REVIEW - The Sixes by Kate White

Title: The Sixes

Author: Kate White

Narrator: Jennifer Cohn

Audiobook Length: 12 hours, 46 minutes

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Phoebe Hall’s Manhattan life has suddenly begun to unravel. Right after her long-term boyfriend breaks off their relationship, she’s falsely accused of plagiarizing her latest bestselling celebrity biography. Looking for a quiet place to put her life back together, Phoebe jumps at the offer to teach in a sleepy Pennsylvania town at a small private college run by her former boarding school roommate and close friend, Glenda Johns.

But behind the campus’s quiet cafÉs and leafy maple trees lie evil happenings. The body of a female student washes up on the banks of a nearby river, and disturbing revelations begin to surface: accusations from coeds about abuses wrought by a secret society of girls on campus known as The Sixes.. To help Glenda, Phoebe embarks on a search for clues—a quest that soon raises painful memories of her own boarding school days years ago.

As the investigation heats up, Phoebe unexpectedly finds herself falling for the school’s handsome psychology professor, Duncan Shaw. But when nasty pranks turn into deadly threats, Phoebe realizes she’s in the middle of a real-life nightmare, not knowing whom she can trust and if she will even survive.

Plunging deeper into danger with every step, Phoebe knows she’s close to unmasking a killer. But with truth comes a terrifying revelation: your darkest secrets can still be uncovered . . . and starting over may be a crime punishable by death."

Thoughts: Kate White's The Sixes is an engaging, albeit predictable, thriller that attempts to piggyback on the idea of female bullies and a new wave of feminism that turns the idea of girl power on its head. Between secret societies, mysterious, escalating threats, and eventually dead people, Phoebe Hall has her hands full attempting to determining just what is occurring at Lyle College. While the idea of a female secret society is intriguing, the execution of the storyline prevents the novel from being as suspenseful and as strong as it could be.

The reader will experience several issues with The Sixes, the first of which is Phoebe's involvement in the mysteries. Why would anyone allow a celebrity biographer to snoop around a mysterious death? What makes her better able to solve the mystery than the police? If this were the beginning of a series, about a celebrity biographer/interviewer turned sleuth, the entire situation might be more plausible. Even worse, when someone starts breaking into Phoebe's home, who does not report the incidents to the police? I can understand the need to protect the college's reputation but at the cost of an employee's safety and well-being? These reactions to certain scenes do not feel authentic but rather appear manufactured to add more drama. Instead, they add a sense of incredulity to the entire affair.

In addition, Phoebe remains a distant heroine. Even with a third-person omniscient narrator, the reader does not get the opportunity to learn more about Phoebe's motivations or philosophies driving her actions. There are some rather overt hints, but Ms. White only explores Phoebe's past in fits and starts. There is an attempt to flashback, but the flashbacks are so abrupt and so without warning that the reader does not understand that they are flashbacks until several sentences into the new section. The reader never knows when the action is occurring in the present versus in the past or to which secret society to which Phoebe is referring. It makes for a disjointed story.

This is one audiobook experience where the narrator almost ruins the story. Ms. Cohn has an annoying habit of continuing her accent or inflections past the dialogue and into the "he said" or "she said" sections of the novel. It is distracting to hear a description stated with the rising inflection associated with questions just because the last line of dialogue is also a question. She tends towards over-dramatization and over-the-top reactions that do not appear to fit with the scene. Her hysterical characters are just a bit too hysterical. Someone sobbing is difficult to understand. It is all just too much. Unfortunately, with a novel that is weak anyway, the poor narrator makes it rather difficult to finish.

Putting aside the narrator, The Sixes is not terrible. It does keep the reader's interest through the secret society angle and Phoebe's own history. Unfortunately, the switches between the current situation and Phoebe's boarding school experiences are too abrupt, disrupting the flow and any building suspense. The reader never truly gets inside Phoebe's head, and some of her reactions to situations never quite make sense until the very end. The end result is an audiobook that one can enjoy much in the same fashion as someone enjoys watching B movies or cult classics. It is extremely predictable, somewhat campy, and yet, the reader is able to enjoy it immensely because of that.

Thank you to Beth Harper from Harper Audio for my review copy!

REVIEW - Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

Title: Angelfire

Author: Courtney Allison Moulton

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.

When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.

Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember."

Thoughts: Angelfire is the successful combination of several elements of recent paranormal YA trends. There are demons, angels, reincarnation, an alternate world in which only the supernatural can travel, battles to save mankind and even a little bit of romance. While it might appear old and stale, Ms. Moulton brings together the elements in a way that is fresh, exciting, and fascinating.

Ellie is an incredibly sympathetic heroine. The reader knows that there is more to her than meets the eye, and the revelations that abruptly become known to her are of such a shocking nature that most people would end up medicated in order to be able to recover from them. Instead, Ellie shoulders her burdens with a sense of responsibility that is admirable. The teen angst that epitomizes this genre is absent, which allows the reader to get caught up in Ellie's struggles to remember without getting bogged down among the drama.

Thankfully, the romance stays in the background, for this novel at least. It does not overshadow the greater story of Ellie's fight to save humanity but does add a fine layer of tension. Even better, Ms. Moulton thoroughly establishes the background and explains the supernatural forces at work. There is no confusion as to who is fighting what and why. Nor is there any confusion about the historical events that led Ellie to this moment. This clearly-explained back story allows the reader to simply enjoy the action as it unfolds rather than get caught up trying to figure out what is happening.

Angelfire does follow the YA trend of being a series. However, Ms. Moulton is able to balance the need for closure while creating enough interest in the remaining unanswered questions that a reader does not mind that Ellie's story has not reached its full conclusion. She does not save her big reveals for the last paragraph, which allows the reader to absorb the shock while piquing his or her interest in what the news means for future stories. That sense of frustration over abrupt cliffhangers does not exist, yet the reader's need to know what happens remains high. In other words, it is a successful transition to the next novel.

Angelfire starts slowly and builds in action, drama and tension with a surprising depth to the story that establishes it as more than just another paranormal romance YA novel. Ellie and Will make a great team, and the twists and turns will leave the reader gasping in surprise. While there is enough resolution to satisfy the reader, all is definitely not resolved in Ellie's story. I, for one, cannot wait to find out what happens next!

Thank you to GLiBA and the publisher for my copy!

Read My Own Books Month - Week 4

We are in the home stretch; just a few days to get those books read before we go back to our regular schedule of review books or library books or whatever you were taking a break from during the month of August!

A huge congratulations to Amy for winning last week's prize pack! Shoot me an e-mail or DM me with your choices of books. I have one more prize pack to go, but I'm thinking of leaving it a surprise for the close of the challenge/event/whatever you want to call it.

I'm keeping this one short since we only have a few more days left. I just wanted to pop in and see how everyone was doing. Keep reading those non-review books!

The Sunday Salon - August 28, 2011

Here it is. Another month is coming to a close. Before I dive into a summary of the week, I want say a HUGE thank you to those of you who nominated "Inside Michelle's Brain" as one of this year's BBAW Best Book Blog Feature or Series of Posts. I was having a horrific day on the day I was informed, and it truly made my day. We're talking tears. I found the series cathartic to write and never expected them to be popular. In fact, I figured most people would ignore my ranting because the blogging world does not need another blogger ranting and stirring up drama. I am touched beyond reason that people felt strongly enough to nominate me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

School officially started for the kids on Monday. Holly's reaction to second grade was that it was "awesome." Connor was less enthusiastic about seventh grade. He's struggling to adjust to his workload (homework on the first day of school!) and the fact that his locker is located in the opposite wing of almost all of his classes. By the end of the week, he adjusted pretty well, and the hardest thing he faced was getting up and getting ready in time to catch the bus at 6:30 AM.

Connor also experienced his first and second cross-country meets this week. The first one was hosted by his school, and he came in 12th out of approximately 30ish boys. His two-mile time was just over 15 minutes. His second meet was yesterday, at one of the larger cross-country events in the state. There had to have been over 200 boys running yesterday, but he managed to come in 44th place, beating his previous time by almost two minutes with a new personal record of 13 minutes 13 seconds. We are SO proud of him, and it is an absolute joy to watch him succeed and see him truly enjoy this sport. I don't know about Jim, but I am really looking forward to the rest of the season.

Of course, Connor was supposed to have two soccer games yesterday and one today. Unfortunately, his heart is just not in it this year, and given his school workload, along with piano, trumpet and cross-country, he is seriously considering dropping soccer this year. He has been playing since he was four, and it is an agonizing decision for him. He has stated that given the choice between cross-country and soccer in high school, he'll choose cross-country so this would essentially be the end of an era for him. It is his decision, so we shall see what he wants to do.

On the work front, things remain in limbo. The plans for the sale are still in place, and people remain nervous. We are all expecting some form of announcement around the beginning of September. At this point in time, it is just gut feeling and conjecture, but the initial six weeks mentioned will have past so it makes sense to get more details of this thing. My employee did opt to quit. He was quite upset that he could not stay with our parent company; they put a moratorium on any employees at my location being able to go to another business unit within the parent organization, citing that our possible new employers are buying all employees. He managed to get a few zingers shot in my direction before he left, citing that I do not have the skills, personality or desire to be an effective manager. I find this out after he looked me in the eye and said it was a pleasure working with me. NOT that I am bitter or anything.

Read My Own Books Month is still going strong. I haven't read as much as I would like, but I have been reading some interesting stories this month. Here's a list of my reviews since my last TSS update:

• Dark Lover by J. R. Ward
• Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
• Vlad: The Last Confession by C. C. Humphreys
• Heartless by Gail Carriger
• By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
• Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
• Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
• Love Lies Bleeding by Jess McConkey

In the last week, I have finished the following with reviews still outstanding:

• Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton
• The Sixes by Kate White
• Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

I started Patrick Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go yesterday evening. I am hoping to get through a large chunk of it today, but the house is a mess, we are in desperate need of groceries, and there is a stack of paperwork on my desk that needs attention. I fear my parental/adult duties call before I can settle back into reading for the afternoon. Sometimes, it sucks being an adult.

Speaking of responsibilities, it is time that I attend to mine for the day. I wish everyone a happy Sunday. If you are on the East Coast, please stay safe! Happy reading, everyone!

REVIEW - Love Lies Bleeding by Jess McConkey

Title: Love Lies Bleeding

Author: Jess McConkey

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"To what lengths would you go to keep a past buried?

Samantha Moore is the golden girl—with a perfect job, a perfect man, a perfect life—until a random act of violence changes everything. Unconscious for two months, Sam awakens from her coma a different person—bitter, in constant pain, and forced to endure medications that leave her nauseous, paranoid, and struggling to keep a grip on reality.

Furious with her family for sending her away to a small, remote town to recuperate—placed completely under a physical therapist’s care and robbed of what little freedom she has left—Sam lashes out at the “nice people” all around her who claim to have only her best interests in mind. But are her violent outbursts the by-product of her condition . . . or something else entirely? Strange things are happening here—and either Samantha Moore is losing her mind or her friendly new neighbors are far more dangerous than they appear to be. . . ."

Thoughts: Love Lies Bleeding is one of those novels that is thoroughly enjoyable while reading but does not hold up well under close scrutiny. Its sum is definitely much better than its parts, not that this is a bad thing. Sometimes, books are made to be enjoyed as a whole and not broken down for a search for hidden meaning or symbolism. Love Lies Bleeding is definitely successful as this type of book, as it does not demand much from the reader but instead presents itself as a taut Gothic suspense novel with a strong female lead.

The most intriguing aspect of Love Lies Bleeding is the three different narrators, each with a different point of view. Two of the narrators were third person, but the third was an unknown first-person narrator. This deliberate choice on the part of McConkey not only allows the reader to learn more of the details about each of the characters but it successfully builds tension, as the reader struggles to determine who the mysterious third narrator is. While I am sure this plot device is not new, it was the first time in a long time that I noticed it and appreciated it for its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, as with any book that is better on the surface than with searches for deeper meaning, Love Lies Bleeding is somewhat predictable. While the mysterious third narrator is unknown, a careful reader will know who it is before the novel is half over. Also, events unfold in such a manner that they are not truly surprising. In addition, there are quite a few unanswered questions remaining at the close of the novel. While they do not detract from the main plot, the reader is left with a niggling sense of incompleteness as a result.

Love Lies Bleeding is a relatively short novel, which explains some of the rush in character development and lack of answers. Yet, in spite of Sam's unrealistically quick transition from spoiled victim to independent and strong female and the unresolved questions, it is a difficult novel to stop reading. The Gothic elements compel the reader to keep reading, while the three narrators provide a more intimate glimpse into key characters. Love Lies Bleeding is a perfect, spooky mystery for a gloomy day.

Thank you Megan Traynor from William Morrow for my review copy!

REVIEW - Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

Title: Summer Knight: Book Four of the Dresden Files

Author: Jim Butcher

Narrator: James Marsters

Audiobook Length: 11 hours, 12 minutes

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Now that his girlfriend has left him, professional wizard Harry Dresden can't pay his rent and alienates his friends. He's soon approached by the Winter Queen of Faerie with an offer he can't refuse — all he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen's right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen's name. Soon, Harry finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case."

Thoughts: There are some among Harry Dresden fans that state that the series truly takes off during book three. While I enjoyed Grave Peril, it does not hold a candle to Summer Knight. In fact, I dare say this fourth book in the series is my favorite so far. The tension is much more subtle than in previous books, and Harry has to use finesse and caution to be successful. Considering what he has done so far, all the battles and explosions and exclamations of "Fuego!", it was a nice reprieve and proof that Harry can show restraint when necessary.

Another great change of pace was the focus on the Fae. Yet another book about vampires, rogue wizards, or werewolves would have been a bit too much. There is so much to the Never-Never that it is wonderful to see Butcher branch out among different supernatural creatures. The Fae, in Dresden's world, are every bit as ruthless and cunning as one would expect and add an interesting dimension to Harry's fate. Their power is less obvious and therefore more dangerous than anything Dresden has yet faced.

The reader also gets a greater glimpse at the White Council and Harry's peers. There is obviously tension brewing between the Council and Harry. It promises to be a worthwhile storyline, and I cannot wait to see it all unfold. I am glad that Butcher is not rushing it, as I believe it is key to understanding Harry's penchant for raw power and snark versus finesse and political savvy. Not that I mind his tendency to blast his way through a problem, but it does show that Harry has depth, a good thing to have in a main character of a such a long series.

I have to admit that my beloved James Marsters did not quite rock the audio as much as I expected/hoped. He is still the perfect Harry, but I was completely and utterly distracted by his noisy, flapping gums. You could literally hear them as he talked. I wanted to give him a glass of water to try to quiet them down a bit because it was a bit disgusting to hear. I am hoping it was just poor editing and not a burgeoning trend.

In spite of the issues with narration, Summer Knight is the best novel in the series so far. It is a far cry from the battles against werewolves or vampires, and the entire series is better for the change in direction. The reader also gets exposed to more of Harry's mysterious past while the series slowly builds towards the penultimate battle in future novels. If anything, Summer Knight has made me fall in love with the series all over again.

REVIEW - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

Title: Dead Reckoning: Sookie Stackhouse #11

Author: Charlaine Harris

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover Eric Northman and his "child" Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, Sookie is drawn into the plot — which is much more complicated than she knows..."

Thoughts: As with any series, there are going to be hits and misses. Not all of the books in the series can be outstanding, especially when an author has eleven books in the series. Dead Reckoning, unfortunately, is not one of the better ones in the Sookie Stackhouse series. While it remains obvious that Ms. Harris is maneuvering the series towards its final conclusion, the reader cannot help but feel that there is something lacking.

The problem is that after so many novels, the reader begins to wonder what possibly could happen next to poor Sookie. She has been on the verge of happiness so many times, only to have it snatched away again and again. She's faced multiple life-or-death crises, battles, tricky situations, and more supernatural creatures than humans. Dare I say it? The story is just getting old.

Dead Reckoning felt sadly like a rehashing of a previous story. Sookie faces personal challenges while balancing the struggles of the vampires. She is called upon to help out in dangerous situations, and while she takes one move towards freeing herself from some of the supernatural set, they draw her back into the crowd more tightly. Sound familiar? Even worse, it was like a reunion show for anyone who has ever been involved in Sookie's life in some way, shape, or form. All we are missing is Quinn, and the cast would be complete. The whole thing just felt forced.

With a series that remains so phenomenally popular, a reader is bound to be underwhelmed due to his or her own expectations. While I wasn't expecting a truly stellar novel, I was hoping for something with a bit more suspense and surprise. However, even if Dead Reckoning is not the best in the series, it still remains enjoyable. More importantly, it does move the story forward towards the grand finale. Now that is something which is worth waiting to read.

REVIEW - By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham

Title: By Nightfall

Author: Michael Cunningham

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Peter and Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattans SoHo, nearing the apogee of committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft, a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable, enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then Rebecca's much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (known in the family as Mizzy, “the mistake”), shows up for a visit. A beautiful, beguiling twenty-three-year-old with a history of drug problems, Mizzy is wayward, at loose ends, looking for direction. And in his presence, Peter finds himself questioning his artists, their work, his career—the entire world he has so carefully constructed."

Thoughts: Michael Cunningham's By Nightfall explores the life of Peter Harris, a successful art dealer and one half of a long-married couple, as he struggles through an unexpected midlife crisis. The timeliness of such a topic should not be ignored, as the media and retailers alike bombard society with constant reminders of the aging nation. Beautifully written, the starkness and scarcity of words give maximum impact to the desolation Peter feels upon realizing the loss of his youth.

Peter fills in as the symbol for everyone struggling with this issue. It is not a search for happiness so much as it is a search for beauty and youth. This is best seen in Peter's debates over art and his battles to sell new artists versus older ones. Like youth, an artist's fame can be fleeting, as its audience is fickle and constantly changing. Peter's struggle is a subtle one, as often he does not realize what is happening to him. Yet, the reader is left to project in what form his or her own crisis will occur, as the reader is left with the understanding that he or she will also face similar questions and/or despair at some point in time.

By Nightfall is one of those novels that does not work quite as well for female readers as it does for a male audience. Without stereotyping too much, each gender experiences different crises and motivations. As a female reader, I could sympathize with Peter but not empathize with him. There is a key distinction between the two, and the reader who can empathize with Peter is more likely to better appreciate his frame of mind throughout the novel. I personally struggled with some of his decisions, or lack thereof, and his treatment of others. Without the greater emotional connection between the main character and the reader, the book falls flat. It is still a beautiful book and asks a lot of questions about the true reasons behind divorces and/or affairs and one's confrontation with one's own mortality.Yet, it is a novel that is meant to be enjoyed on a more primal level. Since I never bought into Peter's motivations, it is one that just did not live up to its potential.

For other thoughts on Michael Cunningham's By Nightfall, please stop by Linus's Blanket to see the book club discussion.

Thank you to Nicole and Jen and Picador for my review copy and allowing me to be part of the Picador Book Club!

Read My Own Books Month - Week 3

We have rounded the bend and are heading into home on this crazy adventure of ours. Are you having fun yet? I know I am! I am all about vampires these days, as I finished C.C. Humphreys' Vlad: The Last Confession, started the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel and also started listening to Jim Butcher's fourth Harry Dresden novel, Summer Knight. I am also assuaging my thirst for my high-brow literature with my slow progress on Michener's Alaska. My current YA read is Courtney Allison Moulton's Angelfire. I did say last week that when I read my own books, I do tend to lean towards those books which contain vampires. This many at one time is a little unusual for me, but I love every minute of it!

This week, I would love to hear how you are doing on your pledge.

Have you been able to keep to your pledged percentage? If you went for less than 100 percent, what is your August ratio of non-review to review books? What is your favorite non-review book you've read so far this month? How many more are you going to attempt to finish before the end of the month? Which one(s) are you most hoping to read/finish before next week?

Congratulations to Unfinished Person for winning last week's prize pack!! Please contact me within 24 hours to let me know which two books and which of the two book marks you would like.

• In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault (PB)
• The Bone Yard: A Body Farm Novel by Jefferson Bass (HB)
• Dark Prince by Christine Feehan (HB)
• Folly Beach (Lowcountry Tales) by Dorothea Benton Frank (HB)
• The Exile (Outlander) by Diana Gabaldon (HB)
• Summer Sanctuary by Laurie Gray (Signed, PB)
• Pale Demon by Kim Harrison (HB)
• Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson (ARC, PB)
• Betrayal of Trust (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries) by J. A. Jance (HB)
• Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante (ARC, PB)
• Killer Move by Michael Marshall (HB)
• The Snow Whale by John Minichillo (PB)
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (PB)

For those still left, this week's prizes include the last remaining book mark and your choice of two of the books still available. Just use dear old Mr. Linky to link to your update post and let us know how you are doing. Good luck!

REVIEW - Heartless by Gail Carriger

Title: Parasol Protectorate #4: Heartless

Author: Gail Carriger

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking ), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.   

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?"

Thoughts: Alexia Maccon is back and bigger than ever. Her pregnancy has limited her mobility but has not affected her wit or her ability to get involved in the affairs of the pack or other supernatural beings. Things follow in their normal pattern when Alexia gets involved. In other words, hi-jinks ensue in the traditional soulless fashion - Alexia faces impossible, and hilarious, situations with her typical no-nonsense approach to life, as only she can.

Heartless continues with Alexia's preoccupation with her infant inconvenience. Granted, it is difficult to  ignore any baby when one is eight months pregnant, but Alexia's refusal to prevent the pending baby from interfering with her life continues to cause a chuckle every time it does. It will be quite interesting to see what happens once the baby is born.

Where Heartless gets its heart (pun intended), however, is the greater insight the reader gets into Lord Akeldama's past. His history has always been mysterious, even to Alexia. However, through various events that occur because of the vampire reaction to the pending birth, the reader gets the chance to learn a bit more about him. While he remains as foppish and fashionable as ever, there is a surprising depth to him that peaks out at various times throughout the novel. The fact that there is more to be uncovered only increases the anticipation for future Parasol Protectorate novels.

Gail Carriger has managed, yet again, to create a fascinating and hilarious stand-alone novel while building upon the previous three novels and setting the stage for future ones. My love for Alexia continues to grow. One simply cannot take offense at her statements because she means absolutely no harm by them. Her relationship with her husband is endearing. Ms. Carriger excels at adding just enough puns, tongue-in-cheek nods to modern culture, and hilarity to create novels that are engaging, funny, and even timeless. We all need a little Alexia in our life.

REVIEW - Vlad: The Last Confession by C. C. Humphreys

Title: Vlad: The Last Confession

Author: C. C. Humphreys

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Dracula. A name of horror, depravity and the darkest sensuality. Yet the real Dracula was just as alluring, just as terrifying, his tale not one of a monster but of a man... and a contradiction. 

His tale is told by those who knew him best. The only woman he ever loved...and whom he had to sacrifice. His closest comrade...and traitor. And his priest, betraying the secrets of the confessional to reveal the mind of the man history would forever remember as The Impaler. This is the story of the man behind the legend...as it has never been told before."

Thoughts: Vlad Tepes is the victim of gossip and propaganda. Vilified during his lifetime, Bram Stoker slammed the proverbial nail into the coffin by making him one of the most recognized and well-known villains of all time. Yet, how much of the stories that persist today are fact and how much is simply history rewritten by the victors? In Vlad: The Last Confession, C. C. Humphreys successfully steps inside the mind of Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a. Vlad Dracula, in an attempt to sift through the fact with the fiction, presenting this notorious ruler in a more human light.

As one might expect of any novel about Vlad Dracula, it is not for the faint of heart. All historians are in agreement that Vlad was one brutal ruler. He earned and deserved his nickname, even if the total numbers or specifics have been lost over time. Yet, as Humphreys' research proves, he was not doing anything out of the ordinary for the times. His life-long enemies, the Turks, practiced similarly brutal methods of punishment and torture as has been attributed to Vlad. With this in mind, there are some simply awful scenes to read. While the torture and descriptions are not explicit, it is often what Humphreys does not say that lingers with the reader. For those who may be squeamish or not comfortable with the brutality of humanity, then please be warned.

Humphreys definitely did his homework. Vlad: The Last Confession is well-researched, and it shows in every description. The reader has no difficulties imagining life in Wallachia or Turkey, no matter how foreign and historical the situation. Humphreys uses his detailed research to present a plausible alternative to Vlad's story, one that shows him more as a victim of circumstances and pawn to greater men than a true villain. This humanity is surprising and yet welcome as a counterpoint to history books.

There is a reason why the story of Vlad Dracula has lasted for over 600 years. By all accounts, he was extremely charismatic and a truly remarkable man. Humphreys captures this magnetism and uses it to full advantage. More than average intelligence, distinctive features, a profound sense of family, honor and duty combined to create a man who is more than memorable but almost mythical. Vlad's personality, while considered by Humphreys, oozes through each page, and readers better understand the fascination. Better yet, rather than ignore it, Humphreys nods to the Dracula myth several times throughout the story, recognizing one of the key factors which has added to Vlad's mystique.

Vlad: The Last Confession is an honest, dark, and yet engaging hypothesis on the "true" story of Vlad Dracula. C.C. Humphreys' excellent research brings this infamous man to life. Flitting back and forth between Vlad's lifetime and after his death, the reader experiences Vlad's struggles and the state of affairs once he is gone. Through Humphreys' careful portrayal, Vlad Tepes loses some of the infamy that surrounds his name and becomes sympathetic in a way that is not obvious on the surface. A reader is forced to ask him or herself of just how s/he would react if put into similar situations as Vlad experienced. A relationship between Vlad and the reader develops through grudging admiration of this man, who was forced into situations that would break most people. Vlad: The Last Confession allows the reader to develop an entirely new image of the name, Dracula.

Thank you to Jen for sending me her copy!

REVIEW - Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

Title: Ten Thousand Saints 

Author: Eleanor Henderson

Narrator: Steven Kaplan

Audiobook Length: 11 hours, 5 minutes

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Adopted by a pair of diehard hippies, restless, marginal Jude Keffy-Horn spends much of his youth getting high with his best friend, Teddy, in their bucolic and deeply numbing Vermont town. But when Teddy dies of an overdose on the last day of 1987, Jude's relationship with drugs and with his parents devolves to new extremes. Sent to live with his pot-dealing father in New York City's East Village, Jude stumbles upon straight edge, an underground youth culture powered by the paradoxical aggression of hardcore punk and a righteous intolerance for drugs, meat, and sex. 

With Teddy's half brother, Johnny, and their new friend, Eliza, Jude tries to honor Teddy's memory through his militantly clean lifestyle. But his addiction to straight edge has its own dangerous consequences. While these teenagers battle to discover themselves, their parents struggle with this new generation's radical reinterpretation of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll and their grown-up awareness of nature and nurture, brotherhood and loss."

Thoughts: Eleanor Henderson's Ten Thousand Saints is a subtle novel that could simplistically be described with a key theme of growing up but actually delves into so much more should the reader opt to do so. Jude, Eliza and Johnny are three kids who are just playing at being grown-up and mature. They put on a good front, but underneath, their feelings of loneliness and loss bring them together. The overwhelming air of sadness that permeates the novel only adds to each character's melancholy and struggle to face reality. Ms. Henderson masterfully weaves the rebellion and loss that defines much of the novel in such a way that the end result is a story that ends on a note of hope - that even the most depressed, lost and lonely person can find love, acceptance, and happiness.

Ten Thousand Saints is reminscient of Less Than Zero with its huge focus on the drug and punk scene. Interestingly, socio-economic backgrounds provide no indication of whether one will be drawn into the drug scene. More importantly, while "straight edge" is the opposite of the drug scene, it is still a form of rebellion against society. All three characters are driven to action by the fear of the truth and anger at their respective parent(s). While their reasons differ, the end result is still a group of young adults who hide rather than face reality. Death - past, immediate, and future - along with birth - past and future - become the driving force behind each character's metamorphasis into adulthood. Hiding behind the "scene" rather than confronting the truth is one key coping mechanism.

The narrator, Steven Kaplan, provides an understated performance that works well with the highly dramatic lives of the three protagonists. The differences in his portrayal of each character are subtle and yet effective as the differences in each character, outside of the obvious gender differences, are just as nuanced. This is one novel where added tension and drama is not necessary, and Mr. Kaplan avoids adding extraneous emotion to each character, playing up the boredom and lack of concern each character is trying so desperately to portray to the world. Mr. Kaplan's simple approach to the narration of Ten Thousand Saints allows Ms. Henderson's characters to speak for themselves.

In its storytelling, Ten Thousand Saints is poetic in its simplicity while unflinching in its harsh portrayal  of addicts of all kinds. Human redemption stands alongside human depravity to offer a brutally realistic and yet beautiful story of love and its power to save.

Thank you to Beth Harper from Harper Audio for my review copy!

REVIEW - Dark Lover by J. R. Ward

Title: Dark Lover: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

Author: J. R. Ward

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams."

Thoughts: Sometimes, you just need to read something so outside your normal comfort zone and/or something that forces you to just sit back and enjoy the story. There is no lesson to learn, no study of human nature to observe, no reflection on relationships to ponder. Everyone needs to read a novel like this occasionally. For me, J. R. Ward's Dark Lover was just such a story. Sexy and violent, it was a refreshing change for the more serious fare I've been reading for many months.

Dark Lover is not your every-day vampire story, and these are not your every-day vampires. With kings, civilian vampires, lessers and the Brotherhood, Ward has created an entirely new species, one that contains an entire society, complete with histories and politics and procreation. Monogamous and/or married vampires are an added twist that prevents the story from becoming too predictable or fluffy. I had actually tried to listen to this novel via audiobook several months ago, but the narrator just did not work. He made everything too serious and dramatic, much like the voice-over guy for movie trailers. After 30 minutes, it became almost farcical. I'm glad I stopped when I did because I'm not certain I could have made it through the bedroom scenes without laughing hysterically. It would have definitely destroyed the mood.

Dark Lover is the perfect summer romp, engaging and not too mentally strenuous. There is no hidden agenda other than to enjoy the characters brought to life by Ward's capable pen. While it is not a series I will run right out and obtain immediately, it filled a void for something fun I did not know I had, and I will be sure to pick up the second novel in the series whenever I need something similar. 

Read My Own Books Month - Week 3

With the month half-over, how is everyone doing on their goal? Have you been able to balance your non-review books with any review books? I am plodding along, enjoying the more relaxed pace. Two of the books I am currently reading are long (almost 900 pages and 500 pages respectively), so taking the time to read them slowly, as they deserve, is a treat.

By the way, my own answers to last week's questions are slightly embarrassing.

1. How many unread books do you have? 467 at last count, not including audiobooks
2. How many of those did you purchase? 265 at last count. It's an addiction. 
3. How many are for review? 59 thanks to four more coming in this week.
4. Which unread book have you owned the longest? How long has it been sitting unread? Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana has been sitting on my shelves since before my son was born. He just turned 11. Isn't that awful?
5. Which book are you most looking forward to finishing this month? Heartless by Gail Carriger; I absolutely adore The Parasol Protectorate series!
6. How many of your own books were you able to finish this week? Three, which isn't that great. I need to step it up!
7. Which one is your favorite? I was able to finish Heartless after all, and it was SO worth it!!

This week's writing prompt is something that definitely impacts me more than I realized until this experiment. I know that the number of vampire-containing books in my personal library is probably higher than most people, and yet, I do not end up requesting or selecting such books to review very often. Part of this is because this particular sub-genre does not need any help with advertising, but also because I know I will get around to reading them. The novels I do review are ones that push me into genres or topics I would normally ignore or limit my exposure. Why I do this, I have yet to figure out, but when I was greedily eye-balling those books on my shelves I could not wait to read, vampire-containing novels made the top of the list followed closely by other YA novels.

So, do you find your genre preference in review books differs from your genre preference in your personally owned books? Do you tend to select literary fiction to review but secretly adore chick lit or YA? What about thrillers or cozy mysteries? Use the Mr. Linky to share your thoughts!

Congratulations to Cori on winning last week's prize! Please contact me within the next 24 hours to choose your bookmark and two books from the list.

This week's prize is the same as last week: your choice of bookmark and two books from the list. Good luck!

• In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault (PB)
• The Bone Yard: A Body Farm Novel by Jefferson Bass (HB)
• Dark Prince by Christine Feehan (HB)
• Folly Beach (Lowcountry Tales) by Dorothea Benton Frank (HB)
• The Exile (Outlander) by Diana Gabaldon (HB)
• Summer Sanctuary by Laurie Gray (Signed, PB)
• Pale Demon by Kim Harrison (HB)
• Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson (ARC, PB)
• Betrayal of Trust (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries) by J. A. Jance (HB)
• Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante (ARC, PB)
• Killer Move by Michael Marshall (HB)
• The Snow Whale by John Minichillo (PB)
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (PB)

The Sunday Salon - August 14, 2011

I fear this month is getting away from me. Here it is, the middle of the month, and I have barely posted. I blame it on the extracurricular activities which have started. Soccer practices three times a week, cross-country practice five times a week, cheerleading, piano. On top of that, Holly turned seven earlier this month. We celebrated it with my parents and actually managed to take a few days off of work. It has been a fun but exhausting month to date.

Have you been reading your own books? I have definitely been enjoying the freedom from review books. I haven't been reading as much as I would like or had planned but the more relaxed attitude has been worth it. Of course, the relaxed attitude has spread into this website and my reviews, and I do feel slightly guilty about that. My goal is to get my act together this week. Since I will not be spending three hours after work at cheerleading camp this week, I feel confident that I will be able to do so.

Speaking of reviews, it has been a light few weeks here, but I did manage to post a few. Have you read them yet?

• Next to Love by Ellen Feldman
• The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon (audiobook)
• In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault
• A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

As for books, here's what I have managed to finish so far this month that are still waiting to be reviewed:

• Fury by Elizabeth Miles
• Dark Lover by J. R. Ward
• Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson (audiobook)
• Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (audiobook)
• Heartless by Gail Carriger

I have also been working my way through James Michener's Alaska and C.C. Humphreys' Vlad: The Last Confession, but those require a little more attention and care than some of the others I have been reading lately. 

That's about it from here. I have an afternoon filled with bills, reviews, and hopefully some reading. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Happy reading!

REVIEW - The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Title: The Scorch Trials
Author: James Dashner
Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to. 

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago. Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated—and with it, order—and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal. 

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. 

Thomas can only wonder—does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?"

Thoughts: The Scorch Trials is James Dashner's second in the Maze Runner series. Picking up where the first novel ends, the reader is immediately thrust back into Thomas' world. As an added twist, all involved, the reader and the characters, know that the kids are being tested. This knowledge makes the entire novel more intense as the reader tries to stay one step ahead of Thomas regarding the overarching riddle.

If anything, The Scorch Trials is more action-packed and suspenseful than The Maze Runner. The advanced knowledge about the on-going trial and the small portions of information about the state of the current world make the boys' actions more meaningful. In addition, the reader spends a majority of the time trying to solve the riddle alongside Thomas. While Thomas may not be aware, the reader is definitely cognizant of the fact that Thomas knows more about the continuing tests and ultimate solution than he remembers. Watching this knowledge trickle down from the recesses of his memory only heightens the drama.

From a scientific standpoint, The Scorch Trials brings up some amazing questions that anyone with research experience is anxious to resolve. Does knowing that one is involved in a life-or-death trial adversely or positively impact the results? Would the kids act differently had the information about the Flare remained a secret? Are those monitoring the trials ultimately skewing the results by interfering? One can only hope that these gray areas, which became relatively obvious as the story progressed, are addressed in the third novel.

The Scorch Trials is frustrating, infuriating, exhilarating and exciting. Poor Thomas continues to bear the brunt of the action and focus during the trials. There is obviously a reason for this special treatment, and while there are hints, the truth is still too hidden to discern it completely. As this is the reader's first true exposure to the world outside of the Maze, one does not have a good grasp on this world to be able to predict anything that may happen. This anticipation makes the wait for the third novel seem endless!

REVIEW - A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

Title: A Long, Long Sleep

Author: Anna Sheehan

Synopsis (Courtesy of Powell's Books):

"It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep. But this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone and her future full of peril. 

Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose, hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire, is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes or be left without any future at all."

Thoughts: Anna Sheehan's A Long, Long Sleep is a futuristic retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, answering the question of what would happen if the kingdom does not also fall asleep while the princess sleeps. In this case, the princess, Rose, is the sole daughter and heir to an empire that spans planets. While she slept in her chemically-induced stasis, the world she knew fell apart during the Dark Times and was slowly recovering when she woke. How does one recover from losing over sixty years? How does the world react to the reappearance of a long-lost heir? A Long, Long Sleep is a fascinating psychological study on the impact change has on a person, whether it occurs slowly or all at once.

The strength of A Long, Long Sleep is Rose. Without her, the reader would not be quite as interested in this familiar and yet very different world into which she wakes. Through her eyes, the reader experiences the same shock and confusion at waking up into a world that has been through hell and back while she was dreaming. The fact that the language, fashion, politics and technology are all similar to her previous life makes the differences more pronounced and uncomfortable. These, in turn, only accentuate how much she has not adapted to this new world. Rose's struggles to acclimate become the reader's struggles to understand. Empathy with Rose truly drives the novel.

Another more chilling aspect of A Long, Long Sleep is the lengths to which parents are willing to go to protect their children, the use of technology to do so, and the psychological impact of such "protection". The ease with which Rose's parents justify her continual stasis is both disturbing and eye-opening. What current technology do parents use today in an effort to protect their children? What long-term damage is occurring because of it?

A Long, Long Sleep is a fairy tale grown up for the modern world. The cautions it presents about the growth of extremely large corporations and the use of technology adds a level of gravitas to what could be construed as a simple story. Yet, A Long, Long Sleep is anything but simple. It is intricate ad complex, suspenseful and extremely enjoyable. Rose's innocence and growing awareness to the horrors of her life build a strong emotional link to the reader and create the necessary suspense that makes this an amazing page-turner. Billed as a young adult novel, there are enough lessons and more adult issues that make A Long, Long Sleep enjoyable for readers of all ages.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reading copy!