The Last Little Blue Envelope, by Maureen Johnson

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Thistle

little blueThis is the sequel to Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes. What is it with series? Normally I avoid them whenever possible, but this summer I have been reading lots of sequels and third books, probably because I really enjoyed the opening books. I debated for a long time whether or not to read this one, because I really liked the first book and I didn’t know that I really needed to read anything more. I finally decided to check it out, though, because I kept hearing people say that one of the main characters, Keith, was a huge jerk in this book and they didn’t understand why his personality had changed so much. I thought that was odd, because I thought he was a major jerk in the first book! I couldn’t stand the guy. Then I read this one, and I thought he was so much kinder in it than in the first book. Odd… Anyway, it was definitely a fun read and I think I might have liked it even more than the first book. Predictable in many ways, but in a good way. I really enjoyed it.

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Crossed, by Ally Condie

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Thistle

Crossed_enhanced1Crossed is the second book in the Matched series, with which many of you know I have a very complicated relationship. Crossed was easier to read than Matched, because it no longer had that personal connection, but sadly, either from the lack of connection or just because it wasn’t as well-done, I didn’t enjoy it as much. It definitely felt like a middle book, a connecting of first and last books of a trilogy, and the first half of it bored me. The second half did get better and I will definitely read the third book, but I admit being slightly disappointed by it after the first book, which I thought was excellent.

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The Map of True Places, by Brunonia Barry (audio)

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Thistle

map true placesThis story is about Zee, a woman whose mother committed suicide when Zee was a young teenager. Zee’s father acknowledged his sexuality and let his long-time lover move in after his wife’s death; now he is older and has Parkinson’s. Zee dealt with all the upheaval in her life by becoming the person who always did what she thought other people wanted, all the way up to her current career choice as a private practice psychologist and her engagement to a man who loves her, even though she’s not sure she feels the same way. Zee’s world begins to unravel when one of her patients commits suicide.

This was an interesting book, dealing primarily with various physical and psychological disorders, with GLBT themes and abuse/stalking themes mixed in. It takes place in Salem, same as in her first book, The Lace Reader, which I listened to on audio not long ago. Some of the characters cross over from the two books as well, though it’s a completely separate storyline. At first, I admit, I thought I liked The Lace Reader better. It has a more interesting hook, whereas this book seemed to be less imaginative for the first half. Not that it was badly done or anything. It was well-written, but it seems a more general human interest story, without any particular hook, and so I was less interested.

The second half got very interesting, though, with a lot more turns than I was expecting. I think, by the end, I would say the two books were pretty well on par with each other. The Lace Reader definitely had a stronger hook, but The Map of True Places had me listening constantly, finishing the audio in only three days, and I think was more finely woven together than The Lace Reader. Both were very enjoyable and I definitely want to read more from Barry in the future.

As for the performance, this audiobook was read by the same narrator as my copy of The Lace Reader, Alyssa Bresnahan. She is a fantastic reader and I like that she read both books. It helped to keep me in the same spirit while listening to both books, which was great since the setting and some of the characters were the same. I hope she keeps reading them in the future!

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Goliath, by Scott Westerfeld

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Thistle

goliathGoliath is the third book in the Leviathan trilogy, an alternate history of WWI where countries are divided between Darwinist and Industrial lines. I was a big fan of the first book in the series, but the second book bored me a little and I worried I wouldn’t like this third book when I went into it, especially as I tend not to like Westerfeld’s trilogy endings as much as the other books. I needn’t have worried. Goliath was by far my favorite book in the series. I adored the way it ended! I loved how much history Westerfeld brought in, and that’s coming from a girl who is not normally a fan of history at all! I also really loved Bovril, a special character I won’t say anything about since it would involve spoilers, but again my love for him is contrary to all my normal likes/dislikes while reading books. Westerfeld remains one of my very favorite YA authors, and the best thing about reading this series was getting to share it with my oldest son, who also really enjoyed it.

First book: Leviathan
Second book: Behemoth

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Silver Sparrow, by Tayari Jones

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Thistle

silversparrowDana and Chaurisse are two girls about the same age who share the same father, but this isn’t a normal half-sister sort of relationship. Chaurisse and her mother believe that they are living a normal, one-family life. Dana and her mother know that they are the illegitimate family, hidden from the primary family. Dana watches Chaurisse, envious but also longing for connection, while Chaurisse remains oblivious to her presence.

Silver Sparrow was one of the top five books I wanted to get at BEA, so I was thrilled when Heather was able to find it for me after my trip there was canceled last minute. I dove into it almost immediately after receiving it and it definitely lived up to my expectations. In fact, it was even better than The Untelling, which I read last year and loved.

The structure of this book is what really made it work for me. The first half is told from Dana’s point of view, so that you get to know her side of the story. Then the narrative is picked up by Chaurisse in the second half, and this girl that you might not have understood so well in the first half becomes real and sympathetic. I found that I didn’t prefer one girl over the other, but felt sorry for both of them for what their father did to them and their mothers.

Just like in The Untelling, one of the big thematic elements in Silver Sparrow is dishonesty. Dishonesty ruins lives, and the lies can never be hidden permanently. Eventually truth comes to light, and when it’s been hidden, the revealing is always more explosive and destructive. Considering how important honesty is to me personally, this is a theme I love seeing explored.

I highly recommend this book, and Jones’ books in general. Her writing is beautiful – slow and languorous – and her stories make you think. I know this one will stay with me for a long time, just like The Untelling, and I’m so glad to have received this copy!

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Leaving the Saints, by Martha Beck (audio)

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Thistle

leavingsaintsThis book is Martha Beck’s memoir of her childhood and her struggle with faith as an adult. She recounts the sexual abuse she suffered from her father, who is a prominent figure in the LDS (Mormon) church, and how she’s been discredited and disowned because she spoke out about it. She also describes her spiritual quest in context of leaving the LDS church.

This was a very interesting book. I expected, from the reactions I’ve seen members of the LDS church have against Beck, for this book to be very negative towards the LDS faith. I expected it to reveal a bunch of secrets and to basically rip the faith to shreds. It didn’t do anything like that, and while it took a truthful look at history, it was always very respectful at the same time. The audio experience was fine – middle of the road. There were some things that annoyed me from the reader (Bernadette Dunn), but mostly it was unobtrusive.

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Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort, by JK Rowling

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Thistle

HP7I’m so glad I read this series in French! My French is better than it has been in years and I’m starting to instinctively understand a lot more grammar-wise. It proved to me that I can definitely reacquire a language. I hope to move on to trying to read more books in French, ones I don’t already have memorized in English. Which speaking of, this is the only book I don’t have memorized because it came out later than the others, which means I haven’t read it nearly as often. Still, I had no trouble at all with the French! Very happy about that!

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Harry Potter et le Prince de Sang-Mêlé, by JK Rowling

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Thistle

HP6Once again, this is just a continuation of my HP-in-French project. This book went much faster. I read it in a few days. That’s probably because this is one of my favorites! I’m hoping to finish the project altogether before the last movie comes out in July!

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Lifetime Running Plan, by Bill Rodgers

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Thistle

Bill-Rodgers-Lifetime-Running-Plan-9780062734990This was an interesting nonfiction book about all the various parts of running. Sadly it’s a little out of date (about 15 years old) and Rodgers focuses much more on himself, older runners, and on long-distance running (the three things that relate to him) more than anything else. I was hoping to get more concrete information about how to start to run but there was very little of that. It’s definitely not a guide for beginners, despite the subtitle. However, excepting some of the outdated information, I think this would be a good book for people who are more advanced runners.

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A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby (audio)

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Thistle

A-Long-Way-Down-934963Four strangers come together on the roof of a building on New Year’s Eve, all intent on jumping off. They end up talking each other out of the suicide, and becoming lifelines to each other over the next few months.

This was my second Hornby (after Juliet, Naked), and two things really struck me about it. First, Hornby works really well on audio. Both of the books I’ve read by him were on audio, and they both engaged me from the very beginning. I think I will continue to try to experience him this way.

Second, I much prefer the way he deals with older characters. I loved the two older people in this book, and really disliked the two younger. The younger ones seemed too, I don’t know, stereotypical? They didn’t feel as real, or perhaps they were just too melodramatic for me. The readers were all wonderful, and included two of my favorites (and one who might become a favorite in the future). The story itself was just okay for me, though.

Note: Audiobook narrators were Scott Brick, Kate Reading, and Simon Vance.

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