Review: Virals

Virals by Kathy Reichs
3.5 stars

Reason for reading: Okra Picks Challenge

Description: "Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever. As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot--if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent. Fortunately, they are now more than friends--they're a pack. They are Virals."

First line: "A gunshot is the loudest sound in the universe."

My thoughts: I'm so behind, I actually read this last month! I've never read Kathy Reichs before, but have seen Bones, so I was glad to get the chance to read one of her books, even if it wasn't about Temperance. How Temperance and Tory were related was a bit confusing, Tory is something like her great-niece and Tory had only met her once or twice, though several characters point out how alike they are. Perhaps Tempe will show up in later books.

The story reminded me a fair bit of James Patterson's Maximum Ride books, with kids being turned into animal mutations by evil people. I liked the South Carolina setting - it was cool that it was set not only in Charleston but also on the outer-lying islands. The descriptions of the city and its landmarks as well as the islands and their beaches, make it obvious why it was chosen as an Okra Pick. The book didn't totally blow me away, but I'd recommend it to younger teen readers looking for adventure. It was an action-packed story and Tory is a feisty, super-intelligent (maybe a bit too crazy-smart, really, although I suppose that's another way she's like her great-aunt), dog-loving heroine.

Review: Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning

Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning by Danette Haworth
3 stars

Reasons for reading: sounded good, Colourful Reading Challenge

Description: "Spunky, headstrong Violet Raines is happy with things just the way they are in her sleepy backwoods Florida town. She loves going to the fish fry with her best friend, Lottie, and collecting BrainFreeze cups with her good friend Eddie. She loves squeezing into the open trunk of the old cypress tree, looking for alligators in the river, and witnessing lighting storms on a warm summer day.

But Violet’s world is turned upside down when Melissa moves to town from big city Detroit. All of a sudden Violet’s supposed to want to wear makeup, and watch soap operas, and play Truth or Dare! It’ll take the help of Violet’s friends, her Momma, a few run-ins with lightning, and maybe even Melissa, for Violet to realize that growing up doesn’t have to mean changing who you are."

First line: "When Eddie B. dared me to walk the net bridge over the Elijah Hatchett River where we'd seen an alligator and another kid got bit by a coral snake, I wasn't scared - I just didn't feel like doing it right then."

My thoughts: My verdict is that this is a good read for preteens but for an old person like me it was pretty much a read-this-all-before book. It's the usual girl coming-of-age stuff, trying on make-up and bras, a mean (ish) girl, worrying about losing a friend, starting to notice boys, etc. I did like the rural, Southern setting, it gave it a bit of an old-fashioned feel. Violet was spunky but typical for this type of book, fairly self-centered and not wanting to grow up.

Review: When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
3.25 stars

Reason for reading: 2010 Newbery Medal for Book Awards Challenge

Description from the inside flap:

Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors.
First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.

First lines: "So Mom got the postcard today. It says Congratulations in big curly letters, and at the very top is the address of Studio TV-15 on West 58th Street. After three years of trying, she has actually made it. She's going to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid, which is hosted by Dick Clark."

My thoughts: Sorry Newbery committee (since I'm sure they care!), this one didn't do a whole lot for me. Maybe I was biased ahead of time because I remember reading a review that said the book was odd or would be hard for kids to follow or something. But it just seemed to me like an excuse to write a love letter to Madeleine L'Engle and the 70's. I don't really like this trend of the recent past in kids' books - it's not really historical fiction yet and I find it just ends up seeming slightly dated. Stead is a few years older than I am, which puts her at 11 years old in 1979, which seems to be Miranda's age. I can't quite think of the right word, but it just seemed a bit indulgent. And I'm one of the few people (it seems) who didn't adore A Wrinkle in Time, so that's another bias I have against this book. I only read it last year and it wasn't my thing at all. I think a kid who hadn't read it would find all of the references confusing and annoying. While the notes Miranda finds and the suspense built by the "when you reach me" thing was interesting, I didn't find the climax all that surprising or interesting and I had to read it several times to figure it out. (Although, again, time and space stuff isn't my bag.)

But, I could be wrong - my biases might be getting me and maybe kids will love this book. I did like that the book dealt with non AWIT/time travel/70's things like friendships and how they evolve and being a lower income, single parent family, however. And the chapter headings being categories from $20,000 Pyramid (Things That Sneak Up On You, Things That Bounce) was a nice added touch.

Review: Wild Ride

Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
3.25 stars

Reason for reading: I really enjoyed this pair's first two books.

Description: "Mary Alice Brannigan doesn’t believe in the supernatural. Nor does she expect to find that Dreamland, the decaying amusement park she’s been hired to restore, is a prison for the five Untouchables, the most powerful demons in the history of the world. Plus, there’s a guy she’s falling hard for, and there’s something about him that’s not quite right.

But rocky romances and demented demons aren’t the only problems in Dreamland: Mab’s also coping with a crooked politician, a supernatural raven, a secret government agency, an inexperienced sorceress, an unsettling inheritance, and some mind-boggling revelations from her past. As her personal demons wreck her newfound relationship and real demons wreck the park, Mab faces down immortal evil and discovers what everybody who’s ever been to an amusement park knows: The end of the ride is always the wildest."

First line: "Mary Alice Brannigan sat on the roof of the Dreamland carousel at twenty minutes to midnight and considered her work in the light from her yellow miner's hat."

My thoughts: I didn't enjoy this book as much as this duo's previous novels, Don't Look Down and Agnes and the Hitman. If it had been the first book I'd read by them, ir might have put me off reading the others. It still had their trademarks of wit and romance mixed with macho stuff, but the supernatural element wasn't great.

I found it quite hard to figure out what was going on at first. And I just couldn't get behind the premise - that an amusement park (hello, crawling with children!) was built to house 5 demons in easily-breakable chalices inside iron statues. And the key to each "cage" is an integral piece of the statue that, when removed to lock the cage, makes the statue incomplete, so people tend to replace the pieces and unlock the cages. Mab at one point questions this and gets an explanation that we're supposed to buy, but I didn't.

If you can figure out what's going on and suspend your disbelief, there are some fun characters and some cute love stories. And a nice message about creating your own family. I found the details about classic amusement parks and Mab's work to restore Dreamland interesting. It was still an entertaining book, but it was pretty over-the-top, even for these two. I hope they go back to their quirky but non-supernatural ways next time.

Review: Very LeFreak

Very LeFreak by Rachel Cohn
3.25 stars


Reasons for reading: I like Rachel Cohn's books; Young Adult Challenge

Description: "Very LeFreak has a problem: she’s a crazed technology addict. Very can’t get enough of her iPhone, laptop, IMs, text messages, whatever. If there’s any chance the incoming message, call, text, or photo might be from her supersecret online crush, she’s going to answer, no matter what. Nothing is too important: sleep, friends in mid-conversation, class, a meeting with the dean about academic probation. Soon enough, though, this obsession costs Very everything and everyone. Can she learn to block out the noise so she can finally hear her heart?"

First line: "It wasn't the fact that Starbucks did not - would not - serve Guinness with a raw egg followed by an espresso chaser that was ruining Very's hangover."

My thoughts: I have mixed feeling about this book and its heroine. It seems to fall into more of a college-age reading level than teen and I'd hestitate to give it to younger readers. While there's not really a lot of explicit sex, it's talked about a lot in a way that's nothing for older readers but seems like TMI for younger ones. And for me, sometimes! While she doesn't have a lot of actual sex, Very seems to toy with a lot of people, both male and female.


The book is divided into 2 sections - Very's life at college as a super-partier but schoolwork-slacker with her roommate and two male friends, one of whom she sleeps with and breaks his heart. Very herself I found both loveable and hateable. And really, she's a really messed-up young woman (her single mother died of an overdose when she was a young teen, Very blames herself) who basically hits rock bottom and knows she has to do better. She's charming and energetic, but really over-the-top and while she seems to really care about people, she's not very good at actually respecting their feelings or boundaries or sometimes realizing people exist beyond just being of use to her. Her insistence on calling her roommate Lavinia when her name is actually Jennifer is an indication of this (although it's meant as a term of endearment, she also refuses to use the girl's proper name). The second half of the book comes when Very's addiction to technology (her iPhone, iPod, and laptop are pretty much attached to her at all times, even when she's sleeping) hits rock bottom. That her addiction is to machines rather than drugs or alcohol was an interesting twist - it made the rehab section of the book a bit more interesting than if it was for the usual vices. And the director of the rehab facility, Dr. Joy, provided some funny moments with her absolute ban on technology and use of the "patients" as basically slave labour.

I really came to feel Very's pain and was cheering for her by the end. The book ends on a sweet, hopeful note that I was glad to see. I would definitely recommend this to college-age chicks, but for a YA novel it was just a bit too odd and sexed-up for me to be a super fan.

Review: What I saw and How I Lied

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
3.5 stars


Reasons for reading: heard good things about it, winner of the National Book Award for Young Readers for the Book Award Challenge


Description: "When Evie's father returned home from World War II, the family fell back into its normal life pretty quickly. But Joe Spooner brought more back with him than just good war stories. When movie-star handsome Peter Coleridge, a young ex-GI who served in Joe's company in postwar Austria, shows up, Evie is suddenly caught in a complicated web of lies that she only slowly recognizes. She finds herself falling for Peter, ignoring the family secrets that surround him… until he mysteriously drowns. Now Evie must find out what happened…and how far she'll go to protect her family."


First line: The match snapped, then sizzled, and I woke up fast."

My thoughts: I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I think the characterization was almost too good - I really found Evie an annoying teenage girl during the first part, especially when she "fell in love" with Peter (although I guess puppy love does feel very real, I probably shouldn't be such an old person and belittle it). But once she grew up - unfortunately it happens tragically fast, she shouldn't have had to take on so much so soon - she becomes quite fearsomely impressive. Evie becomes strong and the adults - her gorgeous mother who adores her and has always done what she had to do to take care of her and her stepfather Joe, who may not be quite the perfect husband, father and soldier that he seemed - become weak and can't help themselves.

The post-WW II setting was well-researched and I really felt immersed in it. It was also interesting to set it in Florida, it's not a place I associate with that time in history at all, not sure why. And a further historical dimension was added by including the racism against Jews encountered by acquaintances of the Spooners, which is made even more upsetting given what had just happened in Europe.

Overall, I can see why this won the National Book Award. The historical setting was very well done and once it gets rolling, you want to find out what's going to happen to Evie's family.

Review: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
3.75 stars

Reasons for reading: I really like John Green's writing and David Levithan's work with Rachel Cohn; Book with a name in the title for Four Month Challenge

Summary (from a review in School Library Journal): "Will Grayson's best friend since fifth grade, nicknamed Tiny Cooper, is bigger than life in terms of his physical stature and his personality—the "world's largest person who is really, really gay." Tiny, while seeking the boy of his dreams, has been through the trauma of myriad short-lived romantic relationships and Will has supported him each time his heart is broken. Now, Tiny decides it's Will's turn. At first, Will resents Tiny's matchmaking efforts, but then an amazing coincidence that stems from it brings a new person into their lives. It's another teen named Will Grayson, who is sad and depressed, and captures Tiny's heart. While these and other relationships are connecting, intersecting, and eventually changing, Tiny writes and produces an autobiographical high school musical extravaganza that is really about life. On the night it premiers, everything comes full circle and further validates the presence of the Will Graysons. Based on the premises that "love is tied to truth" and "being friends, that's just something you are," this powerful, thought-provoking, funny, moving, and unique plot is irresistible."

First lines: "When I was little, my dad used to tell me, "Will, you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." This seemed like a reasonably astute observation to me when I was eight, but it turns out to be incorrect on a few levels. To begin with, you cannot possibly pick your friends, or else I never would have ended up with Tiny Cooper."

My thoughts: Well, the first paragraph sets you up for some typical John Green goodness! At first I wasn't sure about this book, it seemed like it was going to be way too angsty for me, especially with the incredibly depressed gay Will Grayson (it's the easiest way to differentiate between the two) and the other Will with his rules of don't care too much and shut up. There was also a lot of does he/she like me, do I like him/her going on and Tiny Cooper is SO over the top in everything from his size to his gayness to his flair for the dramatic.

But once the two Wills met, things started rolling along a bit better. It really is a cool concept - what happens when you hear your name addressed to a stranger in the strangest of locations (I won't give it away, but it's one of the funniest parts). There's a lot of emotion in the book - people realizing they love each other (family, friendship, and romance), feelings getting hurt, people learning about themselves... I also enjoyed that Tiny's rather implausible musical, Tiny Dancer, comes about and is so successful. The songs (pretty much all about Tiny's hugeness or gayness or fabulousness) are rather a hoot. I loves me some musical theatre.

The verdict: I had varying feelings about the book throughout, liking it and not being sure I did and sometimes wondering who the intended audience was, but the ending was lovely and joyful (and surprising), so that went a long way.

Review: Victory of Eagles

Victory of Eagles (Temeraire, book 5) by Naomi Novik
4.5 stars

Reasons for reading: I'm addicted to this series; Fantasy for the Four Month Challenge

Summary: "For Britain, conditions are grim: Napoleon’s resurgent forces have breached the Channel and successfully invaded English soil. Napoleon’s prime objective is the occupation of London. Unfortunately, the dragon Temeraire has been removed from military service–and his captain, Will Laurence, has been condemned to death for treason. Separated by their own government and threatened at every turn by Napoleon’s forces, Laurence and Temeraire must struggle to find each other amid the turmoil of war. If only they can be reunited, master and dragon might rally Britain’s scattered resistance forces and take the fight to the enemy as never before–for king and country, and for their own liberty."

First line: "The breeding grounds were called Pen Y Fan, after the hard, jagged slash of the mountain at their heart, like an ax-blade, rimed with ice along its edge and rising barren over the moorlands: a cold, wet Welsh autumn already, coming on towards winter, and the other dragons sleepy and remote, uninterested in anything but their meals."

My thoughts: My husband (who got me into the series) teases me about me calling these books "scrapey" - but it's because Laurence and Temeraire get into scrapes that I just can't imagine they'll be able to get out of! And this time was no different. Laurence has been charged with treason and the only reason he hasn't been executed is to keep Temeraire in line. But when Temeraire decides he's tired of sitting around in the breeding grounds and wants to fight, he leads the other dragons off to harry French troops in the British countryside. When Laurence is called in to find him, the reunion is a happy one, but Laurence is a changed man. He's always been stoic, but now he's broken and sure that he'll soon die. He's not even sure anymore whether or not he was right in committing his "treasonous" act of saving the lives of Europe's dragons by providing France with a cure for a deadly illness. But Laurence and Temeraire do their duty and fight Napoleon - once Temeraire has convinced Wellington that dragons should be given ranks and pay. (And also huge, garish epaulettes to mark their rank - that was one of my favourite parts, I love the dragons' charming vainness.) The book ends with an alternate-reality battle of epic proportions.

I think this book marks a turning point in the series. Temeraire's dreams of dragons' rights are briefly recognized, but one gets the sense they won't last out the war. Temeraire is still clever and jealous and vain and sweet, but he's slowly starting to learn the ways of men and how things really work. Laurence has literally lost everything except his dragon - he tries to cling to his old touchstones of honour and duty, but finds he can't. The very end of the book sees to duo being exiled to Australia because Temeraire is seen as too "dangerous" with his ideals but the team are too valuable to simply eliminate. I'm really looking forward to their adventures in wilds of New South Wales!

Review: Zombie Blondes

Zombie Blondes by Brian James

3 stars

Reasons for reading: the cover; Z book for the Four Month Challenge

Description: "From the moment Hannah Sanders arrived in town, she felt there was something wrong. A lot of houses were for sale, and the town seemed infected by an unearthly quiet. And then, on Hannah’s first day of classes, she ran into a group of cheerleaders—the most popular girls in school. The odd thing was that they were nearly identical in appearance: blonde, beautiful, and deathly pale. But Hannah wants desperately to fit in—regardless of what her friend Lukas is telling her: if she doesn’t watch her back, she’s going to be blonde and popular and dead—just like all the other zombies in this town. . . . "

First line: "There aren't any rules to running away from your problems."

My thoughts: This wasn't a bad contribution to the burgeoning YA zombie genre. It definitely reminded me of a teen horror flick - quite a slow buildup, teen angst (Hannah's father constantly moves them from town to town because he can't keep a job, so she longs to have friends and fit in), teen girl in the house alone, missed clues that something is very wrong, and then a gory climax. There's not really an explanation of how Maplecrest turned into a town full of zombies, which would have been welcome, although I suppose it's not strictly necessary. This book is as much about Hannah's life of moving constantly, not fitting in, and her relationship with her father as it is about zombies. I much preferred the lighter-hearted Zombie Queen of Newbery High, but if you're looking for a darker take on them or if you really hate cheerleaders, this is worth a read.

Review: Vodka Neat

Vodka Neat: a Faith Zanetti thriller by Anna Blundy
2.5 stars

Reasons for reading: The title/cover caught my eye on our New Books shelf; Thriller for the Genre Challenge

Description: "Vodka Neat features Faith Zanetti, a war correspondent with plenty of libido, good looks, a great sense of humor, and a zest for life that never quits. She's the new Moscow correspondent for a leading newspaper--chosen for the job because she married a Russian when she was a teenager. But the minute she steps on Russian soil, she is instantly arrested in connection with the murders, fifteen years before, of a couple from a neighboring apartment. She was drunk at the time, but surely not that drunk. In order to solve the mystery, what she needs to do is find the charming Russian black marketer she married as a nineteen-year-old. And when she finds him, her problems really begin."

First line: "Moscow 1989 - There was a do at Dom Literov, the literary house."

My thoughts: I didn't hate this book, and Blundy clearly knows Russia really well, which was interesting, as I don't know much about it. But it just wasn't my thing. For one, I didn't really get the "thriller" part of it. I felt it was more like a mystery. There were some twists and a climactic, violent scene, but I didn't really feel, well, thrilled. The basic plot had some good parts (the actual mystery of who killed the couple next door and a horrifying case of mistaken identity) but there were almost a few too many twists on the way to resolving it. Blundy's obvious knowledge of and love for Russia bogged the book down, I found - there was too much discussion of the cold, the bleakness, the weirdness of the country and the rampant alcoholism there (whether you're Russian or not). Perhaps if I'd read the first book in this series, I'd have felt warmer towards Faith, who is getting over the loss of her mother and a mental breakdown, which I assume happened in volume one. I admired her toughness, but she's a very messed-up human being (although there may be a tiny bit of light at the end of her tunnel by the end).

The verdict: I thought Kirkus Reviews summed Faith and the book up well: "A hard-drinking, foul-mouthed protagonist in Putin's Russia, occupying a landscape nearly as depressing as she is. "

Review: Zombie Queen of Newbury High

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby
4 stars

Reasons for reading: sounded fun, zombies are all the rage with the kids these days; Young Adult Challenge

Synopsis: "Quiet, unpopular, non-cheerleading Mia is blissfully happy. She is dating super hot football god Rob, and he actually likes her and asked her to prom! Enter Samantha—cheerleading goddess and miss popularity— who starts making a move for Rob. With prom in a few days, Mia needs to act fast. So she turns to her best friend, Candice, and decides to do a love spell on Rob. Unfortunately, she ends up inflicting a zombie virus onto her whole class, making herself their leader! At first she is flattered that everyone is treating her like a queen. But then zombie hunter hottie Chase explains they are actually fattening her up, because in a few days, Mia will be the first course in their new diet. She's sure she and Chase can figure something out, but she suggests that no one wear white to prom, because things could get very messy."

First line: "Mia Everett was doomed."

Great line: "You know, I'm sick of living in the real world. I think I'm going to stick with television from now on. It's a lot less draining."


My thoughts: This was a fun book. I loved that Mia was so into Buffy and Angel and kept expecting things to work out the way they do on TV. For example, she was very disappointed that her school didn't have a basement "the size of a mall" to hide out in like they had on Buffy. And I was in a particularly Buffy mood when I read it, so that was a bonus.

Chase the zombie hunter was a clever hottie - the best kind - and his earnest explanation of how zombies are real, while scoffing at the prospect of vampires and werewolves, was a hoot. Candice the hypochrondriac was a riot, but also surprisingly helpful. The zombie lore was great, particularly when all of the proto-zombies started giving Mia snack foods, not because they liked her, but because they wanted to fatten her up.

A thoroughly enjoyable, lighthearted addition to current the zombies-are-cooler-than-vampires trend.

Review: A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
3 stars

Reasons for reading: have always meant to; Sci Fi for the Genre Challenge; 1963 Newbery Medal-winner for the Book Awards Challenge

Description: "It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem."

First line: "It was a dark and stormy night." [Really, that's it!]

My thoughts: I'm just not really a sci-fi gal. I enjoy sci-fi TV and movies more than I used to, thanks to my geek husband, but books, not so much. And I'm finding a lot of the kids' classics I've been reading lately to be quite-feeling dated, including this one. Although the level of sci fi was sort of like the level of fantasy in Harry Potter - based enough in our own world that I could handle it.

That said, I did like the overall message of love being the greatest force in the universe. There's a forward by Anna Quindlen that points out that the creepy sameness of the bad planet they travel to was a reaction against Communism, which was pretty interesting, although it adds a bit to the dated feeling. Although I guess North Americans always tend to struggle against conformity, whatever its form.

The book is one of the ALA's top 100 most-challenged books, apparently because of L'Engle's "liberal" Christianity and its references to witches (of which there are none in the book) and crystal balls. I always love the challenges to books - if putting Jesus on the same list as great artists and writers is all you've got to complain about, you're not looking hard enough and have way too much time on your hands.

The verdict: Not really my bag but I can see why it's a classic. And even if I found the tone a bit dated, the message never gets old.

Review: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
4 stars

Reasons for reading: read several good reviews of it; second Sisters-themed book for the Themed Reading Challenge

Description: "In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for more than sixty-one years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face. Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit? "

First line: "Let us begin with two girls at a dance."

My thoughts: This is a really well-written book, told from three very different points of view. Iris is a typical modern girl who receives some astonishing news. Esme seems fairly sane, but she's been locked up for 6 decades - her mind slips into the past frequently, but she seems to have a grip on the present. And Kitty is mired in dementia - her thoughts flit between events that happened 60 years ago and how she's feeling about biscuits at this very second.

The premise of Iris discovering she has a relative she never knew existed is enough of a story, but between Esme and Kitty, we learn about 60 years of lies that have brought us to this point - Iris living in an apartment that used to be the Lennox family home in Edinburgh, Kitty in a nursing home, and Esme in the asylum.

I love Scotland and really enjoyed the Edinburgh setting - I could picture quite a lot of the scenery. It was interesting to see it from Esme's point of view after 60 years - she recognized a lot of the buildings, for example, but the road network was very different.

I shared Iris' fascination with the fact that in Esme's day, a woman could basically be committed if her father or other man in her life wished it. This theme reminded me of another book I really enjoyed, An Inconvenient Wife by Megan Chance, which took place about 50 years earlier, but was largely about women being called mad by men because they were embarrassing. Esme definitely was unconventional, but it overall it was hard to tell if she was actually mad.

The verdict: A haunting tale of how lies and betrayal can turn loving sisters into enemies, as well as the story of how a family changes over time, but genetics are always there to bind them together.

Review: The Winter Rose

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
4.25 stars

Reasons for reading: I lurved The Tea Rose over my Christmas vacation; Seconds Challenge

Summary (from Publishers Weekly): "In late Victorian London, idealistic new medical school graduate India Selwyn Jones goes to work at a clinic in the city's poorest neighborhood, much to the dismay of her aristocratic mother and ambitious fiancé, political up-and-comer Freddie Lytton. The squalor is a bit much for India, but she manages to keep her emotions under control until she meets underworld crime boss Sid Malone. Sid begins as India's nemesis, becomes her patient and ends up something much more than that. What India doesn't know is that Sid is the brother of tea heiress Fiona Bristow, wife of self-made, highly principled businessman Joseph Bristow. What Sid doesn't know is that India's fiancé is as ruthless as Sid's most ruthless henchman, willing to commit theft, betrayal and even murder to launch his career, force India out of hers and bring down Sid in the process. In typical epic style, Donnelly (The Tea Rose) alternates India's story with Sid's, Freddie's, Joseph's and Fiona's, leading the reader through turn-of-the-century England from the Houses of Parliament to ale houses and whore houses, and from London to Africa and beyond."

My thoughts: I liked this one almost as much as The Tea Rose, hence the quarter-star difference. The life of a female doctor in 1900 was really interesting and well-researched and again Donnelly made the squalid surroundings of East London and its proud, hardworking residents come to life. It was lovely to see Fiona and Joe again, with their growing family, although they're still no strangers to heartbreaking tragedy. And I really liked the characters of aristorat-turned-doctor-to-the-poor India and gangster-with-a-heart-of-gold Sid. I think I enjoyed their romance even more than Fiona and Joe's. Also, the African settings were well-drawn, and it was interesting to read about the beginnings of British colonization there.

Freddie Lytton was a great villain (well, he's loathsome, but great for a villain), almost as evil as Jack the Ripper/William Burton in the previous book. Perhaps more so, actually, since Burton seemed at least somewhat mad, while Freddie is completely ruthless and calculating.

But I didn't enjoy the mountaineering parts so much, though. While it was nice to see a bit more of Fiona's little brother Seamie and I liked brave, determined Willa, his climbing partner on Kilimanjaro, I skimmed over the descriptions of crampons and whatnot. Also, the scope of The Tea Rose also seemed broader - while the about same amount of time (10 years-ish) elapses in each book, it seemed like there were more details of what happened to the characters in the first book. There was quite a 6-year jump in this book. I gather nothing much happened, but it seemed a bit abrupt.

Still, this was a great follow-up to an excellent book. I've heard that she's working on a third book in this series, which I'm already looking forward to!

Review: Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean

Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean by Justin Somper
3 stars

Reasons for reading: thought it would be a good one to be able to tell the library kids about; last Vampire book and the last book for the Triple 8 Challenge

Description: "Twins, Connor and Grace, never dreamed that there was any truth to the Vampirate shanty their father sang to them before he died, but that was before the two were shipwrecked and separated from each other. For Connor, who is taken aboard a pirate ship, there's the chance to learn to swordfight, but for Grace, aboard a mysterious ship of vampire pirates, the danger is great. What will it take for them to find each other?"

My thoughts: This has definite kid appeal. I mean, two of the coolest things out there combined? What more could you want. I see there are now 4 books in this series, so I'm glad to have read the first one. I enjoyed the swashbuckling bits and thought the bond between Connor and Grace was great. The book had a slightly odd feel to it for me, I can't quite put my finger on it - probably because it was set in 2025, yet it had an 18th century feel to it. I liked that the pirate ship's crew was made up of both men and women.

You can really tell this is the first book in a longer series, as it asks more questions than it answers. I don't know if I'm invested enough to read them all, but I'm glad to know what the series is about.

Review: Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
4 stars

Reasons for reading: lots of people I know loved it; Historical Fiction for Triple 8 Challenge; Alex Award-winner for the Book Awards Challenge

Description: "Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell. Jacob was there because his luck had run out—orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act—in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival."

My thoughts: At first I wasn't 100% sold on this book, I wasn't sure I liked the alternating past and future chapters and I'm not really a circus person. But it came together at the end thanks to some literary sleight of hand from the beginning and the actual ending itself. That sent it right up to 4 stars and I could see why my friends enjoyed it so much.

Gruen clearly really researched circus life and I was really pleased to discover in her author's note that some of the incidents were inspired by real circus elephants. I loved her opening quote from Horton Hears a Who, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant...an elephant's faithful - one hundred percent!" Rosie the elephant is as much a character as any of the human beings. The old photos at the beginning of each chapter were a nice touch. The brutality of circus life was quite shocking in some parts and the reality of life during the Depression came across clearly.

I thought she did a good job of writing from an elderly man's point of view and there were some really sad but well-done moments that demonstrated what it's like to get old, particularly that you still feel like yourself, but your body has changed almost beyond recognition and people don't treat you like an adult any more.

An interesting book with a great ending, and an elephant!

Review: Your Oasis on Flame Lake

Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvik
3 stars

Reasons for reading: I love Lorna Landvik; it was my Minnesota-author book for our trip to Minneapolis this year

Book description (fr0m Booklist}: "In a small Minnesota town, two friends chafe at being voted "Least Changed" at their twentieth high-school reunion. Timid Devera has an affair with her night-school teacher; BiDi, known for her still-perfect figure, gets pregnant by Sergio, her second husband. Devera's husband, Dick, a car salesman who dreams of performing his joke songs in a cabaret, opens "Your Oasis" in their basement and provides a town gathering place. When opposing hockey players ambush BiDi's daughter, Franny, the hulking product of her first marriage and the town mascot for making the varsity team as a freshman and a girl, the families and town must make peace with the fragility of loved ones."

First line: "I asked my dad once if he was sorry he didn't have any sons, and after he made a face he put his hand on my forehead like he was checking for fever."

My thoughts: This isn't my favourite Landvik book, but it was still serviceable. The multiple-narrator device took some getting used to and I never really could distinguish between BiDi and Devera's chapters easily. Sergio had a very distinct voice, for example, being Mr. Macho/Sentimental and also having English as his second language.

What I liked:
- Dev's daughter Darcy - a precocious 11 year-old who talks like she's in a 40's movie and is an enthusiastic wearer of hats - "I"m what my mom calls a 'headwear connosissuer' I'm not that into fashion, but I do love hats, which give you automatic style anyway."

- The setting of White Falls, with all of its lovely surrounding lakes, including Flame Lake. It sounds like a typical Minnesota small town, complete with many "residents of Scandanavian descent" (Dev's father's appliance store has a Syttende Mai sale to honour Noway's independence day). There are some colourful local characters and Your Oasis really becomes a beloved gathering place for them.

What I didn't like:
- Both Sergio and Devera have affairs (not with each other) but only Dev's is portrayed as a negative thing. I realize that since Sergio doesn't think he's doing anything wrong (because BiDi doesn't sleep with him very often, he feels justified with sleeping with his assistant at the bakery over and over), that's how his affair is portrayed by him. His affair is never revealed tohis wife, but Devera's brief affair with a sleazy, pathetic professor is revealed to her husband by the professor and ends up causing a rift in their marriage. I suppose that's life, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

- Either BiDi or Devera. Devera is a bit more sympathetic, as she appears to be having a bit of a midlife crisis, including panic attacks. But she's definitely self-centred. And BiDi just seems mean - she admits to not liking being a mother, she harps at her daughter Franny for being too big and playing hockey, doesn't give much affection to her husband, and basically is a bitch to everyone in town.

- The plot had a few too many things going on - BiDi didn't need a prescription drug addiction in addition to her other issues, for example.

Overall, it's not a bad book at all, it's just that knowing her other work, it was a bit of a disappointment. This was Landvik's second book, so it might be a sophomore slump (I enjoyed her debut, Patty Jane's House of Curl). If you don't have a lot of reading time, I'd suggest her Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons and last year's wonderful The View From Mount Joy.

Also reviewed by Kate/Susan.

Review: Uncommon Grounds

Uncommon Grounds by Sandra Balzo
3 stars

Reasons for reading: I came across it when looking up a nonfiction book about coffee with the same title for my husband and thought it sounded fun; Every Month is a Holiday Challenge - Caffeine Awareness Month and Mystery list for the Triple 8 Challenge

First line: "I was late the Monday we were scheduled to open Uncommon Grounds."

Book description: "Patricia Harper has been killed by an espresso machine hot-wired to electrocute its owner - and in Uncommon Grounds, her very own gourmet coffee store, on opening day. Maggy Thorsen, displaced PR executive turned coffee maven, wants to know who killed her partner and put the future of Uncommon Grounds in jeopardy. Maggy desperately needs the store to succeed, so she joins forces with Sarah Kingstown, Patricia's closest friend, to investigate her killing. "

My thoughts: I always say I'm not a mystery reader, yet I end up with all these mysteries! Maybe I'm in denial. But I enjoyed this one.

Even though I often find the whole ordinary person solving mysteries thing a bit hard to believe (which is a genre thing, not the fault of this book), I liked Maggy and admired her sharp eyes and ability to make connections. I also liked that she wasn't always right on the first try, but she kept going. The tension in her relationship with sexy detective Pavlik was crackling and there was humour, too. For example, the scene where Maggy decides to go on a stakeout but forgets to bring the red and blue ski mask that she'd planned to disguise herself with.

The settings were also well done. Brookhills, despite sounding rather Stepford-esque in its concern over appearances, is a nice small town. I liked Maggy's little house ("shack") with her enormous sheepdog Frank and the blue stucco living room. Uncommon Grounds sounds like a lovely coffee shop and I also wanted to eat butter burgers over at the lunch counter at Goddard's pharmacy. There's even a library, complete with a nosy, tax-preparing librarian!

As for the mystery, I never guessed whodunit and there were lots of red herrings and surprising twists along the way.

Review: Witch Way to Murder

Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard 3 stars

Book description: Thirty something Ophelia Jensen wants to live a quiet life as a small town librarian. She's created a comfortable existence with her kooky, colorful grandmother Abby, and if it were up to her, they could live out their days—along with Ophelia's dog Lady and cat Queenie—in peace and quiet. But, to Ophelia's dismay, she and Abby aren't a typical grandmother/granddaughter duo. She possesses psychic powers, and Abby is a kindly witch. And while Ophelia would do anything to dismiss her gift—harboring terrible guilt after her best friend was killed and she was unable to stop it—threatening events keep popping up, forcing her to tap into her powers of intuition. To make matters worse, a strange—yet devastatingly attractive—man is hanging around Ophelia's library, and no matter how many times she tells him she's sworn off men forever, he persists. Soon this handsome newcomer reveals he's following a lead on a local drug ring, and then a dead body shows up right in Abby's backyard. And much as Ophelia would like to put away her spells forever, she and Abby must use their special powers to keep themselves, and others, out of harm's way.

First paragraph (after the prologue): "I felt someone watching me as I put the returned books away. My hackles stood up and my skin tingled. I sighed and shook my head. My instincts told me it was Mr. Carroll, one of our oldest patrons, all in a twist and wanting to pounce on me about our latest book selections. He treated the library as his personal domain and me as his personal slave. He was not one of my favorites."

My thoughts: This is my second book in the Every Month is a Holiday Challenge - February is Library Lovers' Month. I am certainly one of those, so I picked a book with a librarian as the central character. And she's a witch, to boot! I wish I was a librarian/witch... I promise I'd use my powers for mostly good. I can think of a bunch of troublemakers that I'd hext, for the good of the library.

As you can see from the first paragraph, Ophelia shares my dislike of patrons. :-) She leaves the perkiness to her assistant, Darci, while she does paperwork and research in the library's basement. There were lots of great library moments in the book - I particularly enjoyed the discussion of a patron who made a fuss about the latest Nora Roberts book because it was "too smutty."

Abby was a the quintessential perfect grandma, plus, magic powers! She was wise and loving, but didn't let Ophelia get away with hiding her feelings or closing herself off and for a 73 year-old lady, she was plenty tough.

The mystery was a pretty good one - despite having a lot of them on my TBR list, I'm not really a mystery person and not really into the "cozies." But there were twists and turns and, combined with Ophelia's mysterious and chilling visions, it was a good read.

Review: The Uncommon Reader

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Summary (from Booklist): One day the queen takes inadvertent advantage of a bookmobile that happens to arrive at a Buckingham Palace back door; she rather accidentally borrows a book. She'd never taken much interest in reading. She read, of course, as one did, but liking books was something she left to other people. As surprising to herself as to those who know her, the queen develops into a dedicated, avid reader of serious literature, and the court and her government are sent reeling by this new royal practice—as well as by her newfound knowledge about all kinds of things. When she turns from the joy of reading to a desire to write, the consequences are jolting.

My thoughts: This just didn't do it for me. I know it was supposed to be satirical, but I just couldn't get past the fact that I'm sure the Queen is a reader. I can't believe that a woman of her age with her education wouldn't have read, for example, Henry James (one of the many authors she "discovers" in this book). I just couldn't get past it - perhaps I'm an even bigger fan of the Queen than I realized!

There were some funny bits (the fact of her wandering into the bookmobile, the talk of her "peripheral grandchildren," how she knows a lot of the authors because she's knighted them, and how she'll bring up books with any random person) and it was interesting to see how reading could be seen as elitist (there's a passage where the Queen says something like "But surely most people can read?" and the Prime Minister or whoever it is replies that people can, but most people don't).

But between the Queen being a non-reader and reading turning her into someone who starts to neglect her duties and because reading is seen as an annoying habit by everyone around her, I just wasn't having it.

I actually searched all over the Net for someone who agreed with me and had a very hard time, most people think it's completely delightful. I did find one Waterstone's bookseller, though, who only gave it one star and said:

"I'm not convinced by Alan Bennett. To be honest, I never have been. And this only adds fuel to my doubtful fire. I just can't see what the fuss is all about. To me, this reads like a rather badly written and thought-out children's book. The Queen goes to a mobile library and meets a skinny boy called Norman, who despite being a mere kitchen hand appears to have the combined intellects of Will Self, Stephen Fry and Martin Amis. Still, he's very popular so I guess it must be just me who doesn't get it. (sigh). "

I don't think I'm convinced by Alan Bennett, either.