Not Such a Great Discovery

“Happiness is always louder than sadness.” Truth.

48.12 A Discovery of Witches

This book lost me early on, very early on.

There was the witch who really didn’t want to be a witch but would use magic when she couldn’t be bothered to find a step stool, or turn off the water. There were the many descriptions of the clothes she wore to work versus to exercise versus to sleep versus to whatever, who cares. There was the vampire who practiced yoga - Screeech! What the !?! - Yep, that is where it lost me. The big, bad, dangerous vampire who maybe isn’t so big and bad because he can perform a perfect shavasana. He is a vampire from cripes sake isn’t that the very definition of shavasana??? Jebus, I can’t.

Anyway... The entire book is over bloated with silly details. Do I need to know that you are making two pieces of toast despite the fact the toaster has six slots?  Nope. Do I need to know how different characters carve their jack-o-lanterns? Nope.  The book certainly does not need to be 600 pages. The core story shouldn’t have been more than 300, plus it doesn’t even finish. As I got closer and closer to the last page, with little to none of the plot resolved, I started to get a funny feeling...  Another f-ing trilogy. I have to admit that the set up of the second book seems interesting but it also seems like it will be a story within a story and not get us any closer to a resolution.  It clocks in at about 600 pages as well, so let me guess, there will be movies? Probably six because all the books are so long.  Right, because everything now a days needs to become the next million-dollar machine. Ugh. Stop it.

There were things here I really liked. I loved the idea of looking at the DNA of vampires and witches and trying to find where they began, and I am always down with a hunt for a mysterious antique book, but too little of that was lost in all the toast eating and wine and tea drinking. Not to mention the romance that wasn't really a romance. I hear a lot of people bemoaning the future of publishing in the e-book era, but what of publishing in the absent editor era?

Gratitude

"All is well." Truth.

47.12 Your Voice In My Head

I found this memoir fascinating in an absolutely voyeuristic way. It is part testimonial and confession about depression and suicide, and part thank you to the man who brought her back.  Dr. R sounds like a wonderful man and her gratitude for having known him is palpable.  He dies suddenly and the loss is profoundly sad for everyone who knew him.  I actually felt like it was a real breakthrough for her to recognize that she wouldn’t be the only one to feel his loss with such intensity. She tells of her many relationships with men who all seem to be somewhat famous, the most significant being with a well known actor. I am a bit uncomfortable with the fact that she uses this as a major plot point, but it also is what it is.  That particular relationship was intense for her regardless of who he was, but I also couldn’t shake the slight feeling that maybe is was a bit of a way to get sales.  It is a stream of consciousness that at times may try a bit too hard, but also made me feel connected to her crazy and yet more normal at the same time.

I learned from her and Dr R that we all need help.  We need to have someone to talk to freely.  We need to forgive others and ourselves. We all lose people and have regrets. We will all be lost to someone else. This to me is not sad or bad it is hopeful. The whole book felt hopeful.

And then she gave me this:

            “I am not being hopeful about this when I say my last thoughts will be of love. I remember it.  If you have ever lost someone the way I tried to go, I can assure you to the best of my experience that as despairing as they were, the hell they were in, whatever caused them to swallow the pills or tie the noose, to fill their pockets with rocks and step into the water, before going under, their final thoughts are of love.”

I will be forever grateful.

Old Friends

“One mustn’t dream of one’s future; one must earn it.”  Truth.

“There’s always another train. Always.”  Truth.

46.12 The Prisoner of Heaven

 The Shadow if the Wind is one of my all time favorite books.  My experience reading it was exciting and invigorating jus when I needed to believe in the fun of reading again.  The mystery, the romance, the books! I loved the characters and the places.  I thought Fermin Romero de Torres was the most romantic man I had ever read; a bit of a cad to be sure, but romantic.  These are characters that I have since wondered about and hoped for (is that crazy?).  I missed them in Zafon’s The Angel’s Game, a sort of prequel, but with The Prisoner of Heaven all of my old friends are back and they are an absolute joy to read.  I think the feeling of characters being old friends is one of the most wonderful things about being a reader, what an amazing thing.

They remind me of the importance of family, friends, and loyalty.  I love their Barcelona, Sempere and Sons, and of course, the Graveyard of Forgotten Books, the return there even brought the tears.  They also remind me about hope.  Each of them has been at a point where they have lost everything, but they trust one another, help one another, and come to find that happiness can return.  And maybe that is why I picked up this book right now, I needed a bit of hope on my horizon, and it doesn’t surprise me in the last that these are the characters that brought it to me.  They made me believe again before, and they did it again here.  I am very thankful.

I know Zafon does not want this to be considered a sequel, he wants all the books to interact with each other with no need to read them in any specific order but I think that the emotional punch of this book, as well as some of the mystery and its clues, would not have been as profound without having read the other two first.  It also sets up what could be a really great fourth book, which makes me all sorts of giddy.

Game Over

“As terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.” Truth.

45.12 Ready Player One

This was a fun read, and one that I was absolutely in the mood for.  It is also something that one must be in the mood for.  In the not so far future, life on earth is barely livable so most people live in the virtual OASIS.  Its creator has died, with no heir for his billions.  He sets up a hunt within the game:

Three hidden keys open three secret gates

Wherein the errant will be tested for worthy traits

And those with the skill to survive these traits

Will reach The End where the prize awaits.

So begins the quest of our hero, heroes, actually.  If they find the prize they win the dough.  And herein lies the biggest problem with the book: Key One – fun introduction. Key Two – lots of the same… oh god there is another key to go. Key Three – good twists granted, but get on with it!  All the issues of most trilogies found in one book.

I loved that in the beginning, without any fun money to spend, Wade had to depend on his own intellect to educate himself.  He found free information and studied it.  He took classes in school that would help him with the game. I LOVED that.  I loved that the game was set up for anyone to win, rich or poor, old or young, male or female (or even human since your avatar can be anything).  Sadly, that quickly was squashed by the more you have the better you are idea, and I was sad.

What the book is known for are the 80’s references, all the 80’s references.  Many of them are fun but as the story goes on they are no longer a part of the functioning plot.  The movies, music, and video/computer games of the 80’s are such fond memories for me, but after a while it got a bit silly and a lot of the middle could have been edited down.

Double Fisted Déjà Vu

‘I guess I can put two and two together.’ ‘Sometimes the answer’s four,’ I said, ‘and sometimes it’s twenty two.’ Truth.

44.12 The Thin Man

I can’t believe that I read two books back to back where the main characters are awash in liquor constantly and a creepy teenage boy eavesdrops in the shadows to “study” people.  CREEPY! 

This however, is a proper mystery and a bit minimalist as well.  Nick and Nora are in New York for the holidays and kind of stumble into a murder investigation.  Nick is no longer a detective but he can’t seem to help himself, and Nora simply stands back and takes in the information that everyone assumes she isn’t interested in.  There are mobsters, speakeasies, double crossings, and some other really awful people. In fact, I wanted more of them to get some comeuppance then eventually did in the end. 

I felt like there were too many secondary characters that were unnecessary and made it harder to concentrate on the main plot line.  But all in all I enjoyed it, and what a great cover, right?

#24in48 - Day 2

“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.” Don Quixote

This is completely how I expected to feel coming out of my attempt to read for 24 hours during a 48-hour period.  Day one was a pretty good attempt, but day two was an epic failure. 

It started when I went up to bed on Saturday night to start a new book and there was a Doctor Who special on, it was followed by another about the women of Doctor Who.  I was lost to follow up.  I still had hope for Sunday as we had no plans, but you know how that goes… Suddenly the day is full of a million little errands, neighbors visiting, and very little reading time.  I did carry my book the whole time though so maybe I can get some osmosis credit???

At least the afternoon did give me a chance to start The Thin Man, and over the course of about 4 1/2 hours I did read 69 pages, bringing my grand total to 12 hours and 296 pages.  The funny thing is that I think I might be better off trying this 24in48 thing during the week because the weekends are full of much more unexpected distractions.  Can't wait to attempt it again sometime soon.

Beautiful Little Fools

“’Nothing makes you happy except what you don’t have. You’ve never known how to do anything but to take and take and then ask for more. You have everything and act like it’s nothing.’” Truth.

43.12 Tigers in Red Weather

First of all, this is a beautiful book.  The cover art and the end pages are really exquisite and play in to the idea of the socialite existence of these two beautiful women in post WWII America.  They live a privileged life at Tiger House on Martha’s Vineyard, with the parties, tennis clubs, clothes and jewelry, and to have the book literally wrapped in such a classically beautiful way helped get me into the right headspace every time I opened the book.  It is one of those books that I just had to have in hardback, and even better that I found it used!

Second, while the buzz around this book is making it an “it” book of the summer, I had zero idea of its plot coming in which seems to always work to my advantage.  However, looking back, I am not sure plot is really the right word.  This is one of those stories that you progress through with baited breath but in the end nothing much really happens.  The plot spans about 25 years and each section is told from a different point of view of someone in the familywith the events overlapping so you see things in different ways and pick up little nuggets of understanding as you read, but in the end I am not sure what the point of it all was. Even though we get the point of view of each main character I didn’t feel like I really knew any of them very well, or cared deeply for their well being.  I still felt like I was kept at a distance about what was really going on.  However, the last section had me on absolute pins and I couldn’t put it down until I turned the last page.

Third, I have never read a book that made me want to drink so much!  All those hot days filled with cold martinis, white wine, and gin and tonics.  I even have a new jar of olives in the fridge, and a bottle of pinot grigio chilling. I defy anyone to read this without craving something to drink.  And this says something about the descriptions, where her characters may be lacking a bit of depth the setting was palpable.  It all felt so real and so desirable.  It felt like home to me even though I have never been there.  I wish Tiger House was real and I could go live there, something about it felt eternally safe.

All in all, and for a first book, this very well written, and I really enjoyed it for what it was.  It was fun and wonderfully descriptive, but I don’t think it will have a lasting impact on me as a great book.

#24in48 - Day 1

“I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage.” Charles de Secondat. Truth.

Coming to the end of the first day of the #24in48 readathon created by Rachel over at Home Between Pages.  It looks like I will finish today with 7 1/2 hours read (227 pages), which means that I will probably fall far short of the goal of 24 for the weekend, but I am enjoying the challenge.

I decided to use the EST time schedule because I honestly have not seen midnight in a few years, let alone starting something at that time.  So I started reading at nine o’clock on Friday and made it until, wait for it… ten!  In full disclosure, I was reading Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussman and I defy anyone to read that without partaking in a beverage, here is mine:

It was a bad idea for a number of reasons.  Anyway, I was out after an hour.

Saturday went a bit better with things spotty in the morning, but mellowing out in the afternoon.  It is safe to say that having a three year old running around makes the whole readathon thing a bit more problematic, but my real question is how anyone can complete a 24-hour readathon without napping? I mean: the books, the cozy, the reading… How can you resist?

Anyway, this is the first time I have tried any sort of readathon, and having it spread out over 48 hours has taken a bit of the pressure off which I love.  I finished up Tigers before dinner and it was a pretty great read, so now I am off to start The Thin Man and hoping it will really catch my attention and help me gain some more hours tomorrow!

Those Who Can’t Do, Act

“Human beings aren’t that simple.  Life would be a lot more straightforward if all that mattered was what you actually are, but we’re social animals.  What other people think you are, what you think you are: those matter too.” Truth.

“The ones that slice like razors forever are the ghosts of things that never got the chance to happen.” Double Truth.

42.12 Broken Harbor

 

“Those who can’t do, teach.”  Lovely.  For the sake of all teachers, I cringe every time I hear this.  For me personally, it especially stings because, in my case, it is true.  I have never been great at anything.  I am a middle of the pack master.  Always making the team, but never the winner.  Always getting stuff done, but never all that well.  Always compared to everyone around me but never measuring up.  My whole life I have recognized it while also trying to ignore it. Especially when I was teaching because while teachers may not be doing, one thing they do better than anyone is act; and I have that part down pat. You smile through the insults of students, parents, and colleagues.  Your personal life doesn’t exist.  Your past fears and indiscretions are hidden well from view.  This is something where not just teachers do, we all do; we hide who we are to make it through. 

Tana French’s books bring this truth to life.  Everyone on the Dublin murder squad is faking it to make it.  Detectives have to be in charge, always one step ahead.  Never vulnerable.  Hiding who they are while deciding who someone else is and what they are hiding.  French shows us exactly how they do it and at times it is excruciating to read.  Her detectives desperately want to find someone to be safe with, to be true with, without letting anyone think they are weak, but they never really get there.  Each of her books gives us the point of view of a different detective, and I am so amazed at how she can create a whole new persona every time, male or female, while also writing an intriguing mystery.  In the case of Broken Harbor, I think the murder case faltered a bit.  I didn’t come to care about the victims and I think a lot of the investigation could have been pared down. By the end, it felt more exhausting than triumphant, but regardless I think Detective Kennedy is one of her best detectives, even though I do miss Cassie. 

Until now, all we knew about Kennedy was that he is kind of a jerk, but being in his mind shows us that he is just really trying to be good at what he does; whether as a husband, a brother, or a partner; but he is so focused on hiding who he is, and what he blames himself for, that he can’t keep it all together so he acts like a know it all and pulls away.  He is constantly acting, and he recognizes the same behavior in his partner, the other detectives, and the witnesses he works with. I felt a lot of sympathy and sadness for him, especially when he recognized his new partner trying to open up to him yet pulling away.  He couldn’t reach out to him and I wanted him to so badly, but at the same time I totally get it.  Sometimes what we do, and how other people see us, just becomes the more important thing to protect.

Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong

Wrong pronunciation I know, but I sang that little ditty every time I picked up this book.

“How would you like it if something landed on Earth and decided you would make a good specimen for dissection?” Truth. Odd, but true.

41.12 Rendezvous With Rama

My brother self published a Sci-Fi book and got his first semi-negative review a few weeks ago (my review is here).  It said that the book shouldn’t be called Sci-Fi because he didn’t go into detail and explain all of the science to his, well, fiction.  Things that make you go hmm, right?  Anyway, I told him not to worry because while some readers love that stuff, others don’t.  I am one of the others that don’t. Rama is for those that do.

Rama has a lot of scientific exploration and explanation.  A LOT…  Blurry eyeballs a lot.  The last third of the book is quite fun because they finally do something, but I barely held on that long.  The last sentence of the book was actually the only one I really cared about and really reacted to. I did read this on vacation, a family wedding for the same brother in fact, so I was a bit distracted and my reading progressed slowly but I am not convinced that effected my enjoyment. Initially, I found the discovery of the ship interesting but I never come to care about any of the characters, or the fact that they were going out to collect information and then coming back to process it repeatedly.  I just wanted to know what it was and why anyone should care.  Not to mention the very odd way females were treated “back home.” That part probably could have been left out entirely and I really wish it had been because it kept creeping up in my mind and bugging me.  

I guess Sci-Fi, in its true form according to my brother’s reviewer, is just not really my thing.