Hey.... Remember Me?

It's been a long, long 4 months.  As I write this, I am hanging my head in embarrassment - no blog entries, no book reviews, not even a word since July? Really?

I promise I didn't forget you.  Its not that I haven't been writing. I'm including a link to my recent book reviews in one of our local publications, to help make up for my lack of entries here. I really do have lots to write about - I just haven't taken the time to .... ahem... actually write.

But with the winter closing in, it's reading time, my favorite time of year to snuggle down on the couch and grab a book. This is one of the best seasons for  new releases, too, so there's lots of new stuff out there.

Don't hold your breath but maybe, just maybe, I can start writing some reviews again too.


Here are a few reviews from over the summer and early fall:

The Fault in Our Stars

Broken Harbor

Hot Summer Reads

Deadlocked

Long before True Blood was a twinkle in an HBO executive's eye, there was just plain Sookie Stackhouse, heroine of the Southern Vampire mysteries. Starting with Dead Before Dark more than a decade ago, Charlaine Harris' novels quickly became fan favorites; the writing was clever, the characters intriguing, and Sookie's unassuming charm was delightful.   

Eleven books later, Harris' latest installment, Deadlocked, finds us once again with the cast of characters in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Eric, has had an unfortunate incident at his mansion involving a desperate young woman, illicit fairy blood, and an untimely death.   Eric is being framed for murder, but no one seems know why.   As if that weren't enough, weighing heavily on Sookie's mind is the magical "cluviel dor," left to her by her beloved Gran, which can grant the owner one very powerful wish.

The storyline of Deadlocked is clever, and the characters as comfortable as an old sweater.  Harris' writing is fun and engaging. But unlike in earlier books, Sookie is tired. From the opening pages to the bitter end, Sookie is simply exhausted, both physically and emotionally.  In her many adventures, Sookie has seen it all - more supernatural creatures than you can count, her heart broken and broken again, and numerous attempts on her life. But through everything, Sookie has maintained her spunky spirit and eternal optimism- until now.

In Deadlocked, Sookie spends much of her time either sleeping or wishing she was in bed, and not for the reasons we have come to expect in Harris' novels.  By the end of the novel, the mystery is solved but poor Sookie is just too exhausted to care.

Don't get me wrong - Harris' books are always a fun, quirky ride with a great cast of characters.  Especially if you are already a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books, Deadlocked is a good installment, but it is far from Harris' best.  With everything she's been through, Sookie is going to need a nice, long vacation.

The Witness

I have long been a fan of Nora Roberts.  OK, that's kind of an understatement.  I have read every book she has ever written, and lest you think that hardly makes me a "fan," she has officially published her 200th book, The Witness.  I started reading her Silhouette Romance stories while I was in college - and now, more than 20 years later, I am still reaching for her latest novel as soon as it arrives.

The Witness, as her 200th book, has a lot to live up to.  From her contemporary romances and beloved trilogies to her pseudonym J.D. Robb's futuristic mysteries, Nora has written lots of really enjoyable books.  But The Witness is a cut above the rest.  And if I can be so bold as to call myself an "authority" on Nora's books, I will say that it's her best book.  Not just this year. Or this decade.  Ever.

The Witness is the story of innocent, brilliant Elizabeth Fitch, who, after a fight with her stringent and domineering mother, has herself a nice, ear-piercing, hair dyeing, fake-ID-making rebellion.  She winds up at a club with an acquaintance from school and what starts out as the night of her life turns to tragedy, as Elizabeth witnesses two brutal murders and must run for her life.

Fast forward 12 years, and Elizabeth, now known as Abigail, is living a solitary life in rural Alabama, miles away from the nightmares of her youth.  But secrets can only stay buried for so long, particularly when there is a very persistent (and attractive) chief of police in town.  Soon Abigail is fighting again for both her life and her freedom.

Abigail is one of Roberts' better developed characters in recent memory.  Her intellect, combined with a total lack of social skills, make her a different type of heroine than Roberts typically creates.  As always, Roberts draws her characters with charm and a delightful understanding of human nature.  Abigail has had years of isolation, on the heels of a childhood devoid of love but filled with criticism, and at the time she meets Chief of Police Brooks Gleason, she has never even been told the words "I love you."  Part of the pleasure of this story is watching Abigail learn what it means to be part of a family, and how to love and be loved. 

Nora Roberts' consistently delivers good fiction, but this is the first book in a long time where I sat back and sighed at the end.  If you are looking for an exciting and well-written book to kick off your summer, look no further than The Witness.  Happy reading!
 

April Fool's Day!

I have to hang my head a little when I make this confession. I haven't updated my blog because, well... I haven't been reading, at least nothing that I felt I could write about.  You see, my reading has recently been much like my junk food diet of tortilla chips and gummy bears: tasty but not satisfying.  Don't get me wrong - there is definitely a time and a place for "fluff" reading, but just like gummy bears, after a while you start to realize that there is something missing in your diet.

My reading in the past month has included the following: multiple issues of People and Entertainment Weekly, the first two books in the Shades of Grey trilogy (because clearly, the first book was not enough), various other romances, and the latest J.D. Robb futuristic mystery.  I took a short break from my junk food diet and read Colum McCann's  lovely Let the Great World Spin, and thank heavens I did - I might have gotten the book version of scurvy.

There's really no talking myself out of this, but fortunately, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I finally have a few new things on my nightstand that I'm excited about.  Hopefully my next entry will find me back to a healthy diet of literature - mixed in with the "treats" that I so enjoy. 

 

The Sanctity of the Page

I love my Kindle, but there is nothing like holding an actual book in your hand.  I know that's passé. I realize that the physical book may one day be a thing of the past, like vinyl records.  But I hope that day will be a long time coming, because for me, an actual book is something to be treasured.

Perhaps this all began in my youth, when I would read a book cover to cover, then flip back to the beginning and start again.  If you are going to read a book four or five times, you better make sure you're careful with it.  To this day, I treat my books gently: the spines remain unbroken, the book jacket carefully removed so that it with doesn't get torn or damaged, and the pages completely unmarked, except for a small sign of a corner turned down occasionally.

I've learned that this obsession is not shared by everyone, and believe me, it is a hard lesson.   Many of my books come from the library, and except for the occasional grocery list or library receipt tucked inside, most are in excellent condition.  Tonight, however, I opened my borrowed copy of Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann, and I literally gasped. There was highlighting! And underlining! And writen notes!  In a library book!!  The horror!!!

Recently, author Lisa Lutz posted a question on her Facebook page: "What are the biggest gripes for librarians or patrons?"  It was no surprise that most of the complaints were about the books themselves and how they are treated. The answers ranged from hilarious to downright disgusting.  Dead spiders, food particles, and hair found stuck inside; photos, a bag of pills (!) and receipts used as bookmarks; dog-eared pages (yep, that would be me); books that reek of smoke.  Need I go on? It makes me want to grab my bottle of Purell each time I sit down to read.

So this is my fervent plea: if you borrow a book, treat it gently.  Some day, these lovely tomes will be a thing of the past.  

The New Guy In Town

When you read as much as I do, it's not very often that I'm surprised.  I like to think that I keep my finger on the pulse of the book world, so that I have at least heard of, if not read, most new books and authors.

Recently my cousin's fiance, "P," asked if I had read any of the Iron Druid trilogy by Kevin Hearne.  Surprisingly, I had never heard anything about Mr. Hearne and his books about the ancient druid living in modern times.  P. described the writing as fun and snarky, and suggested that even though it's not my usual style, I might enjoy his books.

This is what I love about our community of readers - those who love books can't help but share their enthusiasm.  And thank heavens!  I immediately downloaded the library's one e-copy onto my Kindle and found that P. was right - these books are a pure delight.  As a 2,000-year-old druid living in Arizona, Atticus is sexy, quirky, astute, and has a wry sense of humor.  Rounding out his cast of characters is his Irish wolfhound, Oberon; his protector, the Morrigan (who typically takes the form of a large crow); his druid in training, Granuaile; the Widow MacDonagh; and a whole host of mythological characters.

For someone like me (and probably you, too) finding a fun new character AND a new trilogy is like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped up in one big bow.  I tore through Hearne's first book, Hounded; was so enthralled that I actually bought the second book, Hexed (because the wait at the library was going to be a month!); and now have moved on to book number three, Hammered.  I know that Hearne is working on another book, and I have just one thing to say to him: Hurry. Up.

In the meantime, I have gotten my dear husband started on the Harlan Coben novels and there are LOTS of those, so I have that to look forward to if Mr. Hearne takes too long.  Happy reading!

Mourning the Last of Steig Larsson

It's taken me more than a year.  When I received my Kindle in the summer of 2010, one of the first books I purchased was The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig  Larsson.  It is the last of his Millennium Trilogy, and the only one of the series I had not yet read.  And there it sat, waiting patiently, while I sampled and downloaded and borrowed lots of other books. Steig Larsson passed away in 2004 before his trilogy was published, and Hornet's Nest is his last completed novel. To read Hornet's Nest meant the end, forever, of Larsson's incredible writing.

Larsson's first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, continues to rock the publishing world.  Despite being published posthumously, Dragon Tattoo spent months on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold more than 48 million hard and digital copies worldwide.  Now that the movie has come out, the series has seen another boost on the bestseller lists.  There is good reason for all this popularity - the series is fabulous.  Hornet's Nest lives up to the reputation of its predecessors, with plenty of action and a thoroughly satisfying ending filled with vengeance and justice for all.

As the trilogy's main character, Lisbeth Salandar is a kick-ass, hard-core heroine who is as dysfunctional as she is brilliant. The last book captures the true essence of Lisbeth, who manages to defeat the bad guys while confined to her hospital bed, recuperating from a bullet to the brain.  As I finally started Hornet's Nest, it was a bittersweet experience - this young woman, who I had come to admire and know so well through Larsson's series, would never again grace the pages of another novel.  I believe that had Larssson not passed away, Lisbeth would have risen again to battle evil and corruption, albeit in her own disturbing way.

Characters like Lisbeth Salandar come along once in ... well, a millennium. Thank you, Steig Larsson, for sharing your talent and imagination.  You are truly missed.

The Reluctant Reader

Months ago I started to hear buzz about the nonfiction bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  It was a strong contender for our community's "One Book" choice for the year.  Friends mentioned the book and how much it moved them.  Reviews were glowing.  So I downloaded the sample onto my Kindle and started reading.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a nonfiction account of an African American woman in the 1950s whose cancer cells were taken, without her permission, and found to be extraordinary. They were the first cells, in fact, that were able to reproduce in a test tube environment.The book begins with a lot of very technical and scientific information, and while people had told me that it "reads like fiction" I was not getting that at all.  And it was about cancer. 

You see, like most of us, I have personal experience with cancer.  Many years ago, my dear friend's husband died of cancer, leaving her a widow with two preschoolers.  My cousin died of Hodgkin's Disease in his 30s. The list goes on and on, and as I get older, the number of friends and relatives touched by cancer rises exponentially. 

So reading a book about a woman who died from cancer, even one whose cells helped pave the way for future treatment and cures, was not appealing.  I sighed and I grumbled.   The teenager inside of me whined, "I don't want to....."  I made excuses and told friends that it was "on my list to read" (which is code for, 'When I am totally desperate I might pick it up again.').

But there is my Achilles Heel: my book club.  When Henrietta Lacks was chosen as this month's book club pick, I had no choice but to knuckle down and read. It turns out all those friends and blogs and reviewers were right.  Henrietta Lacks is an amazing story, equal parts science and heartbreaking family history. It's a story that needed to be told. Henrietta's legacy of cell immortality and the back story of the impoverished Lacks' family would make a great foundation for any book club discussion.

What is the moral of this story of reluctance? Read everything you can, even when you don't feel like it. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a reminder that some books, even if you don't WANT to read them, need to be read.

Happy New Year 2012

I love the holiday season, I really do, but this year I was even more keenly aware of the books that sat on my nightstand, my Kindle, and at the library waiting to be read.  It seems each year is busier than the one before, and this year, my reading really took a back seat to shopping, baking, and the overall craziness of life.

But with 2011 behind us, it is time to look forward to all I have to read and talk about this coming year.  I just finished V is for Vendetta, Sue Grafton's latest alphabet mystery, and next up is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, my book club's choice this month. Waiting in reserve is a great nonfiction about a guy who buys and tries to run a Korean deli in New York, as well as the newest Flavia de Luce novel.

What would the new year be without resolutions? I resolve to be more faithful to this blog, to write even just a few paragraphs when I don't have a whole review to post.  It's been more than a year since I started "Turn of the Page," and sharing my love of reading has never been more enjoyable.

Happy New Year!