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Nicholas Sparks – Nights in Rodanthe
Well I think this is a first; a Nicholas Sparks book that I didn’t enjoy. Usually I love his books and get lost in the romance, but I just wasn’t feeling it with this one!I just couldn’t form any kind of connection to the main characters, I think in part because they were much older than I am, although this doesn’t usually cause a problem, so I think that probably wasn’t the main reason I didn’t get on with the book.
I think my main problem was that the two characters went from total strangers to being totally in love within what seemed like about 10 pages, and only a few hours of actual time in the book. I’m not saying that this couldn’t happen, but it just seemed very unlikely given the amount of time that they actually spent together.
I found the plot quite weak, and at only 180 pages, there wasn’t much to the book. It was a nice story for Adrienne to pull her daughter Amanda out of the grief that she was feeling by sharing her same grief, but I feel that the book could have been so much more if it was twice as long and the initial romance could have been spread over a week instead of a day.
Just very disappointing all round, I hope the next one is better!
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Kayleen Barlow – I Am No Bird
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book by the author, Kayleen Barlow. I stayed up until 2am last night reading this book, I couldn’t stop reading and had to know how it finished. It did take me a little while initially to get into the book, but I often find when that happens that I end up loving the book even more. And this was no exception, it was absolutely brilliant.
I’m a great lover of Jane Eyre, so I loved how this (and reading in general) was central to the book. Living less than 15 miles from Haworth and the birth place of the Bronte sisters, the book reminded me how I’ve never actually been to the Bronte Parsonage, although I’ve been to Haworth many times visiting friends of my Grandma. So I think a visit back to Haworth is in order very soon!
The book has two main characters, London and Marie. They were so well described in the book that I could almost feel like I was there with them. I loved London from the start, but it took me a little while to like Marie, to start with I thought she was a bit weak, but I can see now that this was because throughout the book she grew into herself and the person that she always knew she could be. I definitely identified more with London though, a woman who loves books and would much rather stay in with her favourite characters than put herself out there and risk getting hurt.
For about three quarters of the book I was trying to piece together how the characters of Marie and London were actually related, I could see that there were similarities between the characters and I thought that London was in some way going to save Marie from having a miserable life. But when I found out how the two stories fitted together (no spoilers here), I was completely shocked, I definitely didn’t see it coming (although maybe that was in part because it was almost 2am and I should have been asleep!). It was a perfect end to a brilliant book, I was in love with both characters and the ending was superb.
Finally, although the ending of the character’s stories was perfect, the most perfect part was Marie’s entry into the scholarship contest which was the actual end to the book. I think I cried through most of it because it was so emotionally written. Bravo, Kayleen, Bravo!!
Since I can’t quote the entire essay as my favourite quote, I have a couple of particular favourite lines from the book, although the first one is obviously Charlotte Bronte, and the basis of the book.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
“You can’t rise to the surface if you’re holding onto rocks. You can’t illuminate a dark room by being a shadow. You have to let go of the boulders sinking you. Only then will you be light, and only light will dispel the darkness.”
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah
I was unsure what to expect from this book, I’d heard vague good things about it, so when I saw it in the 2 for £7 section at Tesco alongside another book that I wanted to buy, I decide to take the plunge and give it a try. And boy am I glad that I did. After a shaky start where I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the kind of book I could get along with, I was completely enthralled within the first 50 pages.The book opened up a new world to me, one that I had never really considered before. The intricacies of race and class, particularly within the US, but also within Ifemelu and Obinze’s home of Lagos in Nigeria. This was a backdrop for a love story between the two young people, exploring their love as teenagers in Nigeria, then having their love torn apart by their need for a better education than can be provided in their Nigerian universities, with the rising number of strikes destroying their chance for a good education.
Ifemelu manages to get a visa to study in America, but Obinze is not so lucky, and eventually they lose contact, although not entirely by accident. The book jumps back and forth in time and in characters, taking us from Nigeria to America to London and back again absolutely seamlessly. Adichie switches perfectly from one to the other, dealing with the distinct intricacies of racial identity in each country, what it means to be black and how this changes depending on where you are. How fitting in is not so easy when you move to a different country, and how being ‘black’ is not enough if you’re not the ‘right kind’ of black.
I said earlier that this was a love story, but it wasn’t the kind of love story that I’m used to reading. Somehow it was more real. The main proponents were not perfect and the love was not easygoing, but somehow it became stronger throughout the book. I was a little unsure about how it would end, but I should have known really that it couldn’t end any other way.
I didn’t really feel like I could identify with the main character as much as I usually like, being a white English girl I’ve never really seen the world that this book explores. But somehow it didn’t matter, I was still completely engrossed in the book and the world created by Adichie.
I’ve had another book by Adichie on my shelf for a couple of years, and I’m definitely going to pick it up and read it soon, I could see Adichie jumping into my favourite authors quite quickly!
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Susan Nussbaum – Good Kings, Bad Kings
Wow, I was seriously impressed by this book. First of all, I should say that I won the book as part of the Goodreads First Reads program, hence why my copy says ‘Advance proof copy, not for sale’. Although I think it’s been out for a few weeks now since I couldn’t start reading it as soon as it arrived.This is the debut novel by Susan Nussbaum, but you would never tell from reading it. Expertly written to give each character a unique voice and leaving a profound impression on you by the time you reach the heart-rending conclusion, Nussbaum has crafted a masterpiece. No wonder she was winning awards before the book was even published!
The subject matter is not the easiest to read. Set in an institution for young people with disabilities, the book is narrated by a cast of characters including residents in the home, employees of the home and an employee of the outside company contracted to run the home.
The narrative of each character leads you to a strong emotional connection with each one in turn, making all of the horrible things that happen seem even more personal. You see, although this institution is contracted out to a seemingly professional company, corners are being cut to save money and it seems like most of the staff couldn’t care less about these brilliant individuals, casting them off as useless just because they have a disability, be it mental or physical.
But not all the employees are quite as heartless, as we hear from some of the employees who actually care about these young people and have the drive to do something to help them. Heartbreakingly, it seems to be too late for some of the poor residents, leading me to be sat at my desk at work trying as hard as I can to hold back the tears (and most definitely failing).
The strength shown by certain residents within the facility was amazing, after seeing everything that happened it would probably be easy to just give up and accept that this is your lot in life, but having the guts to fight against the system made these characters stronger than any characters in other books I have read recently.
I only had two problems with the book. Firstly, since we’re seeing life in the home from inside the home – the residents and the employees, and being shown just how bad the outside company is, it would have been nice if one of the characters had been someone at the outside company with responsibility for making the decisions. We get an insight into how they think when we see their crisis meeting, but still, it would have been nice to get deeper.
Secondly, the last chapter with Yessenia. I know it was supposed to round off the story nicely and show that Yessenia has been able to move on on her own and show some independence, but I thought it could have been done in a different way. I’m not sure exactly how though, and I guess that’s why I’m not an author.
I’ll be keeping an eager eye out for more books by Susan Nussbaum, she has the kind of voice I would love to read again and again.
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Rachel Schurig – Three Girls and a Leading Man
I have to say, this was definitely the most disappointing book of the series. Having read Three Girls and a Baby from Ginny’s perspective and Three Girls and a Wedding from Jen’s, I was right about Three Girls and a Leading Man being all about Annie.But for some reason, I just couldn’t click with Annie. She seemed to be constantly whiny and wrapped up in herself, and she just wasn’t a pleasant character to read. I found myself continually wanting to slap her round the face and tell her to snap out of it!
The book starts off with all the main characters jetting off on a trip to Las Vegas, which seemed completely random and not really tied into the book, apart from the fact that it was where she met Nate. And since he lived in Detroit anyway, it seems like she could have just met him there and saved a load of pages for the part of the story that we actually wanted to read, namely their on-off romance.
Then finally once they get back to Detroit, it seems like Annie’s self obsession is destined to keep her alone, just how she thinks she wants it. But as a reader you know better and you’re screaming at the book telling her not to be so stupid.
Typical chick-lit, I’m sure I don’t need to give you three guesses as to the ending, although Annie does make some decisions that are a bit surprising.
The book did provide me with a lovely quote though. I’ve not had many stand out quotes recently since I’ve been reading mostly crime books, but I thought this was beautiful.
“Being with someone is not a burden, not when you’re right for each other. We don’t hold each other back. We make each other better.”
Having just looked online, I can see that there are a couple more books added to the series since this bowser was compiled, so I may have to give them a try, but not until I’ve made a bit more headway into my ‘to-read’ pile which seems to be growing forever longer!
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Rachel Schurig – Three Girls and a Wedding
Since I was left with mixed feelings after reading Three Girls and a Baby, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Three Girls and a Wedding. As Ginny got engaged at the end of the last book, I expected that the book would revolve around her upcoming nuptials. So I was surprised when it turned out that the main character was actually Ginny’s housemate/best friend Jen. Jen works in event planning, usually involved in the smaller scale events but desperately trying to work her way up the ladder. The company that she works for has just won the most prestigious client, the wedding of Kiki Barker to her fiance Eric, and her father will be footing the entire (humongous) bill.
It’s looking to be the wedding of the century, and even though Jen’s recently promoted colleague Jason is taking the lead, she’s brought in to help out. And while Jason seems to be a schmoozing grease-ball, Jen finds herself buried with work. Kiki is a demanding client, although Jen quickly warms to her unique personality and it looks like they’re set to become good friends.
But while Jen is planning the wedding of the year, she’s also agreed to help Ginny plan her wedding to Josh. Which seems to be going great from Jen’s point of view, but with all the time that she’s spending with Kiki, is everything really as organised as she thinks? I knew from the start that we were obviously going to see some drama here, it would be too perfect for it to all run smoothly, and Rachel Schurig didn’t disappoint, throwing in a curveball to beat all curveballs and leave Jen completely adrift and seemingly alone.
My only wish for the book which didn’t seem to happen was that Jason didn’t get what he deserved. He spent the entire book being an arse and manipulating Jen to get to what he wanted, and the end was left a bit disappointingly. But other things happened at the end which I guess cancelled out the bad karma that Jason deserved with all the good karma that was seemingly overflowing.
I did really enjoy the book, but it did all seem to go rather fast, just like the last book I would have loved some more detail. But maybe I was just so engrossed in reading it that I just didn’t realise how much I’d read.
There’s just one book left in the series. I would imagine that since we’ve had one book with Ginny and one book with Jen, we’ll probably have one with Annie now, but I may be completely wrong.
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Rachel Schurig – Three Girls and a Baby
Well after reading crime books back to back for a few weeks, I figured it was time to revert back to my old favourites for a while, so up rolled Three Girls and a Baby by Rachel Schurig. I bought this on Amazon quite a while ago, part of a set of three by the same author which were pretty cheap and looked kind of promising.When it finished, I was left with mixed thoughts. I had really enjoyed the book and found myself completely attached to the main character Ginny. But I was also left with a feeling that not much had happened and that the book could have been made much longer if it had been padded out more in the middle.
The book centres around Ginny, who has just found herself pregnant after a one night fling with her ex boyfriend, who then decides that he doesn’t want anything to do with Ginny or their baby. We join her throughout the ups and downs of the next nine months, helped along by her two best friends/roommates. The thing that I think was missing was that we seemed to skip huge chunks of time during which we could have learned more about the character to get a better feel for her.
Because actually, the feeling that I got about her was that she was (to put it bluntly) a whiny little b*tch. She spends the entire book moping over her ex-boyfriend instead of focusing on what’s in front of her and the more pressing matter of a baby arriving in less than 9 months. At times, I wanted to slap her out of her pathetic obsession and tell her to get on with it.
Considering that it’s a chick-lit book, you can probably tell that the ending was going to be quite predictable. And while most of the chick-lit books that I’ve read have had a bit of a twist or something that wasn’t expected, this was straight down the line to the end. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but since the book was so short, it was a little disappointing to not have at least some sort of twist involved.
There are two further parts to this story, so we’ll see whether Rachel Schurig develops the story any more or if we end up with a rather predictable middle and end to the trilogy. And we’ll see how Ginny’s character develops and whether she can become a bit more stable and mature now she has a baby to worry about.
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Nick Russell – Big Lake
The first few pages of this book did absolutely nothing to entice me into reading it. I like a book to pull me in and have me hooked from the very beginning, but the start of this book just felt boring to me. But I persevered and I’m now very glad that I did. The book centres around a town called Big Lake in Arizona, and although this is a real town, Nick Russell is very keen to point out that the book is completely fictional. And after reading the book, I would agree that it must be, since it’s completely bonkers!
At the start of the book, two men are driving an armored money deliver vehicle down to Big Lake, when the spot a young woman at the side of the road. It’s against protocol to pull over, but they do anyway. Then one of the men pulls the gun on the other and shoots him dead, in a plot to get away with the money with his lovely lady friend. But after dragging the body of his friend into the back of the van, the woman turns the gun on him and both men are dead, leaving the woman to drive away with the money. But who was this mysterious woman?
Obviously when the police turn up, the woman is long gone and they have no idea she was there, and so starts a long investigation to find out what went wrong. Chief investigator is the town Sheriff, Jim Weber – brother in law to one of the murdered men. An FBI agent is sent to help out, and they soon become good friends. Which is good, because he’s taking the news of his brother in law’s death almost as badly as his sister, the murdered man’s wife. And it turns out that the other murdered man, Johnson, was a well known womanizer with plenty of people who would be more than willing to go after him with a gun.
I won’t go too much more into the plot, but as you can probably tell, there are a lot of twists and turns and dead ends before we find out who the real culprit is. And let me tell you; whoever you thought it was, you will almost definitely be wrong. When it was revealed, I absolutely couldn’t believe it! The book also left itself open nicely for a sequel, which I will definitely be checking out! I loved the main character of Jim Weber, and I’d love to see where the plot develops next!
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John L. Betcher – The 19th Element
When I added this book to Goodreads and read the description before I started reading, I convinced myself that it wasn’t my kind of book and that I wasn’t going to like it. A book with terrorists in? Not my cup of tea. But as usual, I was wrong, and I found the book plenty thrilling.The book centers around a terrorist plot to blow up a nuclear power plant in Minnesota. The one thing that I never managed to figure out was how the main character got so involved, although I think like most books of this ilk, it was just through nosiness, curiosity and a sureness that he’s better than law enforcement. Although in the last respect, it was true.
He somehow managed to connect the murder of a university scientist, the disappearance of his most recent invention – a machine which can create elemental potassium and the disappearance of the scientist’s lab assistant to the terrorist plan. Through investigation and sheer bravery, he figures out what the plan is. Now all he has to do is to stop it.
He works together with his friend Bull and his connections with the local police force (and connections from further afield who will become very important later on) to try and stop the terrorists before they can go through with their plan and wipe out half of Minnesota.
But the terrorists are not working alone. Helping them with their plans is a man called John. His entire family was killed by radiation poisoning when he was younger, and the delayed effects have now given him terminal cancer. But he’s determined to seek revenge for his family before he dies. And since he’s dying anyway, what does he have to lose? He’s not a dumb guy, and comes in very useful to Farris, the main proponent of the local Al Qaeda terrorist cell. But can he outsmart Beck to go ahead with his dastardly plans?
Despite my initial misgivings about the storyline, I found myself glued to this book from start to finish. It was another of the 9 killer thrillers set which I bought from Amazon for 74p, which has proved to be extremely good value so far!
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Melissa Foster – Traces of Kara
For about three quarters of this book, I really wasn’t feeling it at all. I hate giving up on books before the end because even if a book is terrible, I need to know how it all ends. Plus, sometimes a book can start off pretty shaky and turn into something amazing. And whereas I wouldn’t say this turned into something amazing, it did grow on me slightly by the end.I think the main reason I didn’t like it was because it was creepy. It’s not a reflection on the quality of the book or the author’s ability, it’s just that the subject creeped me about a bit too much to enjoy it. It revolves around a deranged man called Roland, determined to be reunited with the twin sister he was separated from as a child. The twin sister who no longer knows he exists, and who is just trying to save up as much money as she can to move out of her small town away from her overbearing mother. There are no limits to the lengths that Roland will go to in order to be with his sister, and he has decided that the best way to be with her forever is for them to both die together on their birthday.
As more and more people get dragged into the story, Roland starts to become desperate, and you can probably tell what happens then. It was at around this point that I started to enjoy the book a bit more. Partly because we focus less on Roland’s mentally deranged mind and more on the rescue attempts and the other characters, and partly because the pace of the book seemed to pick up a bit too.
So as I said earlier, it’s not a reflection on the book or the author, but I think I can only give this book a 2/5, just because the subject matter wasn’t my cup of tea.
Louise Douglas
(I've got no) Shelf Control…
Louise Douglas 