Review: Matched

Title: Matched
Author: Ally Condie
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (November, 2010)
Pages: 384
Book Source: ARC from Publisher

Ally Condie's new novel Matched opens with Cassia Reyes confronting her future as planned out by the authorities of the very controlled society that she lives in. While she is excited to discover who her match is and what her assigned career will be, she is also beginning to think for herself and question the way things are. Set in a future where everything in society runs perfectly and everyone's needs are met, this novel challenges the reader to think about the systems which we rarely even notice let alone question. It makes you wonder what our future societies will be like and who will be in control.

Matched is a compelling dystopian novel that is aimed at an audience of 12 and up. It is very character driven and the issues that are raised through the characters are universal to young people everywhere. Will you go along with the crowd, or will you make your own path? How to recognize true love and how to remain loyal to your friends. Cassie has to decide whether to remain within the safety of her known controlled environment, or allow her creativity and individuality to flourish. But does Cassie even have any individuality, or is even her rebellion predictable?

I really enjoyed this novel even though it was written for youth. I love the political ideas that come through as well as the easy to follow story line and the likable characters. This novel was all about the confusion and questioning that is part of being a human trying to make individual life choices in the midst of societies structures. The plot of this story is not finished and once you finish you will be eager for the next installment.

Author Site: http://www.allysoncondie.com/

Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Author: Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Publisher: HarperPerennial Modern Classics: 2006
Original Publication: 1937
Pages: 205

From Cover: One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear or foolish romantic reams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published - perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this novel. It really captured the spirit of the character Janie Crawford and her courageous approach to life. The story is told in third person using local dialect for the dialog. The voice of the narrator comes through so strong and clearly - it sets the tone for the entire tale. The setting was intriguing and vividly painted. The story was framed with Janie's return home and flashed back to tell the story of her life. She starts out letting other people make her choices for her but soon learns that this has landed her in a place where her soul is not allowed room to breath.

I did find it a little slow going at times, but I am still glad that I read it. Their Eyes Were Watching God really gives the reader insight into the complexities , trials and joys of a unique individual's existence. Janie is an inspirational character because she took a great risk in order to truly engage with life. She was not selfish in her desire for happiness and she had her fair share of hardships and tragedy. Such a full range of emotions were present in this book. This novel highlighted the dreary realities of life as well as the magic and simplicity to be found if one is willing to grasp the opportunities that come along.

Short Quotes:

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer them." (p.21)
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"... ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery... It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again." (p.10)
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"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches." (p. 8)

Review: The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge

Title: The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge
Author: Patricia Duncker
Publisher: Bloomsbury (2010)
Pages: 260
Book Source: Review copy from Publisher

Back Cover Summary: The bodies are discovered on New Year's Day: sixteen dead in the freshly fallen snow. The adults lie stiff in a semicircle; the children, in pajamas and overcoats, are curled at their feet.

When he gets the report, Commissaire Andre Schweigen knows just who to call: Judge Dominique Carpentier, also known as the "sect hunter". She is the recognized expert in this field, brilliant and relentlessly rational, but Schweigen has his own reasons for wanting her on his case. In the vacated chalet, the investigators uncover an encoded book of celestial maps that points them to the inhospitable doorstep of a composer, Friedrich Grosz. But as the skeptical sect hunter earns the Composer's trust, she finds herself drawn into a world of complex family ties and ancient cosmic beliefs, unable - and increasingly unwilling - to escape.

Interrogating faith, immortality, and passion, The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge is a metaphysical mystery of extraordinary power.

My Thoughts: I found it difficult to decide if I liked this book or not. I was puzzled by the style and pace. It was quite an intriguing read and certainly left an impression - a confusing one. It raised some interesting issues about the tensions between faith, reason and emotion. You are best to judge for yourself if The Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge sounds like the type of book you would like.

The mass suicide that the novel opened with set the story up like a traditional suspense/murder mystery type thing, but as I read on it became apparent that it was just an introduction to a much wider scope of issues. The title was very well chosen. The book is focused on the characters (the Composer and the Judge) puzzling relationship more that it is about any specific crime or events. As the Composer leads the Judge on a strange journey into the heart of his belief system, the Judge struggles to keep control of the relationship. She finds herself intellectually and emotionally off center where her rational mind and disdain for religious cults is no protection against the Composer. "... the Faith had proved to be the one sect that had piqued her interest and commanded her attention, precisely because it was not fraudulent or corrupt."(p.240)

As the Judge collects more information about the cult and spends more time with its leader, the Composer, she finds herself drawn to him and to his daughter. She struggles with her feelings while continuing to investigate the cult. Everything builds to a crescendo when the Judge has to decide if she will accept the role that the Composer wants her to take on.

A Quote: "She saw him clearly at last, beyond her reach, his arms raised in triumph, his face transfigured with certainty and joy."(p.252)

Review: A Hope Undaunted

Title: A Hope Undaunted: A Novel
Author: Julie Lessman
Publisher: Revell (2010)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian Romance
Pages: 505
Book Source: Free copy from Publicist for review

Publisher Summary (from back cover):
The 1920s are drawing to a close, and feisty Katie O'Connor is the epitome of the new woman - smart and sassy with goals for her future that include the perfect husband and a challenging career in law. Her boyfriend Jack fits all her criteria for a husband - good-looking, well-connected, wealthy, and eating out of her hand. But when she is forced to spend the summer of 1929 with Luck McGee, the bane of her childhood existence, Katie comes face-to-face with a choice. Will she follow her well-laid plans to marry Jack? Or will she fall for the man she swore to despise forever?

My Thoughts:
When offered this book for review I accepted because it was set in the 20s and I love that time period (and the cover stood out). I probably should have known that it would not really be my kind of thing. Right from the beginning I knew who Katie would end up with and the author really dragged the process out by including a fair few twists and what-have you that kept the two apart when it was obvious that it would happen eventually. So the suspense was lacking, but to be fair, that is often the case with romance novels. I was hoping that the era would really come through in the setting, but it did not. The focus was on the characters and the 1920s setting seemed incidental. The plot was quite detailed and if you like romance books you may enjoy this one. I would put it at mildly entertaining.

Additional Information: A Hope Undaunted is the first in a series called "Winds of Change". The authors website is at www.julielessman.com

This and That: An Update

Hi all,

Sorry that I don't post very often these days. I have kind of gotten out of the habit of posting on a regular basis. Just lazy with it I guess. I do still read a lot though and I have a very long list of books that I have read but not yet reviewed. None of these books stand out as being exceptional. I did see a movie on Net Flicks recently that I absolutely loved. It is called Bright Star (2009) and is about John Keats. Have any of you seen it?



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810784/

Also, last night I went to Portsmouth NH Music Hall to hear Margaret Atwood speak about her book Year of the Flood. She has such a sense of humor! It was very entertaining to listen to her. I am not sure when it will be posted, but the full audio should be available at this link some time soon: http://www.nhpr.org/node/10072 So if you are an Atwood fan keep a look out for it.

I hope to post some book reviews soon ... so don't give up on me yet!

A Literary Excursion: Waldon Pond

Waldon Pond

The photo above is a replica of author Henry David Thoreau's cabin in the woods

where he went to "live deliberately."

Waldon Pond in the Summer time.

Review: Think of a Number

Title: Think of a Number
Author: John Verdon
Publisher: Crown Publishers (2010)
Pages: 432
Book Source: ARC from Publisher

Think of a Number opens with the arrival of an intriguing poem which claims to know all the secrets of the recipient - including the ability to read his mind. This first letter is followed up by other poems that increase the level of threat and develop the suspenseful plot of the novel. The protagonist Dave Gurney has recently retired from the NYPD where he had quite a reputation for his investigative successes. Dave follows the trail of clues as multiple murders occur and tensions build. Between the cryptic poems and the very unusual murder scenes Dave and the local police have there work cut out for them.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was paced very evenly and the protagonist was developed in enough detail to come through as a complex human being - not just defined by his role as the investigator of the murders. The plot is quite complex and suspenseful without being overwhelmingly so. I was able to follow along and I enjoyed the resolution. I was not bothered by too many loose ends left unresolved. I liked the psychological detail of the murderer as well as the detective Dave Gurney. I don't often read thrillers and was impressed by this one. This is John Verdon's first novel and is satisfyingly well written. I would certainly read more of his work if he continues to write.

Product Review: TV Stand

I posted a few weeks ago that I was soon going to be doing a product review for CSN Stores and I am just now getting to it. The item I ended up choosing was a TV stand because the one we had was a cabinet that I had moved upstairs for anther purpose - which left us with the TV sitting on the floor and us having to sit on the floor to get down to a level to view it comfortably. Which was not comfortable at all!So here is the TV stand that we ordered from CSN Stores. It came quickly and was delivered to our door. My husband put it together quite easily. Nothing was missing or went wrong and I did not hear any swearing during the construction process. The TV stand is sturdy and attractive. I like the clean and simple design. It obviously looks a lot better than the mess of cords and remotes that we had on the floor. So overall I am very happy with the product and the whole process of ordering and delivery went very smoothly.

Library Photos: Bedford Public Library

Bedford Public Library

Note: If you have an interesting library building or library statue photo that you would like posted in this series please email me: thereadingjourney@gmail.com

Review: Stash

Title: Stash
Author: David Klein
Publisher: Broadway Books (2010)
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 352
Book Source: ARC from Publisher

When Gwen Rain decides to buy a small bag of marijuana from an old friend she has no idea how this decision will affect her life. It sets off a chain of events that she has little control over and shows up all the cracks in her seemingly perfect world. Gwen is forced to make many moral choices and by the end of it all two people are dead and she is left with questions about her own role in those deaths. For this stay at home mum the whole situation is out of her range of normal and causes a lot of anxiety for herself and her family.

Stash is all about the moral dilemma's that are part of contemporary suburban life. It poses questions about how individuals deal with the pressures of modern day existence while also maintaining some level of ethical responsibility for their actions. In the confusion and stress of juggling marriage, family, career and financial pressures sometimes one small choice can bring everything crashing down.

Stash is written from multiple perspectives and is quite suspenseful and fast paced. The writing style as well as the content had a very contemporary feel. It is a very plot driven book and the characters are not as thoroughly developed as I generally like. Some characters seemed a bit stereotypical and lacked individuality. The novel was interesting because of its themes and held my attention because of the fast paced and fairly complex plot, but was quite a broad description of suburban life. I would have liked to see creative descriptive details and a greater level of uniqueness so that this book would be more impacting and memorable.

Review: The Lace Reader

Title: The Lace Reader: A Novel
Author: Brunonia Barry
Publisher: Harper (2006)
Pages: 385
Genre: Fiction
Book Source: My Own Copy

Towner Whitney comes back to her home town Salem MA because her aunt has disappeared. Towner had run away years ago from all the heavy issues and secrets in her family and she finds it difficult to return and face it all. Towner comes from a line of women who can read the future in the patterns of lace.

The Lace Reader is told in the first person by Towner, but she is revealed to be an unreliable narrator who's perspectives and memories are tainted by her own mental illness. It is a fairly complex story that is unpredictable. Brunonia Barry unfolds her story piece by piece to reveal the characters and events in a mysterious and sometimes confusing way. Each chapter begins with a little excerpt from "The Lace Reader's Guide" and this sets the tone for that chapter's events.

I thought it was quite intriguing how this book was written from the perspective of someone who has had to endure a lot of tragedy and has been unable to cope with it all. It really gets the reader to think about what it would be like to process through your past when you can not even trust your own mind and memories. There are a lot of issues (such as childhood abuse, death of a loved one, psychological problems etc) that get brought up in this novel and it would not be a good choice if you are looking for a light, fun read. It is easy to loose track and get confused while reading this novel, so you need to just flow with it and not expect to sort it all out as you go. Even at the end I still felt a little unsure if I had gotten it all sorted. Right at the end we discover new information that makes you feel like you need to re-read it to see if it makes sense in light of the final discovery.

Review: Leaving the World

Title: Leaving the World
Author: Douglas Kennedy
Publisher: Atria Paperback (2010)
Genre: Fiction
Book Source: Free copy from publisher

Publisher Description:
On the night of her thirteenth birthday, Jane Howard made a vow to her warring parents: she would never get married, and she would never have children.

But life, as Jane comes to discover, is a profoundly random business. Many years and many lives later, she is a professor in Boston, in love with a brilliant, erratic man named Theo. And then Jane becomes pregnant. Motherhood turns out to be a great welcome surprise—but when a devastating turn of events tears her existence apart she has no choice but to flee all she knows and leave the world.

Just when she has renounced life itself, the disappearance of a young girl pulls her back from the edge and into an obsessive search for some sort of personal redemption. Convinced that she knows more about the case than the police do, she is forced to make a decision—stay hidden or bring to light a shattering truth.

Leaving the World is a riveting portrait of a brilliant woman that reflects the way we live now, of the many routes we follow in the course of a single life, and of the arbitrary nature of destiny. A critically acclaimed international bestseller, it is also a compulsive read and one that speaks volumes about the dilemmas we face in trying to navigate our way through all that fate throws in our path.

My Thoughts:
Leaving the World was an entertaining book that kept me interested throughout. There was certainly a lot going on plot wise. (A little too much to be easily believable actually.) It is told in the first person and the narration flows well. Jane, the protagonist, is a character who is easy to warm to because of her flaws and complications. There are a lot of quirky supporting characters that help to add interest also. The book is divided into sections that correspond to major changes in Jane's life. Some segments seemed to work better than others. I didn't really enjoy the later part where Jane gets caught up in the case of a missing teenage girl. It just didn't seem to fit into the way I would expect Jane to behave.

Douglas Kennedy began Leaving the World with Jane's thirteen year old self vowing to remain single and childless. He then explored how this influenced her subsequent decisions. I thought he did well at portraying Jane as a hurt child who spends much of her adult life trying to protect herself and also gain the love she craves -to basically replace what was missing from her childhood. While it is not some work of great literature, overall Leaving the World was engaging and enjoyable to read. It was quite tragic at times and had some interesting suggestions about the outcomes of ones life choices.