Book Nook Club: February 2009

February 26, 2009

Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley

This is quite possibly the best book written for Christian women that I've read to date. As someone who prefers classics, saying that about a book that was published in 2008 hopefully says a lot.

In Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, Carolyn McCulley presents a historical overview of feminism as it relates to the church as well as related biblical truth. Each chapter is also complemented with at least one testimony.

Carolyn McCulley herself used to be a feminist, but has come to a more biblical understanding of womanhood since becoming a Christian. In this book, she is not railing against feminism, though she is quick to point out why much of feminism is incompatable with the Bible.

I think this book would be worth a read for the chapter "Mommy Wars" alone. Though I'm not a mother, I found this chapter to be the most eye-opening, and I've even studied this issue in seminary. McCulley's early interest in feminism and her education and research on the topic accompanied with her current walk with God makes her the perfect candidate to write this book. She takes an educated look at the topic, yet brings it to the level of any woman, regardless of her education.

On an additional note, I found it really encouraging that this book was written by a single woman.

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The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

This is the third review of this book on The Book Nook, and the first two weren't incredibly positive. I have to disagree with the previous two. In some ways I think that's because relating to this book requires a certain life experience, which I've had, growing up poor and trying to put that behind me, and also having made a horrible mistake that seemed like the best decision at the time but turned into a destructive force in my life. No I will not elaborate.

Beyond that I think this book should also be recognized for the truly incredible writing. Edwards creates photographic snapshots as she writes that really place the reader within the story in a visual way. In fact photography is a theme in this novel, a very effective one, and it amazes me how she wove images with words as crisp and poignant as photographs. Not many writers can do that. I do appreciate a writer that allows me to use my imagination, but it drives me nuts when a writer describes nothing at all, expecting me to do all the work. Edwards creates a nice balance while also placing the reader in a sort of literary viewfinder. It's very effective.

Many books out there make me snort and say, "pssh, I could have written that." Well, I could not have written this, and that's a compliment.

I won't go into the plot because the two previous reviews did that sufficiently, you can do a quick search in the search box if you're interested. I only have two complaints. The character that the plot revolves around, Phoebe, is poorly developed. I can see why that is, it would be very difficult to get into the head of someone with Down's Syndrome. But she's only described physically, we see very little of her personality. Also the ending just kind of fizzled out, and that's frustrating. Otherwise, four stars.

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February 24, 2009

"Healing Magic" by Cindy Davis and John Richters

I just finished reading Healing Magic by Cindy Davis and John Richters, the first book of the Desert Magic trilogy. It’s a newly-published piece of Young Adult fantasy, and a good read.
This book is about a young man, a mage, on a coming-of-age journey in the desert, and a young woman, a healer, who was left behind when a caravan was attacked by desert bandits. Together, they set out to find her family and free them.

This is not, though, one of those stories in which the children suddenly become powerful enough to defeat adult villains. The authors did a great job of making the story plausible. The kids are able to pick off a few of the minor villains, but it’s clear that they’re in no position to attack the wizard who commands the marauders.

Part of the cleverness lies in the use of magic. For one thing, the authors have devised a fairly detailed system of how magic operates. They also gave the young man two spells to command: HALT, a spell which freezes enemies, and LIFT, a levitation spell.

Along the way, the characters discover that their powers are able to interact in a way that magic and healing powers are not supposed to be able to do. More of that, surely, will be explored later in the trilogy.

It is by freeing other adults that the main characters are able to begin to fight the marauders. This gives the heroes both an adventure and a heroic role, but a believable story.

I’d encourage that you check out Healing Magic. It’s fun, exciting, and the characters are well-developed and interesting. As I said, well worth the read.

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February 21, 2009

The Last Tsarina by Carolly Erickson

Jacki sent me another book by this writer, The First Elizabeth, awhile back. I really enjoyed it, but I never got around to reviewing it. I'll have to do that at some point. I think I've also read a biography of Josephine by this writer.

I am in awe of Erickson as a biographer and as an historian. Most biographers and historians like to speculate, or are very dry, or jump around too much. Erickson is very disciplined. Everything she writes is pure substantiated fact, not a bit of it is fictionalized or embellished. At the same time, she is able to write about these facts in a way that draws the reader in like a novel would. And she does it all in a perfectly linear fashion, never using phrases like "if only she knew what was to come," or "and ten years later this was shown to be a bad decision." Every moment is written as the subjects were experiencing it at the time, with all of the anticipation that comes with it. I found myself wondering if someone really would come and rescue the imperial family, even though I knew in advance they'd been martyred.

Like many, I've always been fascinated by the life of the last tsar of Russia and his doomed family, a fascination that was largely kindled when their graves were located in the 90's. Our school systems teach us very little about world history. All I really knew about this story was that the family had been martyred for some reason or other, that two of the bodies were never found, and that some shady figure called Rasputin was wrapped up in it all.

The most interesting revelations in my view are the circumstances that lead Russia into communism and the Romanovs into extinction. It's very true that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and it was far too easy to see similarities between the troubled pre-revolutionary Russia and the current status of the USA. It was also interesting to learn more about Rasputin, who was not at all the sort of person I expected.

I highly recommend this book and others by this writer.

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February 19, 2009

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A few weeks ago Wickle wrote a review of one of the childhood classics that appeals to adults, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Another one that I feel fits into this category is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, a book that I read and enjoyed as a child and have recently listened to on tape.

The Westing Game is a mystery that is almost more of a puzzle. As the characters, 16 named heirs to an eccentric millionaire, are trying to solve the puzzle and find a murderer to get the millions for themselves, so are you. The heirs are full of character and any one of them would be amusing in and of themselves, but when you put them together, it's quite comical.

To say more of the plot would ruin it, but if this is a book you have not read, you're missing out. It's a light, fun read that I recommend to almost anyone 10 and up! (It does discuss murder and drunkenness, plus I don't know how much of the plot twists a younger child would understand.)

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February 17, 2009

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

What a ride Anathem is! In this novel, Stephenson has created a work that is epic...grandiose...LONG. Clocking in at over 900 pages, Stephenson has once again done an admirable job of maintaining a complex storyline, creating a new world, and bringing diverse characters to life.

But all was not rosy with this book. I'm a fan of long novels; they don't scare me off, but this wasn't just long, it was bloated. While the core of the story was incredibly interesting and did manage to draw me though the book, there were far too many sections that made me want to cry from boredom.

It's hard to condense the storyline into a reasonably small blurb, but I'll try to give you a flavor for the book. On the Earth-like planet of Arbre, Erasmus is a "fraa", a type of monk-like character who lives in a "concent". Concents are similar to monasteries, except the men and women who live there focus their lives on philosophy, physics, math, and learning in general rather than religion. The members of the concents remain shut off from the rest of civilization for long periods of time. The novel opens shortly before the gates of the concent open and Erasmus and his friends are free to interact with outside members of the world for the first time in ten years.

Strange things start to happen, and eventually Erasmus and his friends are forced on a journey that takes them out of the comfort of their concent to assess a danger posed to the entire planet.

Stephenson really excels at world-building, and his skills shine here. Arbre, the world in the novel, felt very really to me. He covered thousands of years of world history, and created a large nember of new words, requiring their own glossary.

However, his strength is also his weakness: the book became bloated in describing things, or getting caught up in long philosophical or physics-based conversations between characters. There are sections that are far too long where nothing really happens. For example, the book starts out with a description of a clock. It's a big clock. It takes a lot of people to wind it. It's central to life at the concent. I just told you the main points. If you read the book, the first EIGHTY pages are devoted to this clock. I'm not kidding. The book starts slow and while I really got a good feel for the clock, I could have done with some rather extensive edits to get to some action more quickly. Other parts of the novel suffered the same problem, where the action was slowed so dramatically for explanations that in my opinion were far too long (and too boring!)

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and really did love the main storyline. But I felt like it was too much of a slog to get through it, so I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this book to anyone besides existing Neal Stephenson fans, or die-hard sci-fi fans. If you're neither of those, skip this. But do check out Cryptonomicon by Stephenson, which is one of the greatest books I've ever read, and the reason why I keep reading (and being disappointed by) his newer books.

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February 16, 2009

Whistling Season by Ivan Doig

Loved it. Loved it loved it loved it. I just finished The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig and am all excited about it. The Milliron family (father & 3 sons) live in rural Montana and are in need of a housekeeper, whom they acquire. Rose Llewellyn "can't cook but doesn't bite" and arrives with an unexpected companion and a bit more of a past than she lets on.

The story is elegantly told and the characters are shapely and robust. Two and a half of the characters are linguistically adroit and delightful to spend time with. I loved this book. I want to go live there with them.

If you enjoyed Peace Like a River, you will enjoy this one (and fewer people die in this one).

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February 13, 2009

Journey of a Strong-Willed Child

Lately I've been reading a lot of informational type books and loved it. I'm not in school anymore so I feel like I'm learning again. This week I read about raising strong willed children, next week about teaching, and the week after about different mindsets. I'm learning a ton and feel great again.

Journey of a Strong-Willed Child was one of those books that I started reading with one mindset and ended reading with a completely different one. The first mindset was that this is a lot of kids out there. The second mindset was that oh wow, this is actually talking about me. The book goes through the life of a child and methods to helping a strong-willed child become a responsible adult through discipline, teaching, and a lot of love.

When I first started reading A Journey of a Strong-Willed Child all I could think about was, wow this reminds me of my brother. Everything in the book reminated with me as things that made complete sense. A child that would rather deal with the punishment than do what they are supposed to. Or a child that manipulates and takes control of authority figures around them if they allow it. The book goes through the best ways to deal with these strong-willed children and all of the methods made perfect sense. For instance, rather than threatening your child with some outrageous punishment like I'll ground you for life, threaten with a punishment that you can actually made good on (you can't go out this weekend).

And then came the epiphany. I called my mom and was telling her about this book I was reading, and she told me, "You were the first kid I had to buy the strong-willed child books for." Oops. Apparently the reason all of these things and ideas made sense to me were because they were me. Reading the remainder of the book the case studies and quotes were no longer about my brother or any other kids out there, they were about remembering how my parents got me from a strong-willed child to a responsible adult.

And a lot of the ways my parents did it were listed in the book. Two of the main things I got out of Smiley's book were first that no matter what you do, you always need to make sure your child knows that you love them. And second, teach them to God's way and be an example of obedience and living your life with right choices. If you set a good example, they are more likely to follow. They may not always, but if not you've done the best you can do.

I loved the format the book was written in. It was kind of like an informal classroom discussion. Kendra Smiley wrote about her experiences with her strong-willed child Aaron and her advice for dealing with certain circumstances. After Kendra, Aaron and John (the resident dad) give their own take on the scenarios, and it's interesting to see from the different points of view. Also intermingled with Kendra's explanations, there are quotes from parents that have strong-willed children themselves. They made me laugh and cringe at the ways these children sometimes get the best of their parents.

Overall this was a good read, and I learned a lot about a subject I thought I knew little. I would recommend this book to anyone that is dealing with what you believe to be a strong-willed child or even a child that is maybe a little difficult to manage. Kendra Smiley gives some great advice and tactics that I may take to heart when I raise children of my own.

For more information you can visit Kendra's website or other reviews of this book.

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February 12, 2009

1984 by George Orwell

There are some books that I just think that everyone should read. When I talk about one of these titles, I'm shocked when someone hasn't read it, but I'm even more shocked if they haven't heard of it. Recently, I was saying something about Big Brother, and then said something else about how it wasn't a random allusion as I'm reading the book right now. When my friend said, "What book?" and then "I've never heard of it" when I told her which book, I was worried.

In case you, my dear reader, are like my friend, I'm writing this review for you. Perhaps you'll still never read the book, but you at least need to know what it's about as you'll find allusions to it everywhere.

Ever since I read it in high school, 1984 has been one of my favorite books. The book takes place in 1984 (30 years after it was written) in one of three world powers: Oceania, which is comprised of the Americas, Australia, part of Africa, and the British Isles. Oceania is a stricter police state than any one ever known to man: there is even a thought police that seeks out those who even have thoughts against the country's ruling inner party. Every room has a telescreen: a television that they can use to watch and hear your every move and your every noise.

Winston Smith finds himself locked into this world that he knows is wrong. He himself works as someone who rewrites history, changing "facts" in past newspaper articles to reflect the current state of things. He is obsessed with finding ways to undermine the controlling party, headed by "Big Brother."

I enjoy two things about this book: first, it's presentation of Orwell's anti-totalitarian thoughts is fascinating. Secondly, at some point in the book, Winston realizes that truth is truth, regardless of whether anyone else believes it to be true.

This book also holds the honor as a book that has made me cry at it's ending each time I've read it, though it's not a dramatic book like others that make me cry. To explain further would be to give too much away.

So, if you haven't read 1984, I really think you need to!

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Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

While I feel like I read a fairly wide selection of books, one genre with which I'm fairly unfamiliar is chick-lit. So I was excited when my book group selected Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella for our selection this month. Part of what I love about a book group is reading outside my comfort zone!

The premise of this book is that Emma, a Bridget Jones-esque character, spills her secrets to a stranger sitting next to her on a plane. Secrets like she lies about her weight and pours orange juice in an annoying co-worker's plant. Of course, it turns out this stranger isn't really a stranger: he's the owner of the huge international corporation where she is employed as a junior marketing assistant.

Ultimately, I'm a bit conflicted about this book. I was partially pleasantly surprised, and partially terribly disappointed.

I'll begin with the positives:

This book was surprisingly readable. It was hard to put down, and certainly pulled me along through the story.
Okay, that's really the only positive I can think of, but it's a pretty big positive. If you're looking for light, silly, quick-read entertainment, this fits the bill.

Now on to the negatives:

The entire story line is about the main character, Emma, developing a new relationship. I'm used to romance being a sub-plot in many novels. Of course that's a story line in many books regardless of genre, where the main character surprisingly finds true love while doing X. In this book, there's no "X". It's really just about Emma getting a guy. There's a slight story line about her efforts to advance in her job, and an even more poorly developed and easily resolved story line about her relationship with her family, but they are such minor points in the novel I'd be hard pressed to even call them plot points.
Characters are sadly two-dimensional, lacking true development. It was especially true for Jemima, the clothes-horse, man-chasing roommate, who pretty much drove me insane every time she was mentioned. Even Emma, the main character, has little growth through the novel. The book starts out with a list of her "secrets", and ends with a list of her "secrets". I don't feel like there were any significant changes or learning experiences for her character.
The story line is a predicable Cinderella story: "normal" gal grabs the attention of Prince Charming. There was nothing new or inventive about the story line. Don't read this expecting amazing plot twists!

It sounds like I'm really slamming this book, and honestly, I don't mean to sound quite so negative. As I started out by saying, the book really was readable. If you're looking for a quick beach read, or something light to read between meatier books, this is a fine choice. Just don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, or cataloging its weaknesses, as that will really limit your enjoyment!

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February 11, 2009

Sleeping Arrangements by Madeleine Wickham

After reading a couple of heavy books, I decided to check out a chick-lit book that I had picked up at the library. I enjoy the Shopaholic series written by Sophie Kinsella as a quick read, so when I discovered that her real name is Madeleine Wickham and that she writes more serious books under her real name, I was intrigued.

The premise of this book is that there are two families desperately in need of a vacation to get away from the stresses in their lives. Both are invited by their mutual friend Gerard to spend a week at his villa in Spain. Unbeknown to both families, he has double-booked them. So they spend the week together. But all is not as it seems, for two of them used to be a couple, but their spouses do not know.

I attempted to read this book, but it was horrible. While the plot seemed interesting...throwing the two families together and seeing what happens...the problem is nothing happened. The characters were all selfish and one-dimensional. Everything that happened to them was predictable.

So do yourself a favor and don't bother reading this book. It is just disappointing.

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World Without End by Ken Follett

If you have read Pillars of the Earth, you have read its sequel, World Without End.

I read Pillars of the Earth last month and reviewed it here. It was a book that made me feel like a voyeur, peeking through the window at Follett's twisted imagination. And it is twisted. I really enjoy reading books written in the Dark Ages and the medieval period, especially when the writer has obviously done his homework, as Follett did. But Follett is one of those writers that likes to play God with his characters, or rather Satan, subjecting them to every trial and tribulation he can think of. If I was a Follett character, I'd be afraid to enter any building lest it fall on my head. I'd refrain from crossing any bridge, because it would certainly collapse. I wouldn't bother to plant a seed, because if it dared to sprout it would surely be trampled by an evil nobleman's horse, scourged in an apocalyptic fire, shriveled by famine or plague, or stolen and put into a salad by an unscrupulous neighbor. Such is the world of Follett.

World Without End may have a few more pages than Pillars of the Earth, but the plot is exactly the same. The only differences are the names and about two hundred years. Jack Builder of Pillars is now Merthin Bridger. Agnes and Ellen are now Gwenda. Alienna has been split into Caris and Philippa. William Hamliegh is Ralph Fitzgerald. The evil Lady Hamleigh is Petranilla. The only character he left out was Prior Phillip, who was really the only likeable character in Pillars.

However, I wouldn't say that World Without End is a waste of time. If you enjoyed Pillars, you will enjoy World. Both books are nice long, meaty engrossing books that are impossible to put down. Just don't expect anything new.

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February 9, 2009

"Lizard Music" by Daniel Pinkwater

I promise to do something other than a kids' book at some point ...

Kidlit author Sam Riddleburger (author of The Qwikpick Adventure Society and co-author of the forthcoming Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run) clued me in to Lizard Music, and I'm very glad. This is a wonderful mystery/adventure about a boy, Victor, whose parents and older sister have all left him for a few weeks. He stays up late one night and sees a quintet of lizards playing music on TV.

As he tries to find out more about the lizards' show, he encounters the eccentirc "Chicken Man" (with more aliases than it's worth recounting) and finds that the world is not quite what it seems to be. He notices how fake the world around him is, and he begins to see that he has a choice whether to be part of it or to try to be something more.

The book is full of allusions to great classics, and considering the number that I spotted, I wonder how many I missed. For example, when the Chicken Man and Victor finally reach the invisible island of the talking lizards, one of the lizards (Reynold) looks at their hands and his own, and remarks "five-men, like us!" A plainer homage to The Island of Dr. Moreau would be difficult. (Victor watched a movie called "The Island of Dr. Morbo" which sounded remarkably like Moreau one night, too!)

The story is fun and hits at some real points regarding individuality, thinking, and being unique. It's a great story, and well worth the read. It's a light mystery, and pretty much all in the thinking and exploring. No fight scenes, no terror, nothing of the sort.

The book borders on the surreal, but that's not a bad thing.

4/5, and I might be short-changing it.

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"How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III" by Cressida Cowell

There are certain conventions to a lot of kids' books. One of them is that the hero is, most often, a misfit. Another is a tendency to rely on absurdity. How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III by Cressida Cowell relies on both of these.

The absurdity? Look no further than the title. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the son of the chief of a tribe of Vikings called the Hairy Hooligans. They live near the Meatheads. Characters have such names as Fishlegs, Hiccup, Dogsbreath, and Snotlout. This is a good place for a sigh of exasperation.

In this case, it's much overdone. The story is about a group of young Vikings trying to pass their Viking tests to be allowed to be full members of their respective tribes. This includes the need to train a dragon.

The story does progress and have a few good points. The 400 members of the Hooligan and Meathead tribes fail to scare away the enormous dragon that appears, and Hiccup has to outsmart it. That's all well and good.

Getting there, though, was more than a little tedious. Not quite painful, but not that far from it.

Along the way, Hiccup tries to refer to the Viking classic "How to Train Your Dragon," which consists of the instructions, "Yell at it!"

I picked this book up looking for something to appeal to my reluctant reader, my 10-year-old son. I don't think that this is the one. For any other reader, whether an adult who likes kidlit or an actual kid, I would suggest steering clear. This book is really not worth the effort.

I kept waiting for it to get good. It never happened.

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February 6, 2009

Welcome, Welcome!

If you're observant, you may have noticed that the latest book review is written by a yet-unintroduced book reviewer. My bad.

But, like many a new reviewer before, I am a Diva jumped right in by giving us a review. It is what we're all about. So go check it out!

Welcome aboard!

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Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal; A Novel by Christopher Moore

This is my first review for The Book Nook, and as it's my first review I am happy to be reviewing what just may be my favourite book of all time. It also happens to be the book I was reading when I decided to be a contributor to this great site.

This book is an irreverently witty and comical look at the lost years of Jesus Christ, what may have happened between the ages of twelve and thirty.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Christ's childhood friend Levi bar Alphaeus who is called Biff finds himself resurrected so that he may write his Gospel having the unique honour of being at side of the Messiah through the formative years.

This laugh-out-loud novel follows Biff and Joshua (as Biff points out in the novel, Jesus is a Greek translation of the name Yeshua, Joshua, and Christ is the Greek translation for the Hebrew word Messiah) as they grow from boys to men and travel East in search of the Three Wise Men so that Josh may learn how to become the Messiah to his people.

Moore is, happily, able to bring an endearing human quality to the man who was born of God, and juxtaposes him with his brash, cocky, and often lewd and vulgar best friend Biff. Together they study for years under the tutelage of the different Magi and learn from them in their own ways.

I have read this book six times, finishing the sixth time just this morning, and even though I know how the book will end (anyone knowing the plot of The Passion does) I still find myself on the edge of my proverbial seat as Moore takes us through the torture and trial of Christ through the eyes of his friends and apostles. As sarcastic and filled with tongue-in-cheek and clever irony as this book is, the spiritual and ethereal divinity is not lost. In fact, I find myself able to better empathize with the Biblical story, and coming from someone who is in no way religious, the basic teachings of being kind and loving thy neighbour as thyself are still easily identifiable.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of their faith or creed, as there is a little bit in there for everyone. Please remember, though, that it is a work of fiction and beyond that, a comedy. It is not intended to change any one's beliefs or to challenge them in any way. And also, be forewarned that there is a great deal of language and sexual content within the covers of this book, sometimes tasteful, sometimes not (Oh Biff and his debauchery, not to worry Christ is ever Christlike).

This book is a Five Star book if I've ever read one. I hope you like it too.

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Food Matters by Mark Bittman

Over the past couple of years I have become environmentally friendly. I conserve as much water and electricity as I can. I recycle everything I can. I try to condense all my shopping trips so not to use a lot of gas. That sort of thing.

So when I read about this book by Mark Bittman, boasting that I can help reduce the effects of global warming by changing the way I eat, I was curious.

Before I go on, let me clarify that I am not a global warming fanatic. Nor am I a total granola person. I am not going to water my garden with my own pee, and I like my air conditioning in the summer. But I will change the way I do something if it makes sense.

That said, I am interested in learning how government policy, big business marketing, and global economics influence the way we eat, and how it affects the environment.

Mark Bittman's basic premise can be summarized by saying eat less meat (especially beef, since it takes a whole lot of energy to raise and process cattle) and eat more whole grains and vegetables. When you do this, you will improve your health and help reduce global warming.

This is something we already do on a weekly basis. We really only eat beef 2 or 3 days a week. The rest is chicken, pastas and vegetables. So nothing new there!

I was, however, a more than a little disappointed in the book. Three-fourths of it was nothing but his recipes, leaving only the first 75 pages to actual reading material. And much of that was repetitive. There was nothing really ground-breaking or scholarly about it. No big studies on the food industry and how our food is actually produced. It seemed to be a little rushed. I was literally able to read the book in an hour. Glad I got it from the library!

Overall, I would recommend this book only if you have not read anything at all about the link between the food industry and the degradation of our environment. Otherwise, I would recommend you read In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (which I will review soon).

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February 5, 2009

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

This is the second book in the Ender's series after Ender's Game, which I read and loved on the recommendation of a fellow Book Nooker. Speaker for the Dead follows Ender's tale after he and his sister travel from planet to planet, visiting the various human colonies, looking for a home for the Hive Queen.

Almost 3000 years after they have annihilated the buggers (Ender is still alive because space travel only feels like a few days for you while it actually take you dozens of years), humans have finally come across another alien species, the "piggies." They have vowed to act differently, and treat them like tribes under observation by anthropologists, not to be taught human ways for fear of contamination. The colonists on the piggies' planet first fall victim to disease, but after the cure is found, two colonists are mysteriously killed by the piggies, though they were on friendly terms with them.

This all proves too much for Ender to stay away, so he goes to "speak the death" of these men and one other person, a wife-beating drunk who's family is in shambles.

This book, though in the same world as Ender's Game, is much different. Card's great storytelling skills are still present, but they're on different ground. It's still a good read, I just didn't like it in the way that I liked Ender's Game. It didn't keep me from picking up the 3rd book in the series, though. If you have read Ender's Game, you may want to check this one out. And if you haven't read Ender's Game? Well, put it on your must-read list!

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February 4, 2009

Library Lovers Month

Did you know that February is Library Lovers Month?

Neither did I, until I read about it in a magazine I picked up recently. But it seems like something I could get behind...I love books and love going to our local library. However, our local library has had to cut back on hours and services this year because of budget cuts. I think that is sad, because libraries offer the public something I believe is extremely important....access to a wealth of knowledge. For free.

Curious about how you can show your love for your library? Click here.

So tell me. Do you go to your local library very often? What do you use your library for? What would you do if all the libraries in your area had to close for good?

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February 2, 2009

The Jane Austin Book Club

I'm really not up to doing full book reviews, replete with literary allusions and knowledgeable analysis. I don't want to go to work every time I read a book. So I am giving myself permission to do book reviewettes: reviews lite.

I just finished The Jane Austin Book Club which I liked, but didn't love.

There were several times that I laughed out-loud, and several hearty chuckles, but I won't reread it or force my circle of readers to read it. Here's my favorite line from the whole book:

She’d recently announced that she was, officially, letting herself go. ‘I just don’t look in the mirror anymore’ she’d told us. ‘I wish I’d thought of it years ago . . .

Alas, this line came early in the book and my funny bone spent the rest of the pages wishing for another tickle. The characters and their relationships with one another are indeed well-crafted and enjoyable. There is nothing wrong with the book at all so I ought to have liked it more than I did, but I didn't. When it was over I was pleased that I could move on to the next one. That's not a great sign. If you NEED a book to read, you could do worse, but I wouldn't make a point of reading this one.

That being said, if you ever wished for a brief plot synopses of the Austin novels, Karen Joy Fowler provides some very nice ones at the end of her novel. I may keep the book around just for that.

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February 1, 2009

Quills and Promies by Amber Miller

Quills and Promises by Amber Miller is such a lovely book. It is easy to fall in love with the main character, Elanna, who befriends a major, Madison Scott, in the war. The two correspond by mail for years as the war rages on.

Elanna is a young girl who is very curious about the French and Indian War and does everything she can to find out the current happenings. Her curiousness eventually leads her to a writer at the local newspaper that questions the integrity of Major Scott. Elanna must decide who to trust, Major Scott who she has only met twice but has corresponded with for years, or the newspaper writer, who has first hand knowledge of the war.

The book is a quick read and very clean. No bad language, no sexual situations - just a nice romance. All of the characters are very easy to love and I really wanted to know what would happen next. I really liked Elanna. She is very independent, always thinks before she acts, prays for guidance in her life, and accepts the consequences of her actions. She is the kind of girl I hope my daughter grows up to be.

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