From Publishers Weekly
With her latest gothic page-turner, Beauman (Rebecca's Tale) weaves a spellbinding tale of three charismatic English sisters and their irresistible pull on the men in their orbit. At the novel's start, it's summer of 1967 in Suffolk, England, where the Mortlands—gorgeous Julia; intellectual Finn (both in their early 20s); odd, imaginative 13-year-old Maisie; and their mother, Stella—live in a medieval abbey. Maisie, who narrates early on, is haunted by the death of their father—and by the abbey's long-gone nuns. Stella commissions Lucas Feld, a starving young artist, to paint the sisters. Julia and Finn, along with Lucas, Daniel Nunn (the sisters' childhood friend) and Daniel's friend Nick Marlow, spend the summer entangled in affairs of the heart while Maisie observes. With his paint brush, Lucas uncannily captures the passion, heartbreak and mystery of the bittersweet summer. But a horrific tragedy, the details of which Beauman suspensefully reveals over the rest of the novel, destroys the summer idyll. Fast-forward to 1991: Lucas is now a famous artist whose breakthrough painting The Sisters Mortland will soon show at a retrospective, and Daniel, who narrates this section, is suffering a mid-life crisis and still obsessed with the events of that fateful summer. With a conclusion narrated by Julia, this well-paced, haunting novel will captivate Beauman's fans. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
My Thoughts:
Wow! This was a great story. You really feel compassion with the characters. The format of the story was excellent as well, with Maisie first, then Dan and a conclusion by Julia that ties most of it together. The ending leaves you feeling bereft initially, but upon reflection, you realize it couldn't have ended any other way. The ending fit the story, and it was more realistic than a "happily ever after" ending would have been.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Monday, March 06, 2006
"The Taking" by Dean Koontz
From Publishers Weekly
Actress Meyers delivers a curious performance of Koontz’s latest novel (following Odd Thomas). Executed with a kind of curt, crisp precision, her portrayal of the main character, Molly Sloan, is unexceptional and doesn’t encourage the proper empathy from the listener, which is unfortunate because Molly and her ex-priest husband Neil are up against steep odds. They wake one morning in their small California town to find that a strange-smelling, luminous rain has heralded a worldwide change. All communications, even the Internet, cease functioning, but only after broadcasting some disturbing sound snippets. Soon Molly and Neil find themselves in a world where most other humans have been hunted down, the dead are reanimated and extraterrestrial invaders harvest souls. On the few occasions when Meyers gives voice to supporting characters (e.g., children, a possessed doll, the walking dead and the evil alien beings), her reading changes from run-of-the-mill to downright chilling. The transformation is astonishing and causes the listener’s gooseflesh to rise; alas, these instances are far too infrequent.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
My Thoughts:
This book scared me to death, but I loved every minute of it. It could almost be real, and that is what scared me the most, I think. If you like to be spooked, this book is for you! I even listened to it on CD so I wouldn't be reading it near bedtime, and still had a nightmare about it, LOL.
Actress Meyers delivers a curious performance of Koontz’s latest novel (following Odd Thomas). Executed with a kind of curt, crisp precision, her portrayal of the main character, Molly Sloan, is unexceptional and doesn’t encourage the proper empathy from the listener, which is unfortunate because Molly and her ex-priest husband Neil are up against steep odds. They wake one morning in their small California town to find that a strange-smelling, luminous rain has heralded a worldwide change. All communications, even the Internet, cease functioning, but only after broadcasting some disturbing sound snippets. Soon Molly and Neil find themselves in a world where most other humans have been hunted down, the dead are reanimated and extraterrestrial invaders harvest souls. On the few occasions when Meyers gives voice to supporting characters (e.g., children, a possessed doll, the walking dead and the evil alien beings), her reading changes from run-of-the-mill to downright chilling. The transformation is astonishing and causes the listener’s gooseflesh to rise; alas, these instances are far too infrequent.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
My Thoughts:
This book scared me to death, but I loved every minute of it. It could almost be real, and that is what scared me the most, I think. If you like to be spooked, this book is for you! I even listened to it on CD so I wouldn't be reading it near bedtime, and still had a nightmare about it, LOL.
"Anyone But You" by Jennifer Crusie
Download Description
Nina Askew has always wanted a puppy, but her ex-husband had always refused. Following her divorce and facing her fortieth birthday, she heads to the pound in search of a cute, cuddly, perky puppy to cheer her up. But instead she is drawn toward an older, midsized, seemingly depressed mutt - too big for her apartment, too melancholy for her state of mind, but she can't help but adopt him anyway. With Fred now in her life, everything seems to change - her priorities, her attitude and, unexpectedly, her love life when Fred brings Nina's much younger neighbor, Alex, into the picture. Despite all the waving red flags, Nina allows herself to consider the possibility that maybe somehow he'd miraculously be interested in an older woman with a depressed dog.
My Thoughts:
Boy, I just loved this book! After reading "Night" I needed a nice light and funny read, and this book fit the bill perfectly. I totally fell in love with Fred, right along with Nina. The ending is wonderful and the book pulled at all of my emotions. I have even become a Cherry!!! LOL
Nina Askew has always wanted a puppy, but her ex-husband had always refused. Following her divorce and facing her fortieth birthday, she heads to the pound in search of a cute, cuddly, perky puppy to cheer her up. But instead she is drawn toward an older, midsized, seemingly depressed mutt - too big for her apartment, too melancholy for her state of mind, but she can't help but adopt him anyway. With Fred now in her life, everything seems to change - her priorities, her attitude and, unexpectedly, her love life when Fred brings Nina's much younger neighbor, Alex, into the picture. Despite all the waving red flags, Nina allows herself to consider the possibility that maybe somehow he'd miraculously be interested in an older woman with a depressed dog.
My Thoughts:
Boy, I just loved this book! After reading "Night" I needed a nice light and funny read, and this book fit the bill perfectly. I totally fell in love with Fred, right along with Nina. The ending is wonderful and the book pulled at all of my emotions. I have even become a Cherry!!! LOL
"Night" by Elie Weisel
Amazon.com
In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died.
My Thoughts:
Though this book was hard to read, and all the more so because I wasn't in the frame of mind to read a depressing book. Elie tells the story so well, you feel as if you are there with him. The violence and cruelty the Jewish suffer is just abominable. It leaves me speechless that there are humans as awful as Hitler still out there today.
In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died.
My Thoughts:
Though this book was hard to read, and all the more so because I wasn't in the frame of mind to read a depressing book. Elie tells the story so well, you feel as if you are there with him. The violence and cruelty the Jewish suffer is just abominable. It leaves me speechless that there are humans as awful as Hitler still out there today.
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