coincidences.

The only thing I didn’t like was that the book ended. And I wish, I really wish, I could read Julian Carax’s novels.

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The Ancient Child

2006, Books in Bed, Fiction, Reading Lists /

So, The Ancient Child. Ummm, Summer Reading Challenge Book. Errr, chosen because it is on that interesting Teacher’s Lifetime Reading List. Hmmm, I feel like I should say something really deep, and moving, and errr whatever.

There were parts of The Ancient Child that I liked very much. I believe those can be found between pages 100 and 200. Before that and after that, I wasn’t feeling it. There were some problems for me. The first 50 pages were confusing, even with the character list in front. The “vision quests” early in the book were confusing. Later they were either better written or I had gotten used to them so it wasn’t as difficult. I liked Grey’s character very much but I was more interested in the Grandmother. I liked Grey’s character except when she was with Billy the Kidd, weird. I didn’t give a damn about Set at all. I found Worcester Meat more interesting.

So, The Ancient Child. I read it. Onto the next Summer Reading Challenge book.

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The Book Thief

7 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

Wow! A fictional story set in Nazi Germany that I loved. Amazing. It’s been a very long time since that happened. The Book Thief was excellent. If you haven’t read it, push it up to the top of your “Must Read List”. Skip whatever is on your Summer Reading Challenge list and read this instead.

Maybe it’s the whole “death” thing, how many books are narrated by “death”? Not many that I’ve read, that’s for sure. Death is a good thing, I’ve always known that but The Book Thief has proven it.

Wow!

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Kindred – Octavia Butler

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I really hate to admit it but this is the first Octavia Butler I’ve read. What in the heck was I waiting for? If Kindred is any indication, I need to read them all – maybe even own them all.

I loved the sci-fi twist on a slavery novel, it’s brilliant. If I met Dana on the street today and she told me her story, I think I’d have to believe her. That’s how brilliant this book was.

After my SRC is over, I’ll want to read more of her work – do you have any suggestions about which I should start with?

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Black Elk in Paris

2006, Books in Bed, Fiction /

Well, I read Black Elk in Paris. I wish it had been Confessions of a Pagan Nun but it wasn’t. Darn.

Black Elk wasn’t a bad book, it was a little bit slow. I really didn’t care whether he got back to America or not. I didn’t care much about Madou or Philippe or any of the others. Sort of bored with the whole thing. Too bad though, I thought it had potential.

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The Night Watch

1 Comment / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, GLBT /

I really do like Sarah Waters and her books, except for Affinity. The Night Watch started slowly, as her books tend to start, but just as I start to wonder if she’s written a dud I realize I’ve been lured in and need to read, all the way through without stopping.

The only complaint I have about The Night Watch is that I really wish she hadn’t written it backwards. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the stories had been a progression, rather than moving backwards through time. I’m not sure why she moved backwards in this story, I don’t see the point, I don’t think anything was gained by the reader. I don’t think anything would have been lost if she had started in 1941 and moved forward. I’ve read some reviews and people either loved or hated the reverse.

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Four and Twenty Blackbirds

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Mystery, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

It’s official. I’m back to avoiding my Summer Reading Challenge list and doing a darn good job of it. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest was an excellent read.

I believe this was recommended to me by someone I know at work who recently moved to Florida. She was compiling a stack of books set in Florida and this was one of them. I think that’s how I discovered it. I certainly had never been to the author’s blog, I would have remembered that.

I thought this was a young adult book, for some reason. Probably the cover art, which is interesting but with the blackbird and the headless women, just feels like a kid book, ya know? Well it isn’t, though I am betting there are some teens around here who would enjoy it.

The reviews on the back suggested this was a really creepy read and it would give you goosebumps. Well, I didn’t find it that scarey. (Why do reviewers feel the need to exagerate?

So, the story, let’s see… a line of women, they “have magic on them”, voodoo or sorcery (whichever you prefer), John Gray and the St Augustine priests. A bad guy named Malachi who wasn’t so much bad as misled and a wee bit nuts. Chattanooga, Macon, St Augustine and the swamps of south Florida. Go read it.

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The Crucible

2 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Classics, Fiction /

I’m on a roll and I like it! I finished book five from my summer reading challenge list – The Crucible!

I’m surprised that I’ve never read it and never seen a performance (either a play or a movie). I liked it and now am considering watching a movie, though I’d prefer to see a play. I wonder if any high schools will do it this year.

I’m really not a big Arthur Miller fan but this one redeemed him for me.

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