Review

The Coral Thief

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The Coral Thief

The Coral Thief

By Rebecca Stott

Spiegal & Grau

ISBN: 978-0-385-53146-7

2.5 stars

Daniel Connor, a young medical student from Edinburgh, is on his way to Paris to study at the Jardin de Plantes. During his journey, he meets a mysterious and beautiful woman — Lucienne Bernard — and while he contemplates her and her strange theories, she steals his letters of introduction, coral specimens, and mammoth fossils. He reports the theft of the artifacts to the police and somehow finds himself wrapped up in a mystery full of evolutionary theories, coral, and odd bits about Napoleon.

I didn’t care for Daniel. He was sexist and ignorant and I found I needed to remind myself that this was normal for the time period (1815), at least the sexist part. The main problem I had with him was that he was always complaining. Once he began to mature, he became easier to like but not by much. Lucienne is a very interesting characters though. An evolutionary philosopher and thief, she is always hiding something and is never afraid to step out of line and state sometimes the obvious and sometimes the most arcane of thoughts, especially for a woman at the time. She’s refreshing as far as the story line goes here.

Napoleon plays an odd role and one that never fits into the story for me. The short diary entries add nothing and left more questions (mostly why they were there in the first place) than answers. The vague connection does nothing for the story.

The mystery/thriller sort of ending ramps up quickly and is fairly exciting compared to the rest of the book. I do wish there had been more of that and a little more about the fossils, theories, and why Lucienne felt the need to steal them because I found that part of the story interesting but overall it sort of fell flat for me.

The Thirteenth Tale

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The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale

By Diane Setterfield

Atria Books

ISBN: 978-0-7423-98802-5

4.75 stars

The Thirteenth Tale is about ghosts, what haunts people in their worst moments, personal regrets, and most of all, it is a story about a story.

Margaret Lea is an amateur biographer who works with her father at their antiquarian bookstore. She is called upon by England’s most beloved and well-known writer, Vida Winter, to write her biography. Vida has never told her story to anyone and no one knows anything about her personal life thanks to Vida herself who leads everyone, who dares to ask a personal question, astray. She explains to Margaret her plans to tell her the story of Vida Winter — it will be done properly, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. What comes forth is a story of Gothic proportions, strange unbelievable characters, and a story that is both disturbing and beautiful. Over the weeks she spends listening to Vida’s story, Margaret finds that she has more in common with the enigmatic writer than she ever thought possible. The connection pulls her deeply into the story, a story she almost doesn’t quite believe.

This book is a story within a story. The title of the book itself is a reference to an written tome of Vida’s that fans wish that she would write and it is Margaret that gets to hear the story but it is not what she, or anyone, would ever think of. There are parallels between the author and biographer — both Margaret and Vida are recluses in their own ways, each retreating into a world full of books and stories all while hiding for fear of reviving a ghost that has long remained dormant.

In the end, Setterfield tells you a new tale and everything you thought about these characters is once more thrown into the realm of mystery. The gaps are closed but not in the way you expect and you don’t feel cheated but something like closure for the characters. While I did really enjoy this book, there are a few awkward and disturbing moments that can be a big turnoff for some readers which I think can make this a love it or hate book. I was able to push through those parts and for me it became a fascinating story of a life no one knew was lived.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

By Muriel Barbery

Europa Editions

ISBN: 978-1-933372-60-0

5 stars

Renée Michel is the concierge at number 7 rue de Grenelle, a luxury apartment building in Paris. She is short, self-described as ugly, and can be onerous. She’s also brilliant. An autodidact, with interests in philosophy, art, and Japanese culture, she spends her days watching and ruminating about the building’s tenants. Ever careful to keep her secret hidden, she goes about playing the dumb concierge and scrutinizing others in her diary.

Paloma Josse is a precocious 12 year old girl who lives on the fifth floor of number 7 rue de Grenelle. She has come to the realization that life is not worth living and on her thirteenth birthday, she will end it all and, to punish her family for making her life such drivel, will burn the apartment. Much like Renée, she goes about her life hiding her talents from the world, finding it easier to just be plain and ordinary in terms of knowledge. She begins a diary of profound thoughts to convince herself that her plan is sound and explain why life is not worth living.

When a new tenant moves into the building, everyone’s life is changed. Ozu is Japanese and quickly finds a kindred spirit in Renée and also Paloma who both unknowingly share a deep interest in Japanese culture.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is one of those rare books that makes you stop and look around. We move through life so fast that we sometimes don’t appreciate the people around us that we see everyday. Renée and Paloma are those two people. They’re both hiding from the world because they don’t believe that anyone can appreciate them and it’s sad to think that they’re hiding what is most important, not only to them, but to others. In a way they don’t want people to know who they truly are but when they find their lives intersecting, it becomes all the more wonderful.

The first 100+ pages of this book contain a lot of rather dry philosophy. I have never been one to read philosophy, so I will admit that some of the profound nature of there theories was lost on me and made me wonder when it would move on. When that change takes place, it happens fast, and you become fascinated by the characters in this book. Everyone with their own problems hurrying to get somewhere always passing Renée as if she were invisible and, in some cases, barking orders as if she were nothing more than a dog. Her observations are insightful and wonderfully funny.

When I finished, I felt sad that things at number 7 rue de Grenelle had changed the way they did. Renée, Paloma, and Ozu are immensely likable characters and they way they hide from everyone else is part of their mystique. You revel in getting to know them and how they react to the rest of the tenants.

While the beginning is a bit slow and sometimes dreary, I thought The Elegance of the Hedgehog was one of the best books I have read in a while. It’s witty, funny, and smart. Barbery’s writing style is wonderful and I have added Gourmet Rhapsody to my reading list which features characters from The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Stonehenge

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Stonehenge

Stonehenge

By Bernard Cornwell

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 0-06-019700-5

3.75 stars

A stranger appears one day at an old unused temple near Ratharryn. He is not a member of any of the local tribes. He is also injured, and with a little help from the two who found him, soon dies from his wounds. This stranger carried gold with him and it is this gold that will bring forth a feud that will tear brothers apart, inspire religions, and cause war among the local tribes.

Brothers Lengar, Saban, and Camaban have little in common. Lengar is strong, defiant, and always willing to fight; Saban is the peacemaker and builder; and Camaban is unacknowledged by his father and cast out of the tribe because of a deformed foot. Lengar uses fear and brutality to eventually take over the tribe, overthrowing his father and virtually enslaving his own people. He casts Saban out but is unaware of a plan by Camaban to keep him safe until he can return to rule the tribe. In the end, it is Camaban who cleverly uses religion and sorcery to inspire the building of Stonehenge and bring about the near destruction of his people. Saban, who unwillingly shares his brother’s vision for the temple, is the one that is able to finally bring it to fruition and peace to his people.

As with most Cornwell novels I have read, there is usually a long list of characters and this one is no exception. There are several tribes, sorcerers, gods, and places to keep track of in this book. He manages to blend the stories of the different people well and it feels cohesive even when several events are taking place at the same time.

I put this book down at one point and wasn’t sure if I would go back to it. Eventually I did and once a certain character was out of the picture, I found I liked the book much more and found the remainder quite interesting. The building of the temple was fascinating — the way the stones were moved, fashioned, and positioned was a story unto itself. The religious aspect and invoking of several gods was also intriguing. The superstitions and rituals were so ingrained in the characters that it felt very natural for some of the events to take place even if they were barbaric and not something one would consider necessary for religion.

I didn’t like this book as much as other Cornwell books I have read but found it rather interesting in terms of the religious aspects portrayed here and how the societies were torn apart by gold and gods. Cornwell’s imagining of the building of Stonehenge is engrossing and made me want to find out more about it in the end.

Nook Review

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I’ve had the opportunity to finish a book on my new Nook and thought it might be a good time for a review. In case you’re curious as to what it looks like, see photos below. It’s smaller than a hardcover book, weighs about the same as a book, and is comfortable to hold.

As I said, I have only read one book on the device but it was a pleasant experience. The eink (I don’t know what the technical term is here so just play along.) is extremely easy on the eyes and after reading over a 100 pages in one sitting, my eyes didn’t bother me at all. I was incredibly surprised and pleased by that. The screen is not back lit so you will need to use it in a well lit area but this is also true of a regular book.

When flipping pages, there is a slight delay as the next page loads, and when opening a new book, a formatting box appears asking you to wait while your book choice loads, but I didn’t find either of these things incredibly annoying. I read a few reviews where this was a major focus and for me it wasn’t. The 2.5 – 3 seconds I waited didn’t feel like an eternity to me but for others it might.

Downloading books is tremendously easy which can lead to purchases you didn’t plan on making. I have so far not allowed myself to wantonly download but one can see how it can easily happen. You can download/purchase books through the Barnes & Noble website or directly on the device. Using the website is much like purchasing a regular book and then you just download the books to the device. On the device itself, you can flip through a list of about 100,000+ pages of books (you’ll be there for days) or use the small and somewhat annoying search feature. The small box below the reading screen is the navigation and turns into a small touch keypad to search. It’s awkwardly sensitive and can be hard to type on but does the job just fine once you get the feel of it. (Make sure you spell the name of the book correctly as it does not auto-correct and will only pull exact matches.) The touch screen can also be used to flip pages and scroll through book covers for purchasing books. In addition to books, magazine and newspaper subscriptions can also be purchased. We have yet to use this feature.

You can download approximately 1,500 books to the Nook. If you would like to add more storage space for extra books, you can add an SD card.

I find this important to mention — before you can actually download anything you have to register your device with Barnes & Noble and setup an account. It’s not all that difficult but it is annoying and we had to do it twice because we did it out of order which meant creating then deleting an account and then creating another one. Annoying, very. Difficult, no.

One thing to note while searching for books to download — a few were in the wrong category. We noticed several very clearly noted history books in the fiction section and some fiction in the history section. I don’t see this as a major issue just something to note under bugs.

The settings do allow you to change the size of the font, type of font, and brightness of the screen. All very useful. It will work on a wi-fi signal and the 3G network. Keeping the wi-fi and 3G off will get you several days worth of power, with it on, slightly less. If you are just reading with the wi-fi turned off, which is what I mostly do, battery issues are minor.

While I was satisfied and really quite happy with the reading experience, I did find it a bit buggy. When you open a book, and begin to read, you can set a bookmark to hold your place. I did this and when I came back to the book the next day, found myself at an entirely new place. Hmm… Luckily, I remembered where I was and quickly skipped ahead to the chapter I wanted which you can easily do using the navigation system. Not a big problem, but it’s annoying if you’re reading more than one book and have to keep track of which chapter/page you left off on. Oddly, the book my husband is reading didn’t have the same bookmark issue. I was left wondering if it was just that particular book since I’ve not experienced this problem since.

You can download PDF files to be read on the Nook. I have an ebook and was easily able to drag and drop the book onto the device when it was plugged in to the laptop. I was extraordinarily happy with the ease here. I didn’t have to load any software, just plugged in the Nook with the USB cord, the laptop said, “I see you have new device. You have a Nook. You can use it now.” OK, so it didn’t really say that but it was really that easy. I didn’t have to do a thing which prompted my husband to say, “Good, they Amy proofed it.” Which means, plug and play. I don’t like to play around with technology. I want to plug it in and have it work. The Nook did that. I hope to borrow a few books from the library this way was well. If you have an older computer, I can’t speak to ease here so take caution with this note.

It will read audio books but I haven’t tried this out yet and since I don’t listen to many anyway, it may be a long while before I get to this feature.

I’m not a tech person. I still have a phone that doesn’t take pictures and that’s by choice. (Don’t make fun! :-)) When I buy a device, I like it to do what it promises. The Nook promises to be an ereader and that’s what it does best for me. I want to download a book and I want to read it. I can easily do that on the Nook. I found it simple to use. I didn’t feel I needed to call tech support to do anything on it. I like that. Yes, there are many little features and things that my husband (the tech person in the household) found and tried to to interest me in, but I just want to read on it. If you’re looking for something more, maybe another device would be better. If you just want to read, the Nook works. If you’re a tech person, maybe there are enough things here to keep you happy, but since I don’t play with them, and probably won’t, I can’t answer that for you.

One thing I do want to mention is the packaging. When the Nook arrived it was beautifully packaged in this clear and white plastic contraption. I spent several minutes contemplating how best to remove it then spent 20 minutes trying to pry it out of the plastic prison. Why do this? I don’t know and I was highly annoyed by the time I got it out. At that point I also found out I needed to charge it before I could play with it which meant more waiting. Between shipping problems, removing of packaging, and waiting for it to charge, I spent a lot of time, well, waiting.

All in all, I like the Nook. It works well for what I want and need and I hope in the end it will provide the tired and straining bookshelves with a little respite.

If you want to know something specific, leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to answer.

NOTE: The Nook I’m reviewing here was bought as a birthday present for me by my husband. I have not been asked to do this review by anyone and I get nothing out of posting it here. I have not been compensated for my views stated above. It is solely my opinion.

Noah’s Compass

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Noah's Compass

Noah’s Compass

By Anne Tyler

Knopf Book

ISBN: 978-0307272409

4 stars

Liam Pennywell is man with a whole lot of nothing going on in his life. He’s 60 years old, divorced, he isn’t close to his three daughters, and has just been laid off from his job as a fifth grade history teacher. Liam decides to downsize himself and moves into a smaller apartment. On the first night he’s there, he’s attached and knocked unconscious. He wakes up in the hospital with no idea how he got there or what happened to him.

Liam becomes obsessed with getting his memory back. When he meets a woman, Eunice, who seems to be a rememberer of sorts, he starts to drone on about all the disappoints in his life — two failed marriages, three daughters who barely know him and he makes no effort to know them, a grandchild he doesn’t know, and, most startling to him, he seems to have no interests in anything. He begins to feel as if he’s drifting with no purpose or goal. Eunice becomes entangled in his life and he finds he likes it. The new relationship brings an odd joy to him and he starts getting to know his youngest daughter and grandchild as well. When things become complicated, he once again looks back on his life and all he lost and found.

One of the things I like about Anne Tyler is her ability to take an ordinary person and situation and make it fascinating. There isn’t anything about Liam that is out of the ordinary. His problems are ones we’re all acquainted with. We don’t have to imagine what his problems would be like because we have most likely experienced something very similar. It’s the vagaries of everyday life that Tyler seems to work best with. We all wonder about what we’ve done and where we might be going. There’s a familiarity that brings the characters to life.

In my opinion, this book was not one of Tyler’s best, but I still enjoyed it. She drops you into a story and you feel as if you’ve always belonged with these characters. I got hooked and when it ended, rather abruptly, I felt slightly cheated, as if I wasn’t done looking over Liam’s shoulder and contemplating life and what it should be. I also love that this book is set in Baltimore. It’s near my city and I like being able to pick out landmarks. If you’re an Anne Tyler fan, or not, Noah’s Compass is worth a read.

The Midnight Guardian: A Millennial Novel

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The Midnight Guardian: A Millennial Novel

The Midnight Guardian: A Millennial Novel

By Sarah Jane Stratford

St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 978-0-312-56013-3

3.5 stars

It’s 1938 and a group of ancient vampires decides that the power that Hitler is commanding in Europe must be stopped. These vampires, known as millennials, do not interfere with human affairs but decide, for not only the good of mankind but also their kind, to infiltrate and destroy the Nazi war machine.

Brigit, one of the oldest and most powerful of the group is loathe to go as it will separate her from Eamon. He has not yet reached millennial status and is too vulnerable for the mission. Reluctantly, she sets off with several companions to put their plan in motion but no one, even the oldest and strongest of the group, is sure they will return.

I didn’t know what to expect with this book — vampires hunting Nazis seemed a bit too much at first. However, once all disbelief is suspended, it works. It’s part love story, part vampire lore, and part action/thriller. It’s a strange combination and I will admit to being leery at first but, once I got into, I flew through it. The vampire background that Stratford creates is interesting and the long histories of the characters is enough to make it all work.

The Midnight Guardian is a fast read and good brain candy if you’re looking for a quick distraction. I liked the new vampire category added here and it seems set up for a second book as a few story lines are left hanging but not in such a way that leaves you annoyed. I think I might be willing to read a second one these books. While the idea was a bit outlandish, the characters were good enough to pull you in and, while it might not be a book you remember for years to come, it is an entertaining read.

Heart and Soul

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Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul

By Maeve Binchy

Alfred A. Knopf

ISBN: 978-0-307-26579-1

4 stars

Dr. Clara Casey was passed over for the position of head cardiologist at the hospital. Instead, she ends up appointed the director of the new heart clinic and she’s less than thrilled about the prospect. She promises herself it will only be for a year, she’ll get through it, and move on.

The new job is just the beginning of her troubles. She has two selfish daughters who are wrapped up in their own lives. Her estranged husband, who left her to live with a much younger woman, is finally asking for the divorce she won’t grant, and Frank Ennis, the hospital board member overseeing the clinic, is an incredible thorn in her side.

At the clinic, she begins assembling a diverse and wonderful staff. Clara is a force and you begin to see the clinic find its home in the community and become a touchstone for so many of the characters in this book.

Maeve Binchy is a comfort read for me. She creates such immensely likable characters that I want to pick up and go to Dublin to meet these people. In this book, as with most Binchy novels, the story is told from several perspectives and you know what’s going on in the lives of all the characters. Some of their stories are more interesting than others but it’s the way they are all tied together that makes it work. Binchy does a good job of folding you into the story and you’re hooked before you know it. The ending of this one felt a bit abrupt and the characters all work out their problems fairly quickly but that may also have been me not wanting to see this story come to an end at all.

This book does include characters from previous novels but you don’t need to have read them all to understand what’s going on here. It stands on its own but if you’ve read the other books, it’s nice to see the characters you’ve met before are all doing fine.