The Plague of Doves

by Louise Erdrich

What a disappointment. I went into this novel with high expectations after having read two previous novels by this author, but The Plague of Doves fell short for me. In general, the combined short stories within this novel tell the history of three generations of Indians living on reservation land in North Dakota and how a murder that occurred in 1911 intermingled the lives of all these families, as Mooshum tells his granddaughter, "nothing that happens, nothing, is not connected here by blood."
The book was just too disjointed with so many characters, who also had nicknames that made it difficult to keep up with and connect with them. There were also many different narrators, but it wasn't always clear who was telling or when a transition had been made. In addition, when the murderer is finally disclosed, it is very anti-climatic and leaves lots of unanswered questions.

On a side note, it seems that in order to publish a novel these days, you must include a homosexual encounter.... it's getting old, particularly when it serves no purpose in the development of the story.

I like the writing style of this author and I liked the previous books of hers I read: The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse  and The Master Butcher's Singing Club. Try one of those instead. 

Sister

by Rosamund Lupton

As my brothers would say, "meh." No new plot line, not really much of a mystery or thriller, overly dramatic characters but an idea that had promise. When Beatrice is told her sister, Tess has gone missing, she hurries home to help in the search.  Unfortunately, Tess turns up dead in a public restroom. The police quickly conclude she has committed suicide, but Bea knows better and begins her own investigation into the death.

Sister was okay.

Arsonist

by Victor Methos

Another psychological thriller and as can be determined by the title it is about an Arsonist. Not being acquainted with the mind or methods of a typical arsonist, I would guess that the person depicted in this novel was at the extreme end of the spectrum, since he was as much delighted in torturing his victims as in setting fire to them and their homes. Although Methos tries to give you a glimpse into the mind of a pyromaniac, he is not nearly as successful as Gillian Flynn was in exposing the crazies in Gone Girl.

I found the main story line hard to follow because of an undeveloped side story involving one of the detectives, which never made sense to me and included distracting diversions. There was also a situation in a church that was so unbelievable it was hard to keep going with the plot. The book included a number of fights, gun battles and car chases that popped up from nothing and didn't make sense in the context. I didn't really like any of the characters, their dialogue was unnatural and they over-used the F-word. I also didn't like all the unnecessary and mindless detail, I don't mind details that benefit or progress the story, but don't need purposeless information that just wastes my time.

Not a favorite, but the title does meet a book challenge requirement. 

My Year With Eleanor: A Memoir

by Noelle Hancock

After losing her job and staring 30 in the face, Noelle Hancock is distraught and afraid, unsure what to do next. So she does what any unemployed, New York twenty-something would do, throws caution to the wind in an effort to "find herself." Using Eleanor Roosevelt as inspiration, Hancock embarks on an adventure of self-discovery and self-indulgence. Throughout her year of facing fear, Noelle learns to be a trapeze artist, goes shark diving, participates in a fighter pilot dog-fight, takes stripper classes, spends a week at a silent retreat, does stand-up comedy, runs naked through her apartment building, spends a week assisting in a funeral parlor in Ohio (because apparently none exist in NYC), climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro, and there's more! Hancock justifies her activities using various quotes or life examples from biographies of Ms. Roosevelt, which makes it all ok.

The events in My Year With Eleanor are so overly fantastical it's hard to believe it hasn't been embellished. I also really struggled with the author's flippancy toward money and expenses as she was a jobless New York City resident with no income during the height of the recession but had no problem going on these extravagant adventures and taking extremely costly trips. And despite her constant criticisms of her conservative and practical parents, who she looks down her nose at, she doesn't blink an eye when taking money from them to support her indulgence.

I enjoyed the references to Eleanor Roosevelt's life, but would have been better served just reading one of the biographies mentioned. Perhaps I'm too old for this book. Not to mention too conservative and practical!

The LIttle Stranger

by Sarah Waters

Seems I am on a roll of disappointing reads. I had high expectations for The Little Stranger, especially because of Stephen King's endorsement, but I wonder if he actually read the book or just a summary of it. The premise is good, a post WWII haunted house story set in a crumbling mansion estate in GB,  the characters are well developed, including Hundreds Hall itself and the writing is descriptive. But it was a roller coaster of building up to a climax that never came, building up a ghost that never appeared and building up an awkward romance that falls flat.

It seems that Ms. Waters wanted to write a Gothic horror the likes of Rebecca or Jane Eyre, but wasn't capable of blending the suspense with the romantic, which left the story jumping between the ghost business and the people business without satisfactorily resolving either.

This book had so much potential that after investing the time it made the end a greater let down. 

A Red Herring Without Mustard

by Alan Bradley

Last January I read the first of the Flavia de Luce mysteries and said I'd probably read another. Well, here it is. This book is filled with many of the same characters and Flavia struggles with many of the same family troubles as mentioned in the first novel. These interactions give a rather morose tone to the overall story, which takes away from the fun.
The story centers around a gyspy, who after reading a villager's fortune is found nearly dead in her caravan. A day later, the likely suspect is found dead, hanging from the trident at Poseidon's fountain. So the search for the killer begins. Unfortunately, in Red Herring, there really isn't much of a mystery, I think any reader could pick up all the clues long before the heroine does.
In his novels, Mr. Bradley references a variety of other literary works as well as providing little factoids about chemicals, their interactions, their uses and their founders.
I read this book for the reading challenge. After this one, I think I've had my fill of Flavia. These books should be marketed to a younger audience.

The Bird Sisters

by Rebecca Rasmussen

If you read my last post, you already know how I felt about The Bird Sisters. And if you read my last post you'll understand that I had high expectations because it got rave reviews. And when I kept forcing myself back to read just one more chapter before playing 7 little words, I also kept wondering what I was missing since I wasn't so enthralled by this story. But I really just didn't care. I didn't particularly like the main characters, I didn't like what was going on in the story, I wasn't overly impressed with the writing style, the plot was slow, nothing much really happened and nothing much was really resolved, even though the author kept going back to wrap it up. When she finally did finish writing, I was glad to be done, but not really glad I fought myself to finish it. 

But, don't let my harsh criticism deter you.... many readers found it "a beautiful debut novel" (wonder if they read the whole thing). I know; I'm sassy.

Sharp Objects

by Gillian Flynn

Initially, I wanted to read Gone Girl by this same author, but when I saw this title, I picked it instead because it would meet criteria for my reading challenge. In a nutshell, a small town girl turned big town news reporter returns to her hometown to cover a suspected serial killing. In barely over 300 pages, the author introduces enough personal, family and social issues to confuse a psychologist! Alcoholism, drug abuse, underage sex, rape, cutting, munchausen by proxy, fixations, child abuse and neglect, murder, gun rights, animal rights, mean girls... I could go on and on; these people lived in one seriously warped town! The story was far-fetched, yet predictable. And unfortunately, very little was resolved among all that mess. Never the less, Sharp Objects is Flynn's first novel and I think she has potential, it just may be a while before I can give her another shot.

If  you have read any of her others, let me know if I should try again.

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margret Atwood

This is the second dystopian novel I have read in the past few months and it is not for me! In The Handmaid's Tale, the future world reflects a similar scenario to that of Iran after their revolution, where a westernized society is overtaken by religious extremists, forcing women into burkas and taking away their freedoms as a pretense of protection. This book has some interesting ideas, but I found it pretty slow and rather uneventful. At times I was reminded of The Stepford Wives (1975 movie- never read the book and didn't see the remake) just the robotic type women and their routine-ness.

Yes, I got it; we need to be on guard not to let our world slip into the hands of wacko's.  But so many freedoms are taken away "for our protection" and people don't see it until it's too late (Patriot Act). It's easy to warn or scoff from a  distance or after-the-fact, but as the New Orleans Saints have shown, people rarely stand for right if they are in the minority or if the leader makes the actions sound right.

If you like the 1984 type stuff this may be for you.

NIght Stalks the Mansion

by Harold Cameron and Constance Westbie

Night Stalks the Mansion tells the paranormal encounters one family faced while living in an 1837's Pennsylvania mansion. The Cameron family rented this home during the 1960's where they shared the residence with at least two ghosts. Harold Cameron recounts the many strange incidents that led the family to make a pact with the spirits. Every family member, numerous guests and most of the hired help heard both heavy and light footsteps throughout the house and on the mansion grounds, smelled terrible odors directed in specific locations and experienced objects that were moved or went missing. These happenings turned Harold and his two older sons into amateur sleuths on a mission to discover the reasons these beings were tied to earth.

The book was published about the same time as Amityville Horror, which has a similar story of ghostly events, however unlike the Lutz family who lived in the Amityville home, the Cameron's never felt directly threatened by the spirits on Plum Lane. The "agreement" struck between the Cameron's and the ghosts allowed the family a manageable, although uneasy provision to live out their two-year lease.

I won't comment on whether or not this really happened; the family believes it to be true. I know many people who have had other-worldly encounters and have personally experienced a few situations that have caused me to wonder about the spirit realm myself. I think if you are looking for that, you can probably find it. The book won't win any literary awards, but if you like an interesting ghost story, this is a quick read. I downloaded this ebook free from Pixel of Ink.

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

This is not the modern-day Iliad as promised by reviewers, but rather the story of a relationship between a god and a man. Unfortunately, reading this book may ruin your remembrances of Homer's legendary epic since Ms. Miller gives second place to the Trojan War, pursuing instead a supposed homosexual relationship between Achilles and Patroclus. When the story first showed signs of moving this direction I was taken aback. I hadn't read the Iliad since high school, but remembered it being one of my favorite assigned reading materials. I certainly didn't recall any romantic relationship between the hero and his companion, but wondered if in my naivety I had misunderstood that as a teen. But no, after a quick Spark notes check, I was reassured that this author wanted to make a statement. I was very disappointed in this rendition of the friendship between Patroclus and Achilles because I had always compared it to the friendship between David and Jonathan in the Bible. I was also disappointed that so much of the story was spent developing this affair and so little spent on all that matters regarding Troy, Greece and the wrath of Achilles, which was the main focus for Homer.

I will give credit to Ms. Miller in her writing style, which is captivating and engaging, but the gushing love affair was not only too much for my tastes, but skewed my view of an otherwise admirable companionship between two men.

Furthermore, I can't imagine The Song of Achilles appealing to anyone I know following this blog. For a second time this month I say, "Stick with the classic.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy

by Margot Livesey

The Flight of Gemma Hardy is promoted as a "modern day" Jane Eyre. I loved Jane; Gemma is no Jane, much as she may try! Rather than using Bronte's classic as a springboard, Ms. Livesey used it as a sort of checklist, and unfortunately missed the mark. In the beginning of the novel the two stories run almost exactly parallel: Jane/Gemma orphaned, move in with cruel aunt, blamed for fight with mean cousin, gets sent off as a working student at a poor boarding school, makes friends with sickly girl who dies in her arms, becomes teacher to orphaned niece of Sinclair/Rochester, falls in love with him etc. In the instances where Livesey veers from the classic she does so to the detriment of the story and characters: her reason for leaving Mr. Sinclair at the altar, the lesbians who revive her, stealing from the family who hired her in her time of need and her reconnection with Sinclair.

I'd like to say that Ms. Livesey has a nice writing style, but I found it hard to focus on that when I was constantly comparing her book with Bronte's, and hers just didn't measure up. Maybe if she tried something of her own imaginings her style would shine.

For anyone who may feel inclined to read Gemma Hardy, I'd suggest you just dust off your copy of Jane Eyre instead.

The Orphan Sister

by Gwendolen Gross

The Orphan Sister tries to let the reader in on the intricate relationship among triplets, where two are identical and the third is fraternal; the "orphan" who serves as narrator. This is also a story about a young woman's struggle to find her own identity and fulfill her desires and goals even though she doesn't seem quite sure what those are.  In this regard, the fact that Clementine is one of three seems to contribute to her own indecision and lack of self confidence. The confusion of the main character regarding her life bled into the format of the story, which led to oft confusing flashbacks that overpowered the present storyline.

The book had several issues that I found unappealing. The main character really sabotaged herself and her relationships with her sisters and her mother, and she was whiny about them. She came across as flighty, indecisive and somewhat of a rebellious teen when she was supposed to be nearly 30 and applying to vet school. The father was totally unbelievable, as was her relationship with him and her conversations and responses to him throughout the book. I just couldn't buy the outcome of the situation with the father (I won't spoil it for you).

Another problem for the author was conveying that particular bond among the three girls. The author repeatedly explained the specialness of the interactions and communications among them, but their actual dealings came across strained and awkward. Whereas I think her intent was to show a unique attachment, she just couldn't pull it off.  Dialogue seemed forced and not really particular to triplets.

Finally, I thought the ending was too tidy. In some instances a story calls for everything to be wrapped up nice and neat. In this one, I think some things would have been better left unsaid. Ms. Gross wanted so badly to leave no loose ends and to have a feel-good ending. Unfortunately, this was a story that really couldn't and shouldn't have had a happily ever after. 

Poatcards From a Dead Girl

by Kirk Farber

Here is a guy who can't come to terms with the loss (accidental death) of his girlfriend. Sid has actually suffered two deaths in a short time frame and is struggling to make it over the hump and get on with life. Part of what keeps him clinging to memories are these random Postcards From a Dead Girl he seems to be receiving.

While the concept is good, the result doesn't cut it. The book is very repetitive and for that reason really dragged for me, despite extremely short chapters that made it a fast read. In the final five or so chapters the book picks up pace and interest. Maybe if you knew someone suffering from depression it might give you some perspective on their mindset, but not so sure it was really that insightful, and not sure I'd say was worth reading. This is a chance challenge selection from a Barnes and Noble staff member.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Don't judge a book by it's cover, which in this case looked promising based on the title. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen is supposed to be a great Southern novel comparable to Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, but trust me the only thing they have in common is the Southern (and a great title). I found the story and characters dull and seemed to be reading just to finish the book. Much of the dialogue and storyline seemed unbelievable. I also had issue with the chronology of the narrator, Catherine Grace, because she kept bouncing around in her life from nine to eighteen years old and particularly in the beginning it was hard to decide how old she was at the moment.

The thing I find most intriguing is how highly rated this book is on Amazon. Whenever I have such difference of opinion I wonder if we've actually read the same book. If you want a great Southern novel read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

The Peach Keeper

by Sarah Addison Allen

In a nutshell, this book was nothing special. The storyline is cliched, the characters were one dimensional and the dialogue was contrived, especially that between the love interests. I kept reading The Peach Keeper believing it would get better, because there was a hint of potential, but it just never really succeeded in taking off. One of the better threads revolved around friendships between women, how they tend to take a back seat after marriage and how women should learn to maintain those connections, but even that concept was forced and unbelievable in this story.

If you like quick, pre-teen romance type books (think Twilight) you may want to pick this up. However,  I am not likely to risk another of her novels that have also been highly rated and recommended on Amazon. Definitely not my style.

Pictures of You

by Caroline Leavitt

Perhaps I was so disappointed in this book because of the high recommendation in Bookmarks magazine and the great Amazon reviews. After reading it, I really don't understand such high praise for this corny story that was so often unbelievable. First, there were many instances in the book's timeline that just didn't add up, like when Isabelle is discharged from the hospital several days after the accident and is searching online for news stories and finds one published a day after the wreck stating that the boy and other driver were admitted and released.... she didn't get out until a few days after that news story was supposedly written. Another glaring time line issue is when the boy, at age 29, is written up as one of Boston's best OB's and that 5 years prior, as a doctor, he lost one of his patients.... must be Doogie Howser.

There were also so many issues with unbelievable events. A father who lets his 9 year old son, who is a chronic asthmatic, stay home alone after school and all during the summer..... the father who is so worried about his son but never seems to know where he is...... the accident with these women from the same small town who just happen to both be on the same road 3 hours away on a foggy day..... how quickly these two grieving people fall madly in love...... none of it works.

For me Pictures of You was such a letdown. I wanted to like it, but there was just too much wrong. There are a few ladies in my book club who I am sure would love it, though.

Lottery

by Patricia Wood

Ok, I am foregoing the normal routine here and heading straight to the thoughts. Perry L. Crandall might not technically be retarded, but I found it frustrating to read a book written from the perspective of someone who almost is!  And he might think L. stands for "lucky", but I'd say it stands for lame (as in unconvincing, implausible). Really, this was just Forest Gump wins the lottery..... "life is just a big... lottery" as stated by Perry's gram. He also has many obstacles, ends up becoming an amazing businessman by proposing some clever ideas to his employer, blah, blah... 

Granted, there are some nice thoughts on the importance of valuing relationships over money, and how to treat all people; slow, handicapped, overweight, etc. However, these were forced on the reader as opposed to a conclusion the reader might draw from experiences presented. 

It is a fast read, and if you are prone to like Hallmark movies of the week, you might like this book.  

The Ballad of Castle Reef

by Honor Tracy

General: The Barraclough's of Ireland, have been soldiers for centuries. Until the latest boy, Francis, decides to buck the tradition, and go "find himself" in Paris! this causes his orderly father quite a disturbance, so in order to teach his son a lesson and give him some respect for hard work and responsibility, he decides to turn their family home over to his trusted servant upon his death, until that fellow would die, then it would go back to the family. the father thinking his death would be far off, and his son would possibly come to his senses prior to these events ever occurring. However, Major Arthur meets an untimely death, and chaos ensues. Castle Reef, in the hands of Maguire, goes to the dogs. The remaining servants leave in a huff, Francis returns with his new bride in order to teach him how to maintain order, meanwhile, Maguire mistakenly is kidnapped by some group trying to extort a ransom. 

Thoughts: Nothing special. This whole book seemed written to give a message of don't use your will to try teaching a lesson that you'd like taught in your lifetime, because you might not live to see that lesson taught. It makes me wonder if there was a personal circumstance in this woman's life which was the springboard for this book, perhaps she (or a family member) had been written out of a will, just because she did something to upset a parent when she was young..... 

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

by Lauren Willig

Historical Fiction /Romantic Fiction

General: This novel is taking place in two time periods, today and 1803, as Napoleon is plotting to invade England. In the storyline of today, the main character, Eloise, is in search of information for completion of her dissertation on some British spies during the Napoleonic time period. She comes into a bit of complication with a particularly stubborn family member who would like certain dairies to remain private which would reveal the identity of one of the long unknown spies. In the storyline of 1803, Richard Selwick is the Purple Gentian, a daring British spy saving many from Bonaparte's guillotine. Two British young ladies travel to Paris, wishing to join his league, which creates many difficulties for all involved. This leads to the necessity of creating yet another spy, the Pink Carnation, whose identity remains undisclosed.

Thoughts: The story was very predictable, despite the author's obvious attempts to lead readers down primrose paths. As for labeling the book an historical novel, I'd say that is a stretch, unless just by citing Napoleon and his doings in the correct time period classifies a book as historical fiction, because that really is all I could see this story can claim. One other issue I had with the "historical" aspect, was the intelligent assumptions the characters made, which I don't think were very realistic given people of that generation. Otherwise, I might send it to "Romance", which is not really my type of book. Typical of other romance novels I have been persuaded to read, I found the dialogue a bit silly and I do not care for the very sappy descriptive love scenes (which I skip over). This was the selection of the month from my book club (I'll rate it a 4).