Category Archives: Fiction

Blood & Beauty

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Blood & Beauty – A Novel of The Borgias

by Sarah Dunant

published by Thorndike Press

2013

Summary

Is there a family in history more dazzling, dangerous and notorious than the Borgias?

A powerhouse of the Italian Renaissance, their very name epitomizes the ruthless politics and sexual corruption of the Papacy.

The father, Pope Alexander VI, a consummate politician and a man with a voracious appetite both as Cardinal and Pope.

The younger Juan, womanizer and thug, and their lovely sister, Lucretia, whose very name has become a byword for poison, incest and intrigue.

But how much of the history about this remarkable family is actually true, and how much distorted, filtered through the age old mechanisms of political spin, propaganda and gossip?

What if the truth, the real history, is even more challenging? 

“Blood & Beauty: The Borgias” is an epic novel which sets out to capture the scope, the detail, the depth, the color and the complexity of this utterly fascinating family.

 

 

My Review

I love books based on historical figures.  This gets my old history major juices flowing!  Books like this and Dunant’s others-The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan –based on history and set in Rome and Venice- are my guilty pleasures.  I tried to watch The Borgias on Showtime, but I just couldn’t get behind the idea of Jeremy Irons as the Pope.  I have always been interested in the Borgias and how they were portrayed, especially Lucrezia. .  In many instances, they have come across as a family of sociopaths, interested only in sex and power.  Scandal and the Borgia name have become synonymous.  Rumors of incest and murder still hover around them all these years later. Dunant tempers this view.  There is definitely the feeling that the Pope and his son Cesare care more about the power they amass than anything else, but that most powerful men of the time behaved the same way. Cardinals had mistresses and children, families married off children to further enhance their own power, and murder was not considered the ultimate sin.  This book actually remedied me a little of The Game of Thrones, each character being just another piece on the chessboard.  This is a well written, fun book and I would definitely recommend it.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry- She Reads April Selection

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The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

by Gabrielle Zevin

published Algonquin Books

by April 2014

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto “No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World.” A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It’s a small package, but large in weight. It’s that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn’t take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.’s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn’t see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

My Review

A.J. Fikry is a major bookworm and a major grump.  He is the owner of the independ bookstore, Island Books, on the fictional Alice Island, and he is extremely unhappy.  He is grieving for his dead wife, Nic, and struggling to keep the floundering bookstore going.  One day, he discovers someone has left a baby in his store, with a note asking him to take care of her.  The change in A.J.’s life is truly amazing.

This is a wonderful novel from the author.  I love stories about books, book lovers, and bookstores, and this encompasses all three.  As snarky and obnoxious as A.J. is, the reader really comes to love him.  I want to go into Island Books, and shop around!

She Reads truly picked a winner in their April Book Club selection.  Head over there to read more reviews of this wonderful book.

http://www.shereads.org/april-book-club-selection-5/

Some great quotes:

“You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question: What is your favorite book?”

“Why is any one book different from any other book? They are different, A.J. decides, because they are. We have to look inside many. We have to believe. We agreed to be disappointed sometimes so that we can be exhilarated every now and again.”

“Remember, Maya: the things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we will respond to at forty and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life.”

“Why is any one book different from any other book? They are different, A.J. decides, because they are. We have to look inside many. We have to believe. We agree to be disappointed sometimes so that we can be exhilarated every now and again.”

 

“I do not like postmodernism, postapocalyptic settings, postmortem narrators, or magic realism. I rarely respond to supposedly clever formal devices, multiple fonts, pictures where they shouldn’t be—basically gimmicks of any kind. I find literary fiction about the Holocaust or any other major world tragedy to be distasteful. I do not like genre mash-ups a la the literary detective novel or the literary fantasy. Literary should be literary, and genre should be genre, and crossbreeding rarely results in anything satisfying. I do not like children’s books, especially ones with orphans, and I prefer not to clutter my shelves with young adult. I do not like anything over four hundred pages or under one hundred fifty pages. I am repulsed by ghostwritten novels by reality television stars, celebrity picture books, sports memoirs, movie tie-in editions, novelty items, and — I imagine this goes without saying — vampires.”

To Live Forever

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To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis

by Andra Watkins

published by Word Hermit Press

2014

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review

Summary

Explorer Meriwether Lewis has been stuck in Nowhere since his mysterious death nearly two centuries ago. His last hope for redemption is helping nine-year-old Emmaline Cagney flee her madame mother in New Orleans and find her father in Nashville. To get there, Merry must cross his own grave along the Natchez Trace, where he duels the corrupt Judge, an old foe who has his own despicable plans for Em.

My Review

A mixture of historical fiction and magical realism, To Live Forever is an amazing novel from Andra Watkins.  Merry is trapped on Earth after his death on the Natchez Trace, the historical path that extend over 440 miles, from Natchz to Nashville.  He is haunted by his failures in life and his legacy.  He has tried multiple time to free himself from “Nowhere”, and now he has only one more chance to redeem is soul.  To do do, he has agreed to help 9 year old Emmaline escape the evil Judge Wilkinson, another ghostly figure, who has murdered her mother and wants to keep Emmaline for his own.  They set out from New Orleans and travel the Natches Trace to get Emmaline to her father in Nashville. Along they way, they encounter a host of historical characters, lending a feeling of magic to the story.

To add to this amazing story, author Andra Watkins actually walked all 444 miles of the Natchez Trace recently.  Read more about her walk at  –http://andrawatkins.com

My rating

5 out 0f 5

 

More about the author-

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Andra Watkins is a native of Tennessee, but is lucky to call Charleston, South Carolina, home for 23 years. She is the author of ‘To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis” (coming March, 2014) as well as short stories and her blog athttp://www.andrawatkins.com.

 

 

The Obituary Writer

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The Obituary Writer

by Anne Hood

published 2013

W.W. Norton  & Co.

Summary

On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, an uncompromising young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie O, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless marriage or follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying. Decades earlier, in 1919, Vivien Lowe, an obituary writer, is searching for her lover who disappeared in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, Vivien not only helps others cope with their grief but also begins to understand the devastation of her own terrible loss. The surprising connection between Claire and Vivien will change the life of one of them in unexpected and extraordinary ways. Part literary mystery and part love story, The Obituary Writer examines expectations of marriage and love, the roles of wives and mothers, and the emotions of grief, regret, and hope.

My Review

The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood was a well written story that  just didn’t really pull me in.  The idea of writing a different, yet meaningful obituary really interested me, and I honestly wish there had been more of a focus on that, and how Vivien hid her own grief, from losing her lover, by helping others with their grief. Instead, she keeps her hopes alive that her lover is wandering around somewhere for all these years with amnesia.  When the story shifted to Claire in 1960, the flow changed too much.  At first, Claire seemed like a typical bored housewife.  Then, she is the daring woman carrying on an illicit affair.  When her husband catches on, she stays with him, despite his increasing verbal abuse.  I wanted to shake her so hard at times and just have her wake up.    I wanted to like this book, and both main characters, more than I did.

rating

3 out of 5

Fear Nothing

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Fear Nothing

by Lisa Gardner

published by Dutton Books

2014

I received this book as a digital ARC from the publisher through Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Summary

My name is Dr. Adeline Glen. Due to a genetic condition, I can’t feel pain. I never have. I never will.

The last thing Boston Detective D.D. Warren remembers is walking the crime scene after dark. Then, a creaking floorboard, a low voice crooning in her ear… She is later told she managed to discharge her weapon three times. All she knows is that she is seriously injured, unable to move her left arm, unable to return to work.

My sister is Shana Day, a notorious murderer who first killed at fourteen. Incarcerated for thirty years, she has now murdered more people while in prison than she did as a free woman.

Six weeks later, a second woman is discovered murdered in her own bed, her room containing the same calling cards from the first: a bottle of champagne and a single red rose. The only person who may have seen the killer: Detective D.D. Warren, who still can’t lift her child, load her gun, or recall a single detail from the night that may have cost her everything.

Our father was Harry Day, an infamous serial killer who buried young women beneath the floor of our home. He has been dead for forty years. Except the Rose Killer knows things about my father he shouldn’t. My sister claims she can help catch him. I think just because I can’t feel pain, doesn’t mean my family can’t hurt me.

D.D. may not be back on the job, but she is back on the hunt. Because the Rose Killer isn’t just targeting lone women; he is targeting D.D. And D.D. knows there is only one way to take him down:

Fear nothing.

My Review

I have read all (I think) the books this author has written, at least all that have D.D. Warren in them, and they are really crime thrillers.  Warren is an interesting MC- always tough and on the job, very rarely letting her guard down.  Like other books that follow a main character, the stories all follow a similar plot, but they never feel formulaic.  In this book, Warren works along with a very interesting character, Dr. Glenn, a woman who can not feel pain.  At first this seems vey convenient, until you realize how dangerous it might be.  I really enjoyed Adeline Glenn.  Hers was an interesting storyline.

I would recommend this book if you enjoy a good thriller

 

Rating

4 out of 5

 

King’s March- The Stand by Stephen King

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The Stand

by Stephen King

published 2008

Random House

 

Summary

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides — or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail — and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.

Now Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King’s gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.  (goodreads)

My Review

I consider myself a King newbie.  I read my first King book just a few months ago-The Shining-which I loved.  I proceeded to read Doctor Sleep  immediately after finishing, but then decided to take a King break.  I was so happy to sign up for King’s March with Fourth Street Review and Wensend,  and decided I would tackle The Stand.   This scared me because it is SO big, and I downloaded the newly (2008) published version, which is actually longer than the original at over 1,200 pages!  Put very simply, I loved it.  I thought The Shining would be my fav, since I enjoyed it so much, but it is now The Stand.  I couldn’t stop reading, and it was not scary at all, so if you are like me (a big baby) and don’t read horror- this is one you definitely can read.

When I first started, I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters that were constantly being introduced.  It was made worse by not having a large chunk of time to sit and read and I even stopped skiing to read in the lodge for a while just to stay in stride.

I honestly don’t even know how to go about giving a summary here, but would rather talk about the characters, so if you haven’t read it-go read it NOW-then come back here!  I loved all the characters- good and bad.  Frannie was awesome, but I really wanted her to be just a little more kick ass-even pregnant!  Stu Redman- do they really make them like that?  I had to keep reminding myself he wasn’t older- he seemed too kind to be that young.  Larry- becoming a better man that he originally was- and I will never forget his travels through the Lincoln Tunnel..  I could obviously go on, but I am sure it will all sound very annoying especially if you haven’t read it yet.  I would definitely recommend this book to absolutely anyone who enjoys to read.  And is there really going to be a movie?  Who should star in it?  Suggestions?

I couldn’t resist moving on to another King, even though I don’t want to let go of this one.  I just got The Green Mile and The Long Walk.  Not sure which I will grab first!

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

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Beach Music

by Pat Conroy

published by Nan A. Talese

1995

Summary

Pat Conroy is without doubt America’s favorite storyteller, a writer who portrays the anguished truth of the human heart and the painful secrets of families in richly lyrical prose and unforgettable narratives. Now, in Beach Music, he tells of the dark memories that haunt generations, in a story that spans South Carolina and Rome and reaches back into the unutterable terrors of the Holocaust.

Beach Music is about Jack McCall, an American living in Rome with his young daughter, trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife’s suicide. But his solitude is disturbed by the appearance of his sister-in-law, who begs him to return home, and of two school friends asking for his help in tracking down another classmate who went underground as a Vietnam protester and never resurfaced. These requests launch Jack on a journey that encompasses the past and the present in both Europe and the American South, and that leads him to shocking–and ultimately liberating–truths. (from Goodreads)

My Review

I am a big fan of Pat Conroy.  I loved The Prince of Tides and South of Broad especially, so I was excited to read Beach Music, which was published a while ago.  It is a long book, but you never feel dragged down by it.  It is lyrical and fast moving, even when there wasn’t much action going on.  While there are a few too many dramatic flairs for one story, they never overpower the book.  I found myself wishing I could have know Jack McCall and all of his crazy family.  A very long spanning drama, it was a great read.

My Rating

4 out of 5

About the Author

Pat Conroy is the New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs and seven novels, including The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, and The Lords of Discipline. Born the eldest of seven children in a rigidly disciplined military household, he attended the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He briefly became a schoolteacher (which he chronicled in his memoir The Water Is Wide) before publishing his first novel, The Boo. Conroy lives on Fripp Island, South Carolina

What Nora Knew- a review

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What Nora Knew

by Linda Yellin

published by Gallery Books

2014

Summary

Molly Hallberg is a thirty-nine-year-old divorced writer living in New York City who wants her own column, a Wikipedia entry, and to never end up in her family’s Long Island upholstery business. For the past four years Molly bass been on staff for an online magazine, covering all the wacky assignments. She hass snuck vibrators through security scanners, speed-dated undercover, danced with the Rockettes, and posed nude for a Soho art studio.

Fearless in everything except love, Molly is now dating a forty-four-year old chiropractor. He is comfortable, but safe. When Molly is assigned to write a piece about New York City romance in the style of Nora Ephron, she flunks out big-time. She can’t recognize romance. And she can’t recognize the one man who can go one-on-one with her, the one man who gets her. But with wit, charm, whip-smart humor, and Nora Ephron’s romantic comedies, Molly learns to open her heart and suppress her cynicism in this bright, achingly funny novel.  (from Goodreads)

My Review

This was a fun book, much like a few I have read over the past few years.  Slightly older woman, once burned in love, looking for Mr. Right in all the wrong places, while “the one” has been right in front of her the whole time.  For me it actually harkens back to Emma by Jane Austen, except the main character here is not nearly as self assured as Emma was.  This was a fun read, and I likes that Molly would try all these crazy things, yet always return to her nice normal family in Long Island.  How can she not see what true love is, when she grew up looking at it all day?  I love her parents’ relationship! I also liked going over Nora Ephron’s love life and how she correlated her struggles into wonderful movies.  I would recommend this book as a fun, quick read.  It was well written and had many enjoyable characters.

My Rating

4 out of 5

Divergent Trilogy

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Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

by Veronica Roth

published by Katherine Tegan Books

Summary

Veronica Roth’s entire Divergent trilogy is available together for the first time, with a bonus booklet about the series. Perfect for gift givers, collectors, and fans new to the series, the complete collection includes the full text of Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant, plus “The World of Veronica Roth’s Divergent Series,” a forty-eight-page booklet including faction manifestos, a faction quiz and results, a Q&A with Veronica Roth, playlists, discussion questions, series inspirations, and much more!

Divergent: One choice can transform you.

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Insurgent: One choice can destroy you.

As war surges in the factions all around her, Tris attempts to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.Tris’s initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Allegiant: The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth’s #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

My Review

If you have been reading my reviews lately, you know I have been reading books that my 14 year old daughter is reading.  Enter the Divergent Trilogy.  When she read the first nook last year, it was declared one of the best books she had EVER read and I just had to read it.  I managed to put this off until she finished the third book just a few weeks ago. Coming down the stairs with tear streaked checks, she informed me that I really had to read it and I did.  Here is what I will say- I enjoyed the first two books and and definitely see why so many young girls liked them.  Tris was cool without being perfect, or even conventionally pretty (unlike the actress that will play her when the movie comes out next week).  Four is mysterious, cool, and supposedly hot.  I liked the whole strange idea of factions and who is good at what- Abnegation, Candor, Amity, Erudite, and Dauntless.  I couldnt help but wonder which I would be in- and other people I know.  It was very exciting seeing Tris test for her faction-don’t want to give away too much- and choose something so different and exciting!  Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop comparing them to The Hunger Games- especially Insurgent.  All was going well until the third book.  I just didn’t like it.  It felt like the author just kept throwing new twists and turns in there for the hell of it.  Half way through Allegiant, I was honestly so confused and got to a point where I considered just putting the book down.  Had it not been for my daughter constantly checking what page of the book I was on, I might have, but I know this world will disappoint her enough and I didn’t want to add to that by not finishing one of her favorite series.

Would I recommend this series to my daughter’s friends and other teens- definitely!  Interesting characters and plot line.  And really anything that gets teens to pick up a book for pleasure is great.

Would I recommend it to other moms?  No.

My rating

Divergent-4.5

Insurgent- 4

Allegiant- 2.5

The Fault in Our Stars- a review

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The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

published by Dutton Books

2012

Summary

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

My Review

I admit I read this because my daughter loved it.  I mean- really loved it-and very passionately begged me to read it.  I enjoy reading books she loves because it gives us so much to discuss.  That being said, it was very easy to understand WHY my almost 14 year old daughter loved this story.  The character of Hazel is so well written, she is SUCH a teenager, that kids can’t help but get her.  And add to that the gallant, smart, slightly disrespectful but still nice Augustus Waters.  Who wouldn’t love this guy??  Even Hazel’s parents like him.  I know that almost everyone out there has already read and reviewed this, so I won’t go into the story, except to say it was wonderful, romantic, funny, and extremely sad.  If you haven’t already, please read this book as soon as you can.  And let me know how you liked it!

(and if you have a 14 year old daughter, get her this book)