The Last Detective - Peter Lovesey

A nude female floats dead in a large reservoir lake south of Bristol. To solve the "Lady of the Lake" mystery, and save a woman unjustly accused, Sussex Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond must find two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen, and defy his superiors.

You may remember that I have a bit of a crush on Peter Lovesey. I fell head over heels in love with The Reaper when I read it out of the blue and also quite enjoyed Upon a Dark Night which turned out to be fifth in a series. The Last Detective happens to be the first in the Peter Diamond and when I saw it at a local bookstore, I snapped it up.

The Last Detective was just as great as I wanted it to be. Diamond is already in hot water right off the bat, having been moved to Bath from London due to a scandal what was not really his fault. When a naked woman is found floating in a local lake, Diamond and his anxious team take the case. 

What I love about Lovesey is that he creates so much detail and richness in his plots that it's easy to get lost in them and even forget you're reading a mystery at times. Two whole sections are just witness testimony filled with details that aren't relevant but show a depth that you don't normally get with thrillers. All the characters are real, flawed and have clear motivations. 

The only problem I had with this novel was that the edition I was reading, the Soho Press Twentieth Anniversary Edition, was riddled with typos. I'll forgive a few but one of the subheadings of the section, a page that only has one phrase on it, was titled (instead of 'the men in white coats') the men in white goats. It was pretty embarrassing, especially as I usually really enjoy Soho Press. 

The mystery is delightful enough, though, that I made it through those blunders and found myself quite content with the solution. It wasn't perfect or pretty but it made sense and felt more real than you often find. I look forward to reading more Lovesey in the future. 

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffery Eugenides

I'd previously read The Marriage Plot by Eugenides last year and was curious to read more by him. I'd heard a lot about The Virgin Suicides and decided to give it a try. It sounded intriguing and I was up for some drama.

The Virgin Suicides is told from a strange collective first person narrator, an aging group of boys that are remembering the Lisbon sisters that used to live in their old neighborhood. The five sisters, each interesting in her own way but remembered as a collective by the boys, all killed themselves one summer when they were in high school. No one ever really figured out why.

The standout character from The Virgin Suicides is obviously Lux, the one sister that becomes more of an individual in the eyes of the boys, separate from her sisters. She embodies what the boys think about the girls and is a shining example of an early manic pixie dream girl. She is the one that acts as a link between the boys that admire her and her sisters who seem to shun outsider attention. 

I'm still not sure how I feel about the narration, if you haven't noticed by the fact that I keep mentioning it. It feels really creepy to me, seeing how the girls are more of an idea to the boys than actual human beings. Also, due to the collective pronouns used, you're never sure who is actually talking, which adds to the creepy vibe.

I really enjoyed the plot, even with its strange self-destination type referencing. I honestly wanted to know how and why the girls killed themselves, since you're expecting it, it being the title of the novel and all. The lack of resolution only adds to the mystery, especially since you realize that of course the boys are never going to understand. They never truly understood the girls anyway. They were as close as outsiders ever got but they never understood and that is the true tragedy. Very interesting, very intriguing novel.

Blindness - Jose Saramago

You know those books that you know are really good and you know you should read and you know you'll probably like but you can never quite make yourself pick up? Yeah, that was Blindness for me for awhile. I really liked the idea of the plot and the author had won the Nobel for Literature the year before it was published so that gives you an idea of its quality. Nevertheless, it sat quite sadly on my bookshelf for months. 

However, with my imminent departure from the UK and the lack of room in my suitcase for books (and the ridiculously exorbitant amount they expect you to pay for shipping), I have started reading everything and anything I own and then, almost immediately, giving it to a friend I think might like it. And so it was with Blindness.

Blindness tells the story of a sudden epidemic of a new kind of blindness. One day, as a man sits in his car, waiting for the light to change, he no longer can see. It isn't a dark blindness, either; he can only see a bright white. A good samaritan helps him back to his home but then proceeds to steal his car. When his wife gets home, she takes the man to the eye doctor who has never seen anything like it. The next day, the "good samaritan", the eye doctor and various patients in the clinic that day become blind, as well.

As the blindness moves from person to person, seemingly from just making eye contact with each other, the government begins to worry and quarantines the blind and the infected into old mental hospitals. However, as the government begins to fall apart, the blind become rowdy and without a clear leadership, criminals begin to take over the ward.

Throughout all this, there is one character who can always see. The eye doctor's wife never goes blind but fakes it so that she can accompany her husband to the quarantine. She spends the novel trying to help but also having to pretend that she is also blind. It is with her character we are supposed to empathize with (and I did, at least) and her character that we see the suffering of the others.

The plot of Blindness is quite brilliant. It is always interesting and page turning, never growing dull. I also really enjoyed the narrative voice. It was a bit meandering, in the best kind of way, throwing in asides and ideas so much that the narrator became a sort of invisible character, someone watching a movie with you and making up comments as they go along.

The only thing that bothered me about Blindness, to be honest, was the formatting and some editing choices. Most of the story is told in huge, chunky paragraphs with long, run on sentences whose endings and beginnings don't make a ton of sense. While I understand at least part of the choice to do this, throwing the reader into a disorientated state with the characters, not allowing you to skim by forcing you to concentrate on long paragraphs, I still didn't enjoy it. But what can I say? I'm not a Nobel winner.

I did quite enjoy Blindness and found the plot very interesting. While it's not a super thriller, it's definitely page turning and I would recommend it, as long as you're up for the challenge.

Oh! And there's a lovely movie starring Julienne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. A great adaptation of the book. I think the end works particularly well in the movie version, I thought.

Ghostwritten - David Mitchell

After reading (and falling in love with) Cloud Atlas earlier this year, I definitely wanted to read another David Mitchell book and see what he could do in other stories. I had bought myself Ghostwritten when I finished my dissertation and hadn't sat down to read it yet. As I'm moving soon and trying to get rid of a lot of my books, I decided to start it.

Ghostwritten, much like Cloud Atlas, is written in sections. Each section is a different area of the globe and a different character. Sometimes the section is only one day in their life and sometimes it's whole months following them. Each character is a unique voice and each has something a bit strange going on. Sometimes there's a ghost involved, a noncorpus, a dopelganger. Sometimes there's something a bit technological like the Zookeeper and sometimes there's just a doomsday cult. Each of these characters is just living his or her own life in a world populated by the others but through Mitchell's prose, you see how each of them, despite being worlds away and incredibly different, impact each other. 

I devoured this book. I was just completely taken aback by how good it is. I like this idea of cutting a book into sections and then using each section as a way to make an individual work that will play into the whole. Cloud Atlas did this with time and Ghostwritten does this with place. You are very aware that things are happening at different ends of the globe, in differing levels of schooling, poverty and success. Still, somehow, each characters' choices and actions impact each other to an astounding degree. 

Another thing I loved was the fact that Ghostwritten seems to take place in the same world as Cloud Atlas. There are characters from CA that show up in Ghostwritten as side characters. I really appreciated that and there were even hints in Ghostwritten towards events that would happen in Cloud Atlas. Although these books were written years apart, I love the idea that Mitchell created characters he liked and them kept them, exploring their lives in later books. 

Beyond his character creation and lovely fluidity of plot, Mitchell is also a great wordsmith. He can describe things in a way that makes them real and immediate. I particularly love a passage where he describes the different London tube lines as different personalities. He says, "The Victoria Line for example, breezy and reliable. The Jubilee Line, the young disappointment of the family, branching out to the suburbs, eternally  having extensions planned, twisting round to Greenwich, and back under the river out east somewhere. The District and Circle Line, well, even Death would rather fork out for a taxi if he's in a hurry."It's just one of those things where you read, think 'yes', and move on with a smile on your face. 

I absolutely adored Ghostwritten and think you should definitely give it a try. I want to read everything Mitchell's ever written now. I'm quite the fan.

The Pirate Prince - Gaelen Foley

I'm going to do something right now that I honestly never thought I'd do: I'm going to sit in the British Library and type up a review of a romance novel I actually love to pieces. It's name? The Pirate Prince.

I first read The Pirate Prince my sophomore year of college. I lived with two other English majors and we had taken to buying romance novels and sharing them around, like some sort of vaguely sketchy library. Every novel bought was not for us but for the three of us and I guess you could say we had kind of a socialism utopia going on in that room, if only of the romance novel variety.

My best friend A had first read The Pirate Prince and told me I had to read it. I looked at it a bit questioningly (the cover seemed horrendous and seriously, The Pirate Prince?) but I trusted her judgement and jumped on in. So glad I did.

The Pirate Prince is the story of two ridiculously star-crossed heroes. First we have Allegra, the daughter of the governor of Ascension, an island nation around Italy in the late 1700s. She has spent the past nine years in school in Paris and has come back to her homeland with some new, radical ideas the bustling capital of instilled in her. She isn't happy with the way her father is ruling the kingdom.

Someone else unhappy with her father? Lazar de Fiore, the rightful king of Ascension. There was a coup when he was quite young and his entire family was killed. He only escaped by jumping into the sea. Now, grown up and, well, a pirate prince, he has come back to his home in order to reclaim his throne. 

Lazar's plan goes surprisingly well and he ends up capturing a good number of the city officials. However, Allegra agrees to accompany him if he spares her father and the rest of her family. Thinking this is probably a more holy move (a family murder being what brought him here in the first place) and getting a pretty girl in the bargain, Lazar agrees. And thus begins the silliest but loveliest romance novel I have ever read.

Allegra is a strong female lead and I love her. She is no push over, saying no to Lazar more often than she says yes. She has her own views and opinions on how things she be done and she almost marries a man she doesn't love solely in order to be able to help the people of Ascension. Not that romance novels usually have weak heroines (you would be surprised), Allegra is definitely feisty, smart and just interesting to read about.

But let's just put that aside so I can talk about my favorite aspect of this book: Lazar de Fiore. He is my favorite male lead, possibly of al time. Why? Because he is the most ridiculous hero I have ever read about. First of all, he has the darkest past imaginable. His entire family was murdered in front of him, he was found washed up on a shore by an evil man who forced him to do evil things and then he rescued himself and became a pirate, ultimately trying to regain his throne. That's pretty dark.

Lazar, though? Not dark at all. In fact, pretty silly. I think the reason I love this book so much is that I would just burst out laughing at pretty much everything he does. Also, he's super dramatic, which only makes things better. Due to his humongous angst levels, he keeps a revolver in his desk should he ever reach a breaking point. The only bullet in it? Pure silver. Lazar, you're not a werewolf. What are you doing?

One of my favorite scenes in the entire book, which I still remember and laugh at to this day, is pretty early on after Allegra has agreed to stay with Lazar. They're up in the crow's nest and Lazar has been kind of down in the dumps all day. Allergra, although still not completely on his side, still likes him and decides to try and cheer him up. She asks him what she could do to make him feel better. Lazar perks up and smiles, all puppy dog and goes "You could sleep with me!" Allegra frowns at him and goes "No, I'm not doing that," and Lazar's head goes down again, kind of like "aww, it was worth a try." A and I still quote that at each other. 

Basically, I adore this book because it is just ridiculous. Don't get me wrong; Foley is actually a very good writer. She's written a ton of period romances and each one is meticulously researched. She's also done two sequels to The Pirate Prince, following the lives of Allegra and Lazar's children. (I really hope you don't call spoilers. This is a romance novel, after all.) This, though, is by far my favorite. Way too much plot, ridiculous plot twists and out of this world characters. I love this book. 

A Clash of Kings - George R.R. Martin

And so the saga continues. A Clash of Kings is the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series and a bigger monster than the first. Not that they're going to get any shorter as we go along.

It picks up literally right where the last book left off, exploring the aftermath of the conclusion of the first book. Can you tell I'm trying not to be spoiler-y? This is going to get harder as I go along. Although it seems odd to be worried about spoilers when this book was originally published in 1999. Oh well.

Anyway, the kingdom has become even more split as time goes on and now there are three/four/five (depending on who you count) claims to the Iron Throne. And most everyone has an army on their side. It's no surprise that the epic finale of this novel is a giant battle. It was only a matter of time.

Now, one thing that is very different in this book than the first is its focus. Game of Thrones was all about political double crossing and court rumors. Now that there are tons of people claiming the throne, it becomes a lot more focused around war. Which is to be expected. However, it did make it harder for me to read because, if I'm being honest, I get really bored with battle scenes. Although I know they're necessary, it's very hard for a writer to portray a battle scene with enough intensity and skill for me to actually be able to picture what is going on. If I can't picture it, I get bored and skim. To sometimes disastrous results, such as missing a major character's death. 

I'm not saying that Clash of Kings isn't good. I definitely raced through it, although I did hit a point in the middle where I got a bit out of it. It's just that I'm not in it for the big battles. I'm in it for Jon Snow up at the wall, for the continuing adventures of Arya Stark (does she not have the best storyline?), for cheeky Renly and awkward Stannis face-offs and weird friendships between the Hound and Sansa Stark. All of that was in Clash of Kings and I'm grateful. I just want more of that and less of epic chapters depicting a battle I could only vaguely picture. 

Although if you want to stick Dany in more confusing labyrinthine magic houses, I'm down for that. Because that was awesome.

Clash of Kings is definitely as intriguing as the first, just more about war than Game of Thrones. Which is understandable as they are heading (at?) war time now. And I know it will only get worse. I'm currently 100 pages into Storm of Swords and so far, so good. Characterization please, hold the battle scenes.

Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

I didn't want to get sucked into it. I really didn't. I did, however, kind of want to watch the show and decided that, the weekend after I finished work experience, I would have myself a nice marathon of HBO's Game of Thrones. 

Did I mention I was doing work experience at HarperCollins? And that on my last day, I discovered the employee store?

So, of course, the day before I had planned a marathon of Game of Thrones, I came out with all the books in paperback (which I had gotten for an astounding pound fifty.) Which meant, of course, I was going to have to read them first. 

If you have absolutely no idea what Game of Thrones is about, don't worry: I really didn't either. It's not high fantasy and it's not just blood and gore. It's really, at its heart, a historical novel that just doesn't happen to be based on real history. 

At the beginning of the novel, we join the Starks, a lord and his family that live up on their estate at Winterfell, keeping control of the North. However, the king, an old friend of Ned Stark from when they were young, journeys up to meet him and ask him to be his new Hand (sort of like a chief advisor/vice president), due to the unfortunate sudden death of his old Hand, another friend of theirs from youth. Reluctantly, Stark agrees and sets in motion this epically complicated and intricate tale about different warring families. 

Those of you that have heard it's basically the War of the Roses? Well, the two main houses are Stark and Lannister so you decide. :)

One thing I found very surprising about this novel was how quickly it read. Don't get me wrong; it's a monster at 780 or so pages. However, each chapter is no more than tennish pages and is told in varying points of view. The first chapter is told by Bran, the seven year old son of Ned Stark, only to get views from different members of his family (although, now that I think of it, not from Robb), various people of other houses and other characters that don't seem to be involved at all but we know they will become important later (I'm looking at you, Dany.) So, as you are reading through, you may find yourself flipping ahead, wondering when you're going to get to Arya again or catch up with Jon. Or that may just be me.

Another surprising thing, and I will say this right now so you don't find yourself trapped like I am, is that this whole first 750 page book? Is just the set up. It ends and that's when you know that things are really going to start happening. And it took 750 pages to get there. Can you imagine how long and epic this series is going to be? What I'm saying is, be careful. This series is a time investment.

However, it is surprisingly wonderful. I tore through the first book in a week or so. I'm halfway through book two at the moment. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it and am really looking forward to reading more. If you think fantasy or medieval nonsense isn't your thing, give it a try. You may be surprised.

Castle in the Air/House of Many Ways - Diana Wynne Jones

Both Castle and House are sequels to Jones's classic, Howl's Moving Castle. However, since much has been said about Howl already, both are set in different kingdoms not explored in the original novel. Both, as well, feel very different from the original.

Castle in the Air was the first sequel to Howl, coming out in 1990 and was set in a southern kingdom not really even referenced in Howl. Our hero is a young carpet seller in this Arabian Nights-themed kingdom who comes upon a magic carpet. He discovers that falling asleep on it causes it to take him to the castle of lovely young princess named Flower-in-the-Night who he, of course, falls head over heels in love with. Since this is a novel, though, things go horribly wrong when flower is stolen by an evil djinn and Abdullah, our young carpet peddler, is suspected of the crime and must go on a quest to find her again.

Although I enjoyed it, this sequel felt quite weak to me. None of the characters were quite interesting to me and the only real high points were when characters from Howl made an appearance. The plot was definitely quite original but it lacked the charm of Howl and was just simply not enough to make it truly special.

The second sequel to Howl, House of Many Ways, did not appear on shelves until 2008, a full 22 years after the original. Charmain Baker, a young girl raised to be very proper in the northern kingdom of High Norland, who finds herself suddenly the caretaker of a distant relation's house while he is away due to illness. Of course, that relation also happens to be the royal wizard and Charmain finds herself trying to navigate a labyrinthine house, dealing with disgruntled kobolds and putting up with some new acquaintances. And, naturally, a few of our old friends make guest appearances.

It seems really unsettling to have such a large time period between the first two books in the series and the last. Of course, House was not supposed to the last book, Jones wanting to write more but she was unfortunately taken away from us in 2011. House, however, is a fitting ending to the series. Charmain is a strong female character, if not quite up to par with Sophie. Along with Peter, her other house guest, they make an interesting pair with their contrasting strengths and weaknesses. While perhaps not being quite as lovable as Howl, House is definitely a worthy sequel.

Both books are quite charming, if perhaps not quite to the standard of the first. The problem is that Howl was just a really stunning book, a nice mix of clever writing, a surprisingly intricate plot and some lovely characters. The other books just couldn't quite revive the formula. They are nice, however, and will answer your questions as to what happened to the old gang after Howl ended. And do you really want to miss Howl disguised as a three year old boy? No, no you don't.

From Hell - Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

I'd always wanted to read From Hell but had never really had the motive to buy the huge graphic novel. Luckily, however, my graphic novel book club decided to read it for the latest meeting and not only did I get to buy it, I got a discount as well. Lucky!

However, since the meeting got postponed and now I can't attend the next one, I thought I'd turn my thoughts into a review. Because, honestly, this book needs to be talked about.

Originally released in 10 issues, the collected novel tells the story of the Jack the Ripper murders through an extremely convoluted but very ingenious theory linking events and answering almost everything there is to question about the situation. 

What makes the book really unique, however, is that Moore does away with all of the whodunit and makes this more of a how and why done it. You know right from the beginning who the murderer is; it's never a question. The reader follows right from the beginning with the birth of a bastard royal through to the retirement of the policemen involved and "Jack's" death. In the 120 years or so since the murders, who the killer is has been discussed to death. This new take on the issue is a breath of fresh air.

The complicated web of theory that Moore creates is impressive and confusing. It is just unimaginable how he came up with his solutions. Almost anything that could be conceivably questioned is answered. But at the same time, he also likes to throw in people and events that are timely but not necessarily connected. Oscar Wilde appears for no reason other than he was conveniently alive and in the neighborhood when one scene was being written. Although it's fun to see Wilde, it does sit a little uneasily.

Truly, both the downside and the incredibly helpful thing of this book are the notes in the back. When I began reading this at first, I got through about the first four chapters before being confused by a panel and flipping back to see the endnotes. And that's when I realized that this is what I was supposed to be reading. Notes are pages long and explain things that there is no earthly way you would have figured out on your own. I had to go back and begin again; this time, I read a few pages, then the notes, constantly flipping back and forth. 

Without the notes, I doubt I would have gotten a quarter of what I got out of the book. They explain a lot and even go into more depth with things briefly mentioned. Casual remarks would have been overlooked of their significance and I would not have recognized important characters. However, is a book truly readable if you have to read the notes to truly understand it? I can't imagine reading through the entire thing without touching the notes and actually knowing what the entire plot is, ignoring the small details. I was getting lost while reading, hence why I turned to the notes in the first place. Is that a good sign?

No matter what you think, the book is definitely thought provoking, entertaining and all around a good read. I was really looking forward to discussing this with my comic book friends but all you out there in internet land will have to take over for me. What are your thoughts? 

Oh, and there was a movie with Johnny Depp at some point. Ignore that. It's rubbish.

[035] The Case of the Cottingley Fairies - Joe Cooper

The Case of the Cottingley Fairies by Joe Cooper

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

In 1917 two cousins living in West Yorkshire claimed to have photographed fairies. Their story captured the imagination of British society, but why were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the theosophist Edward Gardner and many others so willing to be convinced that the photographs were genuine? Had Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths really seen fairies at the bottom of the garden?

Joe Cooper interviewed Elsie and Frances over six years and he researched the case their prevarications give way to confessions. But to her death Frances maintained that "there were fairies at Cottingley" and the last photograph of 'The Fair Bower' has never been satisfactorily explained. 

The Case of the Cottingley Fairies gives a balanced insider's account of the affair. Joe Cooper, who was an advisor on the film about the affair, Fairytale: A True Story, has uncovered a strange and twisting tale that reveals a great deal about the human will to believe. 

Why I Picked It Up:

I'd always been intrigued by the story of the Cottingley Fairies but had never really read much up on it. This seemed like a good chance to investigate.

What I Think:

Now, I'm not particularly one for non-fiction. I distinctly remember thinking as a young girl "Who would read non-fiction when there's so much fiction in the world?" I'd much rather be enveloped in a strange world or come of age with a confused child or watch two kids overcome a dystopian government than read about something that actually happened. 

As with anything, there are a few exceptions to this rule. I've read (and own) every book that Bill Bryson has ever put out (my hero for all time!) and will devour books on the history or development of the English language. Dorky? Yes. To each their own, I suppose. Everyone has those things that interest them. 

Something else that has always interested me is the unexplained. I love mysteries, both of the literal and the supernatural kind. I read about ghosts and Bigfoot and all that good stuff and have since I was a little girl. So a story about the two girls who claimed to photograph fairies? Right up my alley.

For the surprisingly larger number of people than I assumed that don't know the backstory of the Cottingley Fairies, here's a short idea of what happened: In the 1910s, in a small village in England, two cousins (Elsie, 16 and Frances, 10) went out one day with one of their father's cameras and came back claiming to have taken shocking pictures. Over a period of a few years, five photographs came out of the girls with what appeared to be fairies. Okay, there's one with a gnome, but still. 

This set the rural English community abuzz. They gained quite a reputation for awhile, including gaining the interest of the wonderful but kind of occult-y Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The photographs were published and gained both tons of believers and tons of people calling it a hoax. The girls kept silent, though, claiming that they were real fairies.

Years passed and the photos would come up from time to time. Both girls grew up, married and had families. It wasn't until the eighties, when the girls were both old ladies, that they confessed the the photographs were cardboard cutouts from one of their children's books. Elsie claims this of all the photos while Frances says that the fifth and final of the pictures is real. Both of them have now passed.

It's a great story, to be sure, and definitely made for a good book. This is the kind of thing that makes a fiction girl read non-fiction.

The only problem?

This book was written by perhaps the strangest narrative voice I have ever read. Joe Cooper is a joke (no offense, Joe). He believes in fairies. 100%. He is sure that fairies exist and somehow, some parts of the photos are real. 

Now, I'm all for believing in the unbelievable but it seems hard to me when he has interviewed the actual people, been told to his face that it was a fraud and then still gone on believing it. The book, obviously, is completely biased towards the occult and the existence of many fairy tale creatures. Do I want to believe in elves, fairies and gnomes? Yes. Do I? No. Does Joe Cooper? You better believe it.

This book could have been handled extremely well by someone who wouldn't have taken a personal stance, by someone who wouldn't demonize the girls but also wouldn't claim that fairies existed in real life. It's this over-the-top belief system that makes the book more silly than serious and hard to read. It honestly was a struggle to get through. Read it if you're interested but take everything with a grain of salt.

[031] A Darker Place - Laurie R. King

A Darker Place by Laurie R. King

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

A respected university professor, Anne Waverly has a past known to few: Eighteen years ago, her own unwitting act cost Anne her husband and young daughter. Fewer still know that this history and her academic specialty --alternative religious movements-- have made her a brilliant FBI operative. Four times she has infiltrated suspect communities, escaping her own memories of loss and carnage to find a measure of atonement. Now, as she begins to savor life once more, she has no intention of taking another assignment. Until she learns of more than one hundred children living in the Change movement's Arizona compound....

Anne presents herself to Change as the eager, pliable seeker, Ana Wakefield. But Anne soon realizes that this is no ordinary community and hers is no ordinary mission. For, far from appeasing the demons of her past, this assignment is sweeping her back into their clutches...and to the razor's edge of danger.

Why I Picked It Up:

It had a shiny gold sticker on the front that said "EXPORT EDITION: Not available in the U.S." Obviously this meant I must read it.

What I Think:

This book had been waiting for me on the shelf for months. I can't tell you how many times I pulled it three quarters of the way off the shelf, skimmed the back, did the stereotypical "hmmm", slid it back and ultimately pick another book for the week. To be honest, although the back of the book sounded halfway interesting, I highly doubt I would have ever actually grabbed it if not, on that particular day, I had not seen the giant shiny gold cover that adorned the cover: EXPORT EDITION: Not available in the U.S. It was a sign. Anything I couldn't do in America was going to have to happen.

This book is definitely what I call a "wannabe thriller." It has all the makings of a good suspenseful novel but somehow does not manage to tie its strings together to make a "can't put it down" novel. Not that it's horrible or anything; it just isn't what it wants to be.

We start off meeting Anne Waverly from the eyes of an outsider, appropriately. We see her tough, no-nonsense exterior and (hopefully) are intimidated by her. The first eighty or so pages are then devoted to Anne dealing with past demons and deciding whether she is going to take this latest undercover cult case, while unconsciously preparing herself to leave. 

Perhaps this part is what I found the hardest to deal with. I can't tell you how many times I googled the author's name, trying to figure out whether this was part of a series or a stand alone. The way she only vaguely mentions past incidents really sounds like a story you should already know the details of. I fully support the idea of creating more backstory than you need in order to know more completely the character that you're writing but there are times you keep said backstory in your own mind. It all depends on the amount you let through the cracks; an inordinate amount creates more confusion of the reader than character depth.

So Anne or Ana or whatever her name is at any given time (the author spells it different ways to let you know what frame of mind she's in) drives to Arizona to infiltrate the Change compound. The book picks up a little bit around this point. New characters are introduced and once the plot places you within a cult that may or may not be threatening, it's hard not to be suspenseful. 

Anne immediately bonds with a young girl named Dulcie who looks remarkably like her late daughter. Dulcie also has an older brother, Jason, whom Anne's feelings towards made me a little uncomfortable to read, to be quite honest. Her feelings for Dulcie and Jason and of course, the other children of the compound become the driving force of the novel.

The novel meanders through twists and turns as Anne finds out more and more about the different levels of hierarchy of the cult and the foundations of its theology. The whole thing takes a strange turn with a last minute change of scenery. New characters come out of nowhere and the climax comes almost out of the blue, as the page numbers grow higher and higher but the facts you're waiting for are yet to appear. 

This is the biggest fault of the novel: the climax comes out of nowhere and leaves no time for a denouement. Now, this wouldn't be a problem if there were a sequel that could use the first twenty pages or so to clear up unanswered questions but the book ends so suddenly that it leaves you wondering what exactly just happened. Even an epilogue would do at this point. 

Now, the novel isn't horrible in any sense of the word. It has a unique idea and creates, if not sympathetic, then interesting characters. There are just a lot more questions than answers in this book that leave the reader more confused than satisfied when finally setting it down. 

[027] The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Stephen King

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror. 

As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her-- protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods...

Why I Picked It Up:

This novel has been sitting on my bookshelf at home since I was eleven. It was time to actually read it.

What I Think:

I was raised to love horror. My father needed someone to take to scary movies and watch late night sci fi and horror television with as it was made quite clear in the beginning of their marriage that my mother was not going to be that person. After taking her to see Predator when she was pregnant with me, my mother officially swore off horror movies and left the task of amusing her husband to her unborn child. As soon as I was able to, I heartily enjoyed my calling.

As such, I've been well acquainted with Stephen King for a long time. Although I can't for the life of me remember the first Stephen King I encountered, my greatest memory of him is reading It over summer break before high school. I had always liked the television movie and found, to my delight, that the novel was even better. King's style played up everything and while I usually find it hard to get spooked by a book, I remember having to put the book down a few evenings because I was starting to stare over my shoulder a few more times than was warranted. To this day, that book remains in my top five. 

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was actually given to me by my beloved Aunt Shannon when I was around eleven years old. She had read it, enjoyed it and said that the main girl reminded her of me so she gave me my own copy. I was a pretty precocious reader back in those days so it really wasn't all that strange to give me a copy of a Stephen King book. I was really grateful, stuck the book on the bookshelf and there it stands to this day. I would glance over at it every once in awhile, think "I should read that" and then go about my daily life. So when I found the book at Ogikubo, just sitting on the shelf, I knew I had to pick it up.

This novel is intense but it's very good. Very quickly into the book, Trisha goes off the path while hiking with her brother and mother to use the bathroom, mostly because she's annoyed they're not listening to her. She tries to return via shortcut and soon discovers that she can't really find her way back to the path. The next two hundred pages chronicle her wanderings in the wilderness with just the clothes on her back, a packed lunch, a poncho and her Walkman. 

There's something really interesting about a book centered on a solitary figure like that. Every once in a blue moon, King will give a throwaway reference to what's going on in the search for Trisha but 99% of the book is just Trisha and her thoughts. She makes good decisions and bad ones but almost everything is done on a whim or based on information she thinks she remembers hearing once. Days pass and you watch her slowly run out of food and water, withering down to a stalk of a girl, endlessly trying to find traces of civilization. 

As the novel progresses, however, a strange presence starts to follow Trisha. Obviously it wouldn't be Stephen King without a spooky element. The greatness of this "God of the Lost" that is stalking Trisha is that it's not introduced until a few days into her journey, at which point she has already hallucinated sounds and images. This could be a horror novel or just a survival novel with a slow descent into insanity. The ambiguity is delicious. 

One drawback for me is that I don't know baseball as well as I should. Although I am a Mariner's fan, I admit that it has been pretty recent and I don't know much about the sport. The book is framed in the style of a baseball game, the chapter titles different innings. If I knew more about baseball, I'm sure this would give me a lot more insight but, unfortunately, it was one of those "I know this is awesome but I'm missing it" moments. 

The whole book really does have a baseball theme. Trisha loves the Red Sox and tries to keep her sanity by listening to games and thinking about her favorite player, Tom Gordon. Gordon eventually becomes a constant hallucination by her side and ends up giving her advice when she is at her last challenge. It's an interesting motif  and spin on the "lost in the woods" story that has been told so often.

As this is Stephen King, I wasn't entirely sure how the book was going to end. Was she going to be rescued? Was she going to die in the woods? It could honestly have gone either way. And the ending did not disappoint. I won't spoil it, obviously, but there is definitely a worthy conclusion to the feverish tale.

I would highly recommend this book. It's a pretty quick read, between page length and page-turner statuses, and for those who don't really enjoy horror, it's honestly not all that scary. If you've ever slightly jumped while camping or looked up quickly when you heard a twig snap, then this is for you.

[25] Girl With a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier

Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

"Chevalier is a master of the telling detail, the evocative image... Through such detail, Chevalier draws the reader into the world of the painting, into the mood of the masterpiece she explores: moving, mysterious, at times almost unbearably poignant. Sometimes it seems so strong the reader can almost sense it, feel it breathing all around. This is a novel which deserves, and I am sure will win, a prize -- or two."

- The Times

Why I Picked It Up:

I like historical fiction and vaguely remembered a movie based on it.

What I Think:

Girl With a Pearl Earring is yet another novel that spawned a movie that I had heard more about than the original book. The movie came out when I was just out of middle school and I only vaguely remember it as the first movie where I knew who Scarlett Johansson was. I may have known that it was based on a novel of the same name but as I never saw the movie, I never though much of the book.

Last week, when I looked through the shelves (after already grabbing The Reader), I noticed this book and thought "Oh, yeah. I've heard of this." It had a very intriguing cover and there were rave reviews on the back of the book. It sounded interesting and possibly amazing, if the reviewers weren't crazy. I'm always down for a good book and decided on those two for the next two weeks (little did I know I'd finish them both in six days). 

What I think is the most interesting part of this novel is actually the basic concept of it, itself. I love that the author took a famous painting by a mysterious but famous painter and decided to write a backstory for it. It's really a genius idea. Little is known about Vermeer the man and what little is known is interesting. He lived in a tiny Dutch village all his life. He had fifteen children, eleven of whom survived to adulthood. He was always on the edge of poverty, skyrocketing just before his death. He sounds like an intriguing character.

He, however, is not the protagonist. Our heroine is Griet, daughter of a tile painter who was recently blinded in an accident. Due to the family's turn in fortune, she is required to go work for the Vermeer family as a maid. It's a downturn in her status, the mother and third daughter cannot stand her for unknown reasons, and (worst of all) the Vermeers are a Catholic family in a Protestant town. Griet, along with everything else, has to deal with religious iconography following her around the house. 

Most of the novel deals with her changing lifestyle, getting used to being a maid, the advances of the butcher's son, family politics she carefully maneuvers around. However, she was specifically hired for one duty: cleaning the painter's studio. Because of this, she is envied by some in the house for her access to such a private place (which even his wife isn't allowed inside). The novel plays with this intimacy and all the different stages Griet goes through with Vermeer. There is a strange sense of longing through most of the book, evoked by painting.

Several paintings are described in detail as he works on them and it's interesting to read a book and be able to go online and see the images for oneself. This sounds awful, I know, and forgive me art critics but honestly, most of the paintings sounded more impressive in the novel than they looked on the internet. I don't know if that says something good about Chevalier's writing or something bad about my eye for famous art.

There is an interesting device the author uses of never mentioning Vermeer by name. All the characters in the book are adressed as Griet, Catharina, Cornelia, and so on but Vermeer is always simply 'he'. At first, it was vaguely uncomfortable but it does create an intriguing sense of distance and respect, as if he is not a man but some sort of other being. It certainly affects the characters in the novel and it's fascinating to watch it play out.

It is interesting to read historical fiction like this, to go through a typical day with Griet as she hand washes the laundry, goes to the butcher and the fishmonger and sometimes even the apothecary. Despite being so far in the past, Griet is a good narrator, a smart girl with a good head on her shoulders that just has a lot to deal with in her life. She is as relatable as she could be, given the circumstances and, I feel, how much you liked her as a narrator will correspond with how much you enjoy the end of the novel.

The one thing I don't understand about this book, however, is the reviews for it. It's a fine book, to be sure, but I don't really see what it deserves an award for. It's entertaining, well written and enjoyable but it's not particularly deep or moving. I didn't come out of this novel feeling like I learned a lesson about life or love or anything in particular, except perhaps be wary of famous painters and the effect they could have on your life. I'm not saying the book is bad, far from it; I'm just saying that it's nothing super special, either. 

Either way, though, it's a good read and I would recommened it. Just don't expect it to change anything but your views on seventeenth century Holland.

[024] The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

"Bernhard Schlink's extraordinary novel The Reader is a compelling meditation on the connections between Germany's past and its present, dramatised with extreme emotional intelligence as the story of a relationship between the narrator and an older woman. It has won deserved praise across Europe for the tact and power with which it handles its material, both erotic and philosophical."

-Independent Saturday Magazine

Why I Picked It Up:

I had enjoyed Catcher in the Rye so much that I wanted to read something heavy-ish. A book about Nazism and questionably appropriate relationships that inspired an award winning movie? Sounded like it fit the bill.

What I Think:

When I came to Japan as an exchange student almost two years ago now, The Reader (the movie) was just being released on this side of the world. Of course, it had already had its heyday in America and I knew a bit about it, as I tend to know a bit about every movie that comes out, nevermind whether I end up seeing it or not. I remember taking the train to university every morning and seeing the banner for the movie hanging from the carriage's ceiling and laughing at what the Japanese had titled the movie. 

The Japanese title of the movie roughly translated to "The Person Who Reads Love." I found this hilarious. What little I knew about the movie at this point was this: Kate Winslet played a female Nazi who was having an affair with an underaged boy. Somehow books were involved. I could not think of a less romantic story to have such a romantic title. I chalked it up to a case of the Japanese not really grasping the point of some movies and marketing it their own way.

To this day, I haven't seen the movie. I know that it won a lot of awards and Kate Winslet even got the Oscar for her performance in it but I'm not really one for serious movies most of the time and it didn't really appeal to me. Whenever I thought of the title, the only image that came to mind was Hugh Jackman doing his Oscar opening montage and singing, with people dressed in metallic suits behind him, "The Reader~ I didn't see The Reader~"

With all of this bizarre lead up to the novel, I knew to expect something deep and possibly very sad. That was what I was in the mood for. But the novel was nothing like what I expected and it blew me away.

The Reader is told in three parts, all from the point of view of a man named Michael Berg at different stages in his life, as if he is looking back and reflecting in old age. The first section recounts his relationship with a woman named Hanna when he was only fifteen years old. His early descent into sensuality and carnality leaves its mark on him for years to come. This is the section of the plot that it seems most of the promotion for the movie centered around. When I told my mother I read The Reader, she responded with "I've never seen that movie. All I know is that Kate Winslet was naked a lot." Which is probably true but if that's all one focuses on, one would miss the point.

The second section (and my particular favorite) has Michael in college, taking a class on the law and how the government is dealing with the repercussions of Nazi Germany. Michael attends a war crimes trial as part of his class and is surprised to see Hanna again after many years, this time as a defendant in the case. This causes Michael to reconsider a lot of beliefs he thought he held and struggle with philosophical questions that even the reader will have to really consider as they follow along. 

The third and final section finds Michael as a man who has lived a sort of life and is dealing with the echoes of his unusual past when he is forced to confront something he never really wanted to. 

This novel is a beautiful piece of work, told in a very simplistic style that both blunts ideas and veils them. The use of repetition of phrases and themes, the non-romanticly written romance, and the memoir-esque tone all firmly establish a dissonance of distance and intimacy with the narrative, mirroring how Michael deals with the world around him.

The entire book is a long metaphor for how Germany should deal with its past. Michael is a representative of the first generation of Germans post-World War II, the children who could not respect nor understand their parents but still had to learn from them. The books asks questions like can someone have both understanding and condemnation? How exactly is blame established? and Can anything be seen in black and white? 

This is all perfectly incapsulated in the main theme of the book, the secret that Hanna would rather keep than use to help her in court. Michael struggles with his knowledge of it and there really is no right answer. And that is this novel in a nutshell: there is no right answer. There are only humans and actions. What are laws? What is morality? At what stage should you judge by any factor? 

I really enjoyed this novel and it's a surprisingly fast read. It's only a little over 200 pages and the chapters are so short, I found I had finished it in two train rides. Despite that, however, I think it really will stick with me for years to come. Highly recommended, if you're in the mood for some light heavy reading.

[022] Upon a Dark Night - Peter Lovesey

Upon a Dark Night by Peter Lovesey

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

Who is the young woman, and why was she dumped unconscious in a hospital car park upon a dark night?

Named Rose by the social workers, the amnesiac is taken to a hostel until her memory returns. There she meets Ada Shaftsbury, a huge, boisterous shoplifter and compulsive eater, who takes Rose under her wing. Throwing her quite considerable weight into the investigation, Ada helps Rose uncover the trail that will lead to her identity.

Peter Diamond, Bath's top detective, is investigating a suspicious death and is unwilling to get involved. A woman has plunged to her death from a roof in the Royal Crescent, while half the young people of Bath partied in the house below. Accident, suicide or murder?

Badgered by Ada, galvanized by another gruesome death, Diamond is forced to admit that the deaths may be linked, and Rose is the key to the mystery.

Why I Picked It Up:

A love of my previous Peter Lovesey find, The Reaper.

What I Thought:

Everytime I make my biweekly trek to the library, one of the very first shelves I check is the L's, in search of another Lovesey book. To be honest, I never have much hope so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw this book sitting on the shelf. The selection is so small in the library, to find two books by the same author seems nothing short of a small miracle.

Despite the fact that there was a small "A Peter Diamond Mystery" on the front cover, I picked up the book regardless. I had faith that Lovesey would not let me down and that, regardless of what number this book was in the series, it would be able to stand alone so that I could enjoy it (unlike some books I have read). 

Well, I put my faith in the right author.

The key point of this book is all the threads and ideas that are introduced early on never actually come together until the last forty or so pages. On the one hand, we have our amnesiac, Rose, who we follow for the first fourth or so of the novel. Lovesey has created a very powerful image in Rose, describing her amnesia in such detail that you actually start to wonder how she could possibly pick up the pieces of her life. She doesn't even recognize her own face in the mirror when she first wakes up. Her total despondency is intriguing and reels you right into the plot.

Soon (but not too soon) into the book, he introduces who will become our hero, Peter Diamond. Diamond is the head of the murder department of the Bath police, a little gruff, a little over-bearing, a little bit in a competition for dominancy with a younger DCI but overall endearing and very much an everyman. He's a very fully developed character and it takes perhaps a few paragraphs to start to get a grasp on who he is. Lovesey is confident in his work and thus, although he doesn't give us background information on him, Diamond is so well formed that we can figure it all out ourselves. I didn't even know that this book was fifth in an eleven book series until I googled it just now. It could have easily been much earlier on.

As the novel continues, the reader twists and turns through Bath and a number of crimes: the attempted abduction of Rose, a young girl falling to her death at the Royal Crescent, and the apparent suicide of an old hermit out in the middle of nowhere. As the characters press on, ignoring clues, investigating dead ends and gathering information that will later become vital, the seemingly separate plots start to tell a story much different to anything you probably would have guessed.

The true genius of this novel and, indeed, of Lovesey's writing is the way that he paces the plot and uses narrative voices. He employs a few characters for third person limited point of view during early points in the novel and, as the intrigue and danger escalate, he severely limits which characters we interpret the actions through. Without even drawing attention to it, he manages to make the reader worry about characters simply by realizing they haven't been the focus of the chapter in awhile. Little tricks like this really help set the mood of the book and subtly develop the mystery. 

All in all, a few more books and I will happily start calling Peter Lovesey one of my favorite authors. I highly doubt I will find more of his work over here in Tokyo but once I get to an English speaking country again, I am officially on the case.

[021] Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

The Wilderness Years are over! But not for long. At the end of Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget hiccuped off into the sunset with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. Now, in The Edge of Reason, she discovers what it is like when you have the man of your dreams actually in your flat and he hasn't done the washing-up, not just the whole of this week, but ever.

Lurching through a morass of self-help theories and mad advice from Jude and Shazzer, struggling with a boyfriend-stealing ex-friend with thighs like a baby giraffe, an eight foot hole in the living room wall, a mother obsessed with boiled-egg peelers, and a builder obsessed with large reservoir fish, Bridget embarks on a spirtitual epiphany, which takes her from the cappuccino queues of Notting Hill to the palm -- and magic-mushroom-- kissed shores of ...

Bridget is back. V.g. 

Why I Picked It Up:

Nothing says "It's almost time to go home for Christmas!" like a re-read of one of your favorite books.

What I Think:

I think I have covered most of what I have to say about my love of Bridget Jones in my entry on the first novel but I suppose I will say a little bit more about the main plot of the sequel.

If you've only ever seen the movie version of this, get that out of your head right now. Although I personally don't think it's an awful movie, it's definitely not as good as the book and it would be much better if you're not picturing movie scenes as you read. The plot line, although similar, strays a lot from the original plot and the novel is much, much better.

It opens about the same, with Bridget finally together with Mr. Darcy and settling into a comfortable life of domesticity. However, things start to go wrong when too many misunderstandings and not enough discussion begin spiraling out of control.  A frenemy of Bridget's sets her sights on Mark, Bridget keeps jumping to conclusions about things that she never explains quite right, Jude and Shazzar have problems of their own and Tom runs away to San Francisco with an airport attendant. 

Bridget tries to get her life back on track, tries to become an independent journalist and a confident working woman and those plans go just as well as you would expect. She has to face head on her addiction to self-help books and when friend's advice shouldn't be listened to anymore. It's a novel about personal growth, not just for Bridget but for all the characters.

There are some wonderful sideplots with Jude and Shazzar that I am ultimately disappointed they did not include in the movie. Jude and her on again/off again boyfriend 'Vile Richard' go through a lot in the background of this book and it has a big effect on all of the characters. Unfortunately, Richard just gets a passing mention in the first movie. Shazzar, as well, as to deal with the conflict between her non-comprimising feminist views and the relationship she has with a close guy friend. 

I love this novel as it sees the characters from the first book come into their own and achieve happiness not through luck but from really looking at themselves and doing their best to change for the better. It has a great message (if you're looking for messages in your chick lit) and, beyond that, it's just a great read. It's funny, romantic and takes all of about two hours to get through. If you like chick lit, I promise you that you'll love this book.