A excerpt from A.A. Milne’s The house at Pooh Corner sums up my feelings on this book quite nicely:
…”Christopher Robin tried to teach it to me once, but it didn’t.”
“What didn’t?” said Rabbit.
“Didn’t what?” said Piglet.
Pooh shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It just didn’t.”
Would I recommend it? It started out really promising, I thought I would love it, I thought I was loving it… and then, in the words of Pooh, “It just didn’t.”
For almost three years an amazing thing has been happening – I’ve been blogging.
And I love my blog, I really do.
I write, you read, it’s amazing.
Amazing and but for fifty years I could have been one of the women in the book:
Struggling to find time to hand write stories to bring to their friends to read and critique while surrounded by their collective children.
Typing copies up to be mailed in to magazines and editors just to get someone other than their best friends to read what they have to say.
And here I lay in my bed, no doubt killing my neck with my horrible posture, clicking away at my keyboard and then with the push of a button and the magic of the internet – there it is for anyone to read.
Amazing.
Would I recommend it? Yes. This book is, of course, about so much more than a group of writing women. And while there are many, books about a group of friends going through life together the voice of the main character really struck a cord with me this time.
I am curious to know if you’ve read it if you felt the same. Was it really a good read or did it just speak to me?
While I would cheerfully force Harry Potter into anyone’s hands who hasn’t read it yet, I was not as taken with this book.
Once I was hooked I couldn’t put it down and read far later into the night than I should have but it took a long time to get to that point.
Would I recommend it? Eh… Realistic people are impressive to read about, the depth of characters, their realistic quirks, it’s excellent writing. But does all that work make for likable characters? Not necessarily.
Gone With The Wind is one of the often referred to “great American novels” and I’d never read it. I found it at the local library book sale and as of tonight I can now say…
Would I recommend it? … Dude – it’s a great American novel, you gotta read it!
A sweet, simple story about friendship, seasons, aging and loss.
Illustrated by the same man who did Zen Shorts and Zen Ghosts the pictures are touching and funny all at the same time.
There is not a great deal of text, yet it is enough that the story can be read as a slightly silly, slightly sad book about a dog and his friends or as something that goes beyond that into friendship, aging, loss and the constant changing of the seasons while life goes on.
Would I recommend it? Yes.
It appears I read the first book in this series before I started writing about the books I was reading, which is annoying to me, and possibly to you to. Or maybe it’s just a bit of my need-to-have-some-part-of-my-life-in-order-so-I-choose-odd-small-things issue coming though and no one is annoyed other than me.
Regardless of who is or is not annoyed by this out of order book review I’ll attempt to put my own issues aside and carry on.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman was a recommendation from Pat Rothfuss’s blog. And since we should all have read at least The Name of The Wind by now we know he is a super author, and we should probably at least check out his recommendations right?
Right.
If you would like to do so yourself here is his link http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2009/08/things-i-like-magicians-and-faeries-of/
Personally I’d call The Magicians something of a Harry Potter meets Narnia in an adult sort of way.
(And by that oh best beloved I mean we’ve added, sarcasm, sex, drugs, alcohol, death and other assorted nasties)
I recall it being a fairly wonderful, if slightly startling book, so therefore I found the second in the series (see large title above) and brought it home. I then proceeded to read this book in a much shorter time frame than I should have which resulted in a much shorter night sleep than was really prudent.
And it was worth it.
Would I recommend it? Why yes, yes I would, thanks for asking.
And on a slightly different but still sort of related subject I feel compelled to share this flow chart of NPR’s top 100 science fiction and fantasy books (also recommended by Pat Rothfuss) because it’s funny if you’ve read enough of them to be dorky enough to get the jokes and possibly helpful in finding a new book to read if you haven’t.
I’ve got a little back log of books I’ve read so here are some extra mini reviews:
A book that looks chocked full of promise, but then you read it and it’s just not there.
Would I recommend it? No, if you live in Wisconsin and are reading a book set in Wisconsin you shouldn’t keep thinking it’s set in the South.
Hello my name is Jessie and I love books with talking mice, and shrews, and otters, and moles with funny accents, and any other little woodland talking creature as well.
I think that by this age most have out grown their love of small furry talking creatures, but…well…I haven’t.
This is one of the newer Redwall books and I love all of these books.
I love them because the good guys always win.
Because even though they win the war they usually lose a few good “men” along the way.
Because swords are not in themselves evil, just the nasty varmints who wield them.
Because friendship always wins.
Because there is always a riddle to solve.
Because the Dibbuns (children) are always getting into mischief.
And most importantly, because when all the fighting is done there is always a feast.
I read Mossflower when I was in middle school, it’s still my favorite, but well, as you can see I thought the rest were pretty good too…
Would I recommend it? Yes, I’d rank it among my favorites, but if you’ve never read any I always recommend starting with Mossflower. I’m impatiently waiting until I’m able to read these aloud to Ivy. Unfortunately we are currently at the point that even a Franklin book is enough to start Ivy shaking with fright. I’m thinking we’ve got quite awhile before we can read about marauding sea rats, raven tyrants, and wildcat queens!
They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, I say that’s where the title is and you have to start somewhere.
When I read a book I hate reading the dust flap, the reviews, the summary’s, anything that tells me what is going to happen. If I do read one of those I always have that info lurking in the back of my mind while I’m reading. For instance had I read the whole dust flap of this book I would have read something like this:
“Lexi Laney and Clare Hart grew up together swimming in the surf, riding remote bike trails, and having wondrous adventures across picturesque Nantucket. And when it was time to share intimate secrets and let their girlish imaginations run free, they escaped to their magical private hideaway: Moon Shell Beach.
But nothing stays the same. With the complicated pressures of adulthood, their intense bond is frayed, hurtful words are exchanged, and Lexi flees Nantucket to a life of luxury while Clare stays behind.
Ten years later, a newly divorced Lexi returns to make amends with those she left in her wake. Living at home with her father and dating a gorgeous carpenter, Clare still simmers with resentment toward her glamorous friend. And when Lexi opens an upscale clothing boutique next door to Clare’s chocolate shop, their paths are fated to cross.
Their emotional reunion is beset with major challenges: Lexi’s return sets off a series of startling events that fracture the status quo and set the town gossips’ tongues wagging. And as Clare’s life takes an abrupt detour, Lexi wonders if the happiness and peace they once knew on Moon Shell Beach will, in the end, prove to be as fleeting as time and the tide. In the turbulent adult world, awash in failed loves and romantic disappointment, can childhood dreams still come true?
Irresistible reading, Moon Shell Beach explores the evolution of a tumultuous lifelong friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the rewards of believing in miracles.” (-product discription from the hardcover copy)
Then I start a book waiting, waiting for Lexi to leave, knowing she’ll come back, expecting loves to fail, waiting for Clare’s abrupt detour and having no surprise when Lexi opens up her clothing store. I hate reading like that. I like to let the book unfold as I go with minimum information before hand, and no idea what is going to happen next. I firmly belive that’s the way books are meant to be read. It is one of the reasons you may have noticed a minimum of plot details on this site, if you want to spoil the surprise of your next book feel free to check out Amazon and their plethora of reviews and editorials. Here you will find general impressions, writing style and hopefully just enough of the content to know if it might be something you’d like to pick up. Of course reading books this way I have run into some doozys. 
Speaking of doozys, it wouldn’t matter if anyone told you what was going to happen in this book it is, predictable, predictable, predictable. Made all the more irritating by the fact that the author has periods of really great writing that would then dissolve into cheesy predictable mush. Did I mention it’s predictability? Before you go off thinking I’m all difficult with my non-predictability needs let me also say this. There are cheesy books I love, there are predictable books I love, but there’s got to be a little something extra in those books, and this one was didn’t have it.
Would I recommend it? No. As much as I hate being wrong I must concede that sometimes people are right and you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover…but only sometimes!
