This is the third book in Nora Roberts' Inn Boonsboro trilogy. I read it in roughly 2 days, maybe 3. It's not a challenging read, but it's an enjoyable one.
Hope is the innkeeper at the Inn Boonsboro. Her friends Clair and Avery got their Montgomery brothers in book one and two, so Hope gets hers in book three. Not a surprise - I believe in my post about book two I said I knew what book three would be about. I was right. But that didn't take away from my enjoyment.
I think what I like most about Nora is her characters. Yes, they're all beautiful and handsome and well-built, but if you look past that you see that they are real people. They have flaws. They argue. They swear, even use the f-bomb. The children - there are 3 little boys in this trilogy - are wild and cute and funny and normal.
Is Nora a great writer, a Hemingway? No, but she is a writer who writes people that the average person can relate to, and like. And I like that.
I also really want to spend a weekend at Inn Boonsboro... I may just have to check out the website.
The Perfect Hope
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The Casual Vacancy and others
So, this is the long-awaited adult novel by J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.
It's a disappointment.
Yes, I said it. Rowling is windy, just way too wordy. She introduces all of these characters in this little town, and I was having a hard time keeping straight who went with who and what their connection was to the others. It should be a charming story - Barry Fairbrother, member of the Parish Council, dies unexpectedly, and the townsfolk have to fill the vacancy. But she describes what feels like every moment of... 12 different characters reactions to Barry's death. And then every moment of the next day. It's just very tedious.
I'm also reading Hemingway on Writing. Ms. Rowling should think about doing so. This elegant little book is all Hemingway quotes about writing, taken from his letters and books. What a gem! I recommend it for any Hemingway fan, even if you aren't interested in writing, because it gives a wonderful flavor of the man himself.
The Casual Vacancy
Hemingway on Writing
It's a disappointment.
Yes, I said it. Rowling is windy, just way too wordy. She introduces all of these characters in this little town, and I was having a hard time keeping straight who went with who and what their connection was to the others. It should be a charming story - Barry Fairbrother, member of the Parish Council, dies unexpectedly, and the townsfolk have to fill the vacancy. But she describes what feels like every moment of... 12 different characters reactions to Barry's death. And then every moment of the next day. It's just very tedious.
I'm also reading Hemingway on Writing. Ms. Rowling should think about doing so. This elegant little book is all Hemingway quotes about writing, taken from his letters and books. What a gem! I recommend it for any Hemingway fan, even if you aren't interested in writing, because it gives a wonderful flavor of the man himself.
The Casual Vacancy
Hemingway on Writing
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
More Stuff I Didn't Like
So here are another couple of books that I started reading but couldn't finish, both because I just didn't like them.
State of Wonder is a novel by Ann Patchett, whose Bel Canto I loved. I didn't love this one. It's the story of Dr. Marina Singh, who is sent to the Amazon by her employer and lover, Mr. Fox, president of the drug company where she works. Marina is supposed to find out what's going on with Dr. Swenson, who has been down there in the jungle working on her research but who isn't very good about keeping in touch. I just found the story hard to get into, I didn't love the characters, it's just not my kind of book.
Everybody knows what The Hobbit is. I am probably one of the few adults who never had to read it in school - I went to Catholic school, they didn't go in for fantasy. So I asked Shari if I could borrow it since the library's copy is on hold forever. Again, I just couldn't get into it. I like fantasy, but Tolkien's writing is very dense, and I found his tone to be a bit condescending - intended for children, but not giving them much credit for understanding everything. So that's the end of that.
State of Wonder
The Hobbit
State of Wonder is a novel by Ann Patchett, whose Bel Canto I loved. I didn't love this one. It's the story of Dr. Marina Singh, who is sent to the Amazon by her employer and lover, Mr. Fox, president of the drug company where she works. Marina is supposed to find out what's going on with Dr. Swenson, who has been down there in the jungle working on her research but who isn't very good about keeping in touch. I just found the story hard to get into, I didn't love the characters, it's just not my kind of book.
Everybody knows what The Hobbit is. I am probably one of the few adults who never had to read it in school - I went to Catholic school, they didn't go in for fantasy. So I asked Shari if I could borrow it since the library's copy is on hold forever. Again, I just couldn't get into it. I like fantasy, but Tolkien's writing is very dense, and I found his tone to be a bit condescending - intended for children, but not giving them much credit for understanding everything. So that's the end of that.
State of Wonder
The Hobbit
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Orchardist
I really enjoyed this novel by Amanda Coplin. It's the story of William Talmadge (known to everyone as just "Talmadge"), living at the turn of the 20th century in the Northwest US with his orchards of apples and apricots. He's a quiet man, living a quiet, lonely, life. Then one day two young girls, pregnant runaways, come into his orchard, and his life is changed forever.
Talmadge takes a liking to the girls - Jane and her sister Della - even feels a certain responsibility for them, so he begins to take care of them. And so a family of sorts is born, with all the heartbreaks and joys that go along with being part of a family.
Coplin's writing reminds me a bit of Hemingway's. The language is spare but extremely descriptive, and the characters have great depth and realism. And it's a heartbreaking and beautiful story that I just couldn't put down.
The Orchardist
Talmadge takes a liking to the girls - Jane and her sister Della - even feels a certain responsibility for them, so he begins to take care of them. And so a family of sorts is born, with all the heartbreaks and joys that go along with being part of a family.
Coplin's writing reminds me a bit of Hemingway's. The language is spare but extremely descriptive, and the characters have great depth and realism. And it's a heartbreaking and beautiful story that I just couldn't put down.
The Orchardist
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Life of Pi
I've been on hold for this ebook forEVER, and finally got it right after Christmas and in time for my trip to Florida. I realize I am probably one of the last readers in America to read it, and I'm sorry I waited. What a fabulous novel! And I mean fabulous in a couple of different ways, as anyone who has read the book understands.
For those of you who haven't, this is the story of Pi Patel, a 16-year-old Indian boy whose family owns a zoo. When his parents decide to close the zoo and move from India to Canada, they travel by freighter with several of the zoo animals. Unfortunately the ship goes down in the middle of the Pacific, and Pi is the only human survivor - along with a hyena, a zebra, and orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Pi's adventures on the lifeboat with this group aren't pretty, adventures they certainly are. The fact that he survives some 200-odd days in the open sea is simply amazing, and his ability to deal with Richard Parker is pretty wonderful. I also found the end to be quite surprising - I didn't see it coming at all, and that made it all the better.
I highly recommend Life of Pi, and will definitely plan on seeing the movie.
Life of Pi
For those of you who haven't, this is the story of Pi Patel, a 16-year-old Indian boy whose family owns a zoo. When his parents decide to close the zoo and move from India to Canada, they travel by freighter with several of the zoo animals. Unfortunately the ship goes down in the middle of the Pacific, and Pi is the only human survivor - along with a hyena, a zebra, and orangutan, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Pi's adventures on the lifeboat with this group aren't pretty, adventures they certainly are. The fact that he survives some 200-odd days in the open sea is simply amazing, and his ability to deal with Richard Parker is pretty wonderful. I also found the end to be quite surprising - I didn't see it coming at all, and that made it all the better.
I highly recommend Life of Pi, and will definitely plan on seeing the movie.
Life of Pi
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Stops and Starts
So I recently started reading two books and didn't finish them. First was Arcadia, which was on The Washington Post list of best books of the year. I just didn't like it. It's about hippies on a commune in the early 1970's, and it just didn't draw me in.
The second was Voyager, the third book of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander time-travel series. I did like this book, I love the characters and the story really draws you in. It goes back and forth between 1968 and 1748ish Scotland, where Claire and Jamie are living their separate lives. But it's almost 900 pages long, and my library checkout expired before I could finish it and there is, of course, a wait list. So at some point in the future I'll put a hold on it so I can finish it.
For now I'm trying to decide between 3 books - two library books that look interesting, and The Hobbit, borrowed from my friend Shari. You'll find out soon which one I picked!
Arcadia
Voyager
The second was Voyager, the third book of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander time-travel series. I did like this book, I love the characters and the story really draws you in. It goes back and forth between 1968 and 1748ish Scotland, where Claire and Jamie are living their separate lives. But it's almost 900 pages long, and my library checkout expired before I could finish it and there is, of course, a wait list. So at some point in the future I'll put a hold on it so I can finish it.
For now I'm trying to decide between 3 books - two library books that look interesting, and The Hobbit, borrowed from my friend Shari. You'll find out soon which one I picked!
Arcadia
Voyager
Friday, December 14, 2012
The Third Angel
Okay, I am a huge Alice Hoffman fan, but I have to say I had a really hard time getting into this novel. Having said that, by the time I got to the end I couldn't put it down. So... take from that what you will.
The Third Angel is three inter-connecting stories about three women in long with the wrong guy, in three different eras. The connecting thread is The Lion Park Hotel and Lucy Green. The story moves back in time, from present day to the 60's hippie era to the prim 1950's. I have to say, I didn't like the present-day characters as much as I liked the other characters, and I found the older stories slightly more in keeping with the mystical realism that I love so much from Ms. Hoffman.
I also liked the way the stories are connected, it's not an obvious connection, and there are some lovely little surprises... like a certain young man from Liverpool. At any rate, a hard-to-get-into but ultimately enjoyable read.
The Third Angel
The Third Angel is three inter-connecting stories about three women in long with the wrong guy, in three different eras. The connecting thread is The Lion Park Hotel and Lucy Green. The story moves back in time, from present day to the 60's hippie era to the prim 1950's. I have to say, I didn't like the present-day characters as much as I liked the other characters, and I found the older stories slightly more in keeping with the mystical realism that I love so much from Ms. Hoffman.
I also liked the way the stories are connected, it's not an obvious connection, and there are some lovely little surprises... like a certain young man from Liverpool. At any rate, a hard-to-get-into but ultimately enjoyable read.
The Third Angel
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