Yeah! A "Big Girl" Book!

I've been reading and reading, books that were published in the US during 2008 for the last forever! I've organized a Mock Newbery Award Committee and we've been reading pretty hard - it's vacation and I'm actually reading a "big girl" book! The Shack by William Young - a tough and not so cheery Christmas story.

The Shack is Mack (Mackenzie) Philips' story about how he has dealt with life during the time since his daughter was abducted during a family vacation. Her body was never found, however, the police did find evidence in an abandoned shack that indicated she had been brutally murdered by a serial killer who preyed on young girls. As the story opens, Mack mysteriously receives a strange note that is apparently from God and is invited to return to this shack where his daughter was murdered. He visits the scene of the crime and there has experiences a encounter with God.

The Shack does exhibit good and bad and is a very touching story. With all the rave reviews, I expected so much more. It is a story needing to be told, but to compare it to some of the greatest works in literature, Pilgrim's Progress, mmmm... no, no way. Also, I find issues with the theological basis regarding the Trinity and other scriptural references, especially for someone that is new to Christianity.

Sunday Salon in Florence, Italy

I'm sitting on the deck, drinking hot Chai tea and recapping my reading today. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant has kept me captivated all afternoon. I did suspect that it would be a bit more detailed and harder to follow but I'm enjoying this one immensely. The book starts out with the most incredible, unbelievable... a nun with a Renaissance style tattoo. Mmmm... I'm thinking that's what's going but not real sure - we've left that scene totally and I'm just not sure where this is going.

Review from Reading Group Guides:

Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities.

But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra's parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola's reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra's married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art.

The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain's most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.

Going back in now to read some more! See you next Sunday.

Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby

Review:

Theodore Mead Fegley has always been the smartest person he knows. By age 12, he was in high school, and by 15 he was attending a top-ranking university. And now, at the tender age of 18, he's on the verge of proving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation that has mystified academics for almost 150 years. But only days before graduation, Mead suddenly packs his bags and flees home to rural Illinois. What has caused him to flee remains a mystery to all but Mead and a classmate whose quest for success has turned into a dangerous obession.At home, Mead finds little solace. His past ghosts haunt him; his parents don't understand the agony his genius has caused him, nor his desire to be a normal kid, and his dreams seem crushed forever. He embarks on a new life's journey -- learning the family business of selling furniture and embalming the dead--that disappoints and surprises all who knew him as "the young Fegley genius."Equal parts academic thriller and poignant coming-of-age story, LIFE AFTER GENIUS follows the remarkable journey of a young man who must discover that the heart may know what the head hasn't yet learned.

This is a remarkable book and a must read for our book club. As a teacher, we often see this same child and wonder what will become of them - thus, reassured by the ending in this novel. Praises to M. Ann Jacoby on her first novel.

Ghost Stories? You Bet!!

October, my favorite season! I love the cool, crisp air, the colorful leaves, the excitement among the wildlife, and Halloween. I just enjoy the spooky fun that I remember as a child and fortunately, it wasn't such an issue back then. It was costumes, carnivals, candy apples, fishing for toys, hayrides, pumpkin carving, lots and lots of candy, and ghostly, spooky stories. Children are naturally drawn to "scary stories" as I was. As a school library media specialist that is the hottest request right now - they can't wait to check out those "scary" stories.

But what about adults? What is it about scary stories that keeps us coming back? What is that makes our hair stand up? What makes us shiver? Why the screams? Although, I'm not a big "haunted house" kinda person, I do enjoy reading ghost stories that are not so bloody and evil. Here is my list for this coming week. What are you reading for Halloween this year??

Vintage by Steve Berman
The Man In Pictures by Susan Hill

The Thirteeth Tale

Our next selection for Book Club, meeting on October 15 is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfeld. This is one of the most intriguing novels that I have read lately. The Thirteenth Tale is the story of Ms. Vida Winter, a renown British author as she is just discovering that she is terminally ill. The other notable character, Margaret Lea, daughter of a local antique book dealer and biographer, one day finds an unexpected letter from Ms. Winter requesting that Margaret write her biography. As Margaret tries to collect the vivid details of Ms. Winter's childhood, she finds herself digging into her own past.

Margaret visits the enormous Gothic home of Ms. Winters in order to interview her for the biography. Unfortunately, Ms. Winter has more experience at weaving tales and she finds it difficult to stick to the facts. The Thirteenth Tale is, of course, Ms. Winter's life story. As she shares her history with Margaret, we discover a most unusual family, riddled with tragedies, lies, ghosts, evil, incest and many secrets. This novel is reminiscent of the Gothic mysteries and novels by Agatha Christie, Charlotte Bronte, Barbara Michaels and Victoria Holt. So if you find their writing captivating, you will not want to miss this debut novel by Diane Setterfield.

Bookworm's Carnival Post

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is one of the most intriquing novels that I have read lately. This would be a great selection for a book club discussion. In this book, Margaret Lea lives in a flat above her father's book store in which they sell, or house, mostly antique books. Margaret writes biographies, though not famous, she has had several published. Her subjects are usually not very familiar to most, but of personalities of great interest to her. One day she receives a very unusual letter. The handwriting was most curious, childlike, but not. As it turns out, the letter was from Vida Winters, one of England's most famous authors. It seems Miss Winters would like for Margaret to write her biography. Not familiar with Miss Winter's work since Margaret doesn't normally read contemporary fiction, she begins to read one of her novels that has been stored behind glass in her father's store. The book, The Thirteenth Tale, begins a series of unusual and mysterious events which leads Margaret to accept the offer of writing her biography. Margaret visits Miss Winters and during her stay and documentation of Miss Winter's story, Margaret becomes entranced with her own story and history.

The Thirteenth Tale has it all, there are ghosts, haunted houses, strange happenings and lots of deep, dark secrets. It is very much a modern day, gothic mystery. Although, this is not usually my pick in a genre, I especially enjoyed the many comments and references to Margaret's passion for books and stories. It was a great read and I'd recommend it any day to anyone that enjoys mysteries, antique books, and an intriguing story. Here is an interview with the author, Diane Setterfield which enhances the story even more.

Booking Through Thursday Reply

What was the most unusual (for you) book you ever read? Either because the book itself was completely from out in left field somewhere, or was a genre you never read, or was the only book available on a long flight… whatever? What (not counting school textbooks, though literature read for classes counts) was furthest outside your usual comfort zone/familiar territory?

And, did you like it? Did it stretch your boundaries? Did you shut it with a shudder the instant you were done? Did it make you think? Have nightmares? Kick off a new obsession?

The most unusual book I've ever read was A Suitable Boy:Novel by Vikram Seth. This was a selection for our book club and I happenned to be the host/facilitator. Now, the size of a book doesn't usually throw me, but if it did, this one would! Not being familiar with the Indian culture, I found this book very long and difficult to read - I literally used a glossary so that I could understand what was going on in the story, the foods, the clothing, the greetings, the traditions. I could have gotten through the book much easier if it had not been so long, at least 1500 pages. I did enjoy learning more about India but instead of completing the book, I got on the computer and found music, recipes and clothing to use for our book club meeting. It was terrific - the food and music!