FEBRUARY 2011

Valentines for Book Lovers

Jasper Jones ~ Craig Silvey

Lots of kudos, lots of accolades, lots of awards .... but ...
If only they had promoted it as Young Adult Fiction!

It is great storytelling with some wonderful repartee and smart dialogue between characters. The plot and the mood do justice to the prejudices of time and place. It is suspenseful and believable.

So what’s my problem? The reading level is Young Adult. The vocab is limited; the writing is overblown in places; the story superficial : All this would be “forgivable” if I was reading it as Young Adult/Teen rather than as the Indie Book of the Year or Miles Franklin Winner

Water For Elephants ~ Sara Gruen

Yet another NYT Bestseller ... I’ve have got to stop trusting that list!
Fluff.

There is little to stretch the imagination or enrich your vocabulary but the historical background was well researched and was interesting.

The story is set in a travelling circus during the depression. The love story is simply an upgraded Barbara Cartland. It has been made into a movie ... and while I didn’t think much of the book, I wouldn’t mind seeing the movie as I am sure it would make a great period piece.

Not a keeper but it was a quick read.

The Death Instinct ~ Jed Rubenfeld

My first Kindle download!
An historic Who-Done-It.

Story is set in New York and various European locations during and after World War 1. It is based around investigations into a bomb exploding outside the J.P. Morgan Bank and the US Treasury building. There are some interesting facts about business and government manipulations to protect their Mexican oil interest (has anything changed!!!!).

The plot involves a doctor’s romance with a French girl who studied with Madame Curie so there are some additional interesting trivia bits to be gleaned from this. The writing style is loose.

Interesting but forgettable.

How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe ~ Charles Yu

Chosen from the New York TImes Bestsellers Christmas List.
Sorry, Santa, I didn’t like it!

So so so Not-For-Me. Not much to say about it ... underdeveloped comment for an underdeveloped book.

I did enjoy reading some brain stretching sci-fi BUT there were pages and pages of scientific gobbledygook about the science of the time travel machine.

The plot was thin to non existent. Shame, because the themes of searching for his father lost in time and the lack of commitment to reality are there but trapped in a time loop.