Wishing on Willows

As I've mentioned before, Christian Romances generally aren't my cup of tea, author Katie Ganshert however, has once again made me change my opinion on this often overlooked genre.

In her second novel (and sequel to "Wildflowers from Winter") Ganshert does an excellent job of breathing life into her characters. They're realistic and face real problems, they don't just breeze past them with God's grace as in many other Christian romance novels. They struggle and fail and pick themselves back up again like real people. It's actually quite refreshing.

This story takes place about four years after "Wildflowers from Winter" and features Robin as the main character tather than Bethany (although she is still in the story). For all those that never read the first book, never fear, this novel easily stands alone and explains things in enough detail that you're always in the know. Anyhow, Robin is struggling to keep her Willow Tree Cafe in business and to raise Caleb as a single mother (her husband Micah died in the first book). As if she didn't have enough on her plate, a developer comes into town and wants to buy her property to tear it down to build condiminiums. Not only would she lose her business, but "One Life" a charity organization, would lose theirs as well. She has to fight the charming developer, Ian McKay, with all she's got in order to save her passion and the well being of the town.

Overall, I found this to be a great read. It's believable and you start to root for the characters as you go along. You know it has to have a happy ending but it keeps you guessing til the very end as to how everything is going to turn out. It's a page turner about love and second chances and you won't want to miss out!

Science Fiction - Orphans of the Sky

Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Title: Orphans of the Sky

Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: 1941

Number of Pages: 128
Geographical Setting: Space

Time Period: the distant future
Series: no

Plot Summary: I was due for a sci-fi classic and this slim little novel sure did the trick.
Set far into the future, Hugh Hoyland starts exploring "the ship" a 5 mile long (2,000 feet across) steel expanse that is the only known world to its inhabitants. The people on board the ship have no concept of anything outside the ship, the idea that anything could exist beyond its steel walls is inconcevable. The lower decks are inhabited by the citizens and the largely unexplored upper decks are inhabited by the "muties," deformed creatures that attack anyone who ventures up.

One day while exploring, Hugh ventures too far up and is captured by a dwarf (Bobo) and a 2 headed man (Joe-Jim). His captors are intrigued by him and decide to "educate him" and take him on as his slave. Hugh doesn't mind and soon discovers a forgotten room on the upper decks. With the help of Joe-Jim, Hugh begins to understand that the universe is bigger than the ship and for the first time he sees the stars. The question is, what is he going to do about it, can he make the ship move again?

I thought that this book was quite original and the concept was very intriguing. Hugh's world is literally turned around when he realizes that everything he was taught and believed is false. It's a fast read and has an interesting conclusion. Disclaimer, it's quite sexist (the women are subjected as slave wives, and cannot speak up. they are often beaten and not one of the main characters is female) but if you read past it (hey, it was the forties) you'll be sure to enjoy it.

Subject Headings: Space, Future, Science Fiction

Appeal: fast paced, engaged, unresolved ending

Similar Works: (via GoodReads)
The Green Odyssey by Philip Jose Farmer
Time and Again by Clifford D. Simak
Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison

Neverwhere

This was definitely not my favorite Neil Gaiman book. There was a lot of plodding around and not enough character development.

This "fanciful adventure" (not a mystery Molly, not at all!) takes place in London Below. London Below is lurking beneath the streets of London, it's a magical place full of dark lurking tunnels, rat-speakers, moving markets, and interesting underground creatures. Perfectly normal Richard Mayhew (from London Above) finds a young girl hurt in the street, ignoring his fiance's wishes he takes the girl home and helps her. Little does he realize his life is about to turn upside down. Within 24 hours he loses his job, his fiance, his apartment, and ultimately his life. He ceases to exist in London Above and must try to survive in London Below. He goes on a mission with the young girl he rescued, Door (you read that right, that's really her name), the Marqui des Caraba, and a woman named Hunter. Together they try to piece together why Door's family was killed and how to get Richard back home.

Overall, the writing style is nice, Gaiman is always ludicrously descriptive and it's fun to get caught up in his imagination but the overall plot did nothing to steal my attention. It's a merely ho-hum story, not Gaiman's strongest effort.

Horror - Rosemary's Baby

Author: Ira Levin

Title: Rosemary's Baby

Publication Date: 1967

Number of Pages: 308

Geographical Setting: New York

Time Period: 1960s

Plot Summary: I've grown up my entire life hearing how scary the movie version of "Rosemary's Baby" is so I was really excited to give the novel a try. There's nothing more thrilling then being too terrified to fall asleep! I'm sad to say that the book didn't live up to my expectations. It just wasn't scary. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad book, in fact it was really compelling, it just didn't terrify me like I hoped it would. I set the bar a little too high on this one.

I got really into the novel very quickly because it is so character driven. You can relate soo well to Rosemary (at least I thought so)! Rosemary and her husband move into the much coveted old brownstone and gothic apartment they've had their eye on for years. When a family friend warns them that they should steer clear of the apartments because of the evil vibes lurking there (high suicide rate, cannibals, dead babies, murder and more have taken place in this building) they don't heed his warning and move in. They befriend an elderly couple next door and are practically inseperable, when Rosemary becomes pregnant they take care of her like she was their own daughter. Soon however, Rosemary starts to notice that things aren't right. The first few months of her pregnancy she loses far too much weight and is in constant pain, her husband lands an important acting role after his main competitor "mysteriously" wakes up blind, and she has a violent nightmare in which she has sex with a terrifying being and wakes up with scratches all over her. Are her naighbors practicing black magic? Is her husband involved? The build up on this novel is incredible as Rosemary's life starts to spin out of control and she pieces together what is going on. It has a great conclusion and it's hard to stop reading once you start.

I highly recommend this even though it isn't scary. I will most definitely be watching the movie son!!

Subject Headings: (via WorldCat)Apartment houses -- Fiction. Pregnant women -- Fiction. Satanism -- Fiction.

Appeal: Fast paced, character driven, dark, and graphic.

Similar Works:
1. Fiction: (via Goodreads)
Salem's Lot by Stephen King
The Omen by David Seltzer
The Other by Thomas Tryon

2. Non-Fiction: (via WorldCat)
Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend by Jeffery S. Victor
Ghost Girl: The True Story of a Child in Peril and the Teacher Who Saved Her by Torey L. Hayden
Strange bedfellows : religion, feminism, and fundamentalism in the satanic panic by Kelley Jo Jarrett

Adventure - The Spy Who Loved Me

Author: Ian Fleming

Title: The Spy Who Loved Me

Publication Date: 1962

Number of Pages: 142

Geographical Setting: American Backwoods

Time Period: 1960s

Series: 10th in the James Bond/ 007 series

Plot Summary: It's hard to go wrong with a classic like this and Ian Fleming didn't disappoint. It's a fast paced action adventure and the low page count makes it impossibly fast to read.

It is one of the shortest and most sexually explicit of Fleming's novels, as well as a clear departure from previous Bond novels in that the story starts off the the perspective of the "Bond girl." In fact, most of the book is from her perspective and takes place before she ever meets 007!

A young Canadian woman by the of Vivienne Michel finds herself traveling across America on a scooter. She breaks for a bit at a motel and is offered a job watching the place by herself until the end of the season. On her first night alone, two thugs come in to rough her up and do who knows what else. Bond himself does not appear until two thirds of the way through the book, when he waltzes in the motel after suffering a flat.

Obviously he saves the day and seduces the girl, but in order to learn all the awesome details you'll have to read this classic for yourself.

Subject Headings: (via WorldCat)
Bond, James (Fictitious character) -- Fiction. Intelligence service -- Great Britain -- Fiction.
Spy Thriller -- Espionage -- Fiction
Appeal: Fast paced, dark, and graphic.

Similar Authors & Works:
1. Fiction: (via Goodreads)
The Last Frontier by Alistair MacLean
The Mataresse Countdown by Robert Ludloom
High Time to Kill by Raymond Benson 

2. Non-Fiction: (via subject heading search in WorldCat)
Her Majesty's Secret Service: the making of the British intelligence community by Christopher M. Andrew
MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service by Stephen Dorril
British Security Coordination: The Secret History of British Intelligence in the Americas, 1940-1945 by William Samuel Stpehenson

Life After Death

Holy shit. I haven't had a book depress me, disgust me, inspire me, and compel me this much in a long time. It's a book filled with injustice and I applaud Damien Echols for making it through this insane and maddening ordeal.

I had followed the West Memphis Three case extensively when I was in high school. For those of you who aren't familiar with the case, in 1993 three teenage boys in Arkansas were wrongly convicted of satanically murdering three little boys. It was a very modern day Salem witch trial and Jason and Jessie were given life imprisonment and Damien was given the death sentence simply for being the town "outcasts." I watched the 3 HBO "Paradise Lost" documentaries and read "The Devil's Knot," but nothing touched me more than Echols memoir of the incident and his experiences in prison.

After Damien was found guilty he spent EIGHTEEN years on death row and his life was utter hell. In this book he describes the fellow prisoners, daily rituals, and how hard it is to keep sane when you're in solitary confinement. It is a true triumph of the human spirit.

This memoir is written quite eloquently and goes back and forth between memories of his childhood, coping with the WM3 case, his life in prison, and his life as a free man (he was released mid 2011). The prose sticks with you and you find yourself going on an emotional rollercoaster ride with Damien as he recounts some of the worst points of his life.

This is seriously a must read. Despite all the odds, Damien came through a horrific ordeal that kept him imprisoned for half of his life. Injustice like this cannot be forgotten. Read his story and be inspired (also be sure to check out the Sundance documentary "West of Memphis" produced by Peter Jackson, it's coming out on DVD soon). Corruption exists everywhere, what are you doing to stop it?

The Raven Boys

Kirkus Style Review for my Reader's Advisory Class:

Ancient Welsh kings, energy lines, and psychics aren't normal obssession for pre-Ivy League prep school boys, but then again, these Raven boys are anything but normal.

Gansey has been obsessed with locating the tomb of Glendower, an ancient Welsh king that he believes was brough over to America to lay on some very powerful ley lines (lines of energy). He ropes his two friends Adam and Ronan into his quest and they soon discover that something is amiss. There is someone else messing with the energy and magic. Things begin to get complicated when Blue, a psychic's daughter, starts to tag along and use her amplifying energy to help the boys locate the ley lines and the king.

With more plot twists and side stories in this young adult novel then you can possibly imagine this fanciful and exciting journey will suck you in quicker then a witch's spell. The only downfall however, is having to wait for the sequel.