Book Review -- "The Twelve" by Justin Cronin

4 starts out of 5

"The Twelve" by Justin Cronin

genre:  post-apocalyptic with some vampires thrown in

(but not your typical vampire)

OK. I really, really loved the first book, so much so it's one of my top favorites ever.

However, the second book left me a little confused and constantly flipping back to see where I was and who was who.


I should have done several things before reading this book -- one, reread "The Passage" immediately before "The Twelve". Two, NOT bought this on Kindle so I would have a place to write things down and keep up with the flow of characters. And three, not try to read it when I was on heavy pain killers AND Valium.


That being said, I can say that while I occasionally got lost, and sometimes wondered who was on what side, and what the point was on a few thing (like why DID the government want to get rid of the Last Stand in Denver dude????) I truly enjoyed it. I needed that suspension of belief and I like a post-apocalyptic story. I'm going to blame my confusion on my reading circumstances on on the "2nd book in a trilogy" syndrome -- it doesn't quite tie things up while it introduces things the author can't dig into QUITE yet.


Over the holidays I'll probably reread both books again. He's a heck of a writer.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Two Book Reviews -- "The Bloodletter's Daughter" and "War Brides"

 "The Bloodletter's Daughter" by Linda Lafferty

Four out of Five Stars

I have absolutely no idea how I ran across this book on the Kindle -- but I'm glad I did!

It's the early 1600's, in Prague and Bohemia.  Emperor Rudolf II has no legitimate heirs, but his illegitimate first-born son is much-loved, if only by the Emperor and his mistress.  This son, Don Julius, suffers from what is undoubtedly schizophrenia -- he hears voices, he has mad rages, he acts completely recklessly and inappropriately (and illegally).  To keep the townspeople from revolting, the emperor sends his son to be held in a castle in a small town in Bohemia.

In this town, the barber surgeon (or blood-letter) is tasked with bleeding Don Julius to get his "humors into balance".  His daughter, Marketa, is headstrong and wants what no girl is allowed -- to be a doctor.  Marketa does assist her father, handling tools and such, and when Don Julius sees Marketa, he realizes the voices in his head go quiet.

That's the main gist.  There's also a mysterious Book of Wonder that no one can translate, and several interesting side stories.  The ending is exciting and fascinating, considering the book is based upon a real murder of the time.

I was captivated by the characters (even when they irritated me) and it's a unique story worth reading.

"War Brides" by Helen Bryan

Five out of Five Stars

I had to think for a bit about the rating on this one.  On the one hand, I had a hard time putting it down.  On the other hand, the ending had parts that were completely unrealistic, and one of the themes in the story was a bit hard to digest.  HOWEVER -- the characters stayed with me past closing the book, and I was genuinely surprised and delighted with a couple of the endings, even if some would say they were too neatly tied up.  I don't care -- I liked it.

The story is about a group of women during WWII in a small town in England.  It's about sacrifice and love, bravery and secrets.  There's a bunch of back story which has been off-putting to some readers, so you have to be able to mentally jump from here to there and back again.  My copy didn't have the spelling and grammatical errors that others found, but there are some historical inaccuracies -- for instance, the Air Force wasn't the Air Force when Bryan says it is (and I say this as a USAF veteran).  I can overlook that, though.

However, I have to give the book five stars because it stuck with me and I was sad to see it end, even if the ending was a little sloppy.  I actually got into the characters and their lives and maybe it was just the right time for me to read this sort of thing, but I enjoyed it.  The best WWII fiction book ever?  No.  Worth reading?  Yes!

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Book Review -- "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

Five out of Five Stars

Absolutely amazing book.

I'm lying in bed, reading, reading, enjoying her way with words and how excellently the book is coming together.

I get to the middle of the book and WOAH!

Big change. Plot twist? Plot Twister/Rollercoaster/Sidewinder. And it's 2am in the freaking morning so I have to wait until tomorrow to keep going.

But wait! There's more!

So you have yourself all settled in. OK, got the plot now. And SKID on the brakes. What? What is happening here???? And THAT is what makes this book spooky scary and makes me wonder how many people are on death row who shouldn't be. Or marriages that aren't what they seem in a BIG way.

EXCELLENT book.

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Join her at the Facebook group Bead Soup Cafe for bead chat, swaps, challenges, and lots of eye candy!

I Passed My Year's Reading Goal!

I just passed my annual reading goal today!  I vowed to read 75 books and I've read 76 and the year's not over yet.  Lest you think I've been reading "Good Night Moon" just to get those numbers up, I've read a total of 24,798 pages. 


To say I love to read, that it's an escape I crave and look forward to every night, is an understatement.

Interested in seeing the list by cover?  

Click here, and be sure to view all the pages!

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Join her at the Facebook group Bead Soup Cafe for bead chat, swaps, challenges, and lots of eye candy!

More Summer Reading

I spent all of yesterday in bed with Tylenol 3 and a cracked-up back, but I wasn't idle!  I read my little heart out.

"Escape from Camp 14" by Blaine Harden

4 out of 5 Stars

This book had special interest to me as I served in the US Air Force in South Korea from 1989-1991. 


This book is about a man, Shin Donghyuk, who was born into a North Korean political prisoner camp - and he managed to escape.  North Korea won't even acknowledge it HAS these camps, even though the show up on satellite and there are refugees who confirm it.  But even more troubling, I think, is the world's ignorance of these camps -- and when people KNOW about them, they don't raise a furor.


To put these camps into some sort of perspective -- the North Korean camps have been around about twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps.  Shin Donghyuk was expected to snitch on his family, and even looked at his family as competitors for food and survival.  He was tortured horribly, and this part of the book is hard to read.  It's also hard to comprehend the extreme hunger the prisoners go through (and in fact, nearly all of North Korea). 


This isn't an easy read -- it's a fast read, but not an easy read.  However, it's an IMPORTANT read.  We need to know about these things, and we need to do something about it. 

"Let's Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson

Five out of Five Stars

After reading "Camp 14", I had to read something light.


I'd been looking forward to this memoir ever since I discovered The Bloggess on the blogosphere.  Jenny is hilarious, irreverent, and gets away with words I couldn't.  I expected the book to be entertaining, and I wasn't wrong. 


What I wasn't expecting was the poignant moments.  Sure, Jenny has a trucker mouth and grew up in a crazy-strange household (Raccoons in the bathtub? Snakes in the freezer?  Why yes!) but she also has a softer side that's affected by illnesses and pain, OCD and depression.  I totally get her.


I read this book in one sitting.  If you're easily offended, don't pick up this book!  But if you can handle the liberal use of the F-bomb, and can find the humor in the crazy, grab this book!

Visit me on Goodreads.com by clicking here!

 

 

 

 

 

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Join her at the Facebook group Bead Soup Cafe for bead chat, swaps, challenges, and lots of eye candy!

Book Review -- "Loud in the House of Myself"

"Loud in the House of Myself" by Stacy Pershall

Five out of Five Stars

This is a book that resonated with me on a visceral level. 

As a sufferer of depression and a past anorexic, reading Stacy Pershall's story was like reading bits of my own.  Her fight and her issues were so much worse than mine, yet she came out of it with humor and dignity -- and at several points in her life, dignity wasn't even showing its face.

I underlined and marked up this book on so many pages.  I don't know how well someone will like it if they don't understand bipolar, depression, or suicide attempts, but if you are looking for a voice that rises from rock bottom, this is it.

Visit me on Goodreads.com by clicking here!

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Join her at the Facebook group Bead Soup Cafe for bead chat, swaps, challenges, and lots of eye candy!

"The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton

"The Forgotten Garden" 

by Kate Morton

Five out of Five Stars

This book was absolutely fabulous. The story line didn't waver, and with several dates spanning 1900-2005, it could easily have become confusing -- but it didn't. It's the story of family (good and bad), searching for long lost relatives, and finding out if they're really your relative or not.

The only thing I didn't care for was the skeevy uncle. He rarely showed up in the book and his bit of the story never really got fleshed out (thankfully, in my opinion).


A must read.

Visit me on Goodreads.com by clicking here!

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party tm  and author of the book Bead Soup.

Join her at the Facebook group Bead Soup Cafe for bead chat, swaps, challenges, and lots of eye candy!