Monday, July 26, 2010

Like a Charm - by Candace Havens



I decided it was time for some brain candy reading and while I rarely go for standard chick lit or romance novels, I do like something with a little supernatural to it. Little did I know, when I found this one in the clearance bin that I may have found a new favorite author. The supernatural books are everywhere, vampires, zombies, witches, etc. However, rarely do you find one that is fun to read while at the same time actually written well and that pays homage to so many literary greats.

Kira Smythe left her home town, of Sweet, Texas, the second she got a chance. She never felt like she fit in there. It is a town protected by a coven of witches and it seems like everyone there is "special" in some way, not Kira. Kira loved books and research and grew up to become a high-powered corporate lawyer at a big firm in Atlanta. That is until one day when she found herself on a roof, after a friend had jumped and Kira couldn't remember what had happened. Sick from the shock and from being over-worked she went back home to rest, and discovered many things had changed.

When she first starts to hear voices, she thinks it's all part of her illness, and/or that she's going crazy. Then things get even crazier when her mentor and the town librarian dies just before Thanksgiving and Kira discovers that she's been left the library (the building, and all the books). Now she has to choose whether she wants to stay in Sweet and take over the library or return to her high-powered life. Of course, this library is more than just an average library, it's full of spirits and before long Kira isn't just hearing them, she's seeing them too.

This book ends too soon, and I really hope to see more stories about Kira. I know there are more stories of Sweet, featuring other characters that were also in this book. But, this idea, to me, is unique. It pays homage to Jasper Fforde and his Tuesday Next series a bit (Kira even mentions him as one of her favorite authors - mine too!). I could definitely see a lot of directions Kira's story could go as her powers develop and she gains access to the Library of Universal Knowledge.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Kite Runner - by Khaled Hosseini



Perhaps it was because I listened to it instead of actually reading it, and the audio version had been abridged, but I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Having just recently read the author's first book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, I'd found it to be a wonderful book. I had looked forward to The Kite Runner being just as good.

The Kite Runner is another story of Afghanistan, this time of a boy who grows up in the wealth of Afghanistan. His father is a businessman with a large house and servants. The servants, a man and his son, are also close friends of Amir and his father. The servant had grown up with Ali's father, raised as a brother, just as Amir grew up with Hassan, the servants son. Amir always felt that his father didn't love him because Amir did not play sports or do the things his father wanted him to do, choosing instead to read books and write. Both Amir and Hassan lost their mothers shortly after birth, and grew up as best friends, until tragedy struck one day when they were 11.

Trying to win his father's love, Amir entered the annual Kite Fighting contest with Hassan's help. They were set to win with Hassan chasing down the final kite. When Amir went to find him, he saw something that changed both of their lives forever. His own guilt caused him to push his best friend away, to the point of lying about it and having them thrown out of his father's house.

Over the next 27 years, Amir and his father are forced to take exile to America, and as their lives changed in ways they never imagined, Amir never saw Hassan again. Twenty-seven years later, Amir found himself back in Afghanistan, forced to face his past and the guilt he'd been running from and finally given a chance to atone for what he had done.

Overall, the story is great, well-written and gripping. Yet, it falls apart in the end and left me feeling disappointed.

Friday, July 16, 2010

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore



A friend gave me this book, like a year ago, and I just finally got around to reading it. I wasn't sure what to expect but I really liked it.

A seaside town full of depressed people, a lazy psychologist who gets stuck by a bout of conscious, a suicide and an ancient sea monster all lead to a really funny story.

After one of her patients commits suicide, Val, the local psychologist, decides to take all of her depressed patients (about 1/3 of the town) off of anti-depressants and start talking to them instead. About the same time she does this an ancient Sea Monster is awakened by sludge from a nearby power plant.

Is it withdrawal or the call of the monster that seems to have the whole town gone horny?

Add to this a crazy has-been actress who thinks she's a warrior princess and things get more interesting.

This book keeps your attention and makes you want to keep reading, while at the same time making you laugh and keeping you entertained the whole way through.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

A Thousand Splendid Suns - by Khaled Hosseini



I was drawn into this story of two girls who become women in Afghanistan. The story begins with Miriam, a girl who grows up with only her mother in a small hut, in the 1960s. Her father is a rich man with several other wives, and her mother was one of his servants. When she got pregnant she was removed from the town. He visits weekly and tells Miriam stories that differ from the stories her Mother tells. He brings gifts and smiles and she soon believes that he is the "good" parent. When he fails to appear one day, as promised, Miriam walks into town to find him. Turned away at his door she returns home to find that her mother has committed suicide.

At 15 she is given as a wife to a man 30 years her senior. He wants children, and when her attempts to provide children fail, he punishes her.

Laila is born in the early 70's to progressive parents, in an era when Afghanistan is open and allows freedom to women. She grows up believing she can do and be anything. But, times change and wars come. Her best friend and the love her life leaves with his family to try to find a safer place. Weeks later, her own parents are killed.

This is where the lives of Miriam and Laila collide in an emotional heart-wrenching story that gives the reader a look into the lives of women in Afghanistan over the course of 4 decades.