Brava, Valentine
Adriana Trigiani
Harper, (2010)
Hardcover, 332 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible
Brava, Valentine is the sequel to Adriana Trigiani's Very Valentine, which is the story of the Roncali and Angelini families. Both novels begin with a wedding and end with someone becoming engaged, and cover a complete story as stand-alones, not to mention being part of a larger story as they connect together... Brava Valentine begins three months after the end of Very Valentine, tying the stories together nicely.
The issues that Valentine Roncali must handle make the book sound a bit mundane, but it's how she handles these issues which actually makes the book worth reading. Unlike the first book in this series, the wedding at the beginning of Brava Valentine doesn't seem to be disconnected from the main story, but this one sags a bit in the middle as Valentine gets caught up in her business issues and almost forgets something really important... because of this "sagging" in the middle, I am rating this novel 4 stars. Just as Very Valentine recovered from it's slow start, Brava, Valentine recovers from the middle sag and comes to a beautiful and appropriate conclusion.
Recommended to romance readers, fans of Adriana Trigiani, and to those looking for something a bit better than the "average" romantic tale. This review has simultaneously been published at Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and other appropriate locations on the internet.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Arguably Improved
Storylandia 2: The Wapshott Journal of Fiction
Wapshott Press
CreateSpace (2010), Paperback, 94 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible.
As you can tell by the title, Storylandia 2 is the second issue of The Wapshott Journal of Fiction. This issue contains 4 very short stories and one longer piece which is almost equal in length to the other four stories. Each story has literary merits of its own, but the quality of the writing varies greatly. As with the first issue of Storylandia, the authors whose work is featured in this issue are all new to me.
I said of the first issue of Storylandia that the cover might be the best part of the issue... well, that's certainly not true of this issue. While the cover of Storylandia 2 is wonderful and does match the "flavor" of these stories, I see some improvement in this issue over the previous one, however, that might be a bit subjective on my part. I'm keeping my rating of this issue at three stars because I don't do fractional ratings and because there's not yet enough improvement to warrant a 4 star rating. Others will have a different opinion, I'm sure. A list of titles and authors follows, but I'll confess I skipped the synopsis of each story out of laziness. Or maybe it was because of the vague subject matter of some of these stories...
"Poetry and Red Phosphorus" by Kellie R. England
"Assassin" by Adam Bourke
"Escaping the Apoidians Hivault" by Christopher Husmann
"Kiva" by Cinsearae S.
"Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" By Mylochka
While "Poetry and Red Phosphorus" had some interesting moments, it was too disconnected to ever catch my interest for more than a paragraph or two. "Escaping the Apoidians Hivault" was equally confusing. The biggest asset of these two stories is that they are short. In the case of both of these stories, some explanation and development may help. "Escaping the Apoidians Hivault" has some rather hidden potential, that premise could be developed into an excellent story, but it definitely needs more work.
"Kiva" is very surreal, but again, could be enhanced by some additional explanation... additionally, this story has some great literary potential, but the reader needs some basis of understanding the story for the potential to be exploited properly. More development could definitely be an improvement.
My two favorites of this issue are "Assassin" by Adam Bourke and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" By Mylochka. I would love to see more work from both of these authors. While neither "Assassin" nor "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" are without their faults, these authors managed to do something the other three could not do. These two authors hooked me into their worlds and held my attention in every paragraph, sentence and word until the stories ended. Kudos to Adam Bourke and Mylochka.
Now, on to the final observations. "Assassin" could definitely stand some explanation on a point or two, especially involving the reasons for certain things. If I were a bit more clear on what I'm talking about here, I might spoil the story for others, something I'd rather not do if it can be helped. I hope I am suitably vague enough to avoid the spoiler but also specific enough that the author will understand. The other point I wanted to bring up in relation to "Assassin" is the character development. The main character is well developed, but the secondary characters in this story are mostly no better developed than a photograph on the wall... more work here could be an improvement. I think this premise might even be good enough that it could be developed into a novella of roughly 100 to 150 pages.
There are two main things that bugged me about "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?". The first of these two things is the title. I never quite figured out how rain connects with the story... The other point I want to mention is the ending that seemed to come out of nowhere and blindside the reader; it seemed as if this conclusion wasn't foreshadowed at all... or that, if it was, I missed out on some of the detail in the story. More connection of the title to the story and of the ending to the rest of the story would improve this story immeasurably. Additionally, some attention to characterization of the story's main character, Del, would be an improvement. There seems to be a bit of inconsistency in the way he speaks.
This review is based on a free copy of Storylandia 2 provided to me by the publisher for review purposes. This review has been simultaneously posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com.
Wapshott Press
CreateSpace (2010), Paperback, 94 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible.
As you can tell by the title, Storylandia 2 is the second issue of The Wapshott Journal of Fiction. This issue contains 4 very short stories and one longer piece which is almost equal in length to the other four stories. Each story has literary merits of its own, but the quality of the writing varies greatly. As with the first issue of Storylandia, the authors whose work is featured in this issue are all new to me.
I said of the first issue of Storylandia that the cover might be the best part of the issue... well, that's certainly not true of this issue. While the cover of Storylandia 2 is wonderful and does match the "flavor" of these stories, I see some improvement in this issue over the previous one, however, that might be a bit subjective on my part. I'm keeping my rating of this issue at three stars because I don't do fractional ratings and because there's not yet enough improvement to warrant a 4 star rating. Others will have a different opinion, I'm sure. A list of titles and authors follows, but I'll confess I skipped the synopsis of each story out of laziness. Or maybe it was because of the vague subject matter of some of these stories...
"Poetry and Red Phosphorus" by Kellie R. England
"Assassin" by Adam Bourke
"Escaping the Apoidians Hivault" by Christopher Husmann
"Kiva" by Cinsearae S.
"Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" By Mylochka
While "Poetry and Red Phosphorus" had some interesting moments, it was too disconnected to ever catch my interest for more than a paragraph or two. "Escaping the Apoidians Hivault" was equally confusing. The biggest asset of these two stories is that they are short. In the case of both of these stories, some explanation and development may help. "Escaping the Apoidians Hivault" has some rather hidden potential, that premise could be developed into an excellent story, but it definitely needs more work.
"Kiva" is very surreal, but again, could be enhanced by some additional explanation... additionally, this story has some great literary potential, but the reader needs some basis of understanding the story for the potential to be exploited properly. More development could definitely be an improvement.
My two favorites of this issue are "Assassin" by Adam Bourke and "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" By Mylochka. I would love to see more work from both of these authors. While neither "Assassin" nor "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" are without their faults, these authors managed to do something the other three could not do. These two authors hooked me into their worlds and held my attention in every paragraph, sentence and word until the stories ended. Kudos to Adam Bourke and Mylochka.
Now, on to the final observations. "Assassin" could definitely stand some explanation on a point or two, especially involving the reasons for certain things. If I were a bit more clear on what I'm talking about here, I might spoil the story for others, something I'd rather not do if it can be helped. I hope I am suitably vague enough to avoid the spoiler but also specific enough that the author will understand. The other point I wanted to bring up in relation to "Assassin" is the character development. The main character is well developed, but the secondary characters in this story are mostly no better developed than a photograph on the wall... more work here could be an improvement. I think this premise might even be good enough that it could be developed into a novella of roughly 100 to 150 pages.
There are two main things that bugged me about "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?". The first of these two things is the title. I never quite figured out how rain connects with the story... The other point I want to mention is the ending that seemed to come out of nowhere and blindside the reader; it seemed as if this conclusion wasn't foreshadowed at all... or that, if it was, I missed out on some of the detail in the story. More connection of the title to the story and of the ending to the rest of the story would improve this story immeasurably. Additionally, some attention to characterization of the story's main character, Del, would be an improvement. There seems to be a bit of inconsistency in the way he speaks.
This review is based on a free copy of Storylandia 2 provided to me by the publisher for review purposes. This review has been simultaneously posted on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Fun, Chilling Tale
The Haunted E-book
J. L. Bryan
Smashwords (2011), Mobi format,
Print length, 246 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible
The Haunted E-book is a ghost story and a horror story... and, well, it's just plain spooky. Dee escapes her librarian job and her unfaithful boyfriend by reading romance and fantasy on her Kindle. One day, while looking for something new to read, she discovers The Haunted E-book and downloads a copy to her Kindle.
The author uses a "book within a book" technique to tell the story of Jonah, a 19th century tramp printer, who traveled the rails, taking on printing jobs wherever he went... His ghost awakens every time someone reads a book he created. During our reading of the book, we get to peek inside Dee's book and see just what's going on; and then, Dee discovers that the stories she has been reading are true...
There are a couple of things I really, really liked about this book. First that Mr. Bryan brought the story into the 21st century by having at least two characters own and interact with a Kindle ereader... and another character has a netbook computer but one character also has an original vellum and leather-bound copy of Jonah's book, with it's eerily spooky origins that are revealed only later in the story. So, technology has it's place in this story, which we don't see often enough these days.
The second thing I really like is that some lesser known bits of real history are brought into the story (the bits about the tramp printer and the books bound in human skin have their basis in fact) which only adds to the fun, creepy feeling of this book; and that makes it a delight for those like me who adore the chilling tales; especially late at night. This also helps with the suspension of disbelief.
And that, of course leads to the one chapter that almost blew this story away for me, and the reason I dropped one star off the rating. I won't go into too much detail here because I've already got one major spoiler in this review, and I don't like using lots of spoilers, so just let me say... that one chapter - the one that takes place aboard the airplane - not the bit near the end, but earlier in the book, before Dee meets Madison... was just too far off the path of believability.
In all, J. L. Bryan has a talent for sucking the reader deep into his books; and he doesn't let go. The story is well told and, for the most part, well written, though I did see an error or two as I read through on my Kindle, but I was too wrapped up in the story to stop and make a note of just where the errors are located. They're small things anyway and if you're as wrapped up in the story as I was, the typos likely won't matter.
My standard warning on books like this: Contains some graphic scenes not recommended for younger readers or for people sensitive to the blood and gore that accompanies many horror/thriller type stories. If these kinds of scenes don't bother you, then yes, I highly recommend this book. The author provided a free mobi format copy of this book upon which I based this review. This review is being simultaneously published on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Dragonviews, LibraryThing and wherever else I can manage to find space for it.
J. L. Bryan
Smashwords (2011), Mobi format,
Print length, 246 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible
The Haunted E-book is a ghost story and a horror story... and, well, it's just plain spooky. Dee escapes her librarian job and her unfaithful boyfriend by reading romance and fantasy on her Kindle. One day, while looking for something new to read, she discovers The Haunted E-book and downloads a copy to her Kindle.
The author uses a "book within a book" technique to tell the story of Jonah, a 19th century tramp printer, who traveled the rails, taking on printing jobs wherever he went... His ghost awakens every time someone reads a book he created. During our reading of the book, we get to peek inside Dee's book and see just what's going on; and then, Dee discovers that the stories she has been reading are true...
There are a couple of things I really, really liked about this book. First that Mr. Bryan brought the story into the 21st century by having at least two characters own and interact with a Kindle ereader... and another character has a netbook computer but one character also has an original vellum and leather-bound copy of Jonah's book, with it's eerily spooky origins that are revealed only later in the story. So, technology has it's place in this story, which we don't see often enough these days.
The second thing I really like is that some lesser known bits of real history are brought into the story (the bits about the tramp printer and the books bound in human skin have their basis in fact) which only adds to the fun, creepy feeling of this book; and that makes it a delight for those like me who adore the chilling tales; especially late at night. This also helps with the suspension of disbelief.
And that, of course leads to the one chapter that almost blew this story away for me, and the reason I dropped one star off the rating. I won't go into too much detail here because I've already got one major spoiler in this review, and I don't like using lots of spoilers, so just let me say... that one chapter - the one that takes place aboard the airplane - not the bit near the end, but earlier in the book, before Dee meets Madison... was just too far off the path of believability.
In all, J. L. Bryan has a talent for sucking the reader deep into his books; and he doesn't let go. The story is well told and, for the most part, well written, though I did see an error or two as I read through on my Kindle, but I was too wrapped up in the story to stop and make a note of just where the errors are located. They're small things anyway and if you're as wrapped up in the story as I was, the typos likely won't matter.
My standard warning on books like this: Contains some graphic scenes not recommended for younger readers or for people sensitive to the blood and gore that accompanies many horror/thriller type stories. If these kinds of scenes don't bother you, then yes, I highly recommend this book. The author provided a free mobi format copy of this book upon which I based this review. This review is being simultaneously published on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Dragonviews, LibraryThing and wherever else I can manage to find space for it.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Captivating Historical Narrative
Galveston
P.G. Nagle
Evennight Books (2010)
Kindle Edition
Print Length: 384 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible
Galveston is the third of P.G. Nagle's Far Western Civil War series, and takes place mainly in Texas. I have not yet read the prior two volumes in this series. While enough reference is made to earlier events to make the reader curious, Galveston can be read as a stand-alone novel despite being part of a larger story. It is connected to the other novels in the series mainly by the characters involved. Events depicted in this novel do not heavily depend on what came before, yet the context in which these events occurred may be better understood by reading the previous novels in this series.
For the most part, I found Galveston to be well-written and captivating. I had trouble putting it down... but there was a small language issue - or I thought so at first. The dialogue seemed a bit stilted and unnatural to me, so I stopped and gave some further thought to the dialoge and the historical setting. The American Civil War took place about 150 years ago. Given that the English language is growing and evolving, it seems to me that the differences in the characters' speech and the way English is spoken today can be attributed to the evolution of our language in that interval of time. I have no doubt the English language as spoken in the mid-19th century was quite different than the English langage as spoken in this 21st century. Once allowing for the changes that occur to a living langage over time, I gave no further thought to some of the sentence structure of the dialoge being odd to the ear... By then, I was too involved in the story to care about any oddness overly much anyway.
I loved the historical background around and within which the charaters interacted with each other, and I will most definitely seek out the remainder of this series to read them in order. Recommended to historical fiction lovers and civil war buffs as well as those who love a good story. Based on the Mobi format of the novel given to me by the publisher in exchange for this review. This review has been simlutaneously posted at Amazon.com, Dragon Views and LibraryThing as well as being posted at other appropriate locations on the world wide web.
P.G. Nagle
Evennight Books (2010)
Kindle Edition
Print Length: 384 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible
Galveston is the third of P.G. Nagle's Far Western Civil War series, and takes place mainly in Texas. I have not yet read the prior two volumes in this series. While enough reference is made to earlier events to make the reader curious, Galveston can be read as a stand-alone novel despite being part of a larger story. It is connected to the other novels in the series mainly by the characters involved. Events depicted in this novel do not heavily depend on what came before, yet the context in which these events occurred may be better understood by reading the previous novels in this series.
For the most part, I found Galveston to be well-written and captivating. I had trouble putting it down... but there was a small language issue - or I thought so at first. The dialogue seemed a bit stilted and unnatural to me, so I stopped and gave some further thought to the dialoge and the historical setting. The American Civil War took place about 150 years ago. Given that the English language is growing and evolving, it seems to me that the differences in the characters' speech and the way English is spoken today can be attributed to the evolution of our language in that interval of time. I have no doubt the English language as spoken in the mid-19th century was quite different than the English langage as spoken in this 21st century. Once allowing for the changes that occur to a living langage over time, I gave no further thought to some of the sentence structure of the dialoge being odd to the ear... By then, I was too involved in the story to care about any oddness overly much anyway.
I loved the historical background around and within which the charaters interacted with each other, and I will most definitely seek out the remainder of this series to read them in order. Recommended to historical fiction lovers and civil war buffs as well as those who love a good story. Based on the Mobi format of the novel given to me by the publisher in exchange for this review. This review has been simlutaneously posted at Amazon.com, Dragon Views and LibraryThing as well as being posted at other appropriate locations on the world wide web.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Not To Be Missed!
Schindler's Ark
by Thomas Keneally
and Tim Liang, illustrator
Folio Society, 2009
Hardcover, illustrated, 363 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible
Schindler's Ark is partly the biography of Oskar Schindler, partly a story of war and atrocity, and still partly a story of humanity. In the latter part of the book, there are some very graphic scenes, making this book not for everyone. While Oskar Schindler achieved fame during World War II for his humane treatment of Jewish prisoners who worked in his munitions factory, the early part of the story makes clear that Herr Schindler was not the respectable type person you might expect... Outside the UK, this book was published as Schindler's List and also filmed under that alternate title.
As one reads through the story, one encouters some rough spots that indicate the author is not very skilled, or perhaps not too knowledgable about his subject. Those incidents are accounted for in the introduction of this Folio Society edition where Thomas Keneally says he was not best qualified to write this story because, although he is of northern European ancestry, he was raised far away from the sights and sounds of Hitler's regime. While I am on the topic of this Folio Society edition, I must also add that it has been beautifully produced, cloth bound and the cover blocked in gold with an illustration created by the same artist who has done a wonderful job on the frontispiece and eight other interior illustrations. The publisher has chosen to use black and white illustrations inside the book. I feel this adds to the drama and helps indicate that the events depicted in the story happened long ago. The endpaper maps included in this edition help the reader unfamiliar with the locality gain some understanding of the geographical area.
The Folio Society edition follows the text of the first edition, which was published by another firm with only minor emendations, so I can't lay much blame on the Folio Society for this book being a little over-long. Still, I am deducting one star because the author or the editor employed by the original publisher could have reduced some of the less interesting parts of the story to condense it to around 250 or 275 pages; it would, at that length, have made a much better story and flowed more smoothly... Still, Poldek Pfefferberg (one of the many Jewish people whose name was on Schindler's infamous list) was right. This story needed to be told. Thomas Keneally has done a credible job, and Hollywood has actually improved the story with their strategic cutting. The film is better than the book. That's something I don't often say, yet in this case, it's so true.
Recommended, with some reservations. If you prefer a text presentation, possibly including some illustrations, to an audio/video presentation and if you're not overly sensitive to violence but interested in historical accounts, then this book could be for you. On the other hand, if you prefer visuals, the film is a must see item. Either way, Schindler's Ark, aka Schindler's List is not a story you should miss.
This review has been simultaneously published on Dragonviews and LibraryThing.
by Thomas Keneally
and Tim Liang, illustrator
Folio Society, 2009
Hardcover, illustrated, 363 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible
Schindler's Ark is partly the biography of Oskar Schindler, partly a story of war and atrocity, and still partly a story of humanity. In the latter part of the book, there are some very graphic scenes, making this book not for everyone. While Oskar Schindler achieved fame during World War II for his humane treatment of Jewish prisoners who worked in his munitions factory, the early part of the story makes clear that Herr Schindler was not the respectable type person you might expect... Outside the UK, this book was published as Schindler's List and also filmed under that alternate title.
As one reads through the story, one encouters some rough spots that indicate the author is not very skilled, or perhaps not too knowledgable about his subject. Those incidents are accounted for in the introduction of this Folio Society edition where Thomas Keneally says he was not best qualified to write this story because, although he is of northern European ancestry, he was raised far away from the sights and sounds of Hitler's regime. While I am on the topic of this Folio Society edition, I must also add that it has been beautifully produced, cloth bound and the cover blocked in gold with an illustration created by the same artist who has done a wonderful job on the frontispiece and eight other interior illustrations. The publisher has chosen to use black and white illustrations inside the book. I feel this adds to the drama and helps indicate that the events depicted in the story happened long ago. The endpaper maps included in this edition help the reader unfamiliar with the locality gain some understanding of the geographical area.
The Folio Society edition follows the text of the first edition, which was published by another firm with only minor emendations, so I can't lay much blame on the Folio Society for this book being a little over-long. Still, I am deducting one star because the author or the editor employed by the original publisher could have reduced some of the less interesting parts of the story to condense it to around 250 or 275 pages; it would, at that length, have made a much better story and flowed more smoothly... Still, Poldek Pfefferberg (one of the many Jewish people whose name was on Schindler's infamous list) was right. This story needed to be told. Thomas Keneally has done a credible job, and Hollywood has actually improved the story with their strategic cutting. The film is better than the book. That's something I don't often say, yet in this case, it's so true.
Recommended, with some reservations. If you prefer a text presentation, possibly including some illustrations, to an audio/video presentation and if you're not overly sensitive to violence but interested in historical accounts, then this book could be for you. On the other hand, if you prefer visuals, the film is a must see item. Either way, Schindler's Ark, aka Schindler's List is not a story you should miss.
This review has been simultaneously published on Dragonviews and LibraryThing.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
No Clear Nemesis, Neutral Characters
Elephant Milk
By Diane Sherry Case
Miraculous Books (2010),
Paperback, 164 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible
Elephant Milk is a surreal, coming of age story that takes place in 1969, mostly in Mexico. Amid her experiments with sex, drugs and finding herself, 17-year-old Sean also has to deal with her dysfunctional family and her mother's obsession with being a famous movie star. After finding some black clothes beside the road that are wet with blood, Sean makes the decision that the best way to deal with her problems is to run away to Mexico, after her boyfriend. Once in Mexico, Sean needs a way to get around, so she joins a traveling Circus... and that's where the real fun begins.
I should preface my remarks about this book by saying I'm not the intended audience for this book. Still, I appreciated some of the events in the story and the characterization. Diane Sherry Case has created some interesting characters, and has caught the flavor of the time depicted. So, with that said, why did I rate the book only 3 stars? Admittedly, this story even had 4 star potential, but the good characters just weren't likable enough... in fact, with the exception of Sean and her circus master/boss, and his wife, Ana, I found all the characters to be fairly neutral. There also is not any clear nemesis in the story, which could have made the book more interesting, if a bit longer. I had such high hopes for that too, when Sean found the bloody black clothing.
There are points in the story that would make for good discussion group material and the intended audience may appreciate Sean and her confused time of self-enlightenment more than I could. Oh, and the cover art - absolutely wonderful. That's what drew me to this book in the first place.
This book was received free from the author in exchange for this review. This review has been simultaneously posted at Dragon Views, LibraryThing, and Amazon.com
By Diane Sherry Case
Miraculous Books (2010),
Paperback, 164 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible
Elephant Milk is a surreal, coming of age story that takes place in 1969, mostly in Mexico. Amid her experiments with sex, drugs and finding herself, 17-year-old Sean also has to deal with her dysfunctional family and her mother's obsession with being a famous movie star. After finding some black clothes beside the road that are wet with blood, Sean makes the decision that the best way to deal with her problems is to run away to Mexico, after her boyfriend. Once in Mexico, Sean needs a way to get around, so she joins a traveling Circus... and that's where the real fun begins.
I should preface my remarks about this book by saying I'm not the intended audience for this book. Still, I appreciated some of the events in the story and the characterization. Diane Sherry Case has created some interesting characters, and has caught the flavor of the time depicted. So, with that said, why did I rate the book only 3 stars? Admittedly, this story even had 4 star potential, but the good characters just weren't likable enough... in fact, with the exception of Sean and her circus master/boss, and his wife, Ana, I found all the characters to be fairly neutral. There also is not any clear nemesis in the story, which could have made the book more interesting, if a bit longer. I had such high hopes for that too, when Sean found the bloody black clothing.
There are points in the story that would make for good discussion group material and the intended audience may appreciate Sean and her confused time of self-enlightenment more than I could. Oh, and the cover art - absolutely wonderful. That's what drew me to this book in the first place.
This book was received free from the author in exchange for this review. This review has been simultaneously posted at Dragon Views, LibraryThing, and Amazon.com
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Role Reversal
My Sparkling Misfortune
Laura Lond
Dream Books LLC (2010)
Print length: 164 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible
My Sparkling Misfortune is a novella-length story aimed at middle school kids who love fantasy, yet also appeals to any age reader. The well-crafted story is told from the point of view of a very unusal protagonist - a villain, who is quick to let us know he is a villain by trade, and that we shouldn't expect him to be going around doing good deeds.
In general, one isn't supposed to like a villain, but the protagonist of this novel starts collecting a fan club almost from the first page and through no fault of his own. The hero-villain role reversal that occurs in this novella makes for good discussion material as well as bringing a new point of interest into the story. Kudos to the author for bringing a most entertaining and unusual story to readers of all ages. My Sparkling Misfortune is the first of a new series, which, if the following books are anything like this first one, should be a big hit with readers young and old alike.
I have to recommend this often humorous, always entertaining novella to those readers looking for a quick, fun read and laughs on almost every page. The PDF document format of My Sparkling Misfortune was received free from the author in exchange for this review.
This review has been simultaneously posted on Dragonviews and LibraryThing.
Laura Lond
Dream Books LLC (2010)
Print length: 164 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible
My Sparkling Misfortune is a novella-length story aimed at middle school kids who love fantasy, yet also appeals to any age reader. The well-crafted story is told from the point of view of a very unusal protagonist - a villain, who is quick to let us know he is a villain by trade, and that we shouldn't expect him to be going around doing good deeds.
In general, one isn't supposed to like a villain, but the protagonist of this novel starts collecting a fan club almost from the first page and through no fault of his own. The hero-villain role reversal that occurs in this novella makes for good discussion material as well as bringing a new point of interest into the story. Kudos to the author for bringing a most entertaining and unusual story to readers of all ages. My Sparkling Misfortune is the first of a new series, which, if the following books are anything like this first one, should be a big hit with readers young and old alike.
I have to recommend this often humorous, always entertaining novella to those readers looking for a quick, fun read and laughs on almost every page. The PDF document format of My Sparkling Misfortune was received free from the author in exchange for this review.
This review has been simultaneously posted on Dragonviews and LibraryThing.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Continuing Character; Loosely Connected
Long Lost
Harlan Coben
Dutton Adult (2009)
Hardcover, 384 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible
Myron Bolitar is a continuing character created by Harlan Coben. While many books written before Long Lost have starred Detective Bolitar, they do not seem to be more than loosely connected so that, this book, for instance, can be a stand-alone as well as part of the series depicting this long-suffering detective.
Long Lost is at once a family tragedy and a murder mystery that leads to a previously unsuspected terrorist plot with global implications. Author Harlan Coben skillfully tells the intricate tale in an addicting, page turning manner that will hook you from page one and not let you go until you have regretfully finished this stunning tale.
While this is the first novel of Coben's that I have read, it will not be the last. The suspense that builds from the beginning throughout this novel and the professionally edited writing bring the reader to appreciate the intensity of the carefully dramatized story. The flawed and very human characters bring the story to life right in front of the reader. That's the mark of an excellent writer, and Mr. Coben fits the bill nicely.
Recommended for readers of mysteries from 17 to 117...
This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views and LibraryThing.
Harlan Coben
Dutton Adult (2009)
Hardcover, 384 pages
Rated 5 stars of 5 possible
Myron Bolitar is a continuing character created by Harlan Coben. While many books written before Long Lost have starred Detective Bolitar, they do not seem to be more than loosely connected so that, this book, for instance, can be a stand-alone as well as part of the series depicting this long-suffering detective.
Long Lost is at once a family tragedy and a murder mystery that leads to a previously unsuspected terrorist plot with global implications. Author Harlan Coben skillfully tells the intricate tale in an addicting, page turning manner that will hook you from page one and not let you go until you have regretfully finished this stunning tale.
While this is the first novel of Coben's that I have read, it will not be the last. The suspense that builds from the beginning throughout this novel and the professionally edited writing bring the reader to appreciate the intensity of the carefully dramatized story. The flawed and very human characters bring the story to life right in front of the reader. That's the mark of an excellent writer, and Mr. Coben fits the bill nicely.
Recommended for readers of mysteries from 17 to 117...
This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views and LibraryThing.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Not Consistently Interesting
Slumdog Millionaire
Vikas Swarup
Scribner (2008),
Paperback, 336 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible
Slumdog Millionaire is a take-off on the famous quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. When an 18 year old waiter incredibly answers all 12 questions correctly, he is arrested and locked in jail while the company sponsoring the show tries to prove the waiter cheated so they won't have to pay him. Each chapter of the book is a chapter of the young waiter's life, and it illustrates how he knew the answers to the valuable questions.
The questions asked covered a variety of subjects. The possiblity that our protagonist could have enough knowledge of to answer the questions correctly, seemed like a long shot, yet each and every time, the young man was able to give the proper answer. As each question was asked, I was thinking, someone from that game show must have known the protagonist's life story to always be able to choose a question he could answer... yet this was never revealed in the book.
While I did find a few points of interest in this overly long tale, I did not find this novel consistently interesting. In fact some chapters were long enough to tempt me to skip some of the tale, which temptation I mostly resisted until the end, when I did skip some of the chapter just before the finale. I found that long chapter to be just too uninteresting. The ending itself was predictable, the book nothing I would recommend to most readers.
This review has been simultaneously published on Amazon.com, Dragon Views and LibraryThing.
Vikas Swarup
Scribner (2008),
Paperback, 336 pages
Rated 3 stars of 5 possible
Slumdog Millionaire is a take-off on the famous quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. When an 18 year old waiter incredibly answers all 12 questions correctly, he is arrested and locked in jail while the company sponsoring the show tries to prove the waiter cheated so they won't have to pay him. Each chapter of the book is a chapter of the young waiter's life, and it illustrates how he knew the answers to the valuable questions.
The questions asked covered a variety of subjects. The possiblity that our protagonist could have enough knowledge of to answer the questions correctly, seemed like a long shot, yet each and every time, the young man was able to give the proper answer. As each question was asked, I was thinking, someone from that game show must have known the protagonist's life story to always be able to choose a question he could answer... yet this was never revealed in the book.
While I did find a few points of interest in this overly long tale, I did not find this novel consistently interesting. In fact some chapters were long enough to tempt me to skip some of the tale, which temptation I mostly resisted until the end, when I did skip some of the chapter just before the finale. I found that long chapter to be just too uninteresting. The ending itself was predictable, the book nothing I would recommend to most readers.
This review has been simultaneously published on Amazon.com, Dragon Views and LibraryThing.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Historical Fiction With A Circus Feel...
The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno
Ellen Bryson
Henry Holt and Co. (2010)
Paperback ARC, 350 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible.
Well before he became associated with circuses, P.T. Barnum owned a museum in lower Manhattan, which he called Barnum's American Museum. Barnum specialized in amusements and oddities. He liked to seek out and employ those who were different than the norm. Bearded ladies, fat ladies, thin men, strong men, Siamese twins, any and all who could boast of being or doing something unusual. This is the story of the thinnest man in the world, who proudly boasts that his unusual body is a gift. The story follows Fortuno as he becomes discontented with his life as a performer and his transformation from an oddity to a normal human being.
From the first page, The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno has the flavor of a circus sideshow, despite Fortuno and his colleagues making quite clear that working in Barnum's museum is (to their point of view) better than working in a circus. The reader is captured early on and does not escape from this page-turning adventure before the last page is done. Parts of the story are told through newspaper clippings and correspondence, included as illustrative material rather than merely described. These epherma contribute a genuine historical feel to the novel, lending an air of authenticity which would otherwise be lacking.
Following the usual acknowledgements and about the author blurb at the back of the book, there is an essay about how the author came to write this novel. The essay is as interesting as the novel itself, and provides a bit of background that helps make the story come alive for the reader. I didn't find this essay until I had finished the main story, but some readers might like to read the short material first, others could view it as a spoiler, meant to be read last, if at all.
Recommended to readers of historical fiction, and even to those who just like a good story. This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com
Ellen Bryson
Henry Holt and Co. (2010)
Paperback ARC, 350 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible.
Well before he became associated with circuses, P.T. Barnum owned a museum in lower Manhattan, which he called Barnum's American Museum. Barnum specialized in amusements and oddities. He liked to seek out and employ those who were different than the norm. Bearded ladies, fat ladies, thin men, strong men, Siamese twins, any and all who could boast of being or doing something unusual. This is the story of the thinnest man in the world, who proudly boasts that his unusual body is a gift. The story follows Fortuno as he becomes discontented with his life as a performer and his transformation from an oddity to a normal human being.
From the first page, The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno has the flavor of a circus sideshow, despite Fortuno and his colleagues making quite clear that working in Barnum's museum is (to their point of view) better than working in a circus. The reader is captured early on and does not escape from this page-turning adventure before the last page is done. Parts of the story are told through newspaper clippings and correspondence, included as illustrative material rather than merely described. These epherma contribute a genuine historical feel to the novel, lending an air of authenticity which would otherwise be lacking.
Following the usual acknowledgements and about the author blurb at the back of the book, there is an essay about how the author came to write this novel. The essay is as interesting as the novel itself, and provides a bit of background that helps make the story come alive for the reader. I didn't find this essay until I had finished the main story, but some readers might like to read the short material first, others could view it as a spoiler, meant to be read last, if at all.
Recommended to readers of historical fiction, and even to those who just like a good story. This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com
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