Someone Thinks She's a Big Girl...

When I read Prom and Prejudice a few weeks ago, everyone (well more than one person, I think) asked me if I had read Enthusiasm (another P&P-inspired, though only in a very loose sense, high school chic lit). I said no, because I had heard from a few sources that it wasn't great (s.b. that she gets together with the wrong guy - I have no idea why I even listen to her anymore on that subject :) and the sp.s that it was weird or something).  But I heard from a few other sources (Aliza) that it was decent, and since Sarah Sp. owned it, I figured it was worth giving a whirl.  First of all, as it turns out, I had read it, which I realized as certain parts seemed very familiar.  Can't remember whether I liked it or not the first time... though my guess is that I mostly enjoyed it at the time, since it's a fairly innocuous high school romance. Uh oh, I know you're saying (just let me have that one :))... Rochel has no patience for high school anymore, right?

That's exactly what I said... but the truth is, this really was the chip on my shoulder talking.  The book wasn't high school in the sense that it dealt with the usual young adult sagas of friendship, parents, school and of course boys.  I mean, it dealt with all those things, but Julie (main character)'s voice isn't so whiny I can't stand it or anything.   And I don't feel any marked lack of sympathy for her petty little issues... well maybe a little bit annoyed with the way she gives into Ashley (best and crazy friend), but in general, she's a good kid ;).  The problem is actually in quite the direction - I felt like I'd taken a wrong turn from the parking lot and stumbled into the Globe Theatre or onto the Yorkshire moors (was that not poetic? :)) Julie's secret longing for the man (boy) she (thinks she) can't have... Parr/Grandison/whatever his name is penning anonymous poetry in her honor.  Never mind that I'm not quite sure what took them so long to get together, because I wasn't convinced they couldn't have sorted everything out months earlier, you cannot expect me to believe high schoolers ever achieve this depth feeling, or that if they do, it has any lasting meaning whatsoever.  It was actually ridiculous... but I think that was kind of the point. The book was an homage to Jane Austen, I suppose, because Ashley and Julie love P&P... but I think it drew more than a bit on Romeo and Juliet and such, and I think was deliberate.  Nothing like a light take on a tragedy as a stage for subtle humor, I suppose.

And in that vent, it was on the funny side, I guess.  Not laugh out loud or anything, but it's certainly less annoying to think of it that way than to take it seriously.  Or not too seriously anyway... but it's not entirely farcical.  The truth is, the only enjoyment to be got out of it relies on suspending all skepticism and buying in to the romance.  As a reward, you get... well I suppose you get angst, but I have to say I didn't even really enjoy the angst... maybe because I failed in total suspension, I don't know.  But I just couldn't see enjoy the pining like I usually do :) Still, you know, he's a nice guy, very talented, and all that other stuff too :) and she's got plenty going for her too.  It was nice when they got together at the end, and it wasn't total torture waiting for them either.

Verdict: 2.8/5

A Good Ride, If a Slow Finish

After my grand rush to post last Friday afternoon, I didn't even finish a book last Shabbos.  I didn't finish one this whole week in fact, until last night.  But, not to get behindhand, I brought my laptop home with me from work (yes I did, and mostly just for this :)) and am writing this on the train.  So what is this? It's a review of a book I started back in December, brought home with me a few weeks ago, but which kept getting pushed back in the queue because I had borrowed it from Sarah Sp. rather from the library. It's a book I borrowed almost immediately after finishing its predecessor, #1 in the series, which I reviewed back in October (and which, incidentally, also took me a few tries to get through).  It's a book falling in my exception to the rule, written by a male author who is also English and comic.  In short, it's The Rope That Strings The Handman's Bow (or something close to that), #2 in the Flavia de Luce series by Allan Bradley.  It's not actually a book that particularly deserves that fanfare-ish introduction, but it was fun to write :)

If you recall (and do I even need to say it? I know you don't :)) I enjoyed the first one despite its mystery genre, because I found Flavia delightful and the setting, 1950's English country, just like home :) (well home a century late, maybe :)) But Sarah Sp. had told me that Yaffa had told her that the second wasn't quite as good, and anyway, in a book that owed so much to the freshness of its narrator, the second one would be hard pressed to deliver.  That's not particular to this series; in general, you can get away with less of a plot in the first one, because whatever little twist led you to write the book can carry the day on its own.  But by the second, you usually need to bring something extra, or it's just more of the same.  Anyway, I was ready to be forgiving of #2 not quite living up to #1.  And specifically, I was kind of expecting the mystery to take more of a central role than it had in the first one, which of course means more of the book in which I am less interested.

To my surprise, I found that the mystery was not in fact front and center at all.  Well… that's not quite true, the book did revolve around the newly introduced characters of Nialla, Rupert, the Inglesbys, Dieter, etc. all of whom are involved in the whodunit.  But the murder doesn't even happen until about a third of the way in, and for most of the rest of the book, Flavia isn't directly after the culprit.  She's chasing around answers here, there, and everywhere, but not in a particularly directed manner.  Just your usual (or unusual) nosy eleven year old.  So in that sense, it doesn't even feel much like a mystery.  Just good old suspicious Flavia, poking her nose in everyone's business.  And doing a great job of it too! That's really the main reason to like Flavia, she is a very capable girl.  Thinks on the fly, puts it all together, and pretty near unflappable.  She's just fun to hang around.   Especially in short twenty minute bursts of reading, which is mostly how I got this book finished.  And it's a sign of how much I enjoyed it that it wasn't easy to close the book at the of the train ride, especially as I got closer to the end.

Yesterday, I was almost thinking of reading it at work, it was getting so exciting.  But then, I didn't.  And when I finally read the last few chapters last night, it was kind of weird… because it never really ended.  The mystery was solved, but it stayed in the background as much as it had been the whole time.  Flavia just figures it out, tells Inspector Hewitt the whole story and that's it. Now the truth is, this was better than repeating the first book's tense and dangerous climax when the culprit nabs Flavia, but it was so non-eventful I was like… that's it? There's not another chapter? A bit of a letdown…. but only for a second.  And that I got over it.  It's not like I was left without closure.  It was just that the book never really reached the peak of the crescendo I was expecting.  But that didn't make the rest of the climb less captivating.  

Verdict: 3.5/5

Chic Lit Fails Its Litmus Test

I've been a very lazy girl... and now it's a few minutes before shabbos, and I might be finishing more than once book this shabbos, and certainly one, and I still haven't reviewed last Shabbos's reading, so here it is, nice and fast. I finished all my library books, was supposed to make progress on my non-library book backlog, but then I went home and for Shabbos and someone had gotten out the Jill Mansell book that I hadn't read, Rumor Has It.  If you really read this blog carefully, you would remember that I reviewed another one of her books a while ago, to high praise, for being a piece of good chic lit.  This book was the same I suppose... well not quite, it was classic Jill Mansell, light, bright, easy, romantic comedy with lots of interlocking stories... but the main story was frankly not compelling at all.  Likeable characters, but no mystery, no tension, as both basically acknowledged they liked each from the beginning.  Oh well, easy to read, but not the best in the universe.

Verdict: 3/5 - b/c this is my genre, when all is said and done

Man, Men Just Can't Write (chic lit)

After some delay, here's the third of those P&P books that I mentioned were on the agenda - Pemberley Ranch, by Jack Caldwell.  Jack, you say? Would that be Jack as in John, an undoubtedly male appellation? That's what I said too, which is why I was initially not really interested in this book.  It's a retelling of P&P, which I never object to, in the Old West, which is a familiar and well-enough beloved setting, but I approach all male-authored books with a deep sense of caution, if not one of suspicion (and with good reason, as there are at least two previous examples on this blog of men writing books the way men do... and that means not in a way I enjoy.  Anyway, I didn't really pay attention to the review on Austenprose, but then Sarah Sp. emailed me a link, and since she seemed interesting and the library had it, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Laurel Ann on Austenprose had mentioned that this book is only *very* loosely based on P&P... I'd say it's loose to the point that P&P is more of an inspiration than a basis.  The characters have similar names... Beth Bennet, Will Darcy... and some of the same relationships (though not all... Colonel Fitzwilliam is Darcy's employee, not his cousin).  Their personalities... some follow as closely as is reasonable, while with others no attempt is even made.  As for the plot... well there was hate-at-first-sight , two proposals, and Darcy saves the day... but I have to say, that was about it.  My point is, this was *not* P&P... but who cares? It's not like it would have been P&P done right anyway.  The front cover had a quote saying it was P&P crosses Gone With the Wind... it does take place in the aftermath of the civil war, but I'm not sure how much they have in common other than that.  It was closer to Harvey Girls than to either of those two, I'd say, or to the Virginian.  It feels wrong to compare those classics in any way with this book, but hey, if it's P&P crosses anything...

So let me evaluate this book without reference to P&P, or GWtW, or whatever else... yes, it was stupid.  It's published by Sourcebooks, which seems to be the premier source for Austen paraliterature of all varieties of fluffiness and junk.  Huvi pointed out a few rather infelicitous phrases, but nothing I hadn't seen before... non-sequiters, overly dramatic flights of fancy... but I found it rather easy to ignore.  The truth is, I think I knew right away this book was going to be stupid, so I didn't bother investing.  It moved pretty slowly, but actually picked up speed whenever it veered from P&P, maybe because I didn't actually know the story already :) And the western drama was... western drama.  Guns, cowboys, and lots of blustery speech.  So... well, so male.

In the end of the day, that's what amused me most about this book.  How utterly male it was.  First of all, the women are totally less sympathetic than usual, more sappy and idiotic.  And the men are strong, wise and brave.  Oh and the guns.  A lot of threats and a fair smattering of violence too.  And then there's the male perspective of romance... really it almost takes all the fun out of it.  Just so much less subtle.  But you know, almost funny in a way, at least in this book.  When I first read the author blurb, I'm like who is this guy? What kind of guy writes a Jane Austen inspired novel? But after reading, my conclusion is that whatever inspiration Ms. Austen offered Jack Caldwell, it's not exactly what she intended or what we would necessarily expect.  And I guess it worked for him, because he certainly had fun with his fairly unrealistic but very faithful-to-form cowboy romp (is that word too sissy? sorry 'bout that, I reckon :)) It sure was funny to see Darcy in jeans and hear the uncouth syllables of Texas emanating from that silver-spooned filled mouth.

So yeah this book was dumb, don't get me wrong.  But I don't actually care, since I never thought it was going to be decent.  And I was of course, proud to be right was again... men just can't write books I want to read (except English comic writers, of course :))

Verdict: 2/5

0 To 60, Maybe a Bit Slower Than Usual

So if you noticed last post, I most carefully did not mention what exactly my exciting next-on-list title was. That was because I did not want to ruin the full effect of the following story:

As many of you know, (and I know there are *so* many of you :)) one of my favorite authors is Lauren Willig (and as previously mentioned, definitely my most followed one).  Last Thursday, she was in Manhattan doing a reading for the brand-new Pink Carnation tale, The Orchid Affair.  Having never attempted to attend any sort of this kind of event, it nevertheless entered my mind to go.  I mean why not, I'm in Manhattan anyway, it was starting at 7:00... But I felt kind of weird about it, naturally, so I put the question to my trusted advisors, the gg... and they pretty much all said, go for it! So I did.  It wasn't spectacular or anything, but I'm glad I went, it was fun to hear the author's take on the book.

Her take was that this book was different for two reasons: 1) The characters were more bourgeois than aristocratic and 2) The male lead was French... and a French revolutionary at that!  #1 was an obvious minus, as you know me and my snobby tendencies :) But at least it wasn't a noble marrying beneath him/her... a'la The Scarlet Pimpernel :) (not really, I don't really mind it in Sir Percy and Marguerite).  And they weren't low class, just not noble... actually Laura is artsy, kind of like Marguerite, and Andre is pretty bourgeois, but raised to a fairly high position by the revolution.  So in the end, it wasn't too much of a minus at all.  As for #2... well yes, I'm a total Anglophile, but I usually dive wholeheartedly into whatever I'm reading at the moment, so switching perspectives really isn't too much of a hardship for me.  So you wouldn't think I'd mind #2 at all.  Besides, given that this is Lauren Willig, I knew he wouldn't really be all a'la lantern les aristos (wow, I just looked that up, I actually got it right! go me :)) and he wasn't... so far from it actually, I thought it might have been a little more believable and still very doable if he had been a bit more in between... but enough said, don't want to spoil the surprise for you :)

Anyway, the truth is, neither of those two differences made much impact on my enjoyment of the book in themselves... but they did contribute to what I felt made this book very different than previous ones - a much more plot-driven, spy-centric storyline.  I mean, there's always some mystery/danger/drama somewhere in these books, but it's often (sometimes more often than others) almost the backdrop to the characters' developing relationship and/or the social scene of the time/place.  And since you know I'm not reading these books for the thrill (at least the thrill of a noble life on the edge), I'm perfectly happy with that balance.  This book, with the far more immediately dangerous setting than Regency London or far-way British India of early Napoleonic France, had a whole lot more of the spy stuff, and not really quite enough of the good stuff... These were characters with a job to do, and they spent most of the book doing it.  Yes, there was early admiration on both sides, but it really wasn't anything they paid any attention to, or anything we paid much attention to either for that matter.

I mean, it's not like I wasn't enjoying it... it's Lauren Willig after all, I would like her books simply because I like her books (familiarity breeds fondness? :)) And there was a brewing romance, if a subtle one... and the history was interesting as always, the writing as usual light, funny, and very well constructed.  But you know, I wasn't *loving* it (as is evidenced by the fact that it took me an entire week to get through (though I did read it every night, I just fell asleep reading it every night)).  Anyway, that was until about half way through... and I can literally mark the moment when the pace picked up... actually, it was when Andre's true allegiances are revealed so perhaps I am wrong in saying they were too extreme.  Realistic they may not have been, but fun they were.  (Except that the nuanced view of the world opened up by taking the other side's point of view for once is entirely lost, as Andre turns out to be not really on the other side at all... but perhaps I have said too much once again, I shall desist :)) Anyway, the point is, half way through, the book got good.  The romance picked up, most definitely, as the characters interacted more - and we had the treat of them playing a fake family, always a great opportunity for... out of the ordinary situations.  And the spy part picked up too, in its own way - though it does recede for i'd say the third and fourth fifths of the books.  But that was good - not too much tension, as as soon as things got really scary, we stopped spending so much time on them, and starting spending more time on things we cared a little more about :) And then of course at the end, it went back to the spy stuff for a final finish, but that's typical and totally expected, acceptable, and even necessary.  So all in all, entirely satisfactory.  Maybe not the absolute best, but I think I would say one of her smartest books.  And in case you were wondering, Colin and Eloise's story continues to amuse, even if it is not as necessary as it once was, now that there an old fuddy duddy couple :)

Verdict: 5/5

Surprisingly, Junk Can Be Really Good

I think I mentioned that I had three P&P inspired books to read and review, meaning I've got one more left.  And though I haven't mentioned it yet, I acquired quite an exciting next-on-list on Thursday (more on that sometime soon, I promise :)).  And yet, neither of those two anticipated readings is tonight's topic.  Why? On Friday, I went to the library to pick up one of the many new books I put on reserve.  This one was Susan Elizabeth Phillips's latest.  Who's she? I'd say that of the authors whose books I read regularly, she's just about the... well trashiest, to put it bluntly (actually, there's one trashier, whom I have mentioned here previously... 10 points if you can find the post :)) She writes contemporary romance, pretty much chic lit, but without the urban setting or nasal twittering common to a lot of books answering to that genre.  But you know, we're talking stories that are unabashedly about two people getting together, without much else going on.  Nothing I'm complaining about, you understand, but anything that should make me drop everything and read? I wouldn't think so...

But on the train on the way home, I did not continue reading the P&P western (yup, no joke :)) I need to get through so I can get to the good stuff.  After reading the inside cover the new SEP, Call Me Irresistible, and noting that she uses characters from some of her other books, I remembered how much I love the dumb things... and I just couldn't put it down.  I started it on the train and on Friday night, instead of picking up either of the two books that were ahead of it on the line in my head... I let this one jump ahead.  And not only, I did *not* fall asleep three chapters in, like I often do on Friday night; I read the *entire* thing - straight.  So what gives? Am I that shallow? Well, yes.  Not that I didn't know it before, but clearly that is really all I care about in a book - good solid romance :).  But still... if there's anything this blog has taught me (wow, I learn from myself :)), it's that I actually do care about decent writing.  And as important as plot and characters are, I can't enjoy them if I'm disturbed by clumsy phrasing, by ridiculous and implausible speeches / behavior, or by a whole lot of irrelevant who knows what.  The point is, there are a lot things that make it hard to enjoy a really trashy book, even if the premise is everything I could ask for (not that it often is).  So clearly... that is not the case here! I can be snobby about Susan Elizabeth Phillips, but she knows her stuff.

Yes, in order to enjoy her books, you need to buy into whatever she's selling 100%.  Chava was flipping through the book last night, and she was like, I don't get it why does she like this guy... or some such thing.  And I was like Chava, whatever, just go with, clearly he's a good guy because that's the entire point of the book.  Just suspend your disbelief and enjoy.  Because seriously, these are books are really just here to entertain.  Almost everyone is perfect in their own way, except for the obligatory villain of course.  But everyone else is really nice and fun once you get to know them.  And everything works out for everyone too.  And it's never in doubt that it will.  And not only is it never in doubt for us, it's not really in doubt for them either.  I mean, there are moments... but even the most stressful ones don't really disturb the equilibrium.  The only thing that does... why all that wonderful angst of course.  So we've got no tension except romantic, A-OK there.  And very minor plot outside of our feature couple, A-OK again :)  In fact the only thing that wasn't 100% A-OK was that SEP usually puts plenty of male perspective in her books, and this one had almost none until towards the end.  I kept waiting for it, but I think she must have felt it wouldn't work in this one... so oh well, I have enough of an imagination to manage without it :)  Was totally fun in any case.

Here's my main point - or I guess my main question.  Am I crazy? Definitely not totally, since a lot of people love her books (I mean people on the websites I read of course :)) But is she really that good at what she does? Or was I just in the mood for good junk? Probably a little bit of both... but I guess the only way to find out is to read more in her genre... to which I say, no thanks.  The truth is, I have tried similar stuff and it's often pretty unreadable.  And come time to think of it, a lot of her oler books were pretty unreadable too.... or at least less readable than this.  Maybe she's getting better? Nah, I'd probably enjoy most of them just as much ;)  So I guess I do have pretty low standards.  So note to everyone reading this - do *not* pick this up from the library now.  Especially not on my say-so.  I think this one is really for me only... And if you do want to read it, call me first, and let's discuss :)

Verdict: 3.75/5

P&P Cute as Can Be

As you may have noted in the post below, the next book on my list after that infamous one was another from the P&P genre, again recommended on austenprose.  This one is a modern take on P&P - that's another category that always peaks my interest.  I sent a link to Sarah Sp., and she not only promptly ordered it, she made sure I got to read it first - really Elisheva read it before I did but that's because I didn't go pick it up.  And she left in for me to pick up before she left on her trip so I felt very much in debt to both those wonderful girls for their considerate care - thanks :) Anyway, this one is a YA novel... I feel like that's been done before but I can't recall that I've read any previous takes.  So there was some excitement in it, tempered by my ambivalent attitude toward YA chic lit.  I mean, come on, we all like a little fantasy, but does anyone believe in happy-ever-after for these guys? More like happily-until-graduation at best... And of course there's the thing that I just find high school drama overly compelling - I mean, of course I sympathize with their friends issues and their parents issues and their college issues... but that's all so over for me I just have a hard time getting in to it (am I being an old crone? I don't think so, so maybe there's something else I just find uninteresting? No it's pretty much that I have no patience for people who I simply view as immature babies - and yes, I know that to much of the world, that's exactly what I am :)).  Anyway, the point is, it's not like I was expecting *that much* from this book.

Actually I feel like I knew exactly what to expect from this book:
1) YA - so inherently less interesting, see above
2) Pride and Prejudice - so a great romance :)
3) Pride and Prejudice retold - so somewhat off-tune at times, where the details are a bit forced.
And that pretty much sums up what I got, so brilliant me :) You know, I just realized I haven't posted the book title yet - it's Prom and Prejudice, by Elizabeth Eulberg.  Anyway, right off, I got annoyed because the main character was a teenager in a fancy school who doesn't really fit it in - so we've got #1 right off - high school angst up to the ceiling.  Besides that, I didn't like that she was the one who didn't fit in, the uncool one - Elizabeth may not be as rich as Darcy, but she's pretty much it in her sphere.  And she's pretty happy with her life as it is - other than the fact that there's no one for her to marry of course.  But trust me, if she was writing a book, she would not launch into complaints about her neighbors within the first two pages... That being said, Lizzy in this book doesn't hate her life that much... she has a chip in her shoulder about her ridiculously entitled classmates, but then Elizabeth has a bit of chip in her shoulder too... when it comes to Darcy at least, not really any place else that I've seen.  And more about her ridiculously entitled fellow students - that's shades of #3, where the story is stretched to fit the P&P plot.  Of course fancy boarding schools are full of snobby kids... but as nasty and at the same time as vanilla (not like we're talking drugs and whatnot) as these? nah... and I feel like part of the reason the setting is just so over the top was that the point of the book was more modern P&P than realistic and compelling high school tale.

....But why would  I complain about that? I have zero interest in compelling high school novels :) And yes, there was lot that felt forced about this book... Darcy for one does *not* seem like a seventeen-year-old.  And Wickham's evil influence on the weak and vain Lydia? Yeah, it's not the Girl Scouts, but she isn't exactly ruining her sisters' chance at a normal life forever... But the truth is, forcing is really a natural product of trying to turn a nineteenth century novel by a master writer into anything else... I am even ready to be *slightly* more forgiving of Regina Jeffers... well maybe not.  But when you read a P&P inspired book, you just can't complain that it's not as good as the original.  And more importantly, you can't complain that it's not as good as other books of its "other" genre, because they really have another goal in mind.  So I definitely give Prom and Prejudice some slack when it comes to eye-roll worthy situations.  And there were a few of those, but nothing too overwhelming really.

So #1 and #3 were right there... what about #2? And of course, since that's the reason I read this book, that is of course the crucial question.  Drumroll please.... Yes! We had #2.  Quite a decent romance.  I mean, totally cutesy of course, this being high school, but Darcy done right, even as a teenage boy, is still dreamy :) Dignified but such a softie underneath :) wise, kind, handsome, capable... oh come on, he's Darcy :) Can you see I can't stop smiling? I don't know why you'd expect anything otherwise.  Okay, I'm getting a little too rhapsodic, because of course Will Darcy the Pemberley Academy student is not Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, Derbyshire, but he's nothing to sniff at.  And he loves our Lizzy of course.  Our Lizzy herself is not a bad sort either - she's smart and capable and phenomenally talented musically, which was a nice bonus.  So yeah, it was a good story.  But it was high school after all that.  There's just no angst, because there can't be.  Even I can't suspend my disbelief enough to think anyone's lives are going to be materially affected if these characters never get over their initial, unfounded, dislike.

I'd say the best I could say about this story is that it's cute.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I've read even some regular old chic lit that I'd give a higher rating than cute too... not that much, admittedly.  And on the plus side of recommendation, Huvi and S.b. both read this over Shabbos too, and they both thoroughly enjoyed it.  Found it cute as I did, but apparently don't have the same hang-ups about high school and so were able to enjoy it a bit more thoroughly.  Bottom line: I'm not telling you you have to read this, but I'm pretty sure if you take the very minimal time it takes to get through it (we're really talking an hour or two), you won't regret it.

Verdict: 3/5

So Bad It's… No, It's Bad

OMG I have been DESPERATE to write this review! So as you probably know, one of my chief sources for books these days is Austenprose.  There are a million and one P&P paraliterature books coming out lately, but I only find certain of them interesting - specifically, I have no interest in prequels or sequels, but I am a dedicated reader of same-quels (like that? :)).  I had read up to this point six - yes 6 :) - versions of P&P from Darcy's POV.  Some are better than others of course, all are not worthy of being mentioned in the same multi-volume tome as the original, but all of them up till now have been pretty fun.  So it wasn't like I was going to say no to yet another one - Regina Jeffers's Darcy's Passions, this despite the fact that she has published other P&P-inspired books and I had no interest whatsoever in reading them.  Anyway, I put it on reserve at the library (this was the third of the three reserves I picked up right before I left to Israel) and started it on the plane on the way back from Spain.  It took me a while to finish, but that's par for course these days, doesn't necessarily say anything about the book… and my main complaint with this book was not that it was boring.

So what was it about it then? WHERE DO I START?! Seriously, this is HANDS-DOWN the WORST book I have EVER finished, and quite possibly the worst book I have ever STARTED.  Are these caps annoying you? Take that twinge of impatience and multiply it… then raise it to the same power… and do whatever else you have to do until you're shaking your head in DISBELIEF… In the introduction to the book (yes, the book has an intro. :) - I can't even say that without shaking my head :)) the author states that she has taught in English literature.  I actually flat out do not believe her.  The grammatical errors in the text are *egregious*.  Aliza cited misplaced modifiers, but I don't even know what those are.   She made the basic mistake of using the inappropriate subject after a intro phrase (don't know the technical term, but it's the one for phrase like this : "Although handsomer than Mr. Bingley and now rumored to have 10,000 pounds per year, most of the assembly found him…") Then there's the complete misuse of transitions like "yet" and "however", when in fact the phrases in questions are either complete non-sequiters or in need of no transition whatsoever.  And seriously, is she UNAWARE that there is exists a tense known as PAST PARTICIPLE, to be used when referring to a continually occurring circumstance, so that it doesn't seem like we are flipping back and forth between two times and two locations… unless this rewrite contains the addition of a time machine? (man, I'm having fun with my scathing condemnation :)) 

Moving on from grammatical concerns, we have the next favorite red-pen markup to worry about - "word usage!" Sometimes it's a weird tone, sometimes it's unwieldy, sometimes, sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it's *just plain wrong*. Take this one - I read it aloud to various people and burst out laughing each time - "howbeit pale" - that's just an excerpt from a longer passage, but seriously… I actually don't have a clue what she meant to be saying with that one. Anyway, the list goes on - I'm just flipping through it looking for these examples and I amazed all over again.  Over and above the clumsiness of the wording, there's blatant anachronism littering the pages.  "I bet", "phenomenal father", "you're amazing" ?! Since when does P&P take place in current-day America (and yes, I know there are multiple versions that do - I will be reading and reviewing another one shortly :)) I definitely have a bee in my bonnet about anachronisms, but HOW MUCH EFFORT DOES IT TAKE to say "I surmise" instead of "I bet"?! It seems like nothing but deliberate disregard for historical accuracy, which the author may find cute but which I find slightly repulsive - really, that bad.  

So what else do we have? Well there's her completely inaccurate portrayal of Darcy, Elizabeth, and everyone else in the book.  But it's not like I could really expect anything better.  Any time you read something like this, you're risking a totally skewed portrayal of the characters - yes, this one was worse than most, but I don't know if I can even complain… All right, I can complain - Elizabeth was alternatively flirtatious and idiotic and Darcy was by turns maudlin and overly-anxious.  Whatever it was horrible.  And that was before they got married.  The author takes it upon herself to continue the story after they get married at which point the characters become UNRECOGNIZABLE.  And not just unrecognizable and Darcy and Elizabeth, fairly unrecognizable as human either.  They sit there swooning over each other and declaring their love ad infinitum.  We know, we've heard, we don't even care anymore, and can this book pleeeeease be over so I can write my review? 

There was literally nothing to like about this book.  I think one time (can't remember where), I thought there was a fresh take on one the scenes… so it wasn't all bad from start to finish, I *guess*.  But it pretty much was.  Literally, I was just sitting on the train and shaking my head as I read, alternatively wincing and grinning in disbelief.  I guess in the end of the day, I enjoyed hating a book so much… and I did get through it, and got to this fun part :) Congratulations to me!

Verdict: 0/5 (Earlier in the reading I was going to give it a 2 for being "so bad it's good" but I couldn't.  I just couldn't.

A Good Romance, If a Stretched One

I'm not sure if I've mentioned her before, but Sharon Shinn is one of the 15 or so authors for whom I keep track of new publications (wow those prepositions were hard to get right :)) Anyway, her chief appeal is that she seems to be as big a fan of romance as I am :) That is, her books are technically science fiction/fantasy - actually, they *are* SF/fantasy - but she almost never fails to offer up a good romance as well.  The first book  I read of hers, Archangel (wait, now I remember, of course I've mentioned her before, I reviewed The Alleluiah Files a few months ago), was described to me by Peryl as a romance disguised as sci-fi.  That's not really true, as I've discovered since reading both genres a little more widely, but I'm not sure I would even want it to be true, since that would make the book a lot more trashy.  Anyway, the point is, Sharon Shinn's books are mostly composed of world description and a good romance, often with some transparent morality lesson woven in.  Her series that just finished up last year, The Twelve Houses, exemplified this, and also contained the added element of a continuing plotline involving political unrest in the fantasy land of the setting.  I had thought her new book, Troubled Waters, was the start of a new series set in a new world, but I'm not quite sure now that I've read it.  In any case, that's the book I'm reviewing now… which is all I really had to say :)

So like I said, what I mostly expect of these books is a decent romance, while I tolerate whatever else Sharon Shinn throws in there as she pleases.  In this one, I kind of liked what she threw in there anyway, it was a rather simple world where the emphasis was on the five "elements" of air, earth, fire, wood, and water.  There were very few complicated rules (some innocuous details about blessing coins light enough to be charming) and most of the magic seemed to be centered on our very powerful heroine (yay :)) You know I never say no to the main characters being awesome… and here we have the head of one of the most powerful families in the land along with the king's most trusted advisor, a pretty cool man in his own right too (I was going to write guy, but he's just not the type ;)) And big bonus, the plot was mostly court intrigue rather than national danger / war, which was a nice change from the Twelve Houses.  Because court intrigue can be dangerous, but it just doesn't reach to the level of tension of all out battle.  And we all know how much I *dont* like tension :) The book actually reminded me of Court Duel in that respect - though court duel did have the threat of war underlying all the polite chit-chat - it was just very underlying and didn't really emerge all that dramatically :) (one day I'll reread court duel and then you'll all get a more thorough review, don't worry :)) ANYWAY, what I'm saying is that there was really nothing not enjoyable about the rest of the book.  And it even ended pretty solidly, with nothing much left unresolved, which makes me think that there might not be a sequel in the works.  I mean, I guess there's room for one (though I'm not sure who would feature as the romantic couple) but there certainly doesn't need to be one… which of course makes this ending all the more satisfying. 

So that's all well and good, I'm sure you're saying :), but what about the romance? Isn't that why you read these books in the first place? Yes indeedy-do, you are correct in that assumption (not surprisingly, since I think I stated it very clearly a few paragraphs ago :)) Anyway, the romance… so I said to S.B., if I had read this book a few years ago I think I would have thought the romance was AMAZING.  He likes her from the beginning, there's TONS of interaction, and they don't get together till the end.  What more could I need (other than more from the guy's POV, of course :)) So it was good… but it was a little weird too.  They really both like each other from the beginning, and while they don't acknowledge it, they don't really hide it either.  So there's very little tension of the good sort (romantic, that is :)) Maybe I would always have noticed this? I'm not sure, but I definitely noticed it now.  Was *quite* a weird dynamic.  Like if these characters were other people or in other circumstances, there would have been no romance (at least in the sense I define it) at all.  But these characters (proud, stubborn, very different) and these circumstances (tense, happening times) mean that there is a whole book for them to play out the courtship dance.  So okay… I can enjoy that, even if it takes just a *little* more effort than usual.  And the truth is, these days I find myself saying sometimes, but *why* does he like her? where's the attraction, the shared sympathies? (also something I never paid much attention to before - I wonder if it's the blog or just getting older?) In any case, there was none of that - they make sense together, two powerful people (with complementary personalities, as is emphasized to some length in the book - since the whole premise of the world is elements and how each person is drawn to one of the five).  So they make sense, and I don't have to get annoyed about that at least.  All in all, quite satisfying… Nothing to complain about, lots to enjoy… no wonder I had no trouble getting through this book, between a late Friday night, sleepless Shabbos afternoon, lazy motzei Shabbos, and relatively early night at a luxury hotel, all in the midst of my vacation :)

Verdict: 4/5

This Time, There's No Upside

No new interesting author for you this time folks (is there ever? :)), it's one you've seen before, in a genre you've seen before.  Yay for you and yay for me :) Do I sound cynical? Forgive me, but there wasn't much Tasha Alexander's Dangerous to Know (other than the fact that I recognize the allusion in the title :)) that I hadn't seen before.  Not that I'd complain about that of course, since I have been known to read the same book 10 times over if I like it… so what am I complaining about? Well aren't we rushing ahead of ourselves just a bit? Maybe just a bit :)

So I put Dangerous to Know on reserve a while ago, and it became available at the same time as two other books, all right before I left to Israel, so perfect timing there :) Finished this one on the plane, and responsible girl that I am, writing this on the plane too :) (and now I have an excuse not to reread my previous Tasha Alexander entry to make sure I'm not repeating myself without duly noting it :)) Anyway, as you may recall, I enjoyed Tears of Pearl, her last one, more than I was expecting, so I had some hopes for this one.  She managed to keep the romance fresh by introducing issues with pregnancy and whatnot, and the setting kind of saved the story (if I recall).  So at best, I could hope for both a satisfying Colin/Emily plotline and a fairly decent story (this one set in the Norman countryside, less exotic but still plenty to work with).

And you know, right away I noticed what I have always noticed about this book, that Lady Emily is a bit of a Mary Sue and that these books are written in the "tell, don't say" style - these characters just jump from one dramatic turn a phrase to another hyperbolic outburst and then onto some light fervent outpourings (I had fun with that sentence, could you tell? :)) Never mind that they say things I wouldn't expect to hear coming out of most people's mouths, they say them without any warning, any lead-in.  So yeah, no prize for writing here… but I knew that going in.  

What about Colin and Emily? To be fair, she did try to introduce some decent tension… but omg, not my style.  All about Colin smothering Emily and she not wanting to be smothered… really she is just *way* too into her own independence - again, no change from earlier books, but it doesn't make for compelling romance.  And as for the pathos involved in her continued child-bearing related issues, I have to say I actually found her wallowing annoying.  And if I found it annoying, you know it was pretty extreme, since I'm usually up for a good wallow as long as it gets the main character some sympathy :) But here it was just another contribution to all the drama, drama, drama that pervaded the story.

Which brings to me to what I guess I disliked most about the book, the story.  I mean, of course, it's what I care about the least :), but, come on, I need something to fall back on when there's nothing else there.  But here, I felt like the mystery was simply badly developed.  There were never any hints, never any deductions, just a matter of things happening… okay I guess there was a little investigation, but mostly it was Emily talking to people and getting nowhere.  And to keep up the urgency, instead of going with real plot or decent villainy, there was a lot of drivel (I'm proud of that one was well :)) about ghosts and whatnot.  Make up your mind, is this a gothic horror or victorian whodunnit? (and proud again :)) I mean, in their place, spooky ghosts are fine, but there place is not the sedate Norman countryside in Victorian times, where the author just doesn't have the weaving skills to graft them in seamlessly (and again! :)) Even the ending didn't redeem - I knew what was coming, I pretty much guessed who the bad guy was (or at least I knew he was not as he seemed when we met him, and he seemed good :)) and I have to say I was almost skimming at one point because the ending was just more of the same frenzied palooza (I couldn't think of a good prefix, sorry :)) that occupied the rest of the book.

Verdict: 2/5

Food: Weird ingredients that just don't mesh… can I make something up? I guess that's cheating… but I must have had enough weird foods in my time… but of course I can't think of anything… maybe it's time to give this up… for now anyway

Stop Trying So Hard, It Isn't Really Working

You may recall my waxing slighty rhapsodic on a piece of decent chic lit I read back in Australia (see here) which I enjoyed much more thoroughly than I expected.  Naturally I had to search out the author's other books, only one of which turned out to be available for taking out of the Manhattan library.  So I put Goodbye Jimmy Choos on reserve (not because it's so popular, I was just too lazy to go pick it up from wherever it was) and when I got it out, expected to sit down to at least somewhat of a decent chic lit.   When I got the book, I realized it was one I had seen before and rejected, because it was about two married women rather than my preferred one single starring gal, and because I had read the ending and decided it didn't look like it was worth reading.  But I already had it out so... expectations lowered I picked it up and began, with hope still lingering from my previous foray into the author (Annie Sanders)'s previous work.

Right away, I could see this book wasn't as promising.  I think I described the other one (or could have described it) as light and fast... this one was fast I suppose, but it wasn't light.  Actually what it reminded me of more than anything else was the way I used to play Civilization.  I had no interest in the strategy or the fighting, I just liked the world building.  So I made a cheat world where everyone else died, and then I had all the technology, all the land, and all the food to myself.  So yay :) I just kept building and building... but it got boring pretty fast.  So what's my point? It felt like there were all these little goodies thrown in there for details (things about the children, or about their houses, or little vignettes about their thoughts or their lives or whatever) that were supposed to make the book cozy or fun or whatever, but they just felt kind of fake somehow.  The point is, instead of a well-integrated plot we could follow along, it was just neatly built up fluffiness.  Really it was more of a style thing, it's not that there wasn't plot, but there was just all this other stuff that made me feel like, show it, don't say it.... I really don't think that was clear, but whatever, I know what I'm saying :)

So that was one issue... but as I read on, a few more.... serious... ones cropped up.  Specifically, some very serious plot twists that were *not* what I would have expected from the back cover... or the tag line... or the front cover.  I mean this book was supposed to be about two city girls trying to make it in the country... but it wasn't.  I don't feel like spoiling, but there was serious stuff going on with their relationships.  No chick lit romance here, nu uh.  And as we coasted through that, we moved on to what I suppose was the fun part of the book.  Which was more of what I was talking about above, too much detail, not enough feeling.  I guess that's the best way to say it - there was so much description I felt like there was nothing for me to do.  This is as opposed to what I remember saying, I think about Eva Ibbotson's the Morning Gift, where the absolute minimum was written out and everything was left for me to feel.  Interesting contrast, if I do say so myself.

And that's not even the worst of it... I have to say that as I read further (in this quite long book that took me over two weeks to get through actually, not that it's really a reflection on the book, just on what I spend my time doing :)) I got more and more annoyed by the plot.  First of all, there was this whole issue with their professional image that I felt positively ridiculous - like they were selling and product and no one was going to buy it if they didn't live a certain way? Pu-lease.  And I knew the whole time something was going to blow up in that direction, and guess what, it did - more annoying.  And then there was the whole non-romance between Izzie and Jean Luc... I mean I think it's nice she ended up with Marcus (oops, spoiling here :)) but that was just a complete about face from the beginning of the book.... I wonder if that's because it was written by two authors? Actually that might be the reason... but I don't think that quite accounts for all my issues with this book... which were topped off by an ending that was just like... what? I mean where is that coming from? and where is that coming from? And why did you choose to write this book which basically meanders on to nowhere? Okay not nowhere, but basically you could have cut out about 200 pages in the middle nothing would have changed in these characters' lives - and no the journey made no difference, don't tell me that.  Or at least I saw no evidence of it.  So basically I did not like this book.  I really saw very little to like about it at all.  Oh well again :)

Verdict: 1.5/5 (eeko, I think that's two in a row!)
Food: someone might think it's good, but I don't... tastycake (okay no one thinks it's good, but it's supposed to be good :)) but it's dry and looks waaaaay better than it tastes

The Ending Is Everything

Quite a saga I have to record... a small percentage of my reading material comes from random sampling of the library shelves, whenever I'm in the mood for something slightly different.  So it must have been like in March or April or something I was in Towson library and I picked up this book called Mr. Allbones Ferrets (actually it was maybe more like June, I don't know).  It seemed like a witty type of book, decently written, and the cover claimed it had a love story at the center... so you know, on the appealing side.  But given that it was about a man who collected ferrets, I just never got around to reading it that first time... But it was by a New Zealand author so when I got back I decided to get it out again (plus I'm a bit compulsive about reading books once I've gotten them out) but yet again I didn't read it... and then I got it out *again* when I first went to the library in Manhattan (see this post) and I kept on renewing it and renewing it... and *finally* I started reading it.
I was reading it mostly on the train, as I do these days, and I was finding it surprisingly engrossing.  After the first rather gross chapter, which described ferret-aided poaching activities in great detail, Mr. Allbones turned into a surprisingly likeable man, considering that he was a completely uneducated nineteenth century English villager (right time, right place, wrong class :)) He takes care of his family, he knows what's what, and he's good at what he does, which is basically ferret keeping.  And the other characters too were well formed... I guess I really do like England, because they were somewhat Dickensian stereotypes, I think (can you say pretension? :) (I'm referring to me here, not the author)).  And the story... well it wasn't that much of a story, but it moved along well, and I had great hopes that everything would turn out well for our friend Allbones.
The slightly disturbing feature of the narrative turned out to be the promised love story.  Now it was bad enough that the romance was between Allbones and his employer's daughter, who differ by at least two degrees of class (she being a gentleman's granddaughter, the bourgeois at least intervening between the them) but really that wasn't even as bad as the fact that I can't imagine what he saw her in her.  Actually I don't have to imagine it - it's very clear that he admires her more as a porcelain doll than as anything else.   Or if he appreciates her inner beauty (and there is some of it in her love of nature and desire to educate combined with a certain innocence and a near complete ignorance of class boundaries) we don't hear all too much about it.  Just about her clear skin and flax blonde hair, etc.  And even though Allbones is a poor villager, he's a good poor villager and I don't like him falling for nothing but a pretty face.  It doesn't mesh with what  I think of him, that's all.
But with that said, the book was flowing along well, and I was willing to give it a chance when... I took it out of my bag and forgot to put it back in before I left the house... which means I didn't have it to read on the train... but since it was Friday, I also didn't have it to read over Shabbos, when I most certainly would have finished it.  And I was quite upset actually - mostly because I wanted to finish it, but really, I was enjoying the book and I thought it would ruin it if I stopped in the middle... but there was nothing for it, and I put off finishing it till the next week (which was last week, I've just been lazy about writing a review).  So anyway, I picked up reading it the next week on the train, and it continued along fine, going along to what I hoped would be some amiable conclusion.  There was a little too much gory detail about this or that, which I guess the author feels makes it more villager like or whatever, but that was okay.  The romance continued to be annoying and implausible, and actually got worse as the relationship grew... but okay, I was still going to finish the book and it wasn't hard to get through or anything.
So yeah, they're all on the ship to New Zealand (yay, New Zealand :)) and the book is almost finished when... I don't know, I guess it's a spoiler, and I don't feel like saying it, but trust me it's weird.  Gross and weird.  And pointless.  I mean what a way to end it.  I really didn't see it coming, it was really not necessary, and I don't see what it added... but whatever at least it was at the end of the book, so I didn't have too much more to get through after the bomb was dropped... oh well, it was good while it lasted :)
Verdict: 1.5/5
Food: something utterly disappointing in the end... like with a terrible aftertaste... like mexican food... well not all mexican food but definitely some of the mexican food i've tasted that uses that weird spice... it's like almost going to be good, if different, but then that spice (whatever it is) just ruins it...

Third's Not So Charming This Time

I haven't posted in a while because the last book I finished (on Shabbos, naturally) was yet another Robin Lee Hatcher and I'm just very lazy to review it... I mean, come on, these books are pretty much all the same... This is the third and last of the "Bethlehem Spring" sisters, the first two of which I reviewed previously.  What those two had in common was that they were short, and therefore, mostly to the point and definitely somewhat sweet.  This one was is short as well, but I have to say it had even less substance than the other two.  I don't know if substance is the right word, but what I'm saying was I didn't feel like the romance was justified even in taking up as many pages as it did.  I think it was more the guy than anything else... well the guy and his relationship with the girl.  He's first of all not particularly likeable... he has a temper, he's kind of stupid at times, and he's far from infallible.  And while he likes Daphne from the start, it's mostly about her looks... and it never really goes farther.  I mean I'm okay with, yeah sure she's pretty, but wait... I'm in love with her, but this was more like, yeah she's pretty! she's really pretty! I like her! Actually, the conflict came mostly from his half-engagement to another woman, which was definitely a variation from the typical western Christian romance (at least as far as has come to my attention :)) but even that wasn't angsty so much as annoying.  I guess the best part was when Daphne was sick... man, I'm such a sucker for angst it's funny.  A good death scare... well okay, it might not be my favorite, but given a lack of any other good heart wringing, I'll take a snowy cabin and the Spanish influenza :) All in all, I read it fast, it wasn't torture, but really nothing whatsoever to speak of.

Verdict: 2.8/3
Food: nothing to speak of... like baked chicken often.  I mean broiled is always good (at least the way I make it :)) and baked chicken is sometimes great, but sometimes it's just something to eat... (I wonder how many times I've compared things to chicken... you can see how much chicken I eat :))

Not As Magical As Someone Clearly Thinks It is

Half the time I read a book that's not pure chic lit, I end up saying something like, but it was fun anyway b/c... or after a while i got caught up in... or she/he did a good job with it... basically, that even though the subject matter isn't my favorite, or even on my radar screen, it was still fun to read, either because the characters were good, or the story moved fast, or it was funny or whatever.  I wish particularly to recall the case of Gail Carriger's Soulless series - I read the first for the romance but the second was good despite the relative lack and the third was... well not great, but I don't think I complained too much.  In contrast to that case, I have here the sequel to Leanna Renee Hieber's The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker.  Now I didn't love the first one either, but if I recall, I said it got better towards the end.  Now part of that was of course the romance, but I think the main story was more compelling that at the beginning as well.  I mean you kind of just expect that - first of all, you just end up caring more, and second of all, the climax tends to be the most exciting / least full of uninteresting side details part of the book. 

So I kind of expected that in this book, at least a little.  I mean, I knew I couldn't expect much romance, because that story was already over, but I kind of thought there was a reason to read this book.  Like, did I care about these characters at all? Did I want to know what would happen to them, especially given that the story was pretty unresolved at the end of the first book? I mean, I'm pretty sure the answer was yes.  But... wow, that book did not live up to expectations, in that case.  I mean, from the beginning, the romance was *soooo* over.  Alexi and Percy were like impossibly syrupy and *melodramatic*.  Like so melodramatic I'm sorry I ever call anything else melodramatic.  This stuff was *over the top*.  Omg, I love you, I'll never leave you or hurt you, don't ever leave me, we'll be together, our love is the stuff of legend, blah blah blah.  And Percy is so wonderful, so sweet, so lovely... I just don't buy it.  She seems at turns ridiculously timid and silly, at others this all powerful loving saint... but never overly likeable.  And as for the plot... well I complained I couldn't really make heads or tails of this fantasy world in the first book, and the sea of confusion continues in this one.  I feel like it's just all over the place with spiritual mythology and mysterious powers leaking every which way, with no real discernable system.  I know I make fun of world-building, but there's something to be said for a fantasy world that respects some methodical system, instead of one that changes its rules to fit its conveniences.  Ghosts can't make things move... oh look, he moved that! Darkness is a god... no darkness is a power... no darkness is dead? I don't know, and I don't care.  It's frankly very silly, and a not very interesting amalgam of Greek and Catholic religious gobbledygook with some random magic thrown in.  Not really much of a redeeming feature anywhere... not even the Victorian English setting had any appeal, as it was really only the setting in name only.  The people don't act English, and the place they live in bears little resemblance to mid 1800's London, as I can tell from my expert knowledge of the place :) I really must say, I was pretty much waiting for this book to be over as soon as I started, and I never really got over my impatience.  

Verdict: 1.5/5 (I suppose there are worse books than this one... at least it's by a girl :)) 

Food: utterly, thoroughly disappointing - cook definitely trying too hard... like that nougat I once made... just... don't ask

Spoiler Alert...

I'm not a huge fan of mysteries for their own sakes (as you probably know :)) so I'm not a voracious reader of Agatha Christie.  I mean, I read the Poirots when I was younger, and a few others, but despite the fact they do take place on my favorite island :), I've never made an effort to get through every single one (or even most of them.)  That being said, there are a few that I have read multiple times and thoroughly enjoy, those being of course, Why Didn't They Ask Evans and Tommy and Tupence's first story, The Secret Adversary.  Even if you've never read a single Agatha Christie (which I know you all have :)) I'm sure you can guess why these two lucky books have gained my favor... yes, it's the romance :) I mean, not like romance is the central focus in the book, but it certainly adds plenty of incentive (especially Why Didn't They Ask Evans, which features the daughter of a peer (maybe an Earl? side note, though, now that I think about it, not exactly enamored of an earl's daughter marrying the vicar's son... Georgette Heyer, you have made a snob of me :))) Oh and there's also The Man in the Brown Suit, which was excellent, but somewhat ruined by *s/1* telling me she gets together with the wrong guy, causing me to root for the guy I didn't want her to get together with... who she didn't, because of course *my* romantic instinct was not at fault and she in fact got together with the right guy!... whatever, I know that was hard to follow, and has not much to do with the current point... which is that Batya told me that besides these three, there was one more I'd find romantic - They Came to Baghdad.  Now obviously, I took that with a grain of salt, #1 because you can't really ever trust a/1's else's ideas of romance, #2, because she made this recommendation years ago, and she's probably got smarter about it since she read this books some time in high school, I presume, and #3 (most importantly) Agatha Christie just isn't about the romance, so no matter what, it's not going to be *that* amazing.  But with all that said, I still wanted to read it and actually have had it in mind to read for years. But it was never at my branch of the library... but now that I'm basically just reserving books and having them sent over to Muhlenberg for pickup Tuesday or Thursday, I just put it on the list... so I finally had a chance to read it.  Whew, that was a longer intro than I had planned :)

So anyway, I read this book mostly on the train - +1 for public transportation :) - so that alone says something.  It was definitely compelling enough to hold my attention.  Which isn't really surprisingly, as we are talking about Agatha Christie here.  Isn't she like the #1 best selling author ever or something like that? And again, we do get all those delightful English sensibilities that make the book such familiar and welcoming territory.   Do I *really* care about the mystery? Certainly not overly much, but it was a spy story, which I always care more about than the generic murder mystery types... spies are just so *cool* :) And while I found the main character, Victoria, to be frankly annoying at the beginning, she grew on my quickly enough - and I found her to be as delightfully charming as she is meant to be, rather than a fairly silly creature who doesn't get along at all well in the world. And the romance? Well I  wasn't expecting anything much... and I have to say, I pretty much got what I expected.  There was no romance at all for 3/4 of the book (and by that I mean the couple doesn't even meet until that point) and even from then, there's very little interaction, as most of the book's action is happening then as well.  But I must say, their story was a *very* cute one - bachelor archaeologist and English gentleman, wise and fairly uninterested in women, meets utterly frivolous but very pretty and surprisingly resourceful English girl... it works, ya know? :)

Actually, what I found most interest about the book was how affected I was by the back cover.  I mean, this is a mystery, you wouldn't think they would give anything away.  But they state that Victoria follows Edward to Baghdad, where she immediately witnesses the death of a secret agent and is kidnapped by her rival.  Now that being said, when do you think all this would take place? Within the first few chapters, right? Well actually, the secret agent's murder is about 1/3 of the way through, and the kidnapping over half way! Which means that 1) even though I found the secret agent awesome, I knew he was going to die, which kind of killed some of the tension and depressed me at the same time.  2) I was on alert for the rival girl and knew her for an evil one the second we were introduced.  and 3) (most importantly) I was pretty darn sure Edward was a shady character (not that  I wouldn't have known that anyway, I'm pretty sure).  Anyway, suffice it to say, that for a mystery, there was not *tons* of suspense here.  Not that I'm really complaining, since I don't really care much for mysteries/guessing games anyway :) And there were a few (really one big one) surprises left at the end... in good Christie (at least I assume good Christie :)) style. I just thought that whole back cover was more than a little irresponsible...

But basically, the book was fun - good writing, good plot, good characters, good reading... not too taxing, not too compelling either, but good stuff :)

Verdict: 3/5
Food: good stuff... I'd say potato chips, but I think I've compared something else to potato chips, so let's just go with corn chips... but I like corn chips too much... back to potato chips - this is just a very potato chippy book (not pringles, potato chips :))

Inconsistency - Sometimes Necessary For Likeability

If you pay attention to my posts at all (and I know you do :)), you'll know that Lauren Willig is, if not one of my favorite authors (which I think she is in any case), definitely my #1 most followed, by virtue of her often-updated website, which frequently features contests in which free books are raffled off.  Anyway, I always know exactly when her next book is coming out, which is usually in January.  But this year, she published what was supposed to be kind of a mini-novel, Christmas special kind of thing.  As it turned out, it seems almost like a full-blown book (over 300 pages, and clocking in as #7 instead of as #6.5 or some such thing).  Anyway, since it is only a mini member of the series, I expected less of it than usual, especially given that it's about Turnip.

Turnip is kind of the idiot of the series - Percy Blakeney, if Percy Blakeney wasn't the Scarlet Pimpernel :) But since it was the considered opinion of the commenters on the blog that he couldn't possibly be as dull as he seemed, Lauren Willig decided to give him his story too.  But actually, he is pretty much a slow guy - but with all that, he's nice.  And not only nice, but handsome and rich.  So a worthy hero in that sense :) But I have to say, I couldn't really see how she could write a successful romance with a hero who seemed incapable of real feeling.  I mean, whence the angst, whence the tension, whence the exquisitely subtle dance of courtship? :) I just couldn't see Turnip performing any such thing convincingly.  I think that's the reason I wasn't quite as excited about this one as usual... but certainly I sat down and read it as soon as I got ahold of it.

And to some extent I was right.  It was not really possible for the Turnip of the other books to feature as a complete romantic leading man.  I mean, I could certainly see what Arabella, no dummy, saw in him, that was fine - he is definitely a solid gentleman, well worthy of regard.  And he's slow and unobservant, but not stubbornly unenlightenable or anything.  But in order to pull off the romance, Ms. Willig (I hate using that, but Lauren seems too familiar :)) basically changes up Turnip's character.  At times, he's the same bumbling oaf he has always been, but whenever he needs to be, he comes through as plenty wise.  This is even true when the book switches to his point of view.  There's really very little hint of the bewilderment with which he seems to view the world when we see his actions from anyone's vantage point.  That being said, the romance is pretty gol darn decent, so who cares if Turnip needed a little tweaking to get him into shape? :) There's less of a spy plot than usual, which is just dandy, so we get to spend a little more time with the main characters and their all important developing story instead.  And yes, it's perhaps a little less developed than usual, but remember this is the mini version.  Lighter and shorter than usual.

So I'm not complaining, it was thoroughly enjoyable, if not from the start, than from very early on.  I wouldn't even criticize the Turnip turnaround at all if it were not for another author's perfect handling of a similar case... do you know who I mean? (okay, I know you don't :)) In Cotillion, everyone pretty much thinks Freddy Standen is an idiot, totally incapable of powerful thought.  By the time he and Kitty make their final bows, we know that while his intelligence may not be obvious at first, or pointedly clever, he has very well capable of taking control and steering things right.  Could Turnip have been another Freddy? Well of course, we don't want Turnip to be that smart.  But since he comes off as rather smarter than he's supposed to anyway, we might as well have gotten another Freddy out of him.  I guess this way he can continue as comic relief for  the next six books :), so it's all working out for the best :)

Verdict: 4.5/5
Food: a slightly less decadent version of a favorite... perhaps mendelsohn's pizza - it's good, definitely a treat, but store-bought is obviously better, if a little more effort to obtain

It's Always Nice To Get A Different Point of View ;)

A nice guessing game for you - I've mentioned the book I'm about to review on this blog before... too hard? I reviewed I think two previous books by this author... still don't know it? Here's the previous post.  So I didn't even have so much to say for that one - basically it was good because it was short.  I guess i have a little more to say about this, which is the first in the series - A Vote of Confidence.  Well a little more anyway...

So first of all, this one was fairly short as well, which was again a plus.  The romance builds up fairly steadily, not even much conflict, so you kind of wonder, where's it going to go? But the truth is, it doesn't really have to go anywhere at all because it basically takes almost the entire book for them to get together.  And that's despite the fact that there were no real obstacles.  I mean the couple are opposing candidates for mayor, but nobody cares much about that... and that popular figure of western christian romances everywhere, the reluctant male, isn't really in evidence.  If anything, Gwen is the more reluctant of the two to commit, but it never means very much when it's the woman who doesn't want to get married-  everyone knows women are fickle ;) So what was going on besides this fairly tame romance? You know how I always say with Christian romance, there never is much going on... not really the case here, I must say.  There was the election and besides that there was bad blood between Morgan (guy) and the county commissioner.  So yeah, all that took up space too - a lot of space, I was thinking as I read through it, slightly bored.  But now that I think about it, nothing there got too involved either.  Morgan basically withdrew from the election by about half way through the book, and Harrison Carter (commissioner) never really got anywhere with his dastardly schemes (sorry for spoiling).  

So nothing at all happened in this book? Is that what I'm saying? It didn't really feel like that when I was reading though... it had the blah blah parts about faith, self confidence, family and all that.  It had some pretty decent romance, with a hefty portion from Morgan's POV... oh *that's* what filled the book up! Everything happened from two perspectives.  How funny, that's really what it was.  Okay, well I'm not complaining - all I ever want is more from the guy's POV anyway :) And I never complain about lack of tension/danger/trouble. And like I said, yeah it was short.  Ended none too soon, as I lost patience the second Morgan proposed and Gwen accepted.  But it was lots of fun up till that point :)

Verdict: 2.99/5 (I can't give it a 3, it's an fairly mediocre book that I didn't really love and there are too many threes on here that I just liked better, but it's certainly not really in the 2 range)

Food: utterly ordinary, but mildly pleasing with all that... rold gold thin pretzel shaped pretzels - they're good (and right now they'd be such a treasure i'd like swoon) but really they're not the hugest treat in the universe...

Enthusiasms Taken Way Too Far

Guess what? An author you probably haven't heard of... and there's a fairly good reason I'd say.  Anthony Capella, author of, amongst others, The Food of Love, at best fills a niche for travel/gourmet novels, which as far as I know, is a fairly empty one.  The concept is pretty great, I admit, at least from my perspective.  You know how much I love travel books, or really books that take place in different countries that make my list of interesting ones (yes, that's Western Europe, if you're wondering :)), and it should be fairly obvious how much I love food :) So a book about Italy, and really about Italian food? Sure, why not? Actually though, when I read my first of Anthony Capella's books, The Wedding Officer, I had no idea it would be so food-centric (it is rather less than this one, his first).  I got it out because it looked romantic... and to some extent, it was that too.  But Anthony Capella, being a man, doesn't write chic lit, or even what I consider good romance.  I mean there's drama and great love involved, but not necessarily that angst, frustration, and ultimate reconciliation that comes standard in my favorite fare :) So the point is, I'm not even going to evaluate this book based on its romantic possibilities... I'm going to do it on its own terms.

Well not quite its own terms I guess... that would be merely a question of does it succeed upon the travel and gourmet fronts? Let me first answer that.  Travel - I'd say you get a good feel for what he think Rome is like, or wants it to be like (and he has some experience, as he's spent time there)... and it's a very Italian place, as I would expect.  And since Italians at their most Italian are a group about which I thoroughly enjoy reading - super confident, fairly capable, completely unfazed by everything displays of emotions and insurmountable obstacles - I'd say it was a definite plus for the book.  Food-wise... well #1, I had no idea of what half the foods he talked about were, since they were mostly Italian specialties, and #2, he makes this huge deal about the subtleties of this or that flavor and the importance of this or that ingredient, which I don't quite buy into.   With that said, if there's one enthusiasm with which I sympathize, it's food.  So it takes a while before the deeply detailed descriptions of every part of the meal you can think of get old.  They do get old eventually though, so I'm not sure if the culinary description is a redeeming feature. 

So from what exactly does this book need redeeming? Am I allowed to complain about the romance? :) Yes, because I'm not complaining about the lack of my idea of romance per se... that's fine, not every book has to be written to be good chic lit, and I certainly wouldn't expect this one to be.  It's much that even what the book does purport to be, a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac tale according to the jacket flap, it... well I don't know if it fails utterly, but it certainly falls short.  Here's the main complaint: Bruno is madly in love with Laura who's in love with his best friend Tomaso, so he cooks all these amazing dishes for her and comes up with more and more spectacular food as he's inspired by her... but meanwhile, it's all a tragedy because she thinks it's his best friend who's really a total nobody and he's just sitting there nobly pining away... but guess what? THAT GIRL JUST AIN'T WORTH IT.  She's pretty, artsy, and appreciates food - but she has *zero* personality.  She's boring and stupid and totally unworthy of inspiring great love.  In the middle of the book, another girl (some Italian name I can't remember) is introduced as a foil, and I was like, yeah, pick her, she's cool! But of course, no, he has to go back to Laura.  The whole thing, which tries for big drama, comes of more as a farce.

Now here's the second issue.  To some extent I think, the book is meant as a farce.  And as a farce, I could have enjoyed it a whole lot more.  But unfortunately, it just takes itself *way* too seriously.  I don't know if you remember, or if I actually ever even posted this (pretty sure I did), while I love The Morning Gift, the most annoying part of the book was the almost religious significance it bestowed on music.  I mean I like music *a lot*, but it doesn't like move my world or anything.  I felt like this book did the exact same thing with food.  It's just not that earth-shattering, ya know? It's good, there's a lot to do with it, but in the end of the day, it doesn't express anything more than the obvious.  And I know that's kind of funny, coming from me who compares e/t to food... but you know I'm not actually serious, right? :) Whereas this book seems all too serious about it... and turns what could be a light and fun Italian festo (looked that up :)) into a melodramatic and rather lurid tale of appetites. (man I think I outdid myself there with subtle punning :))

Verdict: 2/5
Food: Gosh I feel silly doing this... a food that takes itself too seriously? There are a lot of those, but I don't tend to eat them :) Let's just say any chicken dish with exotic ingredients... unnecessary, don't add much, and if the chicken isn't cooked right, it's still not good

Remembrance of Things Past... *

Lots of preliminary remarks, and I'm going to make them all, in order from least relevant to most:
1) I didn't even finish a book this Friday night or Shabbos! Was too busy hangin' out with ma girls - we had fun :)
2) I finished the book today on the A train *up* to Washington Heights, so that I had nothing to read down from Washington Heights *or* on the E train home... what a waste!
3) Since starting this blog (in *April*) I have reviewed
    a) La's Orchestra Saves the World, stand-alone
    b) The  Double Comfort Safari Club (I think that's what it's called), #10 in #1  Ladies Detective Agency
    c) The Dog Who Came in From the Cold, Corduroy Mansions
    d) The Importance of Being Seven, 44 Scotland Street
All by Alexander McCall Smith - I mean this guy does not stop! But of course, there's one more series from which he just keeps popping 'em out - The Isabel Dalhousie books.  So this latest is #7, The Charming Quirks of Others.   Unlike a lot of the other series, this one isn't read by the majority of my family readers.  But I always liked them...

I think Sarah Sp's main objection at least was the Jamie/Isabel older woman/younger guy thing.  Whereas I can get over that very quickly, and the romance was great, at least in the first few.  Other objections might have been more substantial - of all AMS's books, these have the most random digressions and author's thoughts disguised as characters'... the saving grace for me has been that I tend to agree with Isabel.  She's a very refined and British person :) But she's definitely on the snobby side an definitely a little boring.  So I totally get why other people don't enjoy this series.

But I always enjoyed it.  Like I said, there was good romance going on, it's about an upper class lady in Edinburgh, to whom nothing much, at least nothing bad ever seems to happen... and even when something does happen, it's so discreet you don't notice :)  So it's got all the advantages I detailed in my first ever AMS review :) (which I happened to have looked back on a few days ago) which is nice easy writing, very little tension... and sensibilities I either don't object to or actually symphathize with (I'm sorry for all the dangling prepositions, don't know why I'm noticing them/using them so much today).  Anyway, the point is, I've pretty much always enjoyed these books.... but my enjoyment has lessened in the last few, because they are really pretty much all the same... well Isabel has a son now, Charlie, which makes her a little more approachable than before, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that really makes.  But they just mostly ramble on, and nothing Isabel/AMS thinks sounds particularly new original.

So that's fine... I still read them, because I still care about Isabel, they're still easy reading, and once I start something, I don't stop lightly (witness this blog :) - no not really I love my blog :)) But anyway, the downward curve of enjoyability (how mathematical :)) has continued with this one.  The book is a series of little incidents, as usual... but this time, the little incidents seem rather less probable normal.  Isabel has this thing about her intuition, which is of course usually right... and I'm reminded of Shaya Sp's comment on Sherlock Holmes's brilliance - of course he makes impossible deductions, he's fictional! I mean a great guess should not make you roll your eyes! Isabel is just like, oh, he killed someone.. and she's right! well la di dah.  And even if AMS does acknowledge this with Jamie's skepticism with Isabel's "gut", in the end he goes right along with it by proving her right at basically every turn.  Anyway, that's a bit of a tangent, not even what I meant to talk about.  What I wanted to say was the I found her observations, etc. to be more either more esoteric, or totally obvious, or flat out wrong than usual.  I'm like, I know you're a philosopher, and you're not a bad person, but the truth is, y'aint saying anything I'm interested in (and that's besides the now seemingly obligatory references to certain rights...) Either I'm getting less patient, or there's less to distract me from all the rather silly wandering-offs in the middle of the book...

Of course, as always (or as typical), the book kind of gains a footing towards the end.  Everything is resolved, and fairly satisfactorily, as well as in somewhat unexpected ways.  I'd say I got through the last few chapters a little more easily.. but I can't read or review a book on the last few chapters.. (well I can, but I don't want to :)) So anyway, I didn't love the book... but oh well, I wasn't really expecting to, and for better or worse, I'm not stopping now :)

Verdict: 2.75/5
Food: disappointing, especially after what came before... yesterday I had a chicken salad from Abigail's for lunch (thank you, google :)) and then for supper a steak salad from some place in KGH (thank you, yael m. for picking it up for me :)) which cost $15! and was *not* particularly good... I think my daily restaurant lunches may be spoiling me... or maybe not... I mean a steak salad doesn't need *that* much for me to like it, but whatever it does need, that one didn't really have it...

* Like the title? It's a little vague, maybe not entirely appropriate for this post, but I couldn't resist showing off my vast trivial knowledge with reference to an actual philosophical novel :)

More of the Same, But It's Good Same

When Huvi read Katherine Center's Get Lucky, she said, "her books are all the same."  True enough, so why bother reviewing?  Well I do have a standard policy of reviewing (at least to some extent) every book I read, and besides, I don't quite remember what I wrote about her other one I read... so here goes.  Interestingly enough, not only are her books all the same, I read them in exactly the same way.  I picked them up at night (this one Friday night) and read them in one sitting.  So that's a point in their favor right there.  I mentioned that they're short, which certainly helps in making them quick reads, but much more than that, they're engaging.  They move fast, flying through the characters' lives at high speed.  Stuff happens along the way, but there's no time to dwell on any one thing for long...

The main "stuff happening" in this one is a pregnancy.  Not just a pregnancy, but Sarah's surrogacy for her sister Maddie.  So that alone sets it apart from Everyone is Beautiful, which is about the most pedestrian of topics... motherhood and marriage.  At first, I was afraid this book was going down the road of career vs. life but the surrogacy thing was a welcome turn along the way (that wasn't even an intentional pun at first :)) But like she introduces it as this dramatic, life changing event... which actually (spoiling here), it isn't.  And that's the case with a lot of her dramatic pronouncements... which is what huvi meant by all her books are the same.  She has this weird foreshadowing thing where she talks about what's going to happen before it does - and the weirdest thing is that when it does happen, it's never as big a deal! So it's annoying, but I have to say considerably less annoying than if everything did turn into the big disasters she says they will.  Like Sarah's life changes throughout her pregnancy, but it has very little to do with the pregnancy itself.  It has to do with getting a new job, meeting an old/new guy, and (and this is the closest it gets to the pregnancy) her distancing from Maddie, which in the end is caused more by motherhood than anything else. 

So anyway, that's the way her writing is annoying, and yes, the same in every book.  But like I said, I read this book in one sitting.. and I wasn't forcing myself to stay awake.  Because she's a good writer, quite a good writer.  And since everything happens so fast, there's very little tension (I said this in the last book review).  And despite Aliza's assertion that the other one was the most romantic, I found this one far more romantic.  There was great potential - a Persuasion-esque high school bf story - but it wasn't perfectly executed. I get the feeling she's not interested in really milking it for what it's worth.  Even the end moment (which I can't recall at the moment) is kind of anti-climatic - like, oh I know you love me, let's get together - no angst at all!

So basically my point is... well it's a good book, even though it maybe shouldn't be.  Because the characters are likeable and the story is good too.  And if all her books are the same, who cares, because I like them :) and last I check, I can read *the same* book 20 times over if I like it... so a different plot is more than enough to keep me interested :)

Verdict: 3/5
Food: more of the same, it's still good... the asian chicken salad I ate last friday was basically the same as a teriyaki chicken salad, but with peanut dressing, but who's complaining? :)