Book Report
Aug. 22nd, 2012 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisMy latest book report...
Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier – Yay! Another good novel by Marillier! I read and adored her Sevenwaters series, but everything else of hers that I read had been a major disappointment in my eyes. “Heart’s Blood” is not part of the Sevenwaters series, so I had major fears that this one would be a dud like “Wildwood Dancing”, “Wolfskin”, and “The Dark Mirror”. In “Heart’s Blood”, the setting was intriguing. Marillier writes historical fantasy, and in this one we have a young heroine who is fleeing an abusive marriage and finds herself in a distant town with a mysterious, secluded chieftain. She becomes a member of his household when he desperately needs a scribe; most of the town will not go near him or his household. Our heroine becomes ensconced in the web of intrigue that surrounds the chieftain and his place. The novel did have some flaws – one aspect of the plot was predictable and the pace of the novel sagged somewhat in the middle - but I still enjoyed this one a lot. Grade: B+
This is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger – A biography about an American doctor who has lived in Ethiopia for over two decades, taking care of desperately sick children. The guy is generous beyond description, but this book itself was just kind of meh to read. Grade: C
More books behind the cut!
Working While Black by Michelle Johnson – This was a straight-forward book, written in a conversational tone as if from a wise aunt. I enjoy any book that sheds light on what it is like to live as a member of a minority group in a society. I’m not Black myself, but I thought Johnson’s advice and ideas about how to navigate in today’s work-world made a lot of sense and would be useful. Grade: B
The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian – Wtf Bohjalian?? I’ve read and reviewed a lot of this guy’s novels and they generally are pretty good. I thought he was one of the male writers who “got” women. But this? I’m not sure what this crap is. The novel tells of a couple and their twin daughters who move into an old Victorian in a remote part of New Hampshire. The dad is a pilot who suffers from PTSD and hears voices, the mother is oddly clueless throughout, and the friendly neighbors appear to be hiding something. I love that the bad characters in this novel - you know, the ones who kill people - drive hybrids and are vegan*. Thanks, Chris. I listened to the audio version of this novel and it held my interest well enough for an audio book, but still. Grade: D
* I’m not saying that people who drive hybrids and are veg*an are perfect. But it is odd that one of them in this novel kills a cat since most vegan folks are vegan because they want to reduce animal suffering. Maybe the author was trying to say that the character is a hypocrite. Or maybe the author is clueless. I think the bottom line is that a chunk of characters in this book felt like stereotypes and lacked reasonable motivations for their actions..
Here Come the Brides: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage edited by Audrey Bilger and Michele Kort – This collection of essays had the potential to be made of sap, but it wasn’t. It was a refreshing and diverse collection. I enjoyed the variety of viewpoints contained in here. One piece was kind of just a chant-rant against marriage with no well-reasoned arguments and no heart to support it, and that piece put me off for a minute. But then the editors included two very incisive and thought-provoking essays, which also questioned the institution of marriage, one piece written by Holly Hughes and one by Linda Villarosa. Some of the writers have been through bitter divorces (that is, divorces from other women). So the anthology contained a nice dose of reality but it also had romance and heart and passion too. Grade: B+
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
None this time, at least not any worth mentioning.
Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier – Yay! Another good novel by Marillier! I read and adored her Sevenwaters series, but everything else of hers that I read had been a major disappointment in my eyes. “Heart’s Blood” is not part of the Sevenwaters series, so I had major fears that this one would be a dud like “Wildwood Dancing”, “Wolfskin”, and “The Dark Mirror”. In “Heart’s Blood”, the setting was intriguing. Marillier writes historical fantasy, and in this one we have a young heroine who is fleeing an abusive marriage and finds herself in a distant town with a mysterious, secluded chieftain. She becomes a member of his household when he desperately needs a scribe; most of the town will not go near him or his household. Our heroine becomes ensconced in the web of intrigue that surrounds the chieftain and his place. The novel did have some flaws – one aspect of the plot was predictable and the pace of the novel sagged somewhat in the middle - but I still enjoyed this one a lot. Grade: B+
This is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger – A biography about an American doctor who has lived in Ethiopia for over two decades, taking care of desperately sick children. The guy is generous beyond description, but this book itself was just kind of meh to read. Grade: C
More books behind the cut!
Working While Black by Michelle Johnson – This was a straight-forward book, written in a conversational tone as if from a wise aunt. I enjoy any book that sheds light on what it is like to live as a member of a minority group in a society. I’m not Black myself, but I thought Johnson’s advice and ideas about how to navigate in today’s work-world made a lot of sense and would be useful. Grade: B
The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian – Wtf Bohjalian?? I’ve read and reviewed a lot of this guy’s novels and they generally are pretty good. I thought he was one of the male writers who “got” women. But this? I’m not sure what this crap is. The novel tells of a couple and their twin daughters who move into an old Victorian in a remote part of New Hampshire. The dad is a pilot who suffers from PTSD and hears voices, the mother is oddly clueless throughout, and the friendly neighbors appear to be hiding something. I love that the bad characters in this novel - you know, the ones who kill people - drive hybrids and are vegan*. Thanks, Chris. I listened to the audio version of this novel and it held my interest well enough for an audio book, but still. Grade: D
* I’m not saying that people who drive hybrids and are veg*an are perfect. But it is odd that one of them in this novel kills a cat since most vegan folks are vegan because they want to reduce animal suffering. Maybe the author was trying to say that the character is a hypocrite. Or maybe the author is clueless. I think the bottom line is that a chunk of characters in this book felt like stereotypes and lacked reasonable motivations for their actions..
Here Come the Brides: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage edited by Audrey Bilger and Michele Kort – This collection of essays had the potential to be made of sap, but it wasn’t. It was a refreshing and diverse collection. I enjoyed the variety of viewpoints contained in here. One piece was kind of just a chant-rant against marriage with no well-reasoned arguments and no heart to support it, and that piece put me off for a minute. But then the editors included two very incisive and thought-provoking essays, which also questioned the institution of marriage, one piece written by Holly Hughes and one by Linda Villarosa. Some of the writers have been through bitter divorces (that is, divorces from other women). So the anthology contained a nice dose of reality but it also had romance and heart and passion too. Grade: B+
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
None this time, at least not any worth mentioning.
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 04:32 am (UTC)glad you got another Marillier book that you liked! you must really really love her to suffer through a bunch of bad books and still keep trying :)
here come the brides sounds interesting, a nice diverse set of viewpoints is always nice :)
no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 09:43 am (UTC)Marillier's Sevenwaters series was so good, that I will give anything she writes a try. Even after reading 3 duds.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-23 04:32 pm (UTC)