Personal Book

Review – Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

/ justbookreading / 7 Comments

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

By Seth Grahame-Smith

Grand Central Publishing

ISBN: 978-0-446-56308-6

3.5 stars

This is the last mashup I plan to read.  Of course, when I make statements like that, something always happens to change my mind.  I don’t particularly dislike this new…what are we calling this anyway?  The reason I say this is because, honestly, I’ve had enough.  Vampires and zombies, it’s been fun but I need to see others.

In Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, we meet Abe.  Abe is a young man with dreams, ambition, and a life on the brink of change when his family comes in contact with a strange and powerful man.  It’s those powers that cause his mother’s early death and his pastoral life becomes hell.  Real hell when he finds out that vile creatures of myth actually exist.  After the painful death of his mother, he vows to rid the world of the pestilence known as the undead.  On a reckless hunt, Abe is injured and comes to meet a man named Henry who teaches him not only about vampires but how to kill them.  Taking the knowledge to heart, Abe begins to kill all the vampires he can becoming one of the most powerful vampire hunters in the U.S.  It’s then that Henry asks even more of him — to become President to help rid the U.S. of vampires that would like to see all humans becomes their eventual slaves.

The story is told by a writer who has been given a secret journal, and provided he tell the true tale of Abraham Lincoln letting no information slip as to the contents of his manuscript and where the information came from, he will finally find fame as a writer.  It’s an interesting concept, BUT, I couldn’t see it.  It was highly readable; in fact, I read it pretty much in one sitting.  The problem is that it wasn’t a complete buy-in for me.  In Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, I was OK with Elizabeth Bennett kicking zombie ass because she’s tough, smart, and can be calculating.  Also, it was funny.  In Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters, I was willing to be taken for a ride and somehow I was all right with Marianne battling giant squids.  This felt lost in translation for me.  I kept reading wondering where the joke was but it was all too somber — Abe having nightmares about his family dying, his own horrific death, the Civil War being fought by vampires.  It needed something funny to make it work but it wasn’t there.  It was all so serious and I couldn’t take it that way.  It was Abraham Lincoln, the man who managed against all odds to keep the Union together, fighting vampires.  There should be a joke in there somewhere!

I can’t say I didn’t like it and I can’t say I liked it.  There’s already a lot out there on this one and I’m going to leave it at that.  If you like vampire books, it’s interesting but not entirely satisfying.  If you like mashups, it’s one more for the stack.

Review – A River Runs Through It

/ justbookreading / 4 Comments

A River Runs Through It

By Normal Maclean

The University of Chicago Press

ISBN: 978-0-226-50066-9

4.75 stars

I’m the daughter of a fisherman — a bass fisherman to be precise.  Trust me, it matters.  Going into this story, I had few expectations other than I would love it, having loved the movie long before reading this.  Talk about expectations being met.  Not only is this story wonderfully moving but it brought back a lot of memories I have of fishing with my dad and grandpa.  While Norman and his brother Paul are fly fisherman obsessed with the sport and the mechanics of it, the two are easy to relate to and you see how fishing became a metaphor for the lives of these two men.

Norman begins the story by laying out the terms by which his father and brother live.  And by live I mean fish.  Fishing is their life — sad, stressed, and/or happy — they fish.  It transports them to another place where time doesn’t so much matter as long as you get your limit.  Paul is a stubborn soul and Norman admits to not being able to understand him or connect with him on his own level which both frustrates and amazes him.  His life is boring but orderly and while he may not be the happiest of people, Norman knows who and what he is.  Paul is unpredictable, strange, and a wonder with a rod anywhere near water.  Even their father has trouble relating to Paul but everyone stands in awe of him, from the careless way he leads his life to the way he can fish a river.

A River Runs Through It is a short chronicle of Paul’s life and Norman’s struggle to understand it.  It’s also very sad but I won’t go into spoilers here.  You do have to read it to understand the depth he manages to convey with so few words.  It’s astonishing.

I love the role the Montana landscape plays in this story.  It’s a living being especially the river in which they fish and consider almost a reverent part of the family in ways.  Neither brother fears the river although they have a certain respect for it but it’s Paul who seems able to tame it and that’s where Norman’s awe of his brother comes in.  His descriptions of Paul’s fishing abilities are poetic in a way and should be read to be fully appreciated so I won’t try to describe it for you.

There are a few additional stories in the book I have, A River Runs Through It being the only one I’ve read so far.  Since this is a short story and the best known of Maclean’s work, I wanted to include it here as a separate review.  I think it warrants that.  It’s an emotionally moving story that feels much longer than its scant 100 pages.

Review – Magic Slays

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

Magic Slays

By Ilona Andrews

Penguin Group

ISBN: 9781101515259

4 stars

This is the fifth book in the Kate Daniel series and if you haven’t read the first four books, starting here would be a mistake.  Not because you’d be lost, Andrews provides enough details for the first-timer and for readers who may have let a bit too much time lapse between books, but because you’d miss all the fun.

Kate, now the Beast Lord Curran’s wife for lack of a better term, she’s living with the Pack and acting as Alpha to Curran.  While she’s still not entirely comfortable with her new position and unsure how to handle her emotions now that she’s allowed herself to admit she loves Curran, she clings dearly to her new business, the only thing she has some control over.  Setup with funds from the Pack, Kate is ready to work for herself rather than the Guild but finding business is proving harder than she imagined.  In an Atlanta full of magical beings, shapeshifters, vampires, witches, and mages, no one is asking for her help.  When her first client walks through the door, the gates of hell open below her feet.

One thing I love about these books — sheer brain candy.  That’s a good thing so don’t be turned off.  The books are short, entertaining, and Andrews has created an Atlanta full of wonderful characters, most of which are the staples of urban fantasy, but they all feel new.  I devour these books and wait patiently for the next installment so I can schedule time on the couch to sit and become absorbed in Kate’s world.  She’s brash, doesn’t think things through, acts crazy at times, and takes constant risks even when the people in her life ask her not too.

I waited for four books to see Kate and Curran get together and no I’m not saying that to ruin anything for you if you haven’t read these books yet.  You see it coming in book one and when it happens, it works.  I know some of you might be saying, “Romance in urban fantasy?”  Don’t worry, it’s not out of control and fits with the story without becoming the story.

If you haven’t read these books yet, try them.  They’re so fun and if you don’t love urban fantasy, you will when you finish these books.  If you want to start at the beginning, the books in order are: Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, and Magic Slays.

Thoughts on my re-read of Little Women

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott

Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

ISBN: 0-448-06019-1

I’m not going to call this a review because it’s not.  If you want to read more about the book, google it.  I thought I’d take the opportunity to talk about what I thought of it on this go around instead.

When I picked this up, I was in a slight reading slump and thought a beloved book from my childhood that I’ve always considered a comfort read would pull me out of it.  By page 40, I was so annoyed with everyone — Meg for bemoaning being poor, Jo for her hyper personality, Beth for all her goodness could only talk about being even better, Amy took me to the heights of annoyance over wanting to be so prim, proper and rich, and even dear Marmee started to rankle.  They were too perfect.  They were too moral.  Everything was a lesson.  Then something changed.  It was that dear old scene where Beth befriends Mr. Laurence and when the little piano arrives, she boldly walks next door to thank him properly for the joy he’s brought her.  The two become a pair content in a friendship that comes of music and Beth’s simple nature.  My annoyances dropped away and once more I felt at home.  It took me a minute though and even when I thought about dropping it, I couldn’t.  I didn’t want to leave the story on a bad note.

Sometimes when re-reading a story that is so loved, there creeps in the need to change it or to imagine it with different endings.  I’ve heard others talk about wanting Jo and Laurie to get together and while I can see that as a possible ending, and at one point in my life I felt it should have been that way, I found this time that I wanted Jo and the Professor to be together instead.  Yes, Jo and Laurie fit together perfectly but they are so alike that it wouldn’t feel satisfying to me now.  Somehow just like Marmee said!  Jo finds someone who appreciates her outbursts and willingness to learn by throwing herself so fully into things that she forgets about the world around her and there’s something lovely in that simple ending for her.  She finds not only love but a partner.

While I still found Jo to be my favorite, Meg and Amy left me wanting this time.  They were still, I don’t know how to put this, but still too preoccupied with the thoughts of others.  Amy does redeem herself but she felt small and slightly inconsequential.  Her romance with Laurie isn’t so much of a romance as a settling for me and maybe that’s why years ago I felt cheated by it and wanted Laurie to be with Jo.  Meg has a way of wrapping herself up so tightly in small things that she forgets there are others in her life, and when this happens in her marriage, I didn’t feel for her.  It was a normal reaction and the lesson from Marmee felt more like preaching and I sort of glossed over it.  Marriage is tough and Meg needed to find that out.  Yes, Marmee let her but it didn’t stop any discussion of the lesson learned.

Then there is the moral; make that morals.  There’s a lesson to be learned by one and all every day, rich or poor.  I felt preached to in the end by people better than me and that frustrated me.  Not because I think I’m a bad person, I think the contrary actually, but this time it weighed heavily.  It was probably my mood considering how busy life has been during the last few weeks but I was looking for comfort and I got a sermon.  I don’t remember it being this way on other reads but somewhere along the way I saw it all differently.  And I’m grateful for that.  I appreciate being able to take a book I’ve read and loved, re-examine it and look at it from a new perspective.  In some ways it became a more satisfying read this time even if I didn’t enjoy it as much.  I still adore this story and nothing in the world will change that but it’s interesting to see how my current life and experiences changes my reading and memories.

 

Teaser Tuesdays

/ justbookreading / 12 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.

I took a few days off to spend time with my husband who is traveling almost non-stop in July.  I think he’ll actually spend more time out of town and on planes than he will at our house this month.  I thought I’d spend the couple days he was in town with him which is was why things were quiet here.

Getting back into things, I’m sharing a few lines from The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell this week.

“When the rehearsal was done, Nell sat still for a few moments, not wanting to let go of what she had experienced. She felt drained and yet exhilarated, and as if she was changed in some way.” (page 55 of 329 on Nook)

Review – Livia, Empress of Rome: A Biography

/ justbookreading / 6 Comments

Livia, Empress of Rome: A Biography

By Matthew Dennison

St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 978-0-312-65864-9

3.5 stars

A few years ago I read a biography of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, and loved it.  I moved on to a biography of Cicero but never finished it; my interest in ancient Rome waning slightly on the non-fiction front.  My husband, knowing I enjoy reading about this time period, brought home this biography for me and in an effort to read more non-fiction this year, Livia, Empress of Rome made it to the top of pile quickly.

Livia’s life is told through the men in her life.  Starting with her father, then her first husband, the affair she has with Octavian, the man who would become Augustus, and then her sons.  For ancient Romans, who could be meticulous when it came to noting things of importance, weren’t so good about record keeping when it came to women.  Even the date of Livia’s birth is speculation but easy enough to pin down to a year or two.  Her first marriage is rather undocumented much like her birth but it’s when she meets and begins an affair with Octavian that her life seems to become more definitive.  Divorcing her first husband, and merely three days after giving birth to her second son, Livia marries Octavian and she embarks on the journey of becoming one of the first women in ancient Rome to be called empress.

Constantly accused of being manipulative and power hungry, her marriage to Octavian, who is on a path of power himself, surprises no one.  In fact, the descriptions of Livia are less than flattering but that doesn’t stop her husband from portraying her as the pious, divine, and picture of goodness he wants her and every other woman in Rome to be.  The marriage of Livia and Octavian was probably based on love considering Livia never gave birth to a child of Octavian’s and he could have easily divorced her in favor of a woman who could bear him sons.  Apparently though, it didn’t stop Octavian from having affairs which considering his pious public persona, was quite amusing to read about.  Octavian, now Augustus, dies without a son or heir but being ancient Rome, the act of adoption is not unknown and he adopts Livia’s son Tiberius in order keep a line of succession.  For a man who planned everything, not having an heir had to be distressing considering each time he named someone they died.  Rumors abounded that it was Livia who was scheming to put her son Tiberius in line and poisoned the others.  These rumors of poisoning actually followed her throughout her life and beyond but nothing was ever proven.

I have to say for a book that in parts felt dry, and I found myself somewhat annoyed at times when I wanted the book to more about Livia and not the men she was surrounded by, I have so much to say about it.  It wasn’t the best book I’ve read or the best biography, but it was good.  Obviously, writing about someone whose life took place in ancient times is difficult and though this one wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it was interesting enough.

Today’s Book – is a new book

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

I’m reading Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, actually I’ve been reading it for the last week.  It’s good, very good, but life’s been hectic so I haven’t spent much time it.  Due to my unexpected reading delay, I thought I would instead talk about a new book I bought — Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks by Juliet Eilperin.

Confession time.  I heart sharks.  I just do.  I don’t know why.  On a trip to St. Thomas a few years ago, my husband and I went on a kayaking day trip and I was disappointed at not seeing a shark when we stopped to go snorkeling at a wreck.  The wreck was a small speedboat so don’t be too impressed with me.  Anyway, the barracudas were interesting and the tropical fish were very pretty but no sharks.  While packing up and getting ready to head back our guide said, “Oh, look, a shark.”  I dropped my paddle and kayak, ran back in the water, and got a glimpse of the said shark.  It was a nurse shark.  It’s wasn’t big, it wasn’t all that scary either, but it was a shark.  Smiling, and very thrilled with my shark encounter, I picked up my kayak and got in for the trip home.  My husband made fun of me all the way back, “Who runs in the water after a shark?”  Hmm, I do.  True story.

So this week I give you my summer reading, Demon Fish.  My perfect beach book.  🙂

Review – Poison

/ justbookreading / 2 Comments

Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance

By Sara Poole

St. Martin’s Griffin

ISBN: 9780312609832

3.75 stars

In an attempt to branch out in my historical fiction reading, I’ve been auditioning time periods outside of 14th – 19th Century England which encompasses a large portion of my historical fiction reading.  On finding out Poison was set during the Italian Renaissance, I quickly added it to my list.  It also helped the Borgia family had a role as I find their abhorrent behavior highly fascinating.  Unfortunately, it didn’t impress as I wanted it to.

Francesca Giordana is grieving the death of her father, a man whose murder remains unresolved and a man who happened to be the poisoner of Rodrigo Borgia — a notorious and well-known man in the city of Rome.  In an attempt to keep her place in the Borgia household following her father’s death, Francesca makes a bold move by killing the new poisoner in a most unusual way causing Borgia to hire her on the spot.  Unfortunately for Francesca, Borgia has a plan to become Pope and it involves her abilities as a poison master to bring about his Papal reign.  Her involvement in the conspiracy to kill Pope Innocent will send in her into the depths of the Jewish Ghetto and the bowels of the Vatican endangering everyone she loves.

There was a good combination of elements: conspiracy to poison Pope Innocent for Borgia to have a chance at the Papacy, the murder of Francesca’s father, and a high up attempt to expel the Jews out of Rome by a mad priest bent on having his demented way.  In some ways it felt as if the story was moving in too many directions though.  I enjoyed the plot to poison Pope Innocent and Francesca’s role in it but all her other interests were too much and it began to burst for me.  At the end of the story, some plots were wrapped up but several others were still in play for the sequel which I’m actually all right with.

Another problem I had was the dialogue — it felt entirely too modern for the time period and at times I wanted to google the language used to see if it was appropriate.  Francesca was another issue for me.  She is a poisoner yet faints at the sight of blood.  Yes, I get trying to have her be the poisoner with a heart but she was too much for me.  If you’re going to plot killing people, willingly and knowingly, get rid of the heart or at least compartmentalize your feelings.  You can’t have it both ways; it’s not believable.  The second problem was her love life.  Sadly, the love element which was small was something I wanted more of and it was only hinted at here.  I’m guessing it will come about in book two, The Borgia Betrayal.

If you’re familiar with the Borgia family this isn’t bad but I think I was expecting something entirely different.  Even though I wasn’t totally sold on the book, it was a fast read and if you’re looking for historical fiction set in the Renaissance, it’s a nice change of pace.