Fiction

Review – A Long-Forgotten Truth

/ justbookreading / 4 Comments

A Long-Forgotten Truth

By Rachel Ballard

Rozlyn Press

ISBN: 9780983326007

3.75 stars

I picked up A Long-Forgotten Truth after finishing an epic fantasy knowing I needed something completely different.  It turned out to be something so very different from the previous book I became worried it would throw me off.  I shouldn’t have worried; this was an enjoyable book.

Eighteen year-old Gail Cavanaugh finds herself accidentally stumbling upon a family secret looking for money to pay the rent while her father is in rehab.  When she confronts her father about her birth and her mother, his honesty is not what she needs.  And in a way, it wasn’t something she was looking for either.  Taking the old, beat up car, the only real family possession, she sets out on a journey to find her origins and understand a mother who has consciously stayed out of her life.  Landing in the small town of Sylver, Washington thanks to car trouble, she gets caught up in the lives of three people with too many problems of their own to count.

For a first novel, this one is well put together and the story, while rather straight forward, feels much bigger than a simple road trip which is actually a large part of the story.  Gail is a mixed up kid with problems that shouldn’t be hers — a mother who seems to have forgotten her existence, a father who can’t hold anything together without alcohol, grandparents who are tired from trying, and a ghost (a voice in her head she refers to as a ghost) of her own that won’t shut up making you wonder about Gail’s own sanity at times.  She’s one of those kids that get lost in the system so fast everyone forgets they even existed at all.  Gail is a sad character but you don’t feel sorry for her in the usual way because for some reason she’s too well put together for that.  But there are times when you can see how easily it would be for her to curl up and try to forget how to breathe.  Incapacitating depression doesn’t seem far off for anyone in her family.  She knows things are bad but keeps going anyway and decides to even look for a reason or a possible solution to all the bad in her life.  She doesn’t find the answer she’s looking for but you’re not bothered by that; rarely does that happen with the type of problems she faces.

I won’t say this is a feel good story and I wasn’t expecting it to be but the ending is satisfactory and there’s no let down even with characters that are as intensely flawed as these are.  Sometimes the only resolution is to understand there isn’t one and I’m good when characters come to this conclusion.  I was looking for something outside of my comfort zone and got it with A Long-Forgotten Truth and I wasn’t disappointed.  The writing is strong and the story engrossing.  A Long-Forgotten Truth was good a read.

As I said, this is the first book for the author but also the first story for the small press, Rozlyn Press.  I’m interested to see the next move for both.

Teaser Tuesdays

/ justbookreading / 4 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

Play along: Grab your current read; Open to a random page; Share two teaser sentences from that page; Share the title and author so other participants know what you’re reading.

Today’s teaser comes from The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell.

“I turned to see an old man standing in the door. White hair showed beneath the bandage that swathed his head, and he was so thin and so weak that he had to lean on the door frame for support.” (page 247)

Review – Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

By Mike Mignola and John Byrne

Dark Horse Books

ISBN: 1-59307-094-2

3.75 stars

I don’t know where to start with this so please be patient.  It’ll probably be short anyway…not for lack of enjoyment or appeal but more from the fact that, as I said, I don’t know where to start.

Hellboy, on a trip back to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, finds Professor Bruttenholm struggling to remember something.  Before he is able to explain his thoughts to Hellboy, an attack takes place killing the Professor and sending Hellboy and his cohorts, Elizabeth Sherman and Abraham Sapien, on a dangerous mission that answers no questions and leaves them knowing more terror is to come.

I don’t read graphic novels nearly enough and I’ll even admit to buying most of those currently in our house knowing my husband likes them but really what I’m looking for is an excuse to buy more of them because I think they’re cool.  I have a not so secret love of the Hellboy movies and this one is the basis for the Hellboy II: The Golden Army movie although I will say that a lot is imagined in the movie because this one is rather bare on the details.  I’m all right with that and can see what was used and what was ditched.  I know there are a lot of bloggers out there that don’t like movie adaptations of books but with a graphic novel, I think you have to allow more leeway.

The artwork is done well but I don’t feel the horror that it’s supposed to inspire, hence the only 3.75 stars.  It does give you the same destructive feel that is always present with Hellboy though and I like that this personality trait came through.  If you aren’t familiar with these characters, I’m not sure this is a good starting place although this is the first in this particular series storyline but not the comic series itself.  Actually, that’s just what I think; I didn’t Google that so if I’m wrong, I’m wrong.  Without much background, you’re dropped in and moved along at a fast pace.  I enjoyed that but can see how it might induce confusion.

If you’re familiar with the story and characters, or share my guilty pleasure for the movies, I’d recommend this one.

Teaser Tuesdays

/ justbookreading / 3 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

Play along: Grab your current read; Open to a random page; Share two teaser sentences from that page; Share the title and author so other participants know what you’re reading.

Today’s teaser comes from The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor.

“No, no, Master. A virtuous mind allied to a cultivated understanding must ever—” (pg. 62)

Today’s Book – is not actually a book but don’t hold that against me

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

Cuz it’s about a book!  Yes, I realize you’ll all be very tired soon of hearing about how wonderful George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series is but this I needed to share.  It’s an editorial that appeared in The New York Times on September 7, 2011 titled – Trapped in a Tapestry of Ice and Fire.

I love that this is an editorial about a book.  *Love it.* This makes me happy.  I would go on about the deeper meaning of this being an editorial about a fantasy book in the paper of record, or talk about the people who bemoan that we’ve stopped reading, blah, blah, blah.  But I seem to have met my match in a germ making the rounds so that’s all I have that’s coherent.  Go ahead and read.  And, if this doesn’t make sense, don’t hold it against me.  Blame the nasty germs.

Review – Mansfield Park

/ justbookreading / 4 Comments

Mansfield Park from The Complete Works of Jane Austen

By Jane Austen

Douglas Editions

ISBN: 2940000816981

3.5

I knew going in that Mansfield Park was not one of Austen’s most loved works but I had high hopes.  I’d yet to run into a story I didn’t like so why would this one be different?  Oh, what a question to be answered.  I struggled with Mansfield Park.  I never thought of quitting but when the general pattern I’m so happy to find in her books didn’t appear but a group of hateful characters did; it made me wonder what I was reading.  There was no one for me to become attached to.  No love story to speak of.  Scandal, debauchery, and laziness were in abundance though.

Fanny Price is all of 10 years-old when she’s packed off to live with her aunt, Lady Bertram, at Mansfield Park.  A timid creature, Fanny does her best to fade into the background.  Having been told since her arrival by her other aunt, Mrs. Norris, she knows she’s not much to look at, nor should she ever be ungrateful for all her aunt and uncle have done for her.  When the Crawford’s, a brother and sister duo of trouble, come to stay at the nearby parsonage, Fanny’s cultivated quiet life changes drastically.

There is a lot of Jane Austen here to like — it’s witty, humorous, there’s sharp dialogue, and societal mockery.  There’s also a boatload of dislikable characters.  For instance, Mrs. Norris.  She’s like the Mrs. Danvers of the Austen universe.  She’s mean, caustic, and cheap.  Oh so cheap.  While she never tries to get Fanny to off herself, she does all she can to make sure Fanny knows she’s no Bertram either and is certainly no help to her self-esteem.  I did find her amusing in a way though especially when she’s lifting things like jam and thread from others for her own personal use.  Lady Bertram is so lazy it’s a wonder she can breathe on her own.  She’s incapable of making any decisions and is forever asking her husband or sons if she likes something.  How can you not know if you like something?  Tom, Maria, and Julia Bertram are so self-centered they didn’t even register with me — even when scandal overtakes them.  Edmund is interesting, being the only one willing to speak his conscience, but he’s also annoying especially when he gets blind-sighted by Miss Crawford.  And now we come to the Crawford’s.  They do add life to the story and their scheming of course makes you love to hate them, but yes, there’s a but.  Because I saw it (I’m not going to tell you what it is.) coming I honestly wanted it to be over knowing good ol’ stout Fanny wouldn’t fall for it.

This has me wondering about another Austen book, Emma.  I never liked that character either and never finished the book.  I’m willing to give it a go but it might be a long minute before I get to it.  Lady Susan is next on my Austen tome list.  I enjoy epistolary novels so my hopes are once again high.

In time, I may go back to this one for a re-read.  I might feel differently about it a second time.

The Sunday Salon – Do you listen when the universe tries to tell you something?

/ justbookreading / 1 Comment

One day last week I attempted to make coffee and the machine broke.  I decided it was the universe’s way of telling me to curtail my caffeine intake.  I had herbal tea instead.

I walk to work, and while I usually don’t notice anyone on the street, (I once walked past my own husband.  True story.) I keep seeing this person walking and reading.  This person has been reading George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.  It started a few months ago with A Game of Thrones, moved on to A Clash of Kings, then A Storm of Swords, and now A Feast for Crows.  At first I didn’t think much of it other than to marvel at this person’s ability to walk and read at the same time.  I could get so much more reading in if I was able to do this!  Sadly, I would probably end up covered in bruises and a regular in the emergency room for minor injuries from not watching where I’m going.  I’m the face of clumsy if you must know.  The reason I mention this is that I’m trying to hold off on finishing the last two books available to me.  Knowing it takes Martin years to finish a book, I don’t want to be left waiting longer than necessary for all seven books in the series.

Later that same day I go to pick up lunch and after ordering, I move off to the side to wait and what do I see but the same person sitting at a table once more reading A Feast for Crows.

I think this is the universe’s way of telling me A Feast for Crows should be my next book.  We’ll see how it goes.

Reading anything good this holiday weekend?

Happy Sunday.

Review – The Postmortal

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

The Postmortal

By Drew Magary

Penguin Group

ISBN: 9780143119821

4.75 stars

In 2019, the cure for aging is discovered.  Three shots and you, barring cancer or mortal injury, can live forever.  Utopia has arrived.  Well, not so fast.  John Farrell all of 29 years-old gets the cure.  Always a bit of a self-doubter, but one with curiosity, he’s more interested in seeing if it works as opposed to thinking seriously about his actions and what the cure means for his city, state, country, or the world.

Told through John’s writings, blog posts, random thoughts, and news clips and feeds, readers are left with a unique, if sometimes, completely un-planned story and it’s fascinating.  It’s so fascinating in fact it’s almost believable — to a degree.  Scientific advances are made at astonishing rates and some of the scenarios in this book are not hard to buy-in to and I loved that.  Some of it is hard to read and sometimes John is infuriating but either way you want to see the total destruction you know is coming.  Magary ends the book in the only way possible and you want to thank him for it because you almost feel the world he created should be destroyed.  Over and over again.

John is an everyman who re-invests himself to stay alive — an estate lawyer turned divorce attorney turned globe-trotter turned end specialist.  Yes, he kills people for a living but not before offering them estate planning and tax advice.  It’s a sweet touch, really.  But John’s also a person stuck and even after his numerous years on the planet, still doesn’t know what he wants until the end.  Fortunately, it’s believable from him.

Magary has one freak of an imagination and I hope he keeps running with it.  The Postmortal is a true ride from start to finish but if you prefer less sociopathic behavior from characters, it might not be for you.  However, all that happens here could be attainable in a world with no death, at least not the naturally occurring kind.  That’s what I liked about it.  He goes radical, pulls it back, and goes after it again.

Do we know everything? No.  But neither does the main character so you go with it, sucked in hoping beyond hope he might find his way.  I highly recommend this one.

I requested this book from NetGalley.