Once in a while I go to the bookstore and pick up a few books from the sale racks. This one turned out to be an amazing read. It took me no time at all to fall in love with the characters, who are written not only with incredible depth, but with such ease that I didn’t realize I was becoming immersed until I couldn’t put down the novel. If you enjoy a good love story with imperfect but perfectly lovable characters, you’ll love Faking It. I can’t wait to read the sequel.
Sometimes irreverent, always bizarre, Business As Usual is a hard book to put down. Set in a freakishly corrupt world through which the main character wades through her first day on the job, it balances between social commentary and how society worships both its deities and the almighty buck. I found myself nodding my head as many times as I laughed out loud.
It’s a fantastic first time out for a new author. I recommend this novel to anyone who wants a combination of a good giggle and a thought-provoking read; as I said, bizarre. In a good way.
I loved Doctor Sleep. It seemed to me a coming of age not only for the main character, Danny Torrance, but for Stephen King as well. Going into this story with the expectation that it goes on where The Shining leaves off will only leave you disappointed, as many of the reviews I’ve read state. The author does his character justice by lending him new struggles, forcing him to put the past behind him. For what I remember of The Shining having read it last more than twenty years ago, I would say that Doctor Sleep can stand alone as an epic.
As a well-told and plausible continuation to the story of a little boy with the shining from the book of the same name, this novel not only exceeded my expectations, it left me wanting more.
Well that was disappointing. Considering I’ve given each of the other books in the Outlander series five stars out of five, I expected much more out of this one.
If I were to give this novel a subtitle, it would be “The Novel in which Truly Nothing Happens.” After the climax of An Echo in the Bone I went into this book hoping for a spectacular continuation. What I got was a long, drawn out story that lasted the entirety of the novel and ended exactly as I knew it would. There were so many chapters between the tales of Bri and Roger, and Clair and Jamie, that around the middle of the book I forgot one of the story lines existed. Completely lacking a plot, the only notable thing in this poor excuse for a novel is that Jamie, at one point, acts completely out of character.
I’m afraid Miss Gabaldon should have ended the series with book seven. If I wanted a history lesson, which is basically what Written in My Own Heart’s Blood amounts to, I’d have read a textbook.
Will I read the next book? Probably. I may borrow it from the library or wait for the paperback to come out instead of rushing to pre-order the hardcover. But if the next one doesn’t impress me, I’m out.
1Q84 was a long, drawn out science fiction tale, seemingly full of extraneous information. The depth of its characters was its saving grace. I’m not sure that I would recommend it for anything but for the experience of reading it. I’m not sure how else to describe it.
Not my favourite Murakami novel, and certainly not the last of his that I’ll read.
I’ve held off reviewing the trilogy of 50 Shades of Grey because, mostly, I didn’t think it was worth my time. A poorly written, badly researched Twilight fanfic, it was more laughable when I read it than anything. It’s a masterpiece of an example of something that should have never been published for so many reasons, and yet it was.
I’m writing this now for two reasons. First, that I made a silly suggestion in my last post that single women go to see the movie, and further to that end I want to take it back – at least until you’ve read this review of the movie, which is my second reason for coming out with this now —–>>> http://www.mamamia.com.au/rogue/fifty-shades-of-grey-review-rosie-waterland/
I’ve said a few times that the film couldn’t possibly be worse than the book. It seems that perhaps, if the above review is accurate, that it might even be doing those who see 50 Shades as romance a favour by depicting the character of Christian Grey for what he really is: a narcissist, and a dangerous one at that.
I have to believe that E.L. James meant the story to be titillating; to show the world of BDSM in the mainstream. 50 Shades of Grey is NOT, however, an accurate depiction of what BDSM is. Although I’ve never been active in a BDSM relationship, I’ve written extensively with someone who has. I learned a lot from this. Foremost, and E.L. James actually WROTE this into the contract she copied and pasted numerous times in the book, is that a submissive must be able to trust a Dom. And over and over and over again, Christian Grey, the Dom, proves himself untrustworthy. Consistency is so far from one of James’ strong suits though, it catapults itself far above the ceiling over which my eyes constantly rolled during the reading of the novels. The average reader may have skimmed this. The writer and editor in me could not. It’s that “skimming” which leads me to believe, nay, KNOW that 50 Shades of Grey is a danger to any and all young women who fall into the trap of seeing it as romantic – or anything but what it is. A story of torture at the hands of a psychopathic narcissist.
If you’re planning to see the movie, know what you’ll be watching. The word “fun” should be banned from the screening of this film.
I picked up Misha Burnett’s latest installment of The Book of Lost Doors series, entitled The Worms of Heaven last night and I noticed at the back he had included a chapter of Acknowledgements. I went there to have a read and, lo and behold, there was my name! Right there in black and white!
So I thought what better excuse could there be to promote this fantastic series of books which I am thoroughly enjoying? I’m not one to give out praise willy-nilly and so you can take it from me that if I say a novel great then I really, truly recommend it.
You can read my glowing review of the first novel in the series, Catskinner’s Book here and the second book, Cannibal Hearts here.
…and spectacularly happy I am that Queen and Adam Lambert decided to make last night’s final North American concert stop at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.
As a long-time fan of Queen’s guitarist, Dr. Brian May, I made sure to secure seats at stage left. Not since March 2006 have I seen a more exhilarating show and that was, you guessed it, Queen with Paul Rodgers. Adam Lambert adds a whole set of unique talents to the concert however. His sense of style is so very much like the late, great, Freddie Mercury’s and yet different enough that I didn’t get the impression that he was trying to step into the fondly missed singer’s shoes. Instead he managed to make the show his own, even as he sang the songs faithfully as we all know them so well from hours and hours of listening.
The set list covered many of their most popular tunes, and some of the lesser played favourites. I had the feeling that quite a number of the younger members of the audience (and there were quite a number!) didn’t recognize the older tunes, though that didn’t seem to suppress their enjoyment. Included here were “The Seven Seas of Rhye” and “In The Lap of the Gods…Revisited,” both of which I’m honoured to have heard live. I was thrilled when Brian began to hint that “’39” was coming up as it’s my personal favourite from the album A Night at the Opera.
Dr. May’s guitar solo, as always, was truly amazing. The things that man can do with a guitar are nothing less than astounding. There are few guitarists on this planet who play with such heart and pitch that their music can pierce the soul and bring tears to the listeners’ eyes. Brian May is indeed one of them. And speaking of tears there was, of course, his solo performance of “Love Of My Life.” Enough said.
In the end, the show was made in the performance of the final three songs. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was powerful, and heart-wrenching as well when a video of our beloved Freddie was shown on the big screen, singing and playing the piano. For the encore, the band played, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions.” Anyone lucky enough to experience these three songs live… To attempt to put it into words: it’s spiritual; like being surrounded by a sense of all-encompassing love in the form of heavenly sound and to know that the very hands which played THAT MUSIC–the songs you’ll always remember where you were and what you were doing the first time you heard them–are standing before you in the same room, is just incredible! There is the a reason Queen are referred to as rock Gods. This is it.
If you ever have a chance to see Queen perform live, do it. No matter what the monetary cost, no matter how far you have to travel. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.
I was impressed with the depth of the story told within the story of this novel. At its core it is, of course, a horror novel. But it’s the tale of how Vic, the main character, grows up and becomes caught in the dark, life-sucking trap of NOS4A2 and its owner that gives the novel its humanity. I felt myself relating to many of the characters and this is what kept me reading fast and furious to reach the end.
Mr. Hill’s rich descriptiveness added to rather than weighed down the flow, and I was able to find myself right there in the story many times – whether I wanted to be or not.
It’s sick, it’s twisted, it’s frightening, and it’s touching, and it was a lot of fun to read. I would recommend this book to lovers of horror.
Despite the fact that I was suprised to discover after beginning it that this book was not the first part of a series–the dust jacket says nothing about the previous books–I was able to enjoy it as a stand-alone novel. There were details about the main characters that I’m sure I missed because I haven’t read the other books, but it didn’t impact my reading enjoyment. The story is fast-paced and the suspense builds with each turn of the page. Ms. Spindler kept me guessing right to the very end. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good thriller and I look forward to reading the other parts of the series.
Faking It by Elisa Lorello
lindaghill.com 