January in Review and a Giveaway!

Did any one else feel like January was the longest month ever? I have been trying to be optimistic about winter, having several motto's to get me though the long sunless sub-zero days. "It can't get much worse", really it can't, once it is about 20 below it doesn't matter what the temperature is, so really can't get much worse! "It is bound to get better soon", this is really optimistic thinking unless you consider late March soon.

This is my first monthly recap, I have been intending to recap each month, however, just haven't got it done. I guess you could consider it a blogging New Years Resolution! My intention is to recap what I read and reviewed, keep you up to date on my New Years Book Resolutions and look back on any fun happenings that month. I also am working on some changes to update this blog, I do have a neat new signature! Don't be alarmed if you see big changes.

I kicked off the New Year with my birthday, woot woot! I always take a personal day on my birthday. as a little gift to myself, so I slept in, rode horse, went shopping, had drinks with friends and the finale was dinner and cake with my husband. It was the best day!
Other highlights include cheering on friends at the Winter Challenge horse shows, way less stressful that competing. Trying two new restaurants in town and learning that I definitely do not like lamb, on the upside I had room for creme brule!
We celebrated a belated Christmas with my in-laws, nieces and nephews, which was fun and chaos all rolled into one! And I got the most fabulous insulated winter riding boots, if any of you are riders and are tired of cold toes or bulky winter boots jammed into your stirrups try the Ariat Brossard winter tall boot. Seriously, the best piece of winter riding apparel I own. I got mine from Schneider's Tack cause they had the best price!

And now, the books I read this month, beginning with my favorite and ending with my least favorite

*After I Am Gone  Laura Lippman
*The Bear: A Novel   Claire Cameron
*Rome Sweet Home
*The Weight of Blood Laura McHugh
*Cover of Snow  Jenny Milchman 
*The Widow's Guide to Sex and Dating   Carole Radziwell

New Years Book Resolutions

*6 out of 40 books read      34 to go! 
*Home Sweet Rome - book outside of my typical genre

And Now for a GIVEAWAY

Enter for a chance to win an ARC copy of Laura Lippman's  After I am Gone!

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We Are Water - Wally Lamb

We Are Water by Wally Lamb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't love We Are Water, I didn't hate We Are Water - in fact I just feel ambivalent about it. Annie Oh, a prominent artist, is days away from marrying gallery owner Viveca. She has recently ended a 27 year marriage to Orion Oh, with whom she has three grown children. Told in a stream of consciousness style by alternating characters, this book mainly takes place over a three day period - however, you throughly learn the back grounds of both Annie, Orion and their children. I did not care for this style of writing and would have enjoyed more dialogue and interaction between the characters. That being said the flow of the novel was good, it didn't lag or bore me, this is a testament to Wally Lamb's ability to craft a story.
Character development was strong and each character had their own voice. I really hated Annie and I hated Orion for having a relationship with her - I never felt the connection between them even as they recalled their courtship. Annie's relationship with Viveca also felt unreal and odd, she had no business being in a relationship with a man or a women until she healed herself. I liked Orion the best, he was not perfect but possibly I liked him because he felt the most real, less cliche then other characters in the book.
My favorite two chapters in We Are Water were the first one by Gualtiero Agnello and Part II Mercy by Ruth Fletcher, these chapters are where Lamb shined with gave us the story telling we have come to love in She's Come Undone and I Know this Much is True, I would enjoy a whole novel of Josephus Jones his murder.
Part IV A Wedding was my least favorite part of the book. Kent Kelly was a fascinating and memorable character, one who was essential to Annie's story -but the way in which he was introduced into the story line felt forced and rushed, too convenient. I think Lamb needed a way to create a climax, action and reveal Annie's secrets but it all was a bit soapy and overly dramatic. As much as I disliked Annie I hated that he ruined her wedding, Kelly's exit from the novel and the secrets that created was also a bit too soapy.
And now what I hated about We Are Water - Lamb's constant attempt to cram popular culture and current events down our throats, this novel felt to much like a political statement on everything and ultimately this distracted from the overall story. Lamb covered every trendy news topic from the past decade, 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palin, Fort Hood shooting, Lindsey Lohan, Lady Gaga, health care, gay rights, PTSD, Bush, Obama, Evangelical Christians, conservatives, Clinton, etc. It was exhausting and as I went through each characters chapters, I found my self thinking, do people really think like this. Lamb's ability to tie in current events and popular culture into his novels was part of what I loved about his first two, but this just felt to forced to crammed down your throat. Maybe because these stories are still apart of our news coverage or are just to recent - I really didn't like these references through. Maybe some day this novel will be a classic novel representing American life at the start of the 21st century but for now it felt to fresh.
A day out from completing Lamb's latest novel my feelings remain mixed - thus my three star rating. I liked the stories of each family member, I liked most the people and Lamb is still a master story teller, but this novel fell short of his first two and left something to be desired. This is not a novel that will stick with me but ultimately one I enjoyed reading and would recommend to fans of Wally Lamb.

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ARC Review: The Wedding Gift by Marlen Suyapa Bodden

The Wedding Gift by Marlen Suyapa Bodden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this story, it was an entertaining read, however, I had some real issues with how the plot played out and the big revelations at the end, which dropped my rating.
Sarah Campbell is a slave in Alabama, she is also the half sister of her mistress, Clarissa. They are raised together, playing and learning along with each other but when Clarissa marries Sarah and other slaves are given to her husbands family as part of her dowery, with Sarah remaining as Clarissa's maid. Once Clarissa and Sarah leave their home plantation things take a turn and secrets are revealed.
My main issues with this book include the dialogue, which was hard to follow and confusing often times. It was also inconsistent, some times the slaves and others used a local dialect, sometimes they didn't. The novel lacked continuity in that regard.
Additionally, the treatment of the slaves was sort of puzzling. The reader was often times reminded of how harsh plantation life was and all the do's and don'ts yet the slaves all seemed to have an unusual amount of freedom.
The scandal at the end really threw me, to many things were alluded to when they could have been explained earlier in the plot and it was all summed up to neatly and things that were done seemed out of character for many of the players involved.
Overall, it was a good entertaining read just be prepared to sort of shocked at the ending.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.


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Review - Help for the Haunted by John Searles

Help for the Haunted by John Searles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, I have major book hangover after reading John Searles's Help for the Haunted!
"Most people, they are afraid to believe in ghosts. Me, I am afraid not to believe. Because, well, what then? If there really is nothing else-nowhere to go after this, no way to linger on this plan to finish unsettled business if we must, then that means each moment, each breath, each passing second, is as ethereal as the wind. It means all we do here on earth-the going and coming, the loving and hating-it is all for naught. So, no. Ghosts don't scare me. But no ghosts-that terrifies me.
Sylvie Mason awakes one night to hear her parents on the phone. This wan't unusual, because her parents were in an unusual business. That snowy night they packed Sylvie in the car and headed for their local church where they are murdered violently.
A year later Sylvie, living under her sisters care and an outcast in high school begins to search for the truth about her parents murders and their profession as she seeks to help investigators solve the crime.
Help for the Haunted is a creepy, thought provoking book about our deepest beliefs and family. At times I found this book a bit disjointed in the way the author moved from past to present but by the end I found it to be masterful writing, Searles weaves an amazing tale. The novels last two chapters are its finest and Sylvie was a fantastic main character, the end of her story, left me shocked, shaking and in tears. I loved this book! Pick up this creepy thriller this halloween season!
"Why do the same people who believe in these deities doubt the existence of darker spirits? I ask all of you, how can a person believe in the light but not the dark? How, when all the evidence points to the basic facts of dualities?"

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Review - Stuck in Downward Dog Chantel Guertin

Stuck in Downward Dog by Chantel Guertin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Mara is stuck in a rut. At twenty-eight she is working a dead end job at a plastic surgeons office, has just been dumped and is watching her friends live their seemingly perfect lives. She had one thing going for her and that was her weekly yoga session with her lifelong best friends, Olivia and Mitz, but that too falls apart. In attempt to get out of her rut she creates her OM List, a list of things she wants to improve in her life. Get a better job, a better body, become well read, learn to cook and decorate and host a dinner party. Things go from bad to worse for Mara as she attempts to be perfect like her friends and check things on her OM list, in the end though, she learns to embrace who she is and slowly begins to get herself out of her rut.

Stuck In Downward Dog, is light chic lit - entertaining and an easy read but not much more. Mara is about the only likable character and I kept questioning why she was even friends with Olivia and Mitz, they were horrible selfish people. Bradford, her other friend, was much more likable and I enjoyed his role in the novel. Mara's sister, Victoria, is just as horrible as her friends, swooping in to save Mara but really filling her own selfish needs. Mara's OM list was ridiculous in that she gave herself and extremely short amount of time to complete her goals, a perfect body in 6 weeks - ha - good luck with that. I also hated that the author constantly made Mara sound like a whale, despite that she was a size ten. It was a little bit Bridget Jones, just not as well done. Despite, everything I did find the book relatable - Mara was struggling with things many twenty-somethings struggle with and that I could identify with. Overall this book was just ok, however, I did think the ending sort of redeemed it and I found Mara to be much more likable and realistic, even her friends became just a tish more likable.

I received a copy of this novel from Net Galley in exchange for a fair review.

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Review Keeping Score by Jami Deise

Keeping Score by Jami Deise
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sports brings out the best and the worst in people and Shannon Stevens sees it all as her son Sam plays his first season on a travel baseball team. This book isn't something I would typically pick up, however, I found it to be an entertaining and decently written novel. Even if you don't know baseball this novel, explains plays and how the game works in way that is not to technical or to dumbed down, it was just right. The conflicts between the women were realistic without being over the top or to cliche. Obviously, the author has spent time following traveling teams! Towards the middle and end the novel began to lag and the author gave too much detail about individual games and plays, I found myself quickly skimming the play by plays to get to the real action between Shannon, her friends, family and potential boyfriends - I found that to be the real story. Overall I enjoyed this book and think if you are a parent with children on traveling teams you would really enjoy Keeping Score.
I received a copy of this book from Chick Lit Central in exchange for a fair review.

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The After Wife Gigi Levangie Grazer

The After Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hannah Bernal is a forty-something producer, mother and recent widow - a title no one is Santa Monica, California knows how to deal with. Luckily, Hannah has her grief team, her gay best friend and producing partner Jay, Chloe, the organic dog toting neighbor and Amiee, an over the hill actress still waiting for her big break.
This novel is light romp through the first year of widowhood, don't expect a tear jerker, do expect lots of quirky characters and lots of pop culture references. The writing was solid, it kept my interest and it had a few unexpected moments that added to its appeal. If you are looking for a fun, light read check out this novel.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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ARC Review The Tulip Eaters Antoinette van Heugten

The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette van Heugten
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Nora de Jong returns home to find her mother murdered and her baby missing. Frustrated with the lack of developments from the police department Nora decides to find her baby on her own. In doing so she discovers family secrets that change everything she thinks she knows.
I loved Those that Save Us by Jenna Bloom and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay and was really hoping for a similar read with a World War II theme. Unfortunately, this book fell far short and I struggled to get through it.
My main issue with the novel was the writing, I found it to be very juvenile and it did not convey the emotion or depth the novel should have had.
Immediately, in the first chapter when Nora discovered her deceased mother the writing threw me off. Passages like, "Nora tried to push the gray lumps back into her mother's skull. They felt like buttery worms and smelled like spoiled eggs." Often times, through out the novel the author became very descriptive but it did nothing to convey emotion or depth in a character, it seemed like she was trying to hard.
In other instances the dialogue between characters and inner dialogue was forced and very simplistic or stereotypical.
Nora de Jong was not a fully fleshed out character. She never seemed to be a grieving or distraught mother of a missing child. She was certainly frantic and very focused on her research of her family secrets but she seemed too focused on that. Her reaction to finding her dead mother and eventually her missing baby was odd and once the investigator came it got even worse. Nora and her friend were allowed to remain in the home and meander through the crime scene repeatedly, eventually having tea in the kitchen while the investigation continued. I found this highly unlikely. Later when the detective comes back for a follow up, he and Nora have coffee in the living room where the mother died, a blue blanket thrown over the blood and brains on the carpet. Again, who would stay in a home after that "awful day" as it was often referred to.
When Nora went to Amsterdam to search for the kidnapper she became even more unbelievable as a mother of a missing child, focused on her research and family secrets and eventually her former lover. At one point she is sipping wine in a bar thinking about how relaxed she is, totally unrealistic.
Then there is Nico, her former lover and as it turns out the child's father. Conveniently, he is the director of the historical society Nora needs to do her research at. She left Nico after he refused to move to the U.S. with her where she had a neuro surgery fellowship and soon after arriving in Houston she found out she was pregnant and decided to not reveal this to Nico. He has since remarried but that doesn't stop the feelings between the two and neither does her confession of a shared child. I found their relationship to be very shallow and Nico unbelievable as a father denied his baby.
The supporting characters Amarissa, Ariel and Dirk were very one dimensional and stereo typical as well and did little to improve the story. I really hated Amarissa not just because she was a horrible person but also because she was a very very cliche character.
The premise of this book was very interesting, the title interesting and the preface got my hopes up, the actual story disappointed. I would like to give this story idea to other authors and see how differently it could have played out, to see it reach its potential.

I received a copy of this novel from Net Galley in exchange for a fair review

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My first ARC: The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette van Heugten

In a riveting exploration of the power the past wields over the present, critically acclaimed author Antoinette van Heugten writes the story of a woman whose child's life hangs in the balance, forcing her to confront the roots of her family's troubled history in the dark days of World War II.
It's the stuff of nightmares: Nora de Jong returns home from work one ordinary day to find her mother has been murdered. Her infant daughter is missing. And the only clue is the body of an unknown man on the living-room floor, clutching a Luger in his cold, dead hand.
Frantic to find Rose, Nora puts aside her grief and frustration with the local police to start her own search. But the contents of a locked metal box she finds in her parents' attic leave her with as many questions as answers;and suggest the killer was not a stranger. Saving her daughter means delving deeper into her family's darkest history, leading Nora half a world away to Amsterdam, where her own unsettled past and memories of painful heartbreak rush back to haunt her.
As Nora feverishly pieces together the truth from an old family diary, she's drawn back to a city under Nazi occupation, where her mother's alliances may have long ago sealed her own and Rose's fate. (taken from Goodreads)


First Impressions:  The premise of this book sounds very interesting, however; my initial thoughts are that the writing is weak and this novel will fall short of its potential.  53 of 368 pages read.



 

Review Silver Linings Playbook Matthew Quick

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am behind the 8 ball when it comes to the hype surrounding Silver Linings Playbook. When the movie came out and Oscar season created all the buzz surrounding it, I had no interest in seeing it. Finally, this summer after hearing from numerous friends that I should read the book, I caved. And, I really enjoyed it and then I saw the movie and I really didn't enjoy it. The movie differs from the book in to many ways that make the characters not as fully fleshed out and his relationship with Nikki seem even crazier, I just didn't care for it after reading the book.
Pat Peoples is a real relatable person - he has his highs and lows and his oddities, but it makes him fully fleshed out and relatable. Parts of his story were sad and heartbreaking and other parts were really funny, like his fear of Kenny G. His relationships were complex and real, I enjoyed how he related to his parents and how his parents related to one another. His brother, his friends, his doctor and Tiffany all had very real reactions to his disease and his dealings with it.
Pat People's believes everyone deserves a happy ending and he believes that if he changes his life and and improves himself he will win back his wife Nikki and get his happy ending. He loses weight, exercising constantly, he begins reading all the books his wife recommends to her English classes and he works on being a stand up man. He doesn't remember why he and Nikki are having apart time or why his family gets so weird when he talks about her - he just knows he will get his happy ending.
Tiffany has her own struggles but sees someone like herself in Pat, she offers him a trade, dance with her and she will coordinate communication between Nikki and him, in this all Pat sort of gets his happy ending, its just not what he expected.
This a quirky, fun, real read that I highly recommend.

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Review The Orchardist Amanda Coplin

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"His face was as pitted as the moon." And so begins The Orchardist, the beautiful haunting debut novel by Amanda Coplin. Talmadge lives alone in the orchard his mother brought him and his sister to as young children, he is alone and rather reclusive. During a trip to to sell fruit in a near by town two young girls steal from him but he does not bother to chase them. Later, they turn up in the orchard to learn more about the man who let them get away with theft. The girls arrival in the orchard changes the course of Talmadge's life, and theirs, for better and worse.
Coplin spent eight years writing this book and you feel her dedication and love for these characters in every line of the book. Talmadge, Jane, Della, Angelene, Caroline Midday and Clee are all introverted characters and somehow the author has managed to maintain the relationships and emotion between these charters without a lot of dialogue. The relationship between Talmadge, Della and Angelene is the central story and left me with many mixed emotions. Talmadge is a good man haunted by the disappearance of his sister many years before. In Jane and Della he sees a bit of his sister and strives to save them and keep them in a way he could not do for his sister. Della proves to be difficult, set in her own ways, and always in search of something that Talmadge cannot provide, in her search she hurts him deeply and uses him. Talmadge, blind to Della's abuse, almost loses everything to save her. Angelene, the daughter of Jane, raised by Talmadge with the assistance of Caroline Midday, suffers due to Talmadge's obsession with Della.
These charters are well fleshed out, complicated and real.
The Orchardist does touch on some tough and graphic topics, child prostitution, child birth and suicide, but don't let those topics scare you away, they author does not dwell on them or sensationalize them and the rest of the story overshadows those dark areas.
My only criticism of the work are the lack of quotations around the dialogue, it made it hard to track at times what the conversation was or if it was just inner thoughts. However, this is not a book you read quickly, it is one you savor and linger on every single word, because of this I picked up on characters conversation more quickly.
The end of The Orchardist left me fighting tears, it is a beautiful and fitting ending.
I highly recommend The Orchardist - this is a novel that will stick with me for a long time.

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Review Dark Places Gillian Flynn

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read Gone Girl about a year ago and LOVED it, ever since then I have been wanting tor read more of Gillian Flynn's work and finally this summer I made it happen! I read this book while on vacation in the Smokey Mountains and it was a GREAT vacation read! All I wanted to do was sit on the porch of my cabin and finish this book - forget site seeing and hiking - I had a fantastic novel to read!
Libby is a well fleshed out character, dark, moody, depressed, lazy and nasty. Despite her fowl personality I wanted her to overcome her past and have some resolution and healing.
I really enjoyed reading the three perspectives of Ben, Patty and Libby and how the day of the murders played out for them. Each was so vastly different, yet how they came together was masterful writing. The book is dark and gritty but full of real characters and real emotions and things the reader can connect with. I remember growing up in the 80's and hearing rumors of devil worship and animal sacrifices in vacant lots and tree rows around where I grew up in the mid-west. I also remember the farm crisis of the 80's and many of the radical ideas that came out of it, as well as the fear.
The ending of this book was unexpected and a great who-done-it - even though I was alert through the whole book trying to find the foreshadowing that would tip me off to the real killer. It's there, the book is so well written though that you pass it by and only realize it when you turn the last page.
Must read book!

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Review Jump Cindy Paterson

Centuries of loyalty His code of honor was respected without question, until he consumed the blood of an enemy in exchange for a mortal woman to be set free from certain slavery. He can’t forget her Despite knowing, he will be imprisoned and put to death if caught, Balen, a fierce Senses Tracker, returns to Toronto to find the mortal woman, Danielle, he left behind two years ago. Haunted with memories of the torture they endured in the hands of a Senses enemy, Balen’s determination to see her again, drives him to risk everything. But when he does, a new enemy comes into play, one he can’t defeat. To conquer the wrath of fear Determined to find some sort of peace after her abduction, Danielle finds solace in painting a man from her nocturnal unconsciousness. When he comes knocking on her door, her world is shattered and Danielle must face her worst fears in order to survive what is coming after them. It won’t stop. It can’t. For the ancient spell has no compassion. A journey of tenacious desire that refuses to fade even though that is what will destroy them. Because—in order for Danielle to live, first she must die. **Note from Author-the prologue is violent and some may have a difficult time reading. This book is intended for mature audiences.** Jump by Cindy Paterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is not a genre I would normally read or be drawn too, but I agreed to review a copy of the book I received from the author in exchange for a fair review. I enjoyed this book to a point - the writing was good, the storyline moved along well and the were well developed and the author did a great job of writing about all their various phobias. I also really liked the dynamic between Danielle and Balen. Things that lowered the review, it was difficult to keep all the characters straight, the plot was convoluted and hard to follow at times and the amount of unnecessary (in my opinion) violence and sex scenes. While this book kept my attention this type of paranormal, fantasy genre still does not appeal to me. I am equating this to how I feel about watermelon - every year I try it, but after one bite I know I don't want anymore. Every now and then I try this genre, because it is so popular, but after one I know I don't want anymore.
In conclusion - if you like this type of novel I highly recommend it, if you don't your probably not going to enjoy this one.

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Review: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail Cheryl Strayed

22 year old Cheryl has lost everything, her mother, her husband and her family. Four years later after further mucking up her life with drug usage, careless sex, an abortion and more she sets off on a solo hike on the Pacific Coast Trail in an attempt to pull her life together.

This is no Eat, Love, Pray or Glass Castle. Cheryl Strayed has to be the most unlikable person who ever wrote a memoir! The book kept me reasonably entertained because I was horrified by one poor decision after another, and her careless attitude about such decisions. 
The book alternates between her time on the trail and her life before the hike and we get a better glimpse of what a mess her life had become. 
In writing this memoir the author seems rather detached and I never felt like she learned anything or had any great epiphany, she basically whined her whole way through the book, finished her hike and was all better.  Nothing believable or heart felt at all. 

Strayed has no expierience hiking, over loads her pack and gets godzilla skin on her hips, loses all her toenails, is to tired to masturbate, totes a fat roll of condoms over the whole trail, constantly thinks about who she will have sex with next, gets a tan, gets some muscle and loses weight.  I think that nails down exactly what happens on the trail.    

**Spoiler** **sort of** In a flash back to her life prior to the hiking the trail she explains why and how they killed her mothers horse - this part made me feel physically ill and to top it all off she eats her mothers ashes - proof that she is a seriously disturbed person.  

Ultimately, I gave this book two stars, it was entertaining - I plowed right through it always hoping she would have some great personal discovery, however, in the end I was disappointed and not to fond of the author.