From One Book Lover

Jeffrey Small's debut novel, The Breath of God , was heralded as a "novel of suspense" and likened to the work of popular novelist Dan Brown.  I was very excited and couldn't wait to crack the spine.  Once I got in, however, I found a far different book than I anticipated — and not as enjoyable. Grant Matthews encounters a 2,000-year-old text that reveals what Jesus Christ did during his two decades of action accounted for in the Holy Bible.  Before he can unpack his bags, a Southern preacher with ambition decides to debunk Matthews' prematurely and unintentionally published revelations.  However, technology fails him and he must travel east again to find the original documents, following Kinley and the surreptitious clues he leaves with a few different people around the world.  Only he's not alone, and this self-proclaimed "servant of God" will stop at nothing to protect his religion — and his church. Of course, Small threw in a brilliant teache...

I really like  Neil Gaiman .  Not only is he a great author ( American Gods ,  Neverwhere ,  Stardust,  to mention a few),  he comes up with other good ideas, too — like  All Hallow's Read . Instead of giving out candy on Halloween,  Gaiman suggested  giving out scary books, and encouraging people to read. How quickly can I say, "I'm in!"? Now, to be fair, it's not going to be easy.  There are plenty of people who don't like Halloween, or who associate the wrong spirit with it.  Plus — perish the thought — some people don't like scary books or stories.  (I know, crazy, but they're out there.) So, how will I encourage it in my new neighborhood? First of all, I won't go cold turkey on the candy.  I'd hate to be known as "that house that doesn't give out candy."  I certainly don't want to get mixed up with the house that gives out toothbrushes, or political pamphlets.  (Darn the American electi...

The past is never far from the future, especially in Tatiana de Rosnay 's haunting novel, Sarah's Key .  The lives of two strong, compelling characters weave together an unforgettable story of chance, courage, pain and French history. But first, a public service announcement: marketers need to stop referring to books of this ilk, including The Kite Runner and other beautiful, poignant and disturbing books as "beloved" — or they should be fired on the spot.   Winnie-the-Pooh is beloved.   The Eyre Affair is beloved.  This novel is many things, but certainly not "beloved."  Readers will resent being played like that and will stop reading books plied in such a stunningly deceitful way. Thank you.  We now return to our regular programming. In the summer of 1942, the Vichy government cooperated with the Germans to deal with the "Jewish problem."  French police and French soldiers rounded up many of the Jews of Paris and corralled them in the V...

I would follow Bill Bryson anywhere. I have followed him on the Appalachian Trail, into the universe, across America, through England and all the way Down Under. He does not fail to delight readers — even when he stays home. In At Home , the furthest he goes is to the roof. Bryson literally strolls through his home in a quiet English hamlet, pondering who has come before (and literally how many there are still there, in body if not in spirit) and how they created the space around them. Many students of history know the kitchen was often separate from the rest of the house, but how it evolved from a sure-fire death trap to today's modern amenities is worth the trip alone. In the kitchen, Bryson considers food and ponders why we eat what we eat — and who in their right mind would think [fill in the blank here] was a good idea for the plate? From wheat to corn, from meat to dairy, from spices to grain, Bryson ponders what we eat, and how it came to be on our plate, rather t...

Lately, I've been picking up books, just to put them back down. I blame part of that on The Discovery of Witches , which I enjoyed greatly (and will review in the near future). The rest I blame on bad books. To be fair, not all of them have been "bad" in the traditional "wish to rip out your eyeballs to save your soul" kind of way, but perhaps unsuitable for the time being: I knew Game of Thrones was too heavy for my brain right now, and I will pick it up after the library is settled. I already read Geek Love at a different time in my life, when I could handle the story of a family of people purposely bred to be born with bizarre, extreme birth defects. I couldn't wait to read about the Unseen University in Unseen Academicals , but I put it away after a few pages. I blame that on a sinus headache. Others, however, were. I must be the last person to read The Hunger Games — well, almost read it. After about 20 pages, I had to stop. The lead ...

I am all about weird. I seek out the weird. However, I think I hit my weird quota with the short story collection Stranger Things Happen . Kelly Link's collection of short stories goes to New York and beyond. What she does well is spin the yarn: I wasn't sure where the story was going, but I was game to follow Link's lead. At first. Then things got weird. When a story concluded, I honestly had no idea what it meant. I was lost. It had to mean more than just the words on the page, or it would have been a colossal waste of time. I was transfixed by the first story, "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose," where a man with major memory issues is writing a letter to his wife. As the story unfolded, I was transfixed. Many other storytellers tried to imagine this lost-feeling destination with limited success — but Link had a handle on it. Well, until the end approached, and while I saw where it was going, I didn't like it. She retold a couple of fairy ta...

Summer is right around the corner — unless you're the kind of person who lives the season from Memorial Day to Labor Day, then you're already behind in your summer reading! Honestly, I've been otherwise occupied to think much about a summer reading list. The whole "finally getting a new house, then having to set it up and move in" definitely puts a crimp in that reading schedule. After moving into Alicia's house in March, I was nearly too exhausted to read. Only a new Dan Simmons book pulled me out of my exhausted funk. However, this move is different: it will reunite me with all of the books that have been, as my friend Judy put it, in "book purgatory." I tend to think of it as "storage hell," but either way, they're in a different spot than I am. Now, I don't want to be in either purgatory or hell, so I'm grateful for that small blessing, but separation, even under these circumstances, is trying. Back to the matter at han...