Month: March 2013

Review: A Little Folly

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A Little FollyJude Morgan, A Little Folly

Louisa Carnell and her brother Valentine have grown up in the shadow of their tyrannical father, who devoted his energy to controlling their lives and repressing their spirits. So when he finally dies, the Carnell siblings are ready to come out of their shells and experience life. They re-establish contact with some distant cousins (who had been estranged from the family when their father was alive) and eventually go off to visit them in London. However, their ignorance of the world soon leads them into some fairly big trouble: Valentine becomes attached to a married woman, and Louisa has to navigate her way among various suitors who might hope to win her fortune rather than her love.

Despite — or perhaps because of — my fanatical devotion to Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, I’m almost always disappointed by books that attempt to mimic their plots and style. The copies are almost never as good as the originals, and why read something inferior when you could have the real thing? But Jude Morgan is a writer of Regency-era historical fiction whose books I truly enjoy, and this book is no exception. I loved Louisa as a heroine because she is both romantic and level-headed. It was also nice to read a book that featured a close sibling relationship. I enjoyed the compelling storyline, witty dialogue, and satisfying romance. In short, definitely recommended to fans of fiction set in this time period!

Review: The Best Man

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The Best ManKristan Higgins, The Best Man

Faith Holland hasn’t been back to her hometown for three years — ever since her fiancé Jeremy revealed that he was gay and left her at the altar. Now she’s coming home to refurbish an old barn on her family’s vineyard, but she’s not sure she can handle being around Jeremy again. Unfortunately, she keeps running into his best friend, Levi Cooper, whom Faith blames for ruining her wedding by encouraging Jeremy to come out. Meanwhile, Levi is annoyed that he keeps running into Faith; he remembers her as the goody-goody who would have (albeit unknowingly) ruined his best friend’s life. Neither of them expected that they would feel so attracted to each other; but can Faith and Levi ever build a future together when they have such a complicated past?

I really like Kristan Higgins’ contemporary romances, so of course I had to buy this one as soon as it came out. There are a few differences between this book and the other Higgins novels that I’ve read, but I think they’re good differences. First of all, normally Higgins writes from the heroine’s point of view, but in this book she uses a 3rd-person p.o.v. that follows Faith and Levi in turn. I was glad that she focused on the hero and heroine equally, so that I could get some insight into both characters and understand where they were both coming from. I also really liked Levi, because he’s not quite the stereotypical romantic hero. He’s occasionally crude, shallow, and quick to judge, which makes him a real person rather than an idealized fantasy. Overall, I devoured this novel and am looking forward to Higgins’ next book!

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: This modern love wastes me

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Tune in Tuesday with KatelynI was watching TV the other day, and the season one finale of “How I Met Your Mother” happened to be on. “HIMYM” has historically had a really good soundtrack, so I had my ears open for any good new songs. As it turned out, the last song of the episode was “This Modern Love” by Bloc Party, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since! I especially like how everything builds to the end of the song, which is my favorite part. Hope you enjoy!

Review: Death in the Stocks

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Death in the StocksGeorgette Heyer, Death in the Stocks

When a dead man wearing evening dress is found locked in the stocks on the village green, the local police are only too happy to turn the case over to Scotland Yard. The corpse is Arnold Vereker, a universally despised man who kept a tight hold on the family purse strings. When Superintendent Hannasyde questions Vereker’s young relatives, they all declare themselves extremely happy that their unpleasant half-brother is dead at last. Hannasyde doesn’t know what to make of Antonia, Kenneth, and their various love interests, but he suspects that there are secrets hidden beneath their lighthearted jokes. He sifts through the muddle of motives and alibis with help from Giles Carrington, the Vereker family’s solicitor, who has his own reasons for wanting to uncover the murderer.

I’m a longtime fan of Georgette Heyer’s romances, but I’m quickly coming to love her mysteries as well! As someone who loves a good period piece, I found this an extremely fun book to read. The mystery is perfectly fine, with some interesting little twists and red herrings; I figured out some pieces of the puzzle but didn’t ultimately guess whodunit. However, the real pleasure of this book is the characters, their witty conversations and their blossoming romantic attachments. While the Verekers and their friends take center stage, though, Superintendent Hannasyde is also an intriguing sleuth, and I look forward to reading about more of his cases in subsequent Heyer novels.

Review: Adorkable

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AdorkableSarra Manning, Adorkable

Jeane Smith has never been what you’d call a normal teenager. She dyes her hair weird colors (it’s currently gray, like an old lady’s), buys her clothes at jumble sales, and has a blog on youth culture that’s turned into a full-fledged brand. Jeane has no patience for the boring, vapid teenagers who go to her school, so she’s shocked when all-around golden boy Michael Lee approaches her and informs her that his girlfriend and Jeane’s boyfriend appear to have a thing for each other. At first Jeane is angry and suspicious, which causes her to turn her wrath on Michael. In turn, Michael is extremely put off by Jeane’s in-your-face attitude. But when one of their arguments inexplicably turns into a makeout session, Jeane and Michael begin spending more time together and growing closer to each other in the process.

I really liked Manning’s novel You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, so I was excited to read this one when it came out. I ended up devouring it in a single day — it may not be great literature, but it sucked me in! What I really like about these characters is that they’re not too good to be true. They have real flaws, to the extent that they’re downright unlikeable at times: Jeane is obnoxious, Michael is cocky, and they’re both extremely self-centered. But the beauty of the story is that it lets you see that they are both lovable despite their faults. I also liked that Jeane and Michael’s relationship is not the perfect, magical love that so often seems to appear in romance novels (both YA and adult). For example, Michael still has a deep attachment to his first love, and his relationship with Jeane doesn’t make that previous relationship any less significant. So I would definitely recommend this book to fans of YA romance.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I just HAD to buy but still haven’t read yet

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meme - top ten tuesday

Some weeks I’m not at all inspired by the Top Ten Tuesday topic…and then other times, like this week, I wonder how I’ll ever be able to limit myself to 10 choices! This week’s topic is those books you just HAD to buy right away, but now they’re lingering on your shelves unread. This happens to me all the time, so I’ll just pick 10 of the many options at random. Here we go:

1. Jasper Fforde, The Woman Who Died a Lot — I’m a huge fan of Jasper Fforde’s, and I buy all his books right away in hardcover. So I’ve owned this latest installment in the Thursday Next series for several months now, yet I still haven’t gotten around to it!

2. Robin McKinley, Pegasus — OK, this one isn’t entirely my fault. Robin McKinley is one of my relatively few autobuy authors, so I immediately snatched this book up when it first came out a few years ago.  What I didn’t realize at the time, but learned subsequently from reviews, was that this book is just the first half of the story…and the second half doesn’t come out until 2014! Since I didn’t want to be left hanging halfway through, I opted to wait until I could read both books together.

3. Rose Melikan, The Counterfeit Guest — I read Melikan’s first book a while ago, The Blackstone Key, which is a mystery novel set in the 1800s. I remember liking it, so then I bought this book, which is the second installment of the series. Sadly, I still haven’t read book #2, even though it’s been a few years by this time.

4. Chris Wooding, Retribution Falls — I bought this one when Borders was having all its crazy going-out-of-business sales. The cover blurb makes it sound like “Firefly,” which is what piqued my interest.

5. Kristin Cashore, Graceling — This book has been on my shelves for an unconscionable length of time at this point. I really do think it sounds good, so I have no idea why I haven’t started it yet!

6. Seanan McGuire, Discount Armageddon — I absolutely love McGuire’s Toby Daye series, so I bought this book (first in a new series) immediately when it came out. Now book #2 is in stores, but I still haven’t read #1!

7. Kevin Hearne, Hexed and Hammered — Since they’re in the same series, I’ll count them as one list item. I also bought and read Hounded, the first book in this urban fantasy series featuring a druid, and I thought it was good but not great. So I have no burning desire to continue with the series, but I already own books #2 and #3. Hopefully I’ll get to them sometime soon so that I can make room for new books on my shelves.

8. P.G. Wodehouse, The World of Jeeves — I snatched this up a couple years ago at a library sale, because everyone needs to own some Jeeves & Wooster! For some reason I haven’t dipped into it yet, but it’s comforting just to have it on the shelves. 🙂

9. Karin Lowachee, The Gaslight Dogs — This book just sounded really cool, and I think I read a few good reviews of it, so I bought it. Haven’t been in the mood for it yet, but someday!

10. Georgette Heyer, The Spanish Bride — If you’re thinking, “An unread Heyer? Blasphemy!” I’d be inclined to agree with you. But if An Infamous Army is anything to go by, this book will be extremely focused on historical details — which is not a bad thing, but it does require more motivation for me to pick up the book!

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: Good night, and joy be with you all

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Tune in Tuesday with KatelynFor this week’s Tune in Tuesday, I’ve decided to share “The Parting Glass” as performed by The Wailin’ Jennys. I’m a fairly new fan of their music, but these three women do lovely a cappella arrangements of old folk songs, as well as plenty of original material. I  think this song in particular is wonderfully done; it’s one of the most beautiful songs about death I’ve ever heard. Hope you enjoy!

Review: The Welsh Girl

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The Welsh GirlPeter Ho Davies, The Welsh Girl

Set in North Wales just after D-Day, this novel weaves together the stories of three people who are all struggling with the ways in which the war has made them question their identity. Esther is the eponymous Welsh girl who works as a barmaid but dreams of life outside her tiny village. When an English soldier takes advantage of her, Esther has to face her future and determine what kind of woman she will become. Karsten is a young German soldier who has surrendered to the English and must now live with the shame of being a coward; as he sees the Allies reclaim more and more of Europe, he also questions his belief in German supremacy. Meanwhile, Rotheram is a German man with a Jewish father who fled Germany in the early days of the war. He now works as a translator for the British and interrogates German prisoners, but he is conflicted about where his loyalties truly lie.

Lately I’ve been really interested in books that are set during World War II, so I had high hopes for this novel. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations, which is largely the fault of the cover blurb. I thought the book would mostly focus on the relationship between Esther and Karsten and the obstacles they’d have to face being on opposite sides of a war. But while a relationship does grow between them, it doesn’t actually happen until well after the halfway point of the novel. Most of the book is just setting up the conflict, as Esther’s background, the Welsh attitude toward the war, and Karsten’s military career are described in plodding detail. I wouldn’t actually call the book romantic at all — which is not a problem, except that the blurb led me to believe otherwise! I do think that the novel raises some interesting thoughts relating to World War II and war in general, so it was probably worth reading for those insights. (There was also a line near the end of the book about the liberation of Bergen-Belsen that got me right in the gut.) But overall, although I wanted to like this book, it just didn’t do anything for me.

Review: The Sisters Brothers

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The Sisters BrothersPatrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers

The eponymous Sisters brothers are Charlie and Eli, two of the most notirous hired gunmen in the West. Eli narrates the story of their adventures as they set out to perform a job for their boss, the Commodore. They have orders to kill a man named Hermann Kermit Warm, who is reported to be in San Francisco. As Eli and Charlie travel towards their target, they encounter many strange and interesting people, including a boy who is determined to get to California despite all his relatives being dead or gone; a pretty bookkeeper who is dying of consumption; and a dentist who introduces Eli to the wonders of toothbrushes. Eli also ponders the nature of life and begins to wonder whether he really wants to continue his career of violence. Will the Sisters brothers ever catch up with Hermann Kermit Warm, and if so, will Eli be able to finish the job?

I’m happy to say that I can add to the large number of positive reviews I’ve seen for this book. Even though I wouldn’t call myself a fan of Westerns, I enjoyed the setting of this book because it provided a perfect backdrop for Eli’s interior journey. Although he and Charlie encounter other people from time to time and even stay in towns occasionally, the bulk of the action seems to take place when they’re alone with each other. This gives Eli plenty of time to reflect on his bond with Charlie and discover what links them together, as well as what makes them different. The plot is definitely secondary to this central relationship. I also really liked the moral complexity of the characters. Even though Eli is the main protagonist, the book never quite lets you forget that he is accustomed to killing people in cold blood; in fact, he and Charlie do some pretty despicable things in the novel. I’m very impressed that the book managed to make the Sisters brothers likeable despite their many faults. Overall, I’m definitely glad that I read this book and will look forward to seeing what deWitt writes next.