“Angel Time” was well written with some interesting and well developed characters. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was nothing close to a vampire novel or anything of that whimsy.
This book is a story within a story. Our protagonist is the ironic Toby O’Dare: a cold and calculating hitman/well read theologian with a penchant for playing the lute. Of course, Toby has a past, a back-story that tries to explain how he came to be the man he is…and from there things get a bit supernatural, but not in a contrived way. The rest of the book is set in medieval Europe and focuses on a family tragedy with far reaching consequences that reads much like a biblical story. Toby is involved in this journey as an act of contrition evocative of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.
The book references a fair bit of Catholicism of which I only have a rudimentary understanding, it did not impede me from enjoying the story, but I’m sure would be useful knowledge to have when reading. For example the story line includes saints and the whole hierarchy of angels (pretty exclusive to Catholicism as far as I know). It briefly illustrates a conflict of religions, this one being Catholicism vs. Judaism; and the terrible things people do to each other in the name of their beliefs.
I enjoyed it on the surface as a well told fictional story but at the same time I don’t think I’d rush out to read the sequel if there were one. I don’t think the book was bad by any means, it was just not my cup of tea.
Buy Angel Time from an Indie Bookstore
Fans of the HBO miniseries “Rome” will delight in Michelle Moran’s latest historical fiction offering “Cleopatra’s Daughter” because it pretty much picks up where that series was canceled. ..but that’s certainly not a prerequisite to enjoy this engaging novel.
At the opposite end of the apathetic is the kind of person who feels everything so deeply and overwhelmingly personal that living the everyday life seems not only impossible, but morally irresponsible as well. Jonas is one such person. Unfortunately, it is just this type of personality that is easy prey for extremists, cults, and religious fundamentalists. Jonas sees an unjust world of pain, materialism, corruption, and indifference and he feels compelled to do something of consequence to “wake people up” and demand change.
A Disobedient Girl is beautifully written novel with vibrant characters, exotic landscapes, and melodic prose. It wasn’t one of those books I just couldn’t put down, rather it crept up slowly and before long I was so entranced that I didn’t want to read it too fast—I wanted to savor it. Ru Freeman has crafted two engaging stories that could each stand its own but instead they are brilliantly melded together to create this stunning debut novel.
I suppose the formula here is the supernatural teen romance ala “Twilight”, but I think this book would be a complete turn off to most teens (or adults) that read it. The plot is strange without being appealing. The narration voice is a teenage girl who switches back and forth between very contrived and inauthentic teen lingo and saying things that wouldn’t mean much to anyone under 30; I found it very distracting.
When I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself: if it were possible for a book and a film to have a torrid love affair (J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Party Girl, respectively), their offspring might look something like Undiscovered Gyrl. I was completely engrossed from page one devoured this book in one sitting. It thrilled me, shocked me, captivated me, and made me laugh—often and out loud! I have a hunch this book is going to be very, very successful and I sure hope Allison Burnett is adapting it for a screenplay.
Beautiful as Yesterday is the story of three women and their relationships with each other. The story shifts perspective between the three women: a mother and her two daughters. In the beginning of the story the daughters have both immigrated to the United States but are for the most part estranged and living their lives on opposite coasts whilst their mother, a widow, lives alone in China. The eldest daughter struggles with being the eldest in a traditional Chinese family: her sense of responsibility, filial duties and the conflicts that arise between her culture and upbringing and that of her American born Chinese husband. The younger sister is rebellious and more carefree by comparison which is envious to the older sister. The mother is trying to figure out where she fits into her daughter’s new American lives and struggles with leaving the country she loves to be with her daughter in a foreign land.
This book took me a long time to read, over a month, which for me is at least 3 weeks longer than usual. I kept thinking “where is the plot?” and “what is this book really about?”
Gertruda’s Oath reads like a novel; it was one of the few books that I stayed up all night to read because I could not put it down. Ram Oren has constructed the story from interviews, books, and letters of those involved and added probable dialog to bring the characters to life. It is not another Holocaust story or retelling of life inside the concentration camps, but rather a tale of avoiding the camps, surviving in the destitute atmosphere of war torn Europe, and the dangerous efforts of a woman to conceal the identity of a Jewish child in her care. The story is fast paced and gripping with several tales intertwined to show life in war time from many perspectives. Just when one obstacle is conquered and everything seems safe, like it’s going to be okay, another challenge surfaces. How much can one person endure and keep going?
This book is a compilation of letters written to the “success seeker” by many prominent, powerful and thriving women. The letters are short and simple and are less “a map of how I got to where I am” and more full-of-clichés like: “believe in yourself” “stick to it” and “have faith.” It’s not that the clichés are bad advice but they are cliché, so if you’re looking for some profound insight, keep looking.
