SALEM FALLS BY JODI PICOULT

I read this book before re-reading the Twilight series and forgot to review it. I think the reason was that I didn't really care all that much for the book. There were some aspects that I found sort of interesting, but overall, the book was just another Picoult book that fell short. Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult tells the story of a teacher who is wrongly accused of having a relationship with one of his students and winds up losing his job and friends and lands himself in jail. After being released from prison, he decides to start a new life in a new town, which happens to be Salem Falls. Once there he becomes a dishwasher at the local diner and befriends some co-workers. However, news of his past reaches the town and soon he is being bullied by the townspeople. He even winds up getting accused of attacking another young girl and once again find himself standing trial. During all of this, he falls in love with his boss, who decides to find out for herself what type of man she has chosen to be with. In the end, he is found not guilty and the dirty secrets of Salem Falls remain a secret. There are side stories that interlock with the main plot line, but none of them truly stand out as exceptional, but merely cliched. The writing is solid and the characters are drawn out clearly, but the tone of the story never really feels settled and instead veers off into various directions. Once again, I have been disappointed by Picoult. Why do I keep reading her books? I keep getting suckered into these plot summaries which sound so interesting that I am convinced I am on to a winner, but then I read the book and wind up cursing myself for wasting my time. UGH! Well, no more Picoult for me. At least not for quite some time. Instead, I am going to finish my Wodehouse book and move ahead with reading either Her Fearful Symmetry or Under the Dome. I'm banking on 2010 to be a fab reading year. Cheers to you all!! And Happy Reading in 2010!!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!! Hope 2010 brings you all happiness and good fortune!! Cheers!!!

FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2009

2009 has been a good reading year for me. I have read a variety of books, all of which have made some sort of impression on me. However, there were only a few that I found to be truly engaging and worth recommending to family and friends. Here are my favorite books of 2009:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff







Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood











The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa











The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery











Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan











Hopefully 2010 will provide me with some wonderful reads and prove to be a bookish year! Cheers!

SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM - UWEM AKPAN

Wow. What a book. Uwem Akpan's books of short stories, Say You're One Of Them, is excellent. Focusing on various regions in Africa, Akpan has created five short stories which showcase the brutality and very real types of lives that the children of Africa are experiencing. Each story is told from the perspective of a child and through their vivid descriptions we are able to envision the poverty, ugliness, violence, beauty, innocence, and horror that they experience on a daily basis. In An Ex-Mas Feast, we have a young girl prostituting herself in order to support her family and raise enough money for her brother to attend school - he is overwhelmed with guilt at the idea of his sister moving away to live in a brothel that he runs away at the end of the story in order to free his parents and his sister of one more mouth to feed. The next story, Fattening for Gabon, tells the tale of two little kids who are being sold into slavery by their uncle. He is preparing them for their departure by feeding them and teaching them how to speak and what answers to give when they are questioned. In What Language is That?, we learn about two best friends who are used to spending every day together, until they are told by their parents that they can no longer speak to each other - the reason is due to differing religions. The next story is called, Luxurious Hearses, and tells the story of a Nigerian boy who is trying to escape to the south in order to avoid the religious persecution happening all around the south - he winds up on a bus that is filled with the same types of persecution he is desperately attempting to avoid. The final story is the most chilling and haunting of all. It is titled, My Parent's Bedroom, and focuses on Rwanda. The genocide has begun and two little children are ordered to stay put in their parent's bedroom and say that they have no idea where their parents are and to remind the people that they are one of them. Their mother is Tutsi and their father is Hutu and the children are afraid. The story is told through the daughter's eyes and we learn of her fear and how she knows her mother does not love her and how her father dotes on her and that her brother is her responsibility - all the things that a little girl would think about, especially when her parents are not looking at her and her brother and are speaking to each other in such a guarded way. The first night that they are alone, her uncle and his gang come into the house and basically trash it and terrify the children and demand to know where their parents are. The threaten the children that there is no escape for any of them. The parents return and continue to argue about what to do in this situation. Eventually we learn that the mother has made her husband promise to kill her in order to spare her son and daughter's lives. The husband cries and pleads that she must escape. The machete gang return and demand death and so he picks up a machete and kills his wife in front of his children and everyone. Crying he leaves with the gang. The daughter is traumatized and does not believe her mother is really dead - she believes that she is hiding in the ceiling with the rest of the Tutsis her parents have chosen to hide up there. Her little brother plays in their mother's blood, not truly understanding what has just happened. Scared of what will happen, she grabs her brother and runs. She hears the machete gang and hides in the bushes and watches as they return to her home and burn it down, thereby killing all the hidden Tutsis. This final story was the most powerful of them all for me. I think it has to do with the fact that I have read Gourevitch's non-fiction account of the Rwandan genocide, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families; a book which details the genocide from beginning to end and shows us how this horrific part of history could have been avoided or ended sooner than those 100 days. Reading about this young girl's experience with the genocide leaves you feeling sick to your stomach, because you know it is real and that there is no way for her to ever forget the image of her father killing her mother. These five short stories are powerful and important and should be read by all. They bring awareness to the struggles that the African children have endured and continue to encounter on a daily basis. Akpan has given a voice to these children with his writing and for that he should be applauded. I hope that you all seek out this terrific book and read about these children's lives.

A FEW BOOKS I READ

I am a geek. I admit and have no shame admitting it. Here is why I am a geek. Before the release of the film, New Moon, I re-read all four Twilight books. I didn't really have to read them again, since I knew what would happen in the movie, but I felt that it would prepare me for the movie. What I needed to be prepared for, I don't know. Anyhow, I embarked on a re-read and must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. For anyone who doesn't know what Twilight is, its a series of vampire books written for the YA audience by Stephenie Meyer. The four books are: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Here are summaries of each book: Twilight - introduces the Cullen family (vampire family living in Forks, WA and mingling with the living - they do not drink human blood) and Bella (high school girl moving to Forks to live with her dad). Bella and Edward (Cullen) fall in love and begin to date, only to have drama reach their doorstep from the get go. While out with the Cullens, Bella becomes the target of a nomadic vampire named James who is a tracker (he fancies hunting his prey and typically finds them and feeds on them) - this all leads to Bella leaving Forks with some of the Cullens in order to hide from James, while the rest of the Cullens attempt to track James down. In the end, Bella gets bitten by James who gets killed by the Cullens. Bella is saved from death or undeath and goes to prom with Edward and gets him to consider changing her into a vampire at a later date.
In New Moon, we have Edward and Bella still dating. Only Bella has a birthday (which stresses her out because she is aging, while Edward isn't) and at the birthday party that Alice (Edward's sister/Bella's BFF) throws her, Bella winds up with a paper cut on her finger which leads to Jasper (Edward's brother) chomping at the bit to attack Bella (he smells the blood from the paper cut). Edward intervenes (basically he smashes into Jasper and sends Bella flying into a table where she gets cut up even more due to the broken glass from the plates and cups). After the party, Edward becomes distant towards Bella, until one day he tells her that his family has decided to leave Forks. He breaks up with Bella and leaves her to cry in the woods. Bella gets very depressed and has nightmares and withdraws to the point where she has no friends and her father wants to ship her off to live with her mother. Bella pretends to be better and gets an old friend to hang out with, but she winds up getting in a little trouble which leads her to hearing Edward's voice in her head with a warning to stay safe. From then on, Bella embarks on dangerous types of activities in order to hear Edward's voice again. She winds up getting two broken motorcycles and has her best friend Jacob fix them - one for him and one for her. Bella and Jacob wind up becoming close and her broken heart heals just a bit. Jacob is in love with Bella, but Bella is in love with Edward, so the two only remain best friends. However, Jacob soon breaks Bella's heart when he tells her he can no longer be her friend because he is dangerous for her. Turns out Jacob is a werewolf and runs with a pack of wolves - their aim is to protect the people from vampires. Bella finds out Jacob's secret and soon finds herself hanging out with wolves. But still depressed she decides to dive off a cliff into the freezing water for one more chance to hear Edward's voice. This leads to Edward thinking Bella is dead and so he goes to Italy to commit suicide. Bella saves him and winds up choosing Edward over her friendship with Jacob, leaving her both happy and sad.
In Eclipse, Bella and Jacob are no longer hanging out together. Edward does not feel it is safe for her to be with wolves and vows to protect her and never leave her side again. However, once again Bella is being hunted by a vampire - this time its Victoria (Jame's girlfriend). Actually Victoria hunted Bella in New Moon, but she never caught up with her - thanks to the wolves. Anyhow, the Cullens think it might be the Volturi (vampire royalty who set the rules for vampirism and who made Edward promise to turn Bella into a vampire) after Bella. Jacob and Bella meet up when they can and discuss their friendship and lives as a werewolf and a girl dating vampire - their friendship continues to strengthen. When Bella realizes that it is Victoria who is chasing her she tells the Cullens and Jacob - they immediately figure out a fight plan to take Victoria and her minions down. Meanwhile Bella and Edward discuss changing Bella into a vampire and ways in which they can defer the date of said change (which is after Bella graduates high school). Edward proposes marriage to Bella in order to ensure that he will be the one to change her - she agrees. A battle ensues and Victoria and all of her minions are brought down. The Volturi show up and thank the Cullens for clearing up this vampire mess and mention that Bella better become a vampire soon or else. Jacob leaves Forks and his family after the battle, because he can not accept that Bella will marry Edward.
In the final book, Breaking Dawn, Bella and Edward get married and go on a honeymoon. She winds up pregnant and returns to Forks and runs straight into the arms of Rosalie (Edward's other sister) . Jacob meanwhile returns to La Push and his family and the wolf pack. He knows that any day he will hear news that Bella is a vampire or dead. Instead he finds out that Bella is pregnant and does not know how to deal with that news. Bella appears very ill and weak and does not seem like she will survive this pregnancy. Upon reading Jacob's thoughts about a pregnant Bella, the wolf pack decides it must kill Bella and take the Cullens down. Jacob cannot allow for this to happen so he goes against the pack and breaks free from them and runs off to warn the Cullens. Seth and Leah both join Jacob and decide to belong to his new pack (to which Jacob claims he does not want a pack). Anyhow the trio keep an eye out for the wolves and stand guard on the Cullens' property. Bella has her baby (a little girl she names Renesmee, but whom everyone winds up calling Nessie) and everyone falls in love with the little girl, including Jacob. As a result of giving birth and nearly dying, Edward made the decision to change Bella into a vampire. Feeling confident that the Volturi will no longer bother them, the family once again settle into their lives at Forks. However, on an outing with Jacob and Nessie, Bella spots another vampire (a friend of the Cullens). She tells Edward and Carlisle, but they lose track of said friend. Soon, Alice finds out that the Volturi have sentenced the Cullen family to death. Bella realizes that the Volturi are under the impression that Nessie is an immortal child - an immediate reason for a death sentence. In order to prepare for battle, the vampires and wolves once again unite. However, this time round, the vampires call in their other vampire friends for help. A battle plan is set. Bella wants to ensure Nessie's safety so she has passports and cash prepared for Jacob and Nessie to run off together during the battle. She knows that Jacob will take care of her little girl, if her and Edward are killed. Night comes and the Volturi arrive and Edward and Carlisle attempt to reason with them with regards to Nessie. The Volturi are itching for a fight, but in the end Alice brings forth proof that Nessie is half vampire and half child - she brings with her another half-ling. Satisfied with the proof the Volturi call off the fight and the Cullens' and their friends breathe a sigh of relief. Bella and her family live happily ever after, or something like that. The end.
And so I read all four books again and got caught up in the story lines and characters and found myself excited to watch the new film, New Moon. The books are such a fun read. I admit that the writing is not stellar, but there is something in it that engages you with the idea of this love story between Bella and Edward that just keeps you reading and wanting more. Out of all four books, New Moon was my favorite. I just loved reading about Bella and Jacob's friendship and part of me wished that she would choose Jacob in the end. I suppose that choosing Edward makes sense though, because they were pretty obsessed with each other. With regards to the other three books, Breaking Dawn was my least favorite. I felt as if Stephenie Meyer rushed to get it finished and therefore it has the worst writing out of the bunch. Oh well, I still read it and enjoyed bits from it. As for the film, New Moon - it rocked! I absolutely loved it. It was just such a fun movie to watch and I absolutely loved the music played throughout the film. Definitely a movie worth watching for any Twilight fan. And now that I have enjoyed indulging in the vampire genre, I am off to read something a bit more real. Cheers!

PERSEPHONE SECRET SANTA

Today is the 15th, which means that today is Reveal Day for the Persephone Secret Santa gift exchange! I joined in on the fun over at BOOK PSMITH - she was dreaming of a grey Christmas (grey as in Persephone Classics). In order to celebrate Persephone books, Stacy hosted a gift exchange, a Persephone Secret Santa gift exchange to be exact. All we had to do was gift each other a Persephone book that we did not own and we could include little treats, such as bookmarks, journals, Christmasy items, etc. And we had to reveal who our Secret Santa was today, December 15th, 2009! Pretty nifty idea, eh? Well, thanks to Stacy, I am quite sure all of us Secret Santas had a great time with this exchange - I know I did! By the way, don't forget to check out Stacy's interesting book blog, BOOK PSMITH. And so, my wonderful Secret Santa for the Persephone gift exchange was Meredith over at dolce bellezza. She sent me a copy of Frances Hodgson Burnett's, The Making of a Marchioness. The cover is beautiful and from what I have read about the book, it sounds like it will be a delightful and interesting read. Along with the book, Meredith sent me a lovely Japanese bookmark and some fluffy candy cane colored socks and a Christmasy smelling spray. The card she included was very thoughtful and explained why she chose this book for me. All I can write is: Thank you Meredith! Merry Christmas to you!! Oh, and don't forget to check out her blog - dolce bellezza - its such a great read! As far as my gift - well I was Secret Santa to Marie over at Boston Bibliophile and if you want to see what I sent her, go and check out her great blog. And so the Persephone Secret Santa gift exchange was a success. Thanks again to Stacy for organizing it all! Happy Holidays everyone!!