The Pact, The Castaways and The Devil's Queen

I have been a bad blogger as of late for keeping up with my book reviews and blogs. For some reason I've been more interested in engrossing myself in the pages of fiction than writing. And thus - I've read three more books. I'm well on my way to reaching #26in2011 as after these three, I'm so close to 20 I can taste it. Per my husband, I could probably polish off the final 7 books in a day if I wanted - and he's probably right - but I'm not going to do that. I want to savor them. I want to get lost in the pages and ponder what was in them. I want to be part of the story and invest myself in the actions of the characters. I want to feel something, and with the latest three books I know that it's possible.

The Pact: a love story by Jodi Picoult

I've read some of her work before, and what I find the most interesting is how much she writes about subjects that might make you uncomfortable. She will write about a topic with such force that you can't help but look within yourself and think about what she's writing. You can't help knowing what is going on. You want to look away but you can't because you need to find out what happened. That is how I felt about this book.

In The Pact we are transported to small town anywhere, because the location doesn't really mean anything to the ultimate story. It could be about any two kids who have grown up together and loved each other. Heck, it could've been about me. Perhaps that is what makes it uncomfortable. It makes you look inside yourself.

Back to the story, the plot revolves around two young lovers who make a suicide pact and those around them who are trying to understand what and why this has happened when one of the two lives, and the other doesn't. It makes you look at how well people really know each other, especially their own children. The story is heavy. It will take you places you may not have wanted to go but find yourself completely there - you are in that small town, in those houses. You are walking the streets and going to the same stores. You are walking through the high school and you are trying to figure out the "why" all through the story.

It's a shocking read but a touching one. I really recommend it, some tissues and peace and quiet. I also recommend having two books on the ready to help clear your mind of all the heavy stuff when you are done. (But maybe that's just me.) Either way, I really do recommend reading this book. If you want to know more from the author's website - go here.

Per my husband's scale of books I would like: This book essentially has murder, sexy time and in a way, Christmas. It does not have religion so therefore he would not agree that this would be a good book for me. I tend to disagree.

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

If we start with my husband's scale, this book had it all, even though it was light on religion and Christmas. This was fine with me since in reality I never even read the cover and wanted the book solely for the cover. Seriously - look at that gorgeous scene. Could they have picked a more inviting cover for a beach read?

This book was a little bit lighter than the last book, but was still a little heavy in the way the story unfolded. Very quickly into the book two of the key characters die in a boat during high winds. Could be an accident, but so many points lead to something else. The rest of the book unravels everything else that was going around during the time of their death and the months leading up to it.

I started reading this book by my parents pool on a very hot June day when the temperatures felt more like August than a spring day. It was the perfect scene to get lost into something that my mother said was an easy read. The writing flowed really well and before you knew it you were a few more pages into the story and invested with the characters. I liked the way the plot jumped throughout the people in the story. It was always revealing a little more. I felt almost like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book.

I really do recommend this book as it does truly have it all. Great summer read.

The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici - By Jeanne Kalogridis

By all accounts, I should've been the most uncomfortable with this story. A women who undergoes hardships and rises to be a queen by touching on the occult and surrounding herself with murder and evil things. But there is something about this story being set well before my time that didn't make it so. Maybe I'm a fan of the macabre and curious about the occult.

So let's look at my husband's scale - Religious - check, Murder - double check, Christmas - it was mentioned, Sexy Time - check. And so that makes it so. The book was good and I enjoyed it. I know it isn't to everyone's taste in not everyone likes to read stories based in the 1500's. I, on the other hand, like to escape a little. I like to think of walking down castle halls, through hidden passages. I like to image the fine fabrics and the clothing when you touch it. I like to feel like I am transported to another time and place.

This review should be about the book and not me so I'll carry on.

The fact that this book was based on a real life person and historical events wasn't lost on me. The writing flowed fairly well, even if the story seemed a little disjointed. I think the writer was trying to fit in the historical aspects into her story and may have jumped forward faster than should have happened. However, I'm not sure how I could've done better given the circumstances.

The way the story was written, I felt like I was standing quietly beside Queen Catherine. I was with her in a deplorable cell in Spain. I was with her in the pope's chambers. I was there at her wedding, and in the room for her wedding night. An innocent bystander you could say to the story of a woman who did everything she did for her family and for their survival.

The book is alright. Not really sure I'd read it again, when I would definitely read the other two books I read in the past couple weeks. It was a good book to finally clean my palate with regards to The Pact. The Pact is a book that had so much resonance with me that it will be a long time before it's out of my system.

So with these three I have completed 19 of my #26in2011. I'm on a roll folks!

Two more for #26in2011

Two more books have been read since my last post for #26in2011. Very different, but both considered a bit more on the chick lit side. One book was light and airy and may never stay with me in the future. The other had me thinking and guessing the entire time. One had an actual ending and the other was pretty weak. One had lots of mystery and adventure, the other had mysterious people but not a huge amount of adventure.

My 15th book I found at a garage sale at my parents church last weekend. All in all it took me approximately 3 hours to read. Written by Jude Devereau, I found "Carolina Isle" as a fairly easy read but with lots of action. The cover of the book really didn't relate to the story a tremendous amount. It was a typical action adventure/romance. It was written to have a twist, a switch in identities, but it failed miserably. I'll be perfectly honest, the book left a lot to be desired. The characters didn't have much depth. The person who wrote the data for the cover must've only read the first chapter as what they talked about got blown apart quickly.

The whole story was to make you fall in love with being in the Carolina's, but nothing really made you even want to go there. The story would allude to something, and then never went back to explain it. Sure it came to a clean ending, but I never really felt invested in the story.

If you are looking for an easy beach read that occasionally will make you bang your head off the back of your lawn chair, this is the book for you. If you are looking for something that will force you to really think, I'd suggest going elsewhere.

My 16th book for #26in2011 was also found at the church garage sale. The cover really caught my attention. Background in light blue, a woman in a red flowing skirt appears to be dancing, and the title "Trespass" by Valerie Martin. It is a winner of the Orange Prize. To this day I have no idea what the Orange Prize is, but I knew there was something about this book. Yes it's true, i always judge a book by it's cover. There has to be something about it that intrigues me. Lucky for me I have a varied taste. With this book, I don't even think I read the back. I just had to have it.

The story is written by an American, but definitely has some twists and turns that are unexpected. To be honest, I thought the book was written by a man, and it wasn't until I read the title again to put it in this blog post did I notice that it was actually a woman. There was something about the way the characters are written. The point of view doesn't come across as womanly. Although with that said, the characters all come out pretty clearly throughout the story, with the exclusion of some slightly mysterious characters.

What I liked about the book most was the characterization. I also kind of like that it isn't your typical book in that it doesn't have a happy ending. Not really anyhow. Of course it's all a matter of opinion right? There were so many times in the book where I thought "Oh so they are going to do ___" but then it doesn't happen. I found that I had to keep reading. I needed to see how it ends. The novel focuses so much on the character development, that it glosses over the setting. I was fine with that in this book because the story was so interwoven and I got so involved with the characters.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I tend to be a bit on the optimistic side, and that I tend to try and see all the sides of a story. This book really played to my personality in that it wasn't written from just one point of view. It's from the son, the mother, the father, the girlfriend/wife, the father-in-law, the mother-in-law. You want everything to work out for them. You want them all to find resolution and peace. But that wasn't how the book was written. Questions are still left at the end.

Both books were very different. But I would definitely recommend Trespass before I'd recommend Carolina Isle. Sadly, I gave that book too my mother-in-law. She, like me, got a bit pulled into the cover. Too bad I didn't wait and let the book digest before giving it to her. It wasn't a horrible book, and I did read it in a very short time frame. Perhaps if I was at the beach, I would've liked it better. Who knows.

Next time, I'm going to hopefully get something awesome. For now, I'm still on my quest to finish #26in2011. Only 10 more to go!

The Fabric of Sin - Book Review

With my 14th book in my #26in2011 I was whisked away to the very edge of Wales in a little village called Garway. Garway, a place steeped in Templar history, was the setting of a modern day slightly religious mystery. The Fabric of Sin was written by Phil Rickman.

My husband always says that for me to truly enjoy a book it must be full of "sexy religious, Christmas murder." He gets rather disappointed when a book I'm reading doesn't have all four. Unfortunately, this book was completely missing the Christmas end of things but it really makes up for other things in spades.

For much of the book, the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. Being a) from Canada and not England or Wales and b) from the city where our fireplace growing up had a lightbulb and a plug, I really needed to do some extra research to fully understand the book. I'm not afraid to admit that I had no idea what an inglenook was. Now I know and I'll forever be afraid to look in one, but that's okay.

The book, I believe, is part of a series. Didn't even look at the cover when it said "A Merrily Watkins Mystery." I was drawn in by the creepy tombstone and the foggy church yard. Oh yes. I'm one of those readers that gets instantly pulled in by a great cover and an awesome description of what's inside.

The writing left a lot to your imagination but you kept reading because you needed to know what happened. It's almost like watching a moving on TV and they'd cut to a commercial just as things are getting really creepy. It was the middle of the action. But I couldn't turn away. I just wanted to keep reading. I needed to know how it ended. Better yet, I wanted to go there. Walk in the history. I wanted to know more about the Templar's traditions and everything about Templar architecture. It's certainly sparked an interest in reading more. Not just about the area, but more about the author. And more about Merrily and her story.

It's not very often that you meet a writer that writes with the protagonist against their own gender. Not to ruin a good thing, I started the story not knowing that it was written by a man about a woman. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the cover and discovered it was a man. This story had so many strong female characters that I really felt a balance between the genders. Kudos to the Phil Rickman for not only knowing enough about the Church of England, The Knights Templar, women, men and even a smart and sassy teenage girl.

I found the book at my favourite used book store. Millpond Records and Books in the downtown Hespeler area of Cambridge, Ontario. Check them out. They have many, many more awesome titles for you to find your own little gems like this book. I'm not giving you anymore but I still think you should check it out.

Three more book reviews

As I mentioned, I've been on a reading kick. This is beneficial for me completing my challenge of #26in2011. With the latest three books, I'm up to book 13. Pretty awesome considering this Friday is Friday the 13th. It's also my best friend Kristina's birthday so all in all, 13 is a lucky number.

The first of the three books is one of those fun mindless reads. It was just what I needed after the heavy blow I was given last week. I needed something that I could just read and enjoy and not really think. It was a good book. Part of a series so it didn't have to go too in depth into the secondary characters. The book is titled "deeply, desperately" by Heather Webber. It's sexy, it's fun. It's easy. It's a Lucy Valentine novel. :) Honestly, I would recommend it if you don't want anything too heavy.

The second book was beautiful in the words and the setting. "Gardens of Delight" by Erica James. Starting in the gardens of England and moving to the beautiful gardens in Italy, it was a good read. Not so deep, but still a little deeper than the first book in this review. I enjoyed it. My heart was involved with the characters and I found myself really torn about the way things were handled. Beautiful setting, but drew on some difficult topics. I found that my opinions on certain things going on around me were muddled in with the book. I won't go into detail, but know that this a fairly good read. Lucky for you, it will be back at the library soon as I need to return it. ;)

The third book was chosen as completely out of my normal reading type. "The Third Circle" by Amanda Quick. Based in Victorian England, the book bases around fantastical antiquities and people with special abilities and powers. From reading auras, to hypnosis and reading crystals, the characters in this book are passionately twisted. the language was a little off of my every day vocabulary, and it isn't really a time I've read too much about. But it was a good book. There was just enough sex and just enough intrigue. Evil characters when only the good can prevail. Heart racing, you will find that you want to see how everything ends. Lucky for you, even when it ends you will be happy to know that it's part of the Arcane Society Novel's. There are many more in the series.

And with that, I'm not sure where my books will go. Only 13 books left to go and just over 6 months to do it. Do you think I can be successful in my quest to read 26 books in 52 weeks?

Coming soon...

I have been on a reading kick lately and by the end of the day I hope to have 3 books to review for my lovely readers. Just wanted to let you know.

I've also been working on something really quite heavy that I feel the need to get off my chest. Hopefully that will come in a few days.

I've taken a mini hiatus from the online world this week as I come to terms with some heavy things happening in my personal life. I'm slowly starting to come around so don't count me out just yet.