My most recent novel was The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. It was a rocky start but really took off after the first third. Mostly it was difficult to plug into because of the novel within a novel. "The Blind Assassin" (within Atwood's book) is a novel written by Laura Chase, the younger sister of Iris Chase, who is narrarating Atwood's book. Iris speaks directly to the reader in present tense as an elderly woman, who then delves into the past to tell the story of her life.

The first line of the book reveals that Laura drives her car off a bridge in the 1940's, and the rest of the novel creates the context of this moment. At first its difficult to go between Iris's current life, her history, and the sub-novel, but the further Iris's memory progresses, the easier it becomes. There are some fascinating discoveries as the book races to the climax, including one line where she says "I'm sure you've already figured this out, but ________" (of course I won't ruin it for you) but it totally caught me off guard! Either I wasn't paying close enough attention, or its a bit of tongue in cheek.

I hesistate to talk much about the details of Iris's story, mostly out of fear that I'll ruin the puzzle for you. So mostly I'll leave you with this - power through the first 100-200 pages and when you feel Laura's novel start to really hook you, then you can settle in and really enjoy it. Also, pay close attention to the novel's title and appreciate the moment that it makes sense!

I'm always a little hesitant to read books recommended by Oprah's Book Club, not because she doesn't know a good novel when she sees one, but more because I'm just so sick of her opinion being shoved down my throat, be it interior design to politics. Nevertheless, I'd heard good things about White Oleander by Janet Fitch, and I'm pleased to say it didn't disappoint.

Its truly a ruthless novel about a young girl's (Astrid) 5 year journey through the foster care system, preceeded by her mother's murder of a boyfriend. Astrid was born to a woman who had no business becoming a mother, and whose epic selfishness and manipulation captivated and destroyed her daughter in the same breath. Growing up in the shadow of a woman so mortal and vicious as Ingrid, a daughter would be doomed to know answers before she had context for the question. Ingrid wanted Astrid to be consumed with her love for her mother at every moment, while wrapping it the disguise of making Astrid as fierce of a woman as she believed herself to be. Really, the result was a young girl full of holes with no sense of self.

Astrid endures all the horror stories we've heard of foster life - abuse in all its forms, from sexual to emotional, violence and starvation. As she goes from the care of one woman to the next, she takes from them pieces of what her mother never gave - attention. Ingrid never cared to know Astrid, to ask her questions or learn about her. And because of this, Ingrid becomes enraged whenever Astrid connects with these new women and attaches to their images of her (good or bad).

Eventually, Astrid develops her own sense of power and turns it against her mother, forcing her to crack and admit all the common things about herself. The journey Astrid goes on is an interesting one, and an enlightening read. I recommend it!

Well this is going to be a rave review, so buckle up. Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antionette, was simply fantastic! The author, Sena Jeter Naslund is a gifted writer and I think her subject matter was absolutely inspired. I just adore everything about her approach to this novel - the tone, the bias (or lack thereof), the pace, and even the (unavoidable) ending. I will admit, this is the first book that made me cry in a long time, and I never would have thought the beheading of the French Royal family would have done it! **Sorry for the spoilers, but anyone that didn't sleep through their entire European History class will recall the "Terror".**

Apologies for being so remiss in my reviews - its been a busy couple of months! Going back to review these last few books in order, first up would be The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. From my understanding Follett is a suspense novelist, and this is a project of personal interest. He became fascinated by the architecture of cathedrals and stories of their erection, and set out to write a novel about just that. This is a 973 page beast of a book, which does read very lightly and quickly (thank goodness) but isn't without its irritations.

In summation, the novel run a 50+ year course from 1123 to 1174 and the building of the cathedral at Kingsbridge. The story primarily follows Prior Phillip, the clergyman who either employs, battles, or shepards all the other major characters in the book. Some characters are lifelike and well rounded, such as the Master Builder, Tom. Others are more two-dimensional to serve the plot, like William Hamleigh, the dumb but evil knight.

One of the aspects I liked LEAST about this writer was how obvious and repetative his favorite scenes were, and there were two - sex and architecture. It seemed like every twenty pages or so, he'd either narrarate an increasingly descriptive sexual escapade, or drone on and on about the technicalities of the cathedral's continuing build, the latter of which had NO natural fit inside a character driven novel. After the first two passages, I skipped over the archi-babble for the rest of the book. The sex scenes were occasionally plot-appropriate, but defintiely gratuitous at times.

All in all, I can tell that I like Follett's style and voice, but struggled with how uneven the book felt - certain characters, subjects, and time periods got far too much attention, and the rest lacked because of that. I plan on checking out other work of his, such as his best seller, World Without End, to see what I think.

Well, I realized that I hadn't reviewed some of the first books I read last year when i initially reinvigorated my leisure reading, so we're going to go back in time a bit. One of the first books i picked up was called Lady's Maid by Margaret Forster, and even though it took me a few weeks to get through it, i really liked it!

...so, my dad has a few favorite childhood stories about me that he loves to tell, and one of them is this.

Ok, so you remember that skit from In Living Color with David Allen Greer and Damon Wayans playing the movie critics? "Haaaated Itttt!" yup, that one. And that applies here.


Reaaaaaally didn't like this book, The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. Consequently, this review will be short. Its a multi-character novel, no real central character. Set in New York City in 2001 (yeah, guess how it ends), it journals the intertwining lives of several friends and family members and all their drama. They whine, they fret, they cheat, they lie, they use, they annoy, and they SUCK. And when you're talking about a 400 page novel, it gets old FAST.



Maybe you'll like it, but the point of this review is to tell you that I didn't and if you want my advice, don't waste your time.

Well, certainly one of the most intriguing titles I've come across, we can start there! I saw that on the shelves at Goodwill and thought "hmm. so bold. that's got to be worth investigating!" The soaring review by Thomas Keneally (author of Schindler's List - also on my to-read list) didn't hurt either. So here we are, How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.

This will be a short review - not because I didn't like the book, because I did, quite a lot. But instead because I am not a scholar nor a historian and can't speak to the level of speculation the author made when crafting his point of view. What I can say is what an energetic and engaging read it is. I read it in FOUR hours! I simply couldn't put it down. It is an excellent blend of history, poetry, literature, theology, mythology, humor, and curiousity. For those who might not expect to enjoy a book about such things, think again, because I think Mr. Cahill's passion about his subject, if nothing else, will spur you on through the pages. That, accompanied with his conversational tone, makes the book more like a fireside conversation rather than a history lecture.

The basic premise is that when the Roman Empire fell and the European continent was burned and pillaged, including its great libraries and collections, the Irish remained remote and unscathed on their disconnected island. When Ireland was Christianized in large part due to the dedication of St. Patrick, monastaries took on the task of copying and translating vast amounts of historic literature, then returned it to the continent hundreds of years later on their travels.

So, all in all, is it a tried and true syllabus for our last 1000+ years of history? Not exactly. Is it a delightful snapshot of a critical transition in history that raises many good topics for discussion? Absolutely! Read it and form your own opinions. :)