The Truth Will Out

“People are complicated. There is so much more to everyone than you realize.”  Truth.

37.12 Code Name Verity

It took me three days to read the first 70 pages of this book but only one day to read the last 260. The book is written from one point of view and then the other, and really to understand the first you have to read the second and I am not sold that that is a great strategy especially for a YA book. Nonetheless, I liked it but I really thought I would love it.

Two young British women, a spy and a pilot, crash land in France in October of 1943. Each of their stories is recorded as well as the story of how each got to this point. They are strong and confident. Smart and loyal. But this is war time, and war is ugly.

I liked both girls but the disjointed writing of the first half of the book made me feel at arms length from them instead of pulling me in to their story. I never felt emotionally involved with either of them. I think the unraveling, yet connecting, of both stories in the second half is very well done but maybe some of it needed to come sooner.  I did like that the connections were left to the reader to make, doled out a bit at a time, instead of being thrown at you like you aren’t smart enough to figure things out.  It is a very well written and compelling story without being so overtly harsh and devastating that it will probably be perfect for some younger readers who are not as interested in historical fiction. I just hope they stick with it.

The Battle of Midway

“Any act can be a prayer, if done as well as we are able.” Truth.

36.12 A Storm of Swords

I really loved Game of Thrones. I knew going in that there would be a lot of backstory and character introductions and I thought it was done really well.  I really cared about that core group of characters: Tyrion, the Starks, Jon Snow and the small group of The Watch, Cersi and the Kingslayer, the Hound, (Sorry, but Dany annoys me).  I couldn’t wait to see what happened to them next, and herein lies my problem.  The next two books have given me a bit of detail on their stories, and the fact that they are still around leads me to believe that they are in it for the long haul, but they are still the only characters I care about.  Both Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords and full of new characters pledging loyalty, gaining lands, acting both chivalrous and treacherous, experiencing battles, deaths, marriages.  And I care not a lick about any of them.  As my eyes read the works my brain literally says, “Blah, blah, blah.” When I come to a heading chapter and see the name of a character I don’t care about I force myself through just to see who is next.  

These are big books and they take time to read, and while I love those original characters I am wondering if I am just wasting my time wading through all this other nonsense when I could be reading a new book and discovering new character to love instead.  I don’t want to give up on Game of Thrones but there is very little holding me to the story at this point that I can’t really imagine four more books, especially when two of them haven’t been written.

***Confession time!***

I wrote the first half of this post after reading the first half of the book.  I really considered putting it aside and giving up.  I was so tired of people moving from place to place and looking for food and shelter; but man, once people get where they are going – watch out!  There is nothing off limits in this series.  No character is safe, no one to really be counted on to act as they have before, and my mouth was left hanging open more than once.  But it was all saved up for the last 1/4 of the book and that makes me wonder what all of that other running around is really about.  Is it even important?  Is it time to give up on the reading and just watch the TV show - I can't even believe I just said that! I wish more than anything that the series was already complete so at least I would know there is a resolution waiting, but it isn’t.  

Clearly I  am losing some of my fortitude to continue with the series but I imagine that I will, because when the going gets good it is soooo good.  I just wish it would get going a lot faster and more often.

Holy Plot Twist Batman

“It’s a very difficult era in which to be a person. Just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.” Truth.

35.12 Gone Girl

Three part book gets a three part review.

Part 1:

This is why I read. To find out that the me I am inside my head isn’t the only one feeling crazy. Isn’t the only one feeling in the wrong all the time. Desperate for someone to love her in all the ways it has been described to her all her life in books and movies, even if she knows she doesn’t always act in a way to deserve it.

My god, I am so Amy. The first years of my marriage I hated the changes in me that I could attribute to becoming more “wife” like, and after becoming a stay at home mom, lordy... I absolutely want to be the Cool Girl and I still hate when I feel the guilt of not being her. When I am angry about stupid things. When I self create resentments and stew about them even when I truly try to stop myself. Honestly, I identified so much with Amy that the book got scary and uncomfortable to read. Thank god I didn’t marry Nick.

Part 2:

B.A.N.A.N.A.S!!!

I mean, I can’t even...

My jaw is still on the floor. I kept looking around the room for someone to verify that this was really happening. I even had to walk away for a moment. Total Jedi mind-fuck.

Part 3:

Fucking hell.  I am certainly NOT Amy, and again I thank god I didn’t marry Nick.  

This a thriller about a marriage seen from both the husband and wife’s POV after the wife has gone missing.  We see him reacting to the disappearance and we read her diary of the time leading up.  It is fast paced, meticulously plotted, and, again, absolutely jaw dropping.  I don’t want to say more because to ruin it for anyone would be such a disservice.  If you want a mindless escape of a summer read then this isn’t it; but if you want a completely unexpected, and sometimes hard to read, look at how dark people can be then this is a winner. Just know that whatever you are expecting isn’t what is going to happen, I promise you that.

Not So Wild

“I always did what someone else wanted me to do. I’ve always been someone’s daughter or mother or wife.  I’ve never just been me.” Truth.

34.12 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

The first part of the book describing the loss of her mother was almost impossible for me to read. I can’t do it. I can’t survive it and I am almost twice her age.  I can’t understand her intense anger, but I don’t need to because it is her’s not mine. The rest of the fallout in her life though seems wildly out of proportion and completely her fault. Why has she lost contact with her siblings?  Why did she make strangers more important than her husband? Why so many places in so little time?  I thought we would at least see her try to figure these things out but we didn’t.

Honestly, it didn’t really feel like much growth happened at all and that is fine except now you have written a book and the title states you went from Lost to Found so readers expect something. I was so glad she made it but I didn’t feel at all confident that she ended up better off than she was.  I mean, you just spent 50 odd days hiking thousands of miles and you are worried that a man is going to see the marks left by your backpack and be grossed out? I realize you are 26, but come on. And if you are really that worried about it, how about you change from your usual habit and not go home with him?

I read Cheryl’s Sugar column and missed the humor she uses there. There were a few funny things here and there but she was so focused in on herself during the hike that it became boring and repetitive. It was about her pack (always too heavy), and her shoes (too small and falling apart), and how great it is to shower and eat; not very much about the passing miles and landscape.  Some history of the trail was added in, some random brushes with animals, and a few details about the people she met (mostly that the boys were cute), but it just seems there should have been more. I also hope she is getting endorsement fees from REI and Snapple!

This is a well-written book, readable and relateable. But I didn’t come away wanting to know any more about her, just more about the people and things she didn’t really pay much attention to or learn from.

A Makeover

“What a cold, dark, silence perfection would be.” Truth.

33.12 Anno Dracula

Anno Dracula - AKA Jack The Ripper, Vampire Slayer or Sherlock and the Silver Knife or Dr Jekyll and... Hopefully you get my point - is a wicked smart, and wicked fun, mash-up of all these great characters of Victorian life and literature in a London where men and vampires are attempting to co-exist.

I love a smart book that straight up expects its reader to be smart too, and here all the historical and literary references make the book much more fun to read; but if a reader didn’t recognize them they wouldn’t be left out of understanding the story, and I very much love honoring people for being well read without chastising others.

Queen Victoria has married Count Dracula, and many are finding themselves faced with the decision to turn or not.  Out of hiding come the ancients while the rampant spread of vampirism seems to have taken hold most tightly in the areas of the less fortunate, Whitechapel to be specific.  There is political unrest, as those looking for power have to decide if power can be sustained for an eternity or a lifetime, and to make matters worse, there is a murderer on the loose.  He is killing women, vampire women, with a silver knife and will come to be known as Jack the Ripper. See, fun huh?  And it is fun, if anything maybe a bit too much.  In the end, I felt like the development of our two main characters, a hero and a heroine, faltered so that every clever character could be included.  I want to know more about both of them, and frankly thought I would.  This book is ripe for a sequel and it looks like there is another book that takes place in 1918 and is clearly related but I can’t quite tell how much.  I know I often rage about the number of series in publishing lately, but this is one I could have gotten behind.

On a side note, book covers are incredibly important in swaying me towards a book or not. I will buy a book solely based on its cover. I will purposely put off buying a book if a different editions cover is markedly better.  I HATE when original covers are replaced by pictures from the movie. When I sought out this book after reading a recommendation I really liked the current cover:

But the copy I got from the library has this cover:

I mean Jesus, there is purple lace... Ugh, it’s a tragedy of bad taste.  Thank goodness I had already prejudged this book by its alternate cover.

Off With Her... Gallbladder???

“The things you think are the disasters in your life are not disasters really. Almost anything can be turned around: out of every ditch, a path, if you can only see it.” Truth.

32.12 Bringing Up The Bodies

I could not wait for this book to come out.  I pre-ordered it in January and spent a few days last week rereading the last chapters of Wolf Hall to prepare.  I actually found the rereading wasn’t needed as the intensity of this new look at Thomas Cromwell really stayed with me. I loved the slight ways that his true character slipped through, and the way he seemed prepared for Jane Seymour even before Henry was.  I simply couldn’t wait to read more even though the facts of the history are well known. In anticipation of starting, I set aside all of Tuesday morning to read, then I woke up in the worst pain of my life.  A trip to the ER, two hospitals, and 24-hours later, my gallbladder was gone and I was doped up on pain pills.  So doped up that I couldn’t stay awake, let alone read.  UGH!!! Back off real life drama! Luckily, I could stare at the television endlessly as BBC America was airing a marathon of The Tudors, so I was all caught up on the drama by the time the haze lifted and I finally got to reading.

Damn... Thank god for Divorce Court right?  I used to think the people on that show were crazy, but I think the Tudors have them beat. Henry thinks everyone is out to get him - can you imagine if there had been tapes a-lá-Nixon? - but all that really matters is if Henry is out to get you. As Bringing Up the Bodies opens Henry is already over Anne. Already wondering what SHE did to make him marry her. Already decided to marry Jane next. Feeling he is the only one who is ever wronged.  Making it clear he wants Cromwell to get ‘er done.  And our Cromwell does love a little project!

Mantel still  uses the oddly placed pronoun he, and even though I was prepared for it since reading Wolf Hall I still found it jarring and noticed myself stopping to look back and make sure I was clear about which “he” he was.  This time Mantel added things like, “He, Cromwell, …” to make things more clear but I found the additions also kind of clunky. I do think overall the pronoun use has the effect of making the writing feel more personal without being privy to every one of his thoughts and actions, but I really hate that it takes me out of the story.

This book is shorter and a bit more tight than Wolf Hall, but it also much more historical than personal and so feels a bit more stale, but Cromwell’s final interrogation of the four “bodies” is magnificent. So awful really. So clearly set on course for some time as a way to honor his mentor Cardinal Wolsey. It is one of my greatest fears to be accused of something in such a way that no matter what you do or say you are doomed, and you feel the walls closing in on these characters in a taught and horrifying way. The sheer power of accusation to ruin a life is terrifying, and because of this obvious targeting Cromwell is not as sympathetic a character as he was in Wolf Hall, this time it is Anne’s turn.  We see very little of her, but we hear a lot, and there is absolutely no one on her side.  This book is much less about religion and much more about politics and power, and when that power shifts people see it coming and will do anything they can to save themselves. It seems rather timely actually.