The Distant Hours–Kate Morton

Book: The Distant Hours
Author: Kate Morton
Publisher: Atria
576 pages (Hardcover)
My Rating:


Edie has never had a close relationship with her mother, Meredith, but she does have a love of books that helped her through her youth. When Edie is on assignment for her job, she detours to Milderhurst where Raymond Blythe, the author of her favorite book lived. There she visits his castle and meets Raymond Blythe’s daughters who are all strange and unique in their own way. Little does she know that her visit will begin to unfold a mystery that involved her mother’s relocation to Milderhurst during WWII.

A few years ago I read Kate Morton’s previous book, The Forgotten Garden and really enjoyed the mystery she wove in it. When I found out that Morton was coming out with a new book I was more than excited to read it. It’s one of the few books that I knew I had to have as soon as it came out. I was not disappointed. The Distant Hours has the same mysterious build to a historical fiction story, but is told just as beautifully as The Forgotten Garden was.

The Distant Hours is not a typical mystery or thriller. There isn’t a psychopathic killer or kidnapper running around town. It involves family secrets that affect numerous people throughout the years. The story is about Raymond Blythe’s famous work, The True History of the Mud Man and the mystery surrounding it. The Blythe family has a mysterious history including a house fire that killed Raymond Blythe’s wife and a daughter that wanders around aimlessly and appears emotionally disturbed. Edie decides to visit the castle and is later commissioned to write the introduction to a new edition of The True History of the Mud Man. While visiting the castle to interview the two sisters that are well, she finds the family dynamic interesting and discovers so many things about the family.

The thing I really enjoy about Kate Morton’s writing is that there is something very calming and introspective about her mysteries. There is always some sense of self-discovery for the characters that make them reflect on who they are. The Distant Hours is no exception. Edie learns a lot about herself and her family through her work with the Blythe family. The writing is excellent and Morton knows how to delve into both her characters and her plots. 

I definitely recommend this for anyone who enjoys literary mysteries. Kate Morton is now one of my favorite writers and I will gobble up everything she writes!




*Notice of Disclosure: I received The Distant Hours for review from Atria Books.

**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.

Shiver–Maggie Stiefvater

Book: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
392 pages (Hardcover)
My Rating:


As a child, Grace was brutally attacked by wolves. She only remembers seeing a wolf with mysterious yellow eyes as she lapsed from consciousness. Over the years she watches this same wolf with amber eyes watching her from the woods. She feels drawn to him and has a real connection with him. Sam enters Grace’s life in the waning warm months of the year. He also has amber eyes and Grace immediately knows that there is more to Sam than most people think.

Rikki from The Bookkeeper and I decided to do a read-a-long together because I am not big on romance books and am trying to open myself up to different genres. She suggested Shiver because she hadn’t read it either and we have both heard good things about it. My review below will include some SPOILER type discussion so if you are interested in the book and don’t want to know anything about it, I would navigate away at this point.

Shiver has created a lot of dialogue between some of my book blogging friends and I. I found it enjoyable, but I also found that something was lacking for me. The writing had a distant quality to it, so connecting with the characters was actually quite difficult. I felt like even they felt like they were on the outside looking in on their own lives. I wonder if Maggie Stiefvater intentionally wrote the book this way or if this is just her writing style. Either way, it didn’t necessarily hamper my enjoyment of the book, but it was something that I noticed throughout the book. The chapters are divided into Grace and Sam point of view chapters

There is something about teen romance that I find problematic. I don’t know if things have changed that much since I was a teenager in the 90’s, but I feel like the YA books I’ve read to date are much more mature in teen language regarding romance and sex. For example, when Sam and Grace are having a “romantic” moment, Sam growls and Grace says:

‘That was so sexy,’ she said, voice uneven. ‘I didn’t think you could get any sexier.’

I find dialogue like this problematic between teens because as a teenager I frankly would have been too awkward to say something so bold to a boy. I also get uncomfortable reading scenes that include sex between teens (although I know in some books there is a sociological importance to confronting the issue) because frankly it makes me feel like a peeper in a inappropriate private moment between underage people. Can’t teens find something more constructive to do than fall into bed with each other? I know it’s just the reality of things, but I sometimes feel like sex between underage people is encouraged now. I was a teen in the time when it started being normalized, but we were introduced to the perils of it as well including teen pregnancy and STDs (which were both all too common at my high school). I feel like all forms of media now make teen sexuality less taboo than it probably should be. In this respect, I think Shiver is not alone in romanticizing teen sex rather than showing it for what it really usually ends up with—heartbroken young people who often make poor choices and give a part of themselves to someone.

However, this being said, I do think that Shiver dealt with parental neglect in a way that Twilight did not. There was actually discussion about the absentee parents Grace had to live with whereas in Twilight it was more taken for granted that Bella came from a neglectful home. Sam did confront Grace about her parents behavior and it was clear that she was hurt by them not being a major part of her life.

[Sam] ‘Does it bother you? That your parents are the way they are?’…[Grace] ’Why can’t I make them love me any more than they do?’…[Sam] ‘Grace, they love you. It’s not about you. It’s their problem.’ [Grace] ‘I’ve tried so hard. I never get into trouble. I always do my homework. I cook their damn meals, when they’re home, which is never—‘…”

Grace’s pain is tangible and real and is something that many teens deal with. I was glad for this discussion since essentially she was shacking up with Sam for a good deal of the book and her parents were none the wiser. I thought it gave a better understanding to her humanity and her desire to be loved. People might argue that Grace should not find her love and identity in a boy, but I think this is part of the human condition so I actually applauded this portion of the book because it is a situation I could see happening. However, I wonder how teens would deal with a passage like this. Are they mature enough to see that they don’t actually have to find their identity in a boy and that the fairy tale romance is not usually something that occurs?

Overall, I did enjoy the book. I will read Linger (the second book in the series) at some point in the future, but the disconnected feeling of the writing kept me from thinking this was a really good read. I also didn’t care for the song lyrics and poetry recitation in the book. What it boils down to is that I’m truly not a romantic for the most part. I think I would think it was corny if someone sang to me or recited a poem for me. I’m going to own that unromantic side of my personality. It may work really well for others though so if you enjoy those heartfelt declarations then Sam Roth is definitely a loveable male character. I definitely recommend Shiver as discussion material for teens and adults. I found that in the end it was definitely a worthwhile read because of the dialogue it created for me and my friends.

Links of Interest
Rikki at The Bookkeeper – Shiver Update #1
Rikki at The Bookkeeper's full Shiver Review
Chachic's Review of Shiver
Iris from Iris on Books' Review of Shiver


**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.

The Gates–John Connolly

Book: The Gates
Author: John Connolly
Publisher: Atria Books
295 pages (Hardcover)
My Rating:


Samuel Johnson is ready for Halloween—so ready in fact that he and his dog Boswell have gone trick-or-treating a few days early. The first door he knocks on is the Abernathy house and he is rudely sent away. Little does he know that strange things are afoot at the Abernathy house and that all Hell is about to break loose. Literally!

I have never read John Connolly before and I don’t know much about him, but I have to say, my journey into YA has been quite fun because The Gates was AWESOME. I am not sure how to tell everyone that a book about the Gates of Hell being opened and demons wreaking havoc in England could be fun and hilarious, but this book was just that. Samuel is a really clever little boy and has the obligatory adorable and faithful dog, and his friends are pretty cool too. The book is a little reminiscent of The Goonies with the kids running around and having a great adventure, but instead of pirates, they are battling The Great Malevolence.

I like that the kids are at the forefront of the adventure and are basically put in place to save the planet because kids suspend disbelief more often than adults. This was pointed out to me at my book club and I wish I had thought of that while I was reading the book. There is a faith in children that adults just don’t have and The Gates truly showed that adventurous and creative spirit that kids have.

I didn’t find any of the demons to be scary. Some of them were downright funny. I don’t want to give any of their antics away, but there was one demon in particular that was a major character in the book that I feel ok to write about. Nurd, The Scourge of the Five Deities is the demon with the heart of gold. He’s a little rough around the edges, but he means well despite being a demon. He is the most loveable character in the book and he really is competing with Hellboy for my favorite demon of all-time!

In all, I thought this was a great book to read during Halloween or really any other time. It has more humor than horror and recommend it to people who want a light hearted, quick read. I will definitely be picking up more of John Connolly’s books in the future!




Link of Interest
Man of la Book's review of The Gates




**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.

Eco Libris’ Green Books Campaign–Finding Chief Kamiakin

Today is the day! 200 bloggers are simultaneously posting reviews of books that are produced on environmentally friendly paper. Eco Libris in partnership with Indigo Books and Music is running the Green Books Campaign to raise consumer awareness about considering the environment when purchasing your books. I really like what they have to say on their vision page: “We don’t believe in preaching doom and gloom. It’s not our style. We do believe in taking action and in the power of small changes to make a big impact.”

Personally, I had never thought about books being printed on environmentally friendly paper until this event. I feel a little ashamed of that since I do like to buy paper products that are recycled when I can. I really like that this campaign has made me more aware of the processes in which books are made and now that I’ve been sent a book to review (and seen another called The Texas Legacy Project) I know what to look for when I purchase books.

I received the book Finding Chief Kamiakin by Richard D. Scheuerman and Michael O. Finley to review. On the inside of the book where all the copyright and publishing information is, this small line was included:

The Texas Legacy Project had an emblem on the inside of the book indicating that it was produced by environmentally friendly methods (Jenn from Picky Girl is reviewing that book so head over to her blog if you are interested in reading about it). If you are interested in this campaign, but you haven’t signed up to participate, here is a link to Eco-Libris’ blog on things you can do to promote the campaign. If any of the books interest you (and there are MANY good ones), take a trip to your local bookstore or order it online! The more demand for green books the more publishers will supply them!

I thank Eco Libris and Indigo Books and Music for allowing me to be a part of the Green Books Campaign and hope to participate next year as well. I think they are doing a very good thing promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly paper in books.

Click here to see other reviews from Eco Libris’ Green Books Campaign

On to my review…
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Book: Finding Chief Kamiakin – The Life and Legacy of a Northwest Patriot
Author: Richard D. Scheuerman and Michael O. Finley
Publisher: WSU Press
175 pages (Coffee table paperback book)
My Rating: I am halfway through the book so I will only say that so far it is excellent!

Chief Kamiakin was an important chief of Inland Washington area in the mid-1850s. It was a time of westward expansion and both the fur trade and gold mining were booming. The indigenous people of the Northwest were faced with having their ancestral lands moved in on by the White man and sought to protect their people and their way of life. Chief Kamiakin rose to prominence because he believed in protecting this very thing. He heard about other indigenous peoples’ encounters with White men and was wary about what would happen to his own people and the land they lived off of. Despite these sweeping changes that were about to happen, Kamiakin was an honorable man that welcomed White men, albeit cautiously. When it became evident that U.S. policy was to take the land whether it was agreed upon or not, Kamiakin and some of his fellow Indians took up arms to protect their way of life.

This review is going to be posted in two parts since I am only halfway through the book. I also admit that I have never actually read a coffee table sized book because I tend to just pick it up and look at the pictures. This book has convinced me that I need to start paying more attention to large size books because so far, it is excellent! I know nothing about the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest and when this book popped up on the Eco Libris campaign I jumped at the chance to review it. So far, the story goes almost like all other native peoples’ stories in the U.S that I am familiar with. There is one big difference. The Pacific Northwest natives knew of previous treatment of other indigenous people so they knew what they were facing and those odds were not in their favor. It is interesting to read about how they dealt with the coming changes and how their lives have already been affected by the change with more accessible trade routes.

I am tempted to say that this was an advantage for them, but this would be a lie. Governor Isaac Stevens was bent on having the railroad built in Washington and opening up the land to mining and agriculture. Kamiakin was aware of Stevens’ goals and sought out the advice of Father Pandosy, a man he considered a trusted friend. What Pandosy told Kamiakin was disheartening:

“It is as I feared,” Pandosy told Kamiakin, “the Whites will take your country as they have taken other countries from the Indians….Where there are only a few here now, others will come with each year until your country will be overrun with them….[Y]our lands will be seized and your people driven from their homes. It has been so with other tribes; it will be so with you. You may fight and delay for a time this invasion, but you cannot avert it. I have lived many summers with you and baptized a great many of your people into the faith. I have learned to love you. I cannot advice or help you. I wish I could.” (p. 31-32 Finding Chief Kamiakin)

The book is written in such a way that although it is non-fiction, I felt myself reacting with true sorrow over statements like these. Scheuerman and Finley write in a mostly clear and powerful manner and quotes like these were placed in a way that make me feel like I was there watching that exchange take place. Chief Kamiakin must have felt despair for his people and for himself at what he knew was inevitable. Rather than allow his people to suffer on reservations that didn’t include things like their traditional fishing grounds, Kamiakin and others took up arms to give their people a chance to have at least some of their way of life preserved. After fighting at Toppenish Creek, Kamiakin had a letter dictated to Father Pandosy that was one of the most powerful things I have ever read. Here is a short excerpt:

“If the Governor had said to us, my children, I am asking you a parcel of land in each tribe for the Americans, but the land and your country are always yours, we would then have given with good will what he would have asked us and we would have lived with you as brothers. But he has taken us in small groups and thrown us out of our native country, into a strange land among people who is our enemy (for between us we are enemies) in a place where our people do not even have enough to eat for themselves.” (p. 48, Finding Chief Kamiakin)

I admired his efforts to fight for enough land to sustain his people. Governor Stevens seemed to be a major part of the problem (but I do feel if it weren’t him it would have been someone else that did exactly the same thing) and didn’t understand nor care about the Indians’ differences in culture and tribe. Stevens was of the prevailing thought of the day—that the Indians would assimilate and learn to farm and graze livestock or be eliminated from the earth. This was all too common in westward expansion. Were the leaders of the tribes supposed to sit there and watch their children starve because they couldn’t live off of the land? Reservations were not the choice pieces of land that allowed people to live fruitfully.

Thus far, the book gives a very good, descriptive account of what the Palouses, Cayuses, Yakamas, and other native groups faced during the American expansion into the Inland Washington area. The chiefs of the Washington tribes were skilled in negotiations because of their experiences in trading and their knowledge of the Americans’ westward movement. It makes it difficult to read because they were fighting a losing battle both on the war front and the diplomacy front. This book and others should be read by us all because all too often we do not see how our nations’ policies and actions affect those people that we are trying to help or infringing upon. It is a part of history that isn’t covered very well in U.S. History class—we tend to applaud the idea of Manifest Destiny and the entrepreneurial spirit, but our actions as a nation had consequences to those people we infringed upon. I am loving Finding Chief Kamiakin – The Life and Legacy of a Northwest Patriot because it is giving a clear voice to the indigenous people of the United States—one that is long overdue.

**I will post Part 2 of my review next week or the week after.

On the Edge–Ilona Andrews

Book: On the Edge (Book 1: The Edge)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
309 pages / Paperback
My Rating:



Rose Drayton is a resident of the The Edge, the area between the non-magical Broken and the aristocratic magical Weird. The people of the Edge don’t quite fit into either world, but they are usually able to cross over into either realm. Rose works an under the table job in the Broken where magic doesn’t exist, but her astonishing abilities make her attractive to those in the Edge and the Weird. Between working hard for pennies and having people pursuing her for her magic, Rose’s plate is further filled with caring for her two brothers. When a blueblood noble named Declan shows up at her doorstep, Rose believes that he is only after her magical abilities. Little does she know that his appearance is about to turn her life upside down.

After reading the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews I was really excited to read On the Edge. However, because I'm not a huge fan of romance Chachic from Chachic’s Book Nook warned me that it is a little more on the romance side than Kate Daniels was. I’ve promised myself to be more open to different genres (including romance) so I picked it up and read it. The book is in fact more heavy on the romance, but it still features a woman that can take care of herself and doesn’t feel she has to identify herself by a man. I think Ilona Andrews definitely writes some of the better female characters when it comes to romance because there isn’t as much angst or misplaced anger in them. They are quite simply, strong women. Rose is no exception. Although she does spend a good portion of the book attracted to Declan, I never felt like her character was overtaken by the need to be loved by a man. She felt a strong duty to herself and her family and had her own identity throughout.

However, this book fell short to some extent for me. It just wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. There was definitely good world building and good action, but for some reason I felt a little disconnected with the characters of Rose and Declan. I actually enjoyed the supporting players in the book more than the the main characters. This isn’t a bad thing since I love a good supporting cast, but I wish that I liked Rose and Declan a little more than I did. I am not sure that I felt the real connection between them as a couple and their relationship was definitely a big part of the book. The romantic tension just wasn’t quite up to my expectations. Don’t let this turn you off the book though because the story was actually good and the world was interesting. I also say this because the first books of series oftentimes just set up what is to come in the world its building, and I’m wondering if that is the case in this series.

The world itself was interesting. There is a dark character that is bent on having his way (no spoiler here because that’s just a plot point in pretty much all fantasy books) and the way peoples’ magic is used in the story kept me guessing as to how things would turn out. I like the idea that the magical world and the non-magical worlds couldn’t mix except for this select group of people from The Edge. I also enjoyed the rural Georgia setting which I wasn’t expecting to like. I ended up thinking it was the perfect setting for a story like this.

I am definitely looking forward to reading book two of the series, Bayou Moon because it is about Declan's friend William who was my favorite character in On the Edge. I recommend this book to people who like enjoy urban fantasy and paranormal romance that is fast but with decent world building, strong characters, and a little bit of romance.

Link of Interest
Chachic’s Book Nook’s review of On the Edge (she loved it and her review will give you a different perspective)


*Notice of Disclosure: I received On the Edge for review from Penguin Books.

**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.

The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi

Book: The Windup Girl
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Publisher: Nightshade Books
Hardcover, 359 pages
My Rating:
              

The Windup Girl is a dystopian biopunk novel that occurs in the city of Bangkok. Vehicles run on fossil fuels are scarce and most food and many animals have been genetically altered. Anderson Lake is a farang businessman for a calorie company and searches the streets of Bangkok for food that is resistant to disease. His assistant, Hock Seng, is a Yellow Card that helps Anderson run the factory. The two work hard to keep the factory ahead of the pace of diseases like cibiscosis and blister rust that ruins foodstuffs and causes famine and death. When Anderson meets a windup girl named Emiko his life changes. Windups are viewed as less than human in Thailand, and Emiko is discarded by her owner and works at a club where she is abused. Torn between his obligation to serve his company and his desire to take care of Emiko, Anderson inadvertently sets events in motion that have serious implications.

The Windup Girl was given the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel at AussieCon in Melbourne about a month ago. This excited me because I have been looking forward to reading The Windup Girl all year long. I have never read anything by Bacigalupi before, but the book has gotten so much attention and the cover of the book was so appealing that when I finally got a copy, I couldn’t wait to crack open the pages and read the book. What I found was a book that had a thoughtful social commentary on the dangers of GMO foods, corporate control of our food system, and raised ethical questions of genetic engineering. For being a fairly short book at 359 pages, the world building was amazing. There were times that Bacigalupi’s description of the heat in Thailand made me feel like I needed to turn my ceiling fan on and there were times when I could feel the humidity of the Bangkok air. The setting was vibrant but also full of turmoil.

The world building was so well done that the plot didn’t really begin to take shape until midway through the book. I knew the basics of the plot with Anderson searching for the fruit the Thais called gnaw, but the story with Hock Seng, the Environment Ministry white shirts, and Emiko didn’t come together for me until about 150-200 pages in. I have to admit that I struggled some through the first half of the book but once I hit the midway point of the book, I really started enjoying it. The politics of the Environment Ministry, the calorie companies, and the Trade Ministry were complex and felt like it could truly be within the realm of possibility. Food is such a commodity in our society now, that a dystopian vision of GMO foods is something that was very interesting to read about.

The major issue that I had with the book was what Stephanie from Read in a Single Sitting characterizes as a “plate glass" style of writing. For me, the writing was choppy and disconnected from the story. There were times the flow was there but other times the sentences were so short that I felt like I was at a slam poetry performance. Mr. Bacigalupi may have intended this for the novel because society is disconnected in it and there is a constant sense of chaos throughout, but because of this, I admit that I had difficulty getting immersed in the novel. However, I am glad that I persevered and continued reading because the ideas in it are worthy of a read and the world itself is one that is likely to stay in my mind for years to come. While talking to my husband at dinner tonight, I compared this novel to The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. That was also a book I struggled through at times, but over time, it was one that really grew on me. I have a feeling The Windup Girl will be much like The Diamond Age in that I think it’s a book that months down the road I will still be digesting. I would recommend this book to people that enjoy dystopian literature that has a striking social commentary, especially with regards to corporations and how they influence the industrial food system, and it challenges readers to contemplate what constitutes our humanity in reference to biological systems.


Note of Interest
Paolo Bacigalupi wrote two short stories related to The Windup Girl in Pump Six and Other Stories. They are called Yellow Card Man and The Calorie Man.


*Notice of Disclosure: I received The Windup Girl for review from Nightshade Books.

**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.

Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld

Book: Leviathan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Trade Paperback/440 pages
My Rating:



It is the eve of WWI and a Hapsburg prince named Alek is unaware that his life is about to drastically change. The Germans have been itching to start a war and the assassination of the Archduke has given them the opportunity. To avoid capture, Alek flees his Austrian homeland in a “Clanker” called a Cyklop Stormwalker with a few loyal men that are entrusted with his safety. On the other side of Europe, Deryn is a young woman who desperately wants to serve in Britain’s military so she disguises herself as a boy and signs up to fly in “Beasties” and is assigned to Leviathan. Little do either of them know that the war will make them cross paths and set them on a dangerous mission together.

I do not read a lot of YA novels, but I was desperately looking for some steampunk to read. I picked up Leviathan because Scott Westerfeld is coming to the Texas Book Festival on October 16-17 this year and I am going to try to make it in to his event where he will talk about the second book of the Leviathan series, Behemoth. I really wanted to read this before his talk so that I won’t be completely lost!

I think Leviathan is a great introduction to steampunk. The novel reads really fast and has a compelling storyline that feels familiar since the events in the book roughly follow WWI. Alek and Deryn are both likeable characters that are struggling with their place in the world. Alek is a prince without a throne and Deryn is a girl that desperately wants to be seen as an equal. Together they form an alliance that quite possibly is not what their respective parties want. In this first book in the series, a good portion of the time is spent exploring their individual stories so I got a good feel for them as characters and what motivated them. Neither of them have the typical teenage angst that can weigh so heavily in some books. They are truly characters of their situations—thrust into very stressful situations and they show their strength of character throughout.

I also loved the world. I think I’m addicted to steampunk now! I especially like the way Westerfeld made the novel as a clash between Clankers v. Beasties. The Leviathan is simply awesome. The description of it was vivid—I felt like I could see and smell everything that went on in that giant ship. The illustrations by Keith Thompson add so much to the novel as well. They are simply beautiful drawings and lend such description to the scenes. A picture truly is worth a thousand words in this book. Being that it is my first foray into the genre, I found the artwork helped me imagine what the world was like—what the ships and land machines looked like. The novel is a clash between two types of technologies which are each unique and well thought out.

At the end of the novel, Scott Westerfeld writes an Afterword about the historical period and what artistic license he took with the history of WWI. These last few pages made the book more interesting to me and made me want to read more on The Great War. I will warn you that the book doesn’t really have a true ending so you will most likely want to run out and buy Behemoth after you finish. For parents who want their pre-teens and teens to show more interest in history class, this is a great novel to pick up and read. I also think this is a good novel for people wanting to expose themselves to steampunk without getting bogged down in complicated explanations of technology that might exist in adult novels. It’s a quick read, plot driven, and kept me turning the pages. I feel a little less intimidated by steampunk and look forward to reading Behemoth and further exploring the genre.


 Links of Note
Samples of the illustrations in Leviathan
Scott Westerfeld’s Webpage




**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.



I read this book for the Steampunk Challenge.

It Begins! The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

Last week I posted a “review” of Middlemarch by George Eliot. I don’t really call it a real review per se because it was more about my experience reading it as a read-a-long with Lydia from The Literary Lollipop and my Shelfari friend, Ellie. After four months of reading Middlemarch, we finally finished and Lydia is now hosting a read-a-long of The Count of Monte Cristo for get this…the next 5+ months! Is this daunting? No! It’s only five chapters a week and the last one was so much fun that I can’t wait to start this one.

Lydia will be using the Modern Library edition of The Count of Monte Cristo which was translated by Chapman and Hill in 1846. This is the unabridged version that is most widely available and includes the Oxford Classics publication.



I will be using the Penguin Classics edition of the book that was translated by Robin Buss in 1996 and updated in 2003. It includes some portions that were removed in the Chapman and Hill version and includes updated language. I chose this version because searching around the internet looking for which version was the most complete translation, the Robin Buss translation seemed to be the most complete. So, if you are looking to read this, you might want to pick up both copies and determine which is most important to you—the updated language and less omissions or the preservation of the Victorian language and the original translation.


To get us in the mood to read, here are a few tidbits about the book and Alexandre Dumas:


The Man:

• Dumas was a popular writer and wrote for money (he was paid by the line…hence the LONG 1200+ page The Count of Monte Cristo) so he was dubbed, “Alexandre Dumas and Co.”
• His work was frowned upon by those in serious literary and art circles because he wrote for pay.
• George Eliot thought that ‘the French’ [writers] looked for melodramatic situations and characters rather than dealing with everyday life which she felt revealed human nature (taken from A Note on the Text in the Penguin Classics translation). –After just finishing Middlemarch and reading this in the notes, I feel this is an especially satisfying way to spend the next read-a-long! hehehe
• The lack of respect for Dumas in literary circles has most likely contributed to the book not being retranslated very often.

The Book:

• The Count of Monte Cristo is a precursor to other detective novels—the man who finds the truth and uses it to prosecute the wrongdoer.
• Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have some of the same elements in their work that is contained in The Count of Monte Cristo
• The story of Edmund Dantès is inspired by the true story of a man named François Picaud who was denounced by his friends as an English spy shortly after he became engaged to a woman named Margeurite.
  • The plot was concocted by a cafe owner named Mathieu Loupian who was jealous of Picaud’s relationship with Margeurite.
  • Picaud was a servant to a rich Italian cleric while in prison and became very close to him. The cleric died and left his money to Picaud and also told him where to find a hidden treasure.
  • Picaud was eventually released from prison and found the treasure and began to investigate who betrayed him so he could exact his revenge.

See?! The truth IS stranger than fiction! Does this make you want to read the book any more than if you hadn’t known these things? A few people have told me that they are intimidated by Dumas, but I find him to be one of the more accessible classic authors. It’s most likely due to him being a writer for the masses rather than a writer for the art.

If you have any interest at all in the intrigue, betrayal, and revenge of this novel, head over to The Literary Lollipop EVERY Wednesday starting October 13, 2010. We will be reading this book in five chapter increments. Totally doable! Easy peasy! I hope you’ll join in. The story is just fantastic! I know this because as some of you know, I accidentally read the abridged edition some years ago. I felt I had to remedy my error.)!

The Alienist – Caleb Carr

Book: The Alienist
Author: Caleb Carr
Publisher: Random House
496 pages
My Rating: 1.5 of 5 stars



New York Times reporter John Moore is paired with criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler to solve a series of crimes against young child prostitutes in Caleb Carr’s first book, The Alienist. The murders are heinous and no one knows who is committing them. There is also little interest because the boys come from the immigrant community and their occupation is taboo. Corruption is rampant in New York City and police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt charges Moore, Kreizler and a small group of others to search for the killer.

Just writing that little summary makes me feel like this book would be interesting. I was actually very excited to read this because so many people had said it was one of their favorite mystery reads of all-time. Sadly, it was not to be. I slogged through this entire book. I even fought with it and wanted to throw it across the room more than a few times. I read the hardcover version of the book too so those 496 pages would have been even longer in paperback. There were so many problems that I had with this book that I am just not sure where to start.

The storytelling was overwrought with foreshadowing. I would say a good half to two-thirds of the chapters ended with some form of foreshadowing. Chapter 24 ends like this:

“We watched the burning pieces of paper turn into flakes of smoking ash, both of us silently hoping that this would be the last we’d ever need to speak of the matter, that Laszlo’s behavior would never again warrant investigation into his past. But as it turned out, the unahppy tale so sketchily referred to in the now-incinerated report did surface again to a later point in our investigation, to cause a very real—indeed an almost fatal—crisis.”

Now doing this a few times throughout a book would not have bothered me, but it became so habitual that I found myself anticipating the “duh duh duh” moment that was surely coming at the end of every chapter. The book tried so hard to be literary and it actually accomplished it at some points in the book, but overall the literary devices were so overused that they became clichéd.

Then there was the initial question of whether or not the attacker was a male or female. Based on physical evidence, they postulated that the attacker was 6’2”. It must be a male, right? That’s what they thought. Well, later in the book another boy is killed and a team member named Sara goes to view the crime scene. She is so horrified by what she sees that she says something like (and I’m paraphrasing), “The murderer is a male. There is no way a woman could do this.” All the men on the team were taken aback that Sara knew this so definitively. Really?!!! You think?!!! You just finished going on an on in previous pages about the murderer being 6’2” tall. Now how many women in 1896 were over 6 feet tall? At this point in the book I just let out a sigh and a groan. I had to finish it since it was the choice for my book club.

Then there was Dr. Kreizler. The man was a caricature. I think Richard Attenborough’s portrayal of John Hammond in Jurassic Park would have fit Dr. Kreizler really well at some points. The man would never divulge information. It was a murder investigation and he was working with a team of detectives, a newspaper reporter, and a female employee of the NYPD. You’d think that they would be open with their ideas so that they could find this person that is ravaging New York City. No, he wasn’t. Everything was riddles with him up until the end of the book. I found myself wanting the killer to make Dr. Kreizler his next victim.

I can say that I did like some of the non-fiction aspects of the book. The historical parts of Theodore Roosevelt being the police commissioner and just what the city was like was interesting. I also enjoyed the parts of the book where the alienist studies were examined (though it wasn’t very detailed). For me, the story is what fell far short of being remotely interesting. The best part of the story was the villain who actually had depth to his character despite only physically being in the book for a very short period of time. I wish there would have been more storyline with the killer’s story than there was because it was the only part of the book that I found hard to put down.

I am in the minority as far as my opinion of this book goes. Most people love it. They think it’s fantastic so I won’t tell anyone not to read it. I think my book club enjoyed it (I actually showed up late because I had not finished the book by the time they met—the only time this has happened to me in 11 meetings). So, instead of saying that people should just let this one fall by the wayside, I think I would recommend that they read the description of the book, some reviews of it, and decide for themselves if they think it’s worthwhile to read. I am definitely interested to see what other people have to say about this book.

Middlemarch – George Eliot

Book: Middlemarch
Author: George Eliot
Publisher: I read the Bantam Books version and also listened to the Audiobook read by Kate Reading
791 pages
My Rating: 4/5 stars


What can I say about Miss George Eliot and her masterpiece, Middlemarch? This is a novel that frequently shows up on the 100 Top Novels of All Time-type lists and is EPIC in every sense of the word. I really enjoyed Silas Marner, so a few years ago I picked up this book and started reading. I gave up after Book 4. I even did a nationwide interlibrary loan search for the unabridged audiobook to help me get through but alas, it was not meant to be. Once I actually found the audiobook I never went back to it.

When Ellie, a friend of mine on Shelfari mentioned that she was going to read the book I told her I was in and was determined to finish it this time. Every two weeks, we read a book (there are eight total). Part of the way through, I found Lydia from The Literary Lollipop’s Middlemarch Read-a-Long and yes, I was ecstatic. Her summaries were awesome and it really did appear that she might be doing the read-a-long all by herself so Ellie and I joined in on her weekly posts. Every week for probably 12 weeks we all got together on Lydia’s blog and chatted in the comments about these Middlemarchers who were, let’s face it, kind of a mess. Sure, the scandal was tame compared to today, but these people were hapless. Whether it was Dorothea marrying that stick-in-the-mud, Casaubon or Rosamund and her spendthrifty ways, we were consistently flabbergasted, bored, and entertained through this 800+ page tome.

Don’t get me wrong. The three of us struggled through parts of this book while other parts had us turning the pages because we couldn’t believe what was happening. We weathered it and made it through. It felt like we formed a special bond that only Middlemarch Read-a-Longers could form. Yup…it was that special when we finished. Lydia even said she felt like we deserved t-shirts that said, “I survived Middlemarch and all I got was this t-shirt.” I suggested, “To the well with her!” referring to Rosamund’s horrific behavior combined with a shout-out to Silas Marner. We joked, we threw up our hands in exasperation, and then we signed up for Lydia’s next read-a-long of The Count of Monte Cristo because even though it wasn’t the fastest read (it took 4 months!), we had great fun going through it all together. I even posted this video in the comments on Lydia’s very last Middlemarch post:



 

Oh yes, it was that special. I did a little jig. I threw my hands up in the air when I was done. I think it’s possible that Ellie and Lydia did as well (although you would have to ask them if they did actually do that. While I would never, ever pick up Middlemarch ever again, I did enjoy reading it with my new friends and I will gladly pick up any read-a-long with these ladies because they helped me finish this book that is simply one of the bigger reading accomplishments of my life. So thank you Ellie and Lydia for taking this journey with me and pushing me to finish this book!

Lastly, I do want to plug The Literary Lollipop’s next read-a-long of The Count of Monte Cristo. The first post goes up on October 13 and will cover the first five chapters of the book—totally doable! There are a lot of people who have told me that Alexandre Dumas is daunting. At 1300 pages, I will agree that this book is daunting, but it is so fun to read together. I will NOT be posting weekly posts like Lydia is doing. My comments will all be made in her weekly posts because honestly, I like doing it that way. I like the feeling that we are sitting around chatting about the book over coffee in one place instead of bouncing back and forth from blog to blog, AND Lydia does far better summaries than I could ever do. So if you are looking for my comments on The Count of Monte Cristo, you’ll see them in The Literary Lollipop’s weekly posts on the book and you’ll just see a post like this from me in five months time about the fun we had reading together. I can’t wait!

Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge

Yes, I know. This ridiculously long book just wasn’t enough for me so I watched the BBC mini-series that starred Rufus Sewell as well. Six-plus hours of Middlemarchers in addition to the 26 CDs I listened to while reading along in the book sounds like a perfect way to finish off this book. It was! The series was actually pretty good even though it left enough out that I didn’t really connect well with the characters the way I did with the book. The cast was pretty superb. They were all what I envisioned the characters to look like and behaved the way I thought they would.

There were things that were done VERY well. The politics and societal changes were much more interesting in the movie than in the book. I found myself wandering in the book when they would talk about medicine or building a railroad, but the movie held my attention during the talks about Parliament and the railroad. It made more sense to me as well to see it played out by actors rather than just reading about it.

Other things I was disappointed in. Rosamund’s story with Will Ladislaw was played down and that was one of the best parts of the book! Will Ladislaw’s speech to Rosamund toward the end of the book was completely missing from the movie and it was so passionate and well done. His talks with Dorothea toward the end of the book were also missing so all that dramatic romance was missing. It was sad. It was one of the better parts of the book.

All in all, I think you could get a good idea of the book by watching the film and while it’s not a replacement for the book, it’s a great way to supplement it or I would recommend it as a way to determine whether or not you think the book is something you want to explore.

Magic Bleeds – Ilona Andrews

Book: Magic Bleeds (Book 4 – Kate Daniels)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
349 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars


Magic Bleeds starts off where Magic Strikes (Book 3) leaves off. To prevent spoilers, I will just say that what you are anticipating after finishing Magic Strikes you will read about in the first few pages of Magic Bleeds. Kate is still working for the Order as a consultant and Curran is still running The Pack as Beast Lord. The story starts off with Kate being called in to investigate a fight at a local bar. She discovers that not only is it a fight with major carnage, the behavior of the bar patrons is not typical of a normal bar fight. Through her investigation she finds that the person responsible for the bar fight is linked to her in a very unique way and is ready to put Kate to ultimate test and fight of her life.

Where do I start with this book? Well, it’s the last one that is published at the moment and while Ilona Andrews has a contract for three more books, her fans are left pining for the moment when the next book is released. And pine we will because this book lived up to what the series has been so far and has what I have been looking for…a much more layered story. Kate and Curran’s relationship finally comes to a head and she has to decide if her lifestyle can mesh with Curran’s responsibilities as the head of The Pack. Kate’s background finally gets described in full force in this book and sets up the subsequent books for an ultimate battle that is sure to be nail biting.

The one thing in this book that kept it from being my favorite in the series was the development in Kate and Curran’s relationship. There is a minor spoiler here about the development, so scan down to the next paragraph if you don’t want to see! I was appalled at how Kate and Curran finally end up together. It was a fairly violent fight scene that ended in them consummating their relationship. Why does it have to be violent? It was just a big turn off for me and kept me from truly enjoying the rest of the book as much as I probably would have if it had not included a fight (in fact, that’s the only reason it didn’t get 4.5 or 5 stars from me). After this initial scene, their relationship does normalize. I should note that the world is a very different world and Kate is a tough mercenary-type so the scene fits in with her tough upbringing. I wouldn’t let this turn you off of the books by any means. I am anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

The battles in the book are awesome and Kate breaks the mold with toughness. Even with the romantic storyline that has developed throughout the series, it hasn’t taken over Kate’s ability to handle herself. She is tough as nails and is an excellent swordfighter, and her supernatural abilities are beginning to be explained more and take shape more than ever. She still exhibits her characteristic snark through part of the book, but it quickly becomes a much more serious story where Kate and the rest of her friends are in real danger and face a foe that is the most menacing yet. I actually had serious doubts about who would and wouldn’t survive in this book!

I cannot wait for the fifth book in the series to come out. As of September 2010, Ilona Andrews’ website says that the fifth book is still untitled and is under contract. It’s a good thing that I haven’t read her On the Edge series yet because I am aching for more from this husband and wife writing team! This series has been infinitely fun, and I am waiting to see how the overall story arc is going to come together in the next three books. Through these four, the suspense has just built up rather than fizzle out like some series tend to do. If you are looking for a series that takes you on a wild ride, I highly recommend picking up these books! Kate Daniels is no wallflower, and I love it!



*Notice of Disclosure: I received this book for review from Penguin Books.


**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.



Links of Note

• I read this as a mini read-a-long with Bella from A Girl Reads a Book. Click here to read her review of Magic Bleeds.
• My Review of Magic Bites (Book 1: Kate Daniels)
• My Review of Magic Burns (Book 2: Kate Daniels)
• My Review of Magic Strikes (Book 3: Kate Daniels)
• Chachic posted about a Curran's POV short story on her blog that Ilona Andrews wrote. Here is the link to Chachic's Book Nook for the info.

Steampunk Challenge

Steampunk Challenge

October 2010 – October 2011

What?!!! Another challenge you say? Yeah, exactly. I’m not exactly passing with flying colors on my current challenges, but this isn’t school and I can do what I want so here it is.

Rikki from The Bookkeeper is hosting a Steampunk Challenge that will run from October 2010 – October 2011. She has had a wonderful response in the comments from fans of the steampunk genre so I’m getting some good ideas of what to read for this challenge.

What exactly is steampunk? Well, Rikki used the New Oxford American Dictionary on her blog and defined it as,

“a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.”

I keep seeing super cool steampunk cakes and even steampunk wheelchairs so you know what? I’m game!

This genre looks awesome so I can’t wait to start. My first book will be The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi which I’ll be reviewing in October. Please leave me a comment if you have any other recommendations for me. I’m going to start off with a goal of 5 steampunk books over the next year, but if I love the genre I might even read more!

If you are interested in signing up for the challenge, click HERE to go to Rikki’s blog and sign up! It’s going to be heaps fun!

Oh, and I can’t leave off without showing you this awesomeness which partially inspired Rikki and I to talk about doing a Steampunk Challenge!

Magic Strikes – Ilona Andrews

Book: Magic Strikes (Book 3: Kate Daniels)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
310 pages
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars



In Magic Strikes, the third installment of the Kate Daniels series, Kate finds herself wrapped up in the fight of her life when she finds her friend Derek nearly dead from a fight that no one can explain. Her investigation leads her to an invitation-only Gladiator style competition, the Midnight Games, where the fighters are deadly and magical. In order to save Derek and the city of Atlanta, Kate must infiltrate the Midnight Games and defeat those responsible for nearly killing Derek.

Each book of the series thus far has featured mythical creatures from different areas of the world. Magic Strikes is no different—Hindu mythology takes the forefront in this book as Kate’s investigation unfolds. I am really liking how the mythology is different in each book. While it is just a taste of what the mythology is, it’s introducing me to so many new things that I can go and read about. I think the books are mainly meant to be a quick, fun read so I can’t complain much about them being short on explanation. It gives just enough explanation that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.

The mythical creatures are so menacing which is an aspect of this book that I love. Gone is the paranormal/urban fantasy with just romance and questionable female characters. Kate Daniels is awesome! She kicks so much booty in this book and her powers and back story keep developing. It just makes me like her more. The gladiator theme of this book is so appropriate because Kate Daniels reminds me a little bit of a Spartan from the movie 300. She is tough as nails and cares a great deal for her friends. There is more romance in this book, but there’s so much action that the romance doesn’t overwhelm the book. I’m not a huge fan of romance, but Curran and Kate’s interaction continues to leave me wanting more so Ilona Andrews must be writing the romance right!

The humor is also not lost in Magic Strikes. In addition to the action, this book is flat out funny at times. There are times when I caught myself laughing out loud and getting looks from my husband like I was a crazy woman. Kate’s internal commentary often bleeds snark and it often comes out in the dialogue to her own detriment. Her friends are also really likeable people, and I really root for all of them. They all argue like family but work together well as a team.

I’m a little sad that I’m getting toward the end of published books. Ilona Andrews has been contracted to write seven books but as of now, only four are published. I’m going to crack open the fourth book of the series, Magic Bleeds, right after I finish this review and then pine away with all my friends who are Kate Daniels fans until the fifth book is published. If you haven’t read the earlier books in the series, you really should start at the beginning of the series (Book 1 is Magic Bites and Book 2 is Magic Burns) because you’ll miss some of the character development if you read them out of order. They can be read as stand-alone books, but the relationships between characters in the books definitely have a continuity throughout the series that is best read from the beginning.

If you are looking for an ultra fun series that is quick and enjoyable, I highly recommend picking up this series.



*Notice of Disclosure: I received this book for review from Penguin Books.


**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.



Links of Note

• I read this as a mini read-a-long with Bella from A Girl Reads a Book. Click HERE to read Bella's review of Magic Strikes.
• My Review of Magic Bites (Book 1: Kate Daniels)
• My Review of Magic Burns (Book 2: Kate Daniels)

Magic Burns – Ilona Andrews

Book: Magic Burns (Book 2: Kate Daniels)
Author: Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
260 pages
My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars



Kate Daniels is back in Magic Burns, the second installment of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. This time around, the former Guild merc is now working for the Order and is confronted with magical beings from Welsh and Irish mythology. In this book, Kate Daniels sets out to retrieve some stolen maps for the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapeshifters when a young girl named Julie is sought by sea demons and Kate must intervene to keep her from being harmed. The story that unfolds is action packed and threatens the city of Atlanta with destruction.

I admit it. I am not a fan of the covers of these books. I would never have moved these books to the top of my TBR List if it weren’t for Chachic from Chachic’s Book Nook. Even after Magic Bites, I was disappointed with the cover of this second installment. I was even a little embarrassed to pull it out on the plane a few days ago when I was flying home from vacation. However, the book was so engrossing that I ended up not caring at the few looks people gave and just thought that they were likely missing out on this fantastic series if they decided to judge the book by its cover.

Kate Daniels continues to be awesome. She is a little more vulnerable in this book, but still in a very kick ass way. There are little snippets of her back story in Magic Burns that will hopefully be expounded upon in the next few books in the series. I want to see how this part of the story will play out in further books. Her character grew and developed quite a bit in this book so I have high hopes for seeing how she continues to deal with her past and her present in the upcoming books.

I really enjoyed the Celtic mythology in this book. It’s just a small snippet of information since the book is only 260 pages, but a little trip to Wikipedia helped familiarize me with the characters in this book. I would actually like to read some more on Celtic mythology now that I’ve finished it. Morrigan and Morfran are interesting mythological characters and since they aren’t the super popular Greek and Roman gods/goddesses, it helped give the book a freshness that I wasn’t expecting.

Curran, the leader of the Pack also returns in this second installment and the witty banter between him and Kate is everything that the first book had and more. I’m usually not much one for romance, but the snarky dialogue between them creates a lot of sexual tension that I actually enjoy. I would compare their relationship to Castle and Beckett from the TV show Castle. The tension is there and you end up rooting for them to go the romantic route.

There are so many likeable characters that bring humor to the different situations that happen that I found myself laughing out loud a few times. The book really had everything that you could look for in a fun Urban Fantasy read. There is action, good character development, a strong female lead that isn’t whiny, and interesting antagonists. My only complaint is the same from the first book. I really wanted more world building, but that might be because I typically read longer books that have tons of detail in them. Magic Burns just left me wanting to immediately crack open the third book in the series, Magic Strikes which I will mostly likely do right after I finish writing this review. Yes folks, the series is that fun! I love it!


*Notice of disclosure: I received this book for review from Penguin Books.



Links of Note

• I also read this book as a mini read-a-long with Bella from A Girl Reads a Book. Click HERE to read her review of Magic Burns.
• Chachic’s Book Nook BBAW post on the Kate Daniels series
• My review of Magic Bites (Book 1: Kate Daniels) by Ilona Andrews

Fool Moon – Jim Butcher

Book: Fool Moon (Book 2 - The Dresden Files)
Author: Jim Butcher
Publisher: New American Library/ROC Fantasy
342 pages
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Fool Moon is the continuing adventures of wizard Harry Dresden. In this second book of The Dresden Files, Harry finds himself idly waiting for the Special Investigations unit of the Chicago Police to call him as a consultant. He doesn’t have to wait long because a gruesome murder has been committed in Chicago that screams supernatural. Suspicious paw prints are found at the scene and Karrin Murphy calls on Harry to help her solve the crime. Little does Harry know that his reputation also makes him a person of interest in the case. While holding off Karrin Murphy’s Special Investigation unit Harry must stop what he suspects might be a bloodthirsty pack of werewolves from wreaking further havoc on the city.

Harry Dresden might be one of my favorite characters in urban fantasy. He’s snarky but good-hearted and has a great sense of humor to boot. Fool Moon picks up where Storm Front left off. Harry is hanging out at his favorite pub, McAnally’s when a woman asks him for help in deciphering some symbols from a circle she has seen. No sooner does Harry finish talking to the woman than Karrin Murphy appears and tells him about a case that needs the services of Chicago’s only practicing wizard. It only takes two pages in the book for the action to start. Murphy tells takes Harry to the scene of a brutal murder where the person has been torn to shreds and strange paw prints are all over. Harry learns that this strange murder is not the first and that the FBI has become involved. Harry goes home to Bob, one of the coolest spirits on the planet and asks for his help. What he learns is that the paw prints can belong to more than just werewolves which doesn’t bode well for Harry.

This book is no different from Storm Front. It’s fun and action packed and Harry Dresden is still spot on with his humor. I really enjoyed just about every moment of this book while reading it and can’t wait to move onto the next book. I loved the werewolf mythology (I have no idea if it’s accurate or just a creation of Jim Butcher’s mind) and the continuing banter between Murphy and Harry. There is also another familiar character that returns in this book. Marcone, the shady gangster is heavily involved in the plot. I was a little sad that Bob didn’t have more of a role in the book than he did. I kept waiting for Harry to have more interaction with him, but it never happened. Bob is hilarious and I hope that Butcher gives him more of a role in the later books.

I can’t wait to move on to the third book in the series, Grave Peril. These books read really fast and are great if you are needing a break from more serious reads or just from life in general. They are especially good reads with Halloween just around the corner so if you are looking for fast moving urban fantasy that is high on fun and thrills, definitely pick up Fool Moon. I will say that it is best to read the first book in the series (Storm Front) before you read this one, but if you decide to start here you won't be lost.

**Notice of Disclosure: I received this copy of Storm Front from Penguin Books.

The Lunatic Express – Carl Hoffman

I am giving away a copy of The Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman on my blog for the Book Read ‘Round the World Event. Mr. Hoffman was nice enough to send me a signed copy of his book for the event so if you are interested in owning a shiny new copy, make sure you enter the giveaway.

The giveaway is open until October 1 and is International.

Click HERE to enter. (Giveaway Closed)

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Book: The Lunatic Express
Author: Carl Hoffman (Click author’s name to go to his website)
Publisher: Broadway Books
283 pages (I purchased and read the Kindle Edition of the book though)
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Daily travel for the developed world is a relatively safe endeavor for most commuters. When newspaper articles kept popping up about how unsafe transportation in many nations is, Carl Hoffman decided that this would be an excellent experience to write about. So, he packed his bags and set out across the world to experience the world’s most dangerous modes of transportation. His journey took him to South America, Asia, Africa, and North America where he took planes, trains, automobiles, and ferries that would at the very least give most of us pause and would send most of us fleeing in the opposite direction. What he finds on his journey is an amazing demonstration of the goodness of people and a special connection that would not have otherwise been made had he not lived like the locals.

The book starts off with Carl Hoffman traveling to Cuba by plane—not just any plane--a  fairly ramshackle and unsafe feeling plane. Well, I obviously knew that he survived his trip so I felt like I could roll with his adventure through the streets of Havana before he moved onto South America. By the time Peru rolled around, I wondered how many pages would either be ghost written or blank because I was truly terrified. You see, the roads in Peru are not good roads, AND they happen to hug some wicked cliffs. In fact, the introduction to one of the sections on Latin America included a news story of a bus that had disappeared of a 1,600 foot gorge. I have a small fear of heights…ok…a BIG fear of heights. My stomach is actually feeling a little tingly and weak just thinking about that section because I cannot even imagine being in a bus on sketchy roads that hug cliff faces. I was really glad when the Latin America section was over and Mr. Hoffman moved on to Africa.

Each section is preceded by a news story of some terrible transportation accident or physical dangers from people that might do others harm. It sets up each trip he takes as harrowing even though he is just a passenger. Every section was unsettling and dangerous, but the people he meets in each place transcend the danger and make the journey an interesting and worthwhile experience. If anything, the book helps restore some faith in humanity as complete strangers open up themselves and at times their homes to Hoffman. I found that beautiful and was thankful to see that despite language and cultural differences, there is a common humanity that people can exhibit especially when they have so few material things to give. This was my favorite thing about the book as Hoffman traveled around the world. It was a rare moment when his willingness to share the experience of the traveling poor wasn’t rewarded with an act of kindness. Even in places where the camaraderie was in short supply, there was usually a small incident that showed how wonderful people can be.

I also really enjoyed how candid Carl Hoffman was about his experience and his motivations to take the trip. It was more introspective and raw than I was expecting, and it made me enjoy the book that much more. I think it must be so difficult to express some of the internal trials that we all go through as human beings, but Hoffman shared a part of himself that I wasn’t expecting and his honesty was refreshing. The trip was as much about discovering where he was in his life as it was about discovering the world’s most dangerous transportation.

There was one thing I found lacking in the book. The map in the Kindle edition is not very easy to examine. I was lucky enough to have a paper copy that I could look at as well. While that was disappointing, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book in the least. It was an amazing journey all-around and it made me look at travel in a whole different way. I can’t say that I would be willing to travel in a broken down truck with no heat in the cold desert of Mongolia, brave a war torn country like Afghanistan, or sleep on a ferry that I shared with thousands upon thousands of roaches, but it definitely makes me want to embrace more experiences that might cause some personal discomfort but will open the world to me in ways which I never expected. I enjoyed every moment of the book and highly recommend it if you are looking for a book about really off the beaten path travel.


Links of Interest
Sophisticated Dorkiness' review of The Lunatic Express
Website for the book, The Lunatic Express
Carl Hoffman’s Blog
Follow author Carl Hoffman on Twitter

**Note of Disclosure: I purchased my copy of The Lunatic Express for my Kindle, but I did receive a copy of the book from the author, Carl Hoffman, for a giveaway on my blog.