Tag Archives: romance

May 6, 2013 · 6:10 pm

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway

BEE RIDGWAY

 

Sadly, I didn’t love The River of No Return the way I was hoping to.

So, Nick is an English dude from the 1800′s who is about to die in a nasty battle when suddenly he transports roughly 200 years into the future to 2003. Cool. An organization called the Guild picks him up, makes him spend a year learning about the modern day along with some other accidental time travellers, and then sends him off with a buttload of money to quiety live the rest of his years in the northeast of America. A decade goes by and Nick is quite accustomed to the fun things of our age – easy women, jeans, cars, watches and all that – but then he suddenly gets a summons from the Guild. They’re sending him on a mission back to his past.

Julia is a young lady in the 1800′s mourning the death of her grandfather. Her giant douche of a cousin shows up to inherit the estate, and he constantly quizzes and berates Julia while he searches for some special object that he thinks gave her grandfather his ability to manipulate time. And then Julia finds out that SHE can manipulate time as well, and must struggle to hide this from her cousin and try to escape his clutches.

So obviously when Nick goes back, he and Julia cross paths (easy enough, since they lived next door) and fall in love, yada yada yada.

Let’s start with the things I really liked about the book, kay? I liked the whole idea of time travel via feelings. Apparently you use emotions to travel along the river of time. Interesting concept. I liked the idea of a secret society (the Guild) and the idea of time travelling, being taught about the time you’re in, and then being sent on your way to just chill. I liked Nick well enough, as well as Julia. They both had spunk, which I enjoyed. I also liked Arkady, who was a grumbly Russian guy who said things like this:

“You are a man. We will save her. Why? Because it’s beautiful and romantic to do so. We will fight this maniac like the men we are – with fists. Why? Because it’s beautiful and romantic to do so.”

How can you not love that?

But now on to the things that made me not love this book…

The thing between Nick and Julia had a hint of insta-love about it. I mean really, it’s very love-at-first-sight.

My biggest complaint: It was so slooooowww. By page 160 (out of 450), the main characters hadn’t even really met yet. By page 300 I was glad that the romance factor was finally picking up but I STILL felt like I was waiting for the story to start. There was so much build-up and mystery to the secret society conspiracies that it seemed to take forever to get anywhere, and I felt just as confused and frustrated as Nick did. And I felt like the end is where things really finally started to happen, which means it ended with some unresolved issues. I’m assuming there might be a sequel, but it’s not confirmed on the Bee Ridgway’s website as far as I can tell.

Sooo yeah. The writing was enjoyable, but the storyline was just way too drawn-out for me. Even if I knew a sequel was coming, I’m not sure I’ll want to read it because it took SO LONG to be set up in this book. I’ll have to wait and see.

I am pretty sure I’m in the minority here - plenty of fellow bloggers read and loved this book, so don’t be discouraged. Give it a try. Maybe The River of No Return just wasn’t my jam.

 

Sarah Says: 2.5 stars

 

 

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April 29, 2013 · 3:00 pm

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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Awwww. Patroclus & Achilles.

I’m feeling a bit lazy today, partly because I’m watching my almost 2 year-old nephew L, and I’m already a bit worn out! So here’s the description from the dust jacket:

The legend begins…

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine—much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles’ mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Why don’t I read more books about ancient Greece? There’s so much passion and tragedy and brutality. Troy was my favorite movie for ages. And yeah I know it’s not exactly faithful to the story or legend of whatever, but it was still an awesome movie that made me cry in the theater.

So, yeah, this was a really well-written book. Obviously it was big on the love and romance and it wouldn’t be Greek without the tragedy part of it. Patroclus & Achilles were SO SWEET, and so perfect for each other. Patroclus is a good kid, even if he’s a bit timid at times. And I really liked Achilles in this book, for the most part – he’s shown mostly as a normal boy growing up, but with a self-assurance and grace that the other boys don’t have. He always speaks simply and honestly. And he didn’t take a particular joy in fighting or violence – instead he took pride in his abilities, as an athlete.

Also, I really liked the pace of this book. I’m glad that most of the 10 years of the Trojan War are kind of glazed over, but the book never got dull. I read it pretty rapidly.

This book was really sweet and a bit sad and I enjoyed it lots. It also made me realize… maybe I should attempt reading The Illiad and The Odyssey eventually. I had to read parts of The Odyssey in college and it bored me to tears, but I think that with some Sparknotes or something I could probably appreciate it a lot more now. I always assumed that there’s just no way I’m ever going to even try to read them in their entirety because they’re so intimidating, but maybe I could do it! Maybe.

Anyways, so yes! The Song of Achilles is good book, especially if you like Greek stories.

Sarah Says: 3.5 stars

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March 9, 2013 · 4:32 am

Classics Club March Question

Hi there!

Finally, a question I can answer that isn’t based on my sad little list of books read off of my Classics Club list! I’m sure I’ll eventually love those questions after I’ve made more of a dent, but I don’t want to talk about the same couple of books over and over again, you know?

Anyways, here’s the Classics Club question for March:

“Do you love Jane Austen or want to “dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone”? (Phrase borrowed from Mark Twain).

  1. Why? (for either answer)?
  2. Favorite and/or least favorite Austen novel?”

 

 

I totally love Jane Austen. Screw you Mark Twain (cause I’ve only attempted to read The Prince and The Pauper by you and found it super boring and tedious, but I’ll try something else by you later).

Anyways, Austen. Yes. The only book of hers I haven’t read yet is Mansfield Park, which I’m hoping to read later this year. I love her because she’s the master of witty insults masked in politeness, and she includes a lot of social commentary in her books about love. Her books aren’t the MOST romantic – characters rarely ever express their love or kiss or anything until near the end – but the parts that are romantic are EPICLY romantic. There’s a reason Darcy’s proposals to Elizabeth Bennett, Wentworth’s letter to Anne, and so on are so well known.

I also like that her novels are all so different from each other, in content and style. Northanger Abbey is so ridiculously different from Pride and Prejudice.

I haven’t been able to pick a favorite Austen. I love Emma because Emma is snotty and rich, I love Northanger Abbey because it’s dark and goofy, and I love Persusasion because it’s full of social criticisms and romance. I of course love Pride and Prejudice because come on… I just have to. It was the first Austen I ever read or saw, so it has a special place.

My least favorite Austen is definitely Sense and Sensibility. Edward is a lousy Austen hero – he’s boring and awkward and you have no clue why Elinor is so attached to him. Colonel Brandon is super awesome, but he doesn’t get nearly enough time on page. He’s the most romantic and his love for Marianne is the best, but all that gets glazed over. LAME.

So what do ya’ll think? Love it or leave it when it comes to Austen? Favorite Austen novel? Austen novel you can’t stand?

~Sarah

 

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October 19, 2012 · 5:00 am

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn

 

This is the third book in Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons series. I read the first two a while back, but then never got around to requesting the next ones from the library. Luckily I have an awesome friend named Jenn who is sending me the books in this series as she reads them, so I finally get to go on with them!

Oh and don’t worry – I read them in order because I’m picky like that, but you don’t really have to worry about reading these in order. Each book focuses on one of the eight Bridgerton siblings finding true love :-)

So, An Offer From a Gentleman! It’s about Sophie, who was the unacknowledged bastard of the Earl of Penwood. He took care of her and everyone knew she was his, but she got pushed aside when he got remarried to Araminta, and her and her two daughters move in. When the Earl dies, Sophie is left with nothing – she grows up as a servant to her stepmother and two stepsisters.  But Sophie is able to sneak out in disguise for one wonderful night, attending Lady Bridgerton’s masquerade ball and meets the man of her dreams when she dances with Benedict Bridgerton.

He is one of the older Bridgerton sons, and he’s never shown much interest in romance or getting married – until he meets a beautiful mystery woman at his mother’s masquerade. She disappears at midnight and he’s left pining for her – until he ends up rescuing a beautiful housemaid that seems so familiar…

See the Cinderella element here? I loved that – it was so fun. Poor Sophie – she’s SO mistreated by her stepfamily and ends up working so hard just to survive. And then when she runs into Benedict again, it seems her dreams have come true – until she realizes that he doesn’t recognize her from that one magical night. But he saves her, and they get all romantic and sweet and awwwww.

This book wasn’t as funny as some of Julia Quinn’s newer books – and I really like funny romance. So that was a bit disappointing. And even though Sophie and Benedict were so cute together and of course I cheered for their happy ending, Benedict isn’t my favorite romantic hero. He was definitely a knight in shining armor at one point in the story, but in another later part he kind of demands that she be his mistress and refuses to consider that he could marry a housemaid, and that was a little weak. Of course this is romance so it all works out in the end, but that irked me about him. Oh and for those that really like the sexy bits – there was only one real sex scene in this book. That was actually preferable for me, but if that’s what you mainly look for in romance you might want to skip this one.

Overall though, this was a fun read and I really like the Bridgerton family. Especially the mama :) I’m looking forward to reading the next one, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, because I think I’ll like Colin Bridgerton more than Benedict.

 

Sarah Says: 3.5 stars

 

 

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September 19, 2012 · 6:00 am

Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss

Marie and Pierre Curie, Lauren Redniss

I forget where I heard about this book, but I knew that I was keeping an eye out for it because it sounded good. And then lo and behold, I saw it on the library shelves last week! So of course I grabbed it up, and I’m glad I did.

Marie Curie was a famous scientist, known for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity and for discovering polonium and radium. This book is mainly a story of her life, including her marriage to Pierre Curie. (I know the book cover says it’s a tale of love and fallout, making it seem like it’s about them as a couple, but it’s really more about her by the end.)

I didn’t know anything about Marie Curie before reading this book, but it was a pretty beautiful introduction. And I say beautiful because the book is artistically gorgeous, as well as the writing. I loved that the story was sprinkled with direct quotes from Marie and Pierre, I’m assuming from their journals. It was interesting and lovely and I read it in about an hour or so. I’m probably going to buy my own copy because I enjoyed it so much, but it’s also made me want to read a more extensive biography about the Curies someday. The attention to detail in this book is quite impressive – even the style of the font was selected because it was somehow related to Marie Curie.

And now, some pretty pictures from the book.

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So cool, right? Throughout the story of the Curies, there are little stories here and there about scientific or historical events that occurred after their deaths, but that their work partly influenced. It was interesting, but I wish there had been a little less of the current event-type stuff and more details about their own lives. It was still really fascinating, and I’m glad I got the chance to read it!

 

Sarah Says: 4 stars

 

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August 14, 2012 · 9:13 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Romances That Would Survive in Real Life

Good morning guys! So this is Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. In honor of Jamie’s wedding this week (CONGRATS JAMIE!!!!), the topic this week is Top Ten Book Romances That You Think Would Make It In The Real World (outside the book). I’m in the mood for a little romance, so let’s get to it, shall we?

1. Jamie & Claire from Outlander – OBVIOUSLY.

2. Tatiana & Alexander from The Bronze Horseman – But only if you completely forget that the third book, The Summer Garden, ever existed. Because in that final book Paullina Simmons took this amazingly epic couple and completely ruined them. I wish I could erase the part of my memory where that book exists. But their love is all awesome and beautiful in the first two books, and they go through SO MUCH that normal everyday stuff would not destroy them.

3. Sarah & David from Married With Zombies - Because if they can survive a zombie apocalypse, I’m sure they can re-adjust to normal life again without their previous marital problems.

4. Cathy & Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights – Okay hear me out. In the real world, no one cares if you’re a gypsy or an orphan or whatever. In the real world, Heathcliff would have beaten the CRAP out of Cathy’s brother, and Cathy would not have had to stay at pretty-boy’s house because his huge dog bit her. Instead, she would have gone home and SUED HIS ASS and then her and Heathcliff could have run away to start a life together with her huge settlement check. (Clearly I need to re-write this book for the modern day. Not.)

5. Bod & Scarlett from The Graveyard Book – Because I have to believe that they met again out in the real world. In fact, maybe he goes to seek her out and she helps him learn how to function in life-outside-the-graveyard.

6. Katsa & Po from Graceling – Because they are so awesome and perfectly suited to each other. And Katsa’s views on marriage & baby-having is totally suitable for this time period.

7. Dash & Lily from Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares – As long as they’re still in hipster-ville NYC, I’m sure they’d continue to be absolutely adorable. And I like how Lily’s bubbly happiness kind of draws gloomy Dash out of his depressing shell a bit. And his dourness kind of helps to stabilize Lily when she’s going all frantic.

And here’s where I take it to the flip-side, and pick bookish couples that would NOT work in the real world… because apparently I don’t read enough books with perfectly awesome couples in them.

8. Bella & Edward from the Twilight series - I feel like this is very obvious. Someone would have checked Bella’s crazy self into a mental hospital for going all my-life-depends-on-you-noticing-me for some boy. And let’s face it, in real life Bella is a cutter and Edward probably would have devoured her halfway into the first book.

9. Roger & Brianna from the Outlander series – Okay, they have their sweet moments. But Brianna is just a pain in the ass like 80% of the time. And while Roger is all sweet and stays with her even when other guys would have run away, Brianna would eventually push him away and probably cheat on him in the real world.

10. a couple in Feed but I can’t say who or why without MEGA spoilers – But if you read the trilogy, then you probably know who I’m talking about.

 

For real though, looking around my shelves I realized how many books I have or read that don’t even have couples in them, or if they do they kind of suck. Like in The Hunger Games trilogy… I SO disagree with how that love triangle worked out, because Katniss NEVER ACTUALLY MADE A DECISION. And “I’m with you by default” doesn’t work like ever. And I noticed I’ve read a lot of books where the romance is hinted at between two characters, but various reasons never really allow them to come together. And in a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, and classic books that I have, there’s a pretty obvious lack of romance. Apparently I need to read more love stories.

So, which bookish romances do you think would survive in R.L.? Do you disagree with any of my picks?

~Sarah

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June 28, 2012 · 1:02 pm

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio

 

The Bungalow is Sarah Jio’s second novel and I have to say, I loved it a lot more than her first, The Violets of March. TVoM was a good book, but I realized that as time went on I kind of forgot about it. I’m happy to say that I think The Bungalow will remain much more vivid in my head.

I’ve sat here for over half an hour trying to come up with a good summary of the book, but nothing I come up with is as good as the description on the back of the book, so here it is:

“A sweeping saga of long-lost love, a mysterious painting, an unspeakable tragedy and the beach bungalow at the center of it all …

In the summer of 1942, newly engaged Anne Calloway sets off to serve in the Army Nurse Corps on the Pacific island of Bora-Bora. More exhilarated by the adventure of a lifetime than she ever was by her predictable fiancé, she is drawn to a mysterious soldier named Westry, and their friendship soon blossoms into hues as deep as the hibiscus flowers native to the island. Under the thatched roof of an abandoned beach bungalow, the two share a private world-until they witness a gruesome crime, Westry is suddenly redeployed, and the idyll vanishes into the winds of war.

A timeless story of enduring passion, The Bungalow chronicles Anne’s determination to discover the truth about the twin losses–of life, and of love–that have haunted her for seventy years.”

 

That sums it up pretty good. I liked Anne – she’s just reaching adulthood in the 1940′s, back when women still had not a lot of choices in their own lives. She’s engaged to Gerard, a perfectly handsome, rich young man who she’s been matched with since she was just a child. He’s nice and all, but she also feels that lack of romance and passion that she longs for. Her deciding to go join the Army nurses is her way of getting a little adventure in her life before settling down to a perfectly normal, boring life of being a housewife and having children.

As is obvious from the description, she’s unfaithful to her fiance when she falls in love with Westry for but some reason, it didn’t bug me as much as it usually would. Sarah Jio does a good job at making Gerard seem indifferent about their relationship, and I was rooting for Anne to leave him before she even left for Bora-Bora. And then she comes to this beautiful, exotic island and she slowly falls for Westry and their love is all romantic and sweet and transcendent. You guys know how much I loathe cheating in books, so the fact that I was able to still like the characters and really enjoy the book says something about the author’s impressive story-telling abilities.

There were some secondary characters as well, that were all vivid, unique, and added to the story rather well, whether you liked them or not. For instance I HATE her friend Kitty, but she was essential to the story. I also liked Maxine, Anne’s housemaid and friend. And of course the imagery was just beautiful – it’s no wonder I read this in one sitting. For example, here’s an excerpt from the first page:

“He was there, of course – in uniform, shyly smiling at me as the waves fell into the shore. I could hear them – their violent crash, followed by the fizz of a million bubbles kissing the sand. Closing my eyes tighter, I found him again, standing there amid the fog of sleep was the lifting, too quickly. Don’t go, my heart pleaded. Stay. Please stay. And he obediently appeared again with that beckoning grin, those arms outstretched to me. I felt the familiar flutter in my heart, the longing. And then, in an instant, he was gone.”

I was IMMEDIATELY sucked into the story just after reading that. And I was a little sad when I finished the book. This will be one of those books I re-read when I’m in a sappy, romantic mood.

Anyways, this was a beautiful afternoon read, and Sarah Jio’s next novel, Blackberry Winter, is on my automatic to-buy list when it comes out in September.

 

Sarah Says: 4 stars

 

 

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January 17, 2012 · 5:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Recommend to Someone Who Doesn’t Read (Blank)

 

Hey ya’ll. So it’s Tuesday again, and I’m crazy busy as always. Still, time for my favorite meme, which is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’d Recommend To Someone Who Doesn’t Read X…

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m kind of sick of recommending the same books over and over and over in these lists… Obviously I’m going to recommend Outlander series if you like ANY kind of reading. Obviously I’m going to recommend Bet Me if you haven’t tried romance before. So, in an effort to mix it up a little bit, these categories are going to be somewhat unusual…

1. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read About Hell Very Often: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

I’m almost halfway through this book now, and it’s enjoyable. It’s dark and there’s bad-assery and dude, the guy survived ELEVEN YEARS in Hell, so he has some good Hell stories. Just sayin.

 

2. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read Romance Featuring Dogs: Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie

Gotta love Crusie, she’s awesome at writing romance. And this is a super cute (and short) book about a woman who gets a dog and falls in love. (Not with dog, pervert, it’s not THAT kind of romance.)

 

3. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read Giant Historical Fiction: Helen of Troy by Margaret George

Dude, Margaret George is some SERIOUS historical fiction. She writes lengthy but super-awesome historical fiction novels. I particularly liked this one, about Helen of Troy. You know, in case the title wasn’t obvious enough.

 

4. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read Mysteries With a Gay British Protagonist: Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon

Well, I had to put SOMETHING Outlander-related on this list! This is a little side-series featuring Lord John Grey, a particularly awesome character. These books usually revolve around him solving some sort of mystery, and the one featured above is the “first” one, as in written first but not necessarily chronological per the storylines. It doesn’t really matter, just read them.

 

5. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read Books With a Bajillion Characters: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

It’s a testament to what a fantastic writer Martin is, that this book has like 20 “main” characters and I can vividly picture and remember them all. Love these books.

 

6. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read YA Books About Teens With Diseases: Don’t Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel

For some sick reason, I LOOOOOOVED McDaniel’s books about kids with various terminal illnesses. This was my favorite one, and I actually still own it. I kind of want to go re-read it, lol. It’s about a high school couple who are so perfect for each other, but the boyfriend gets some rare form of cancer. Depressing as all hell.

 

7. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read About African Boys Who Love Tennis: Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

So, this was actually a fantasic autobiography about this boy born in South Africa during apartheid, his life dealing with that, and how his love of learning and of tennis eventually got him out of it.

 

8. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read About the Future and People Living Forever: The Postmortal by Drew Magary

AWESOME novel, one of my favorites last year. A “cure” for death is found, and one guy’s experiences and blog entries chronicle how the world changes with the Cure, and shows the initial awesomeness and the inevitable horribleness of such a medicine.

 

9. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read About a Weird Britain in the 1980′s: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The first of the Thursday Next books. There’s characters jumping out of books, time-traveling, a police force just for literature, a villain who is evil just for the sake of being evil (those are the best kind of villains), what’s not to love?

 

10. … to Someone Who Doesn’t Read Books With Bright Orange Eye-Catching Covers: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Quick, interesting, good story… It was a good read. However I MAY like the cover even more, cause you know, just look at it.

 

So that’s what I got for today! Happy TTT!

~Sarah

 

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December 21, 2011 · 6:48 pm

A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas

Hey ya’ll. So, another Christmas romance! Surprised? Probably not. It’s such a busy time of year, and this is all my brain can really handle when I’m so exhausted.

So, if you’re a historical romance fan you’re probably familiar with Lisa Kleypas’ Wallflower series. It’s about four young “wallflower” ladies in England who meet and become friends, and agree to help each other find husbands. They all have some barrier – one girl is super shy, another is kind of poor, and the other two are American (which at that time was I guess a bad thing, cause they were unrefined and not of nobility). And you know, there’s four books in the series (one for each of them) and I read the first one a while back and remember thinking it was cute. I still have the others in the series, just haven’t gotten around to them yet. Anyhoo, this little novella is a cute edition.

American Rafe Bowman (the brother of the two American wallflowers) is in London for the holidays – to visit his newly married sisters, and to get engaged himself. His father has chosen the rich and beautiful Natalie for his son to marry – but first he must meet and impress Hannah, Natalie’s lady in waiting.

So, Rafe is a smart and ambitious young man making his fortune on Wall Street and through manufacturing in America, but he’s also brash, crude, and a womanizer. He’s almost sure he’ll end up marrying Natalie, for her generous inheritance and to please his father and get his piece of the family business. However sweet, proper Hannah is convinced that he is no where good enough for Natalie, and does her best to get in the way. Like the normal rake, Rafe is intrigued by the challenge that Hannah poses, and can’t stop thinking about her. And romance blooms over the Christmas season.

So, as a romance novel it’s no secret where this ends up – Hannah and Rafe fall in love and get married. I’m unsure how I felt about the story though. For one, this is a short little book – only about 200 pages. Rafe is initially kind of unlikable, since he’s kind of rude and a bit of a man-slut. But of course we learn about how he’s really just a sad, mistreated child inside and he’s really a good guy, blah blah blah. Almost no backstory was given for Hannah – we learn that she’s Natalie’s lady in waiting, which is really just an unpaid servant. We never really learn what happened to her family and how she came into her present situation, just that she has the hopes of marrying a respectable man in a good profession. Now as proper and kind of goody-goody Hannah was, and how crass and jerkish Rafe was, I kind of liked them. I liked how relaxed Rafe was, and his sense of humor. I liked that Hannah was intelligent, and that she just kind of got herself into awkward, funny situations.

I guess for me this was a little too insta-love. They meet and fall in love in the matter of a few days to a week – Rafe really just goes on and on about how lusty Hannah makes him, and all of the sudden that translated to love. I guess it all just happened too easily – this would have been better with a little more story and more courting. An extra 100 pages would have made a big difference.

Anywayyys… this was a cute romance novel, and a quick read. And I bet Wallflower fans will definitely enjoy re-visiting some of their favorite characters. And I did enjoy the mentions of Christmas – decorating a giant Christmas tree, reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, etc.

Sarah Says: 3 stars

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November 19, 2011 · 11:00 am

December Poll! Come vote, you know you wanna…

Hmmm. I JUST really realized that November is already over halfway over. There’s only about 12 days left until December! That is INSANE. I need to finish Christmas shopping. And do some super-human amounts of reading to finish up the year.

So, here are December’s poll choices! You may notice that in the spirit of me being a huge, giant sap they are all Christmas-themed. (I’m excited.) Because I’m at work as I’m doing this and can’t get on Goodreads here, the book descriptions are from Amazon. Here we go:

 
A Coventry Christmas by Becky Cochrane (Because who doesn’t love corny Christmas romance novels?)
 
With a scrooge of a boss, her family thousands of miles away, and the only male in her life a hamster, Keelie Cannon is anticipating her worst Christmas ever when her friend Ivy convinces her to spend the holidays with her in the small Texas town of Coventry. Once Keelie arrives, her feelings about Christmas start to change as she not only rediscovers the joys of the holiday season but also of another chance at romance. Cochrane deftly flavors her quirky, character-rich contemporary romance with a surfeit of Christmas charm and sharp humor.
 
 
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (AKA Christmas With the Kranks, which I’ve never seen).
 
Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty, they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash, they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences—and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined.
 
 
The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein (Okay so this isn’t exactly Christmas-y, but it’s winter-y. And it sounds awesome.)
 
The snowman appears everywhere on practically everything — from knickknacks to greeting cards to seasonal sweaters we plan to return. Whenever we see big snowballs our first impulse is to deck them out with a top hat. Humorist and writer Bob Eckstein has long been fascinated by this ubiquitous symbol of wintertime fun — and finally, for the first time, one of the world’s most popular icons gets his due.

A thoroughly entertaining exploration, The History of the Snowmantravels back in time to shed light on the snowman’s enigmatic past — from the present day, in which the snowman reigns as the King of Kitsch, to the Dark Ages, with the creation of the very first snowman. Eckstein’s curiosity began playfully enough, but soon snowballed into a (mostly) earnest quest of chasing Frosty around the world, into museums and libraries, and seeking out the advice of leading historians and scholars. The result is a riveting history that reaches back through centuries and across cultures — sweeping from fifteenth-century Italian snowballs to eighteenth-century Russian ice sculptures to the regrettable “white-trash years” (1975-2000).

The snowman is not just part of our childhood memories, but is an integral part of our world culture, appearing — much like a frozen Forrest Gump — alongside dignitaries and celebrities during momentous events. Again and again, the snowman pops up in rare prints, paintings, early movies, advertising and, over the past century, in every art form imaginable. And the jolly snowman — ostensibly as pure as the driven snow — also harbors a dark past full of political intrigue, sex, and violence.

With more than two hundred illustrations and a special section of the best snowman cartoons, The History of the Snowman is a truly original winter classic — smart, surprisingly enlightening, and quite simply the coolest book ever.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss (Whatever, it’s been years since I actually read it instead of watching it on tv.)
 
The Grinch hates Christmas, and wants to stop it from coming. So he forms a devious plan: to impersonate Santy Claus and to steal the Whos’ Christmas presents. But come Christmas morning, the Grinch is in for a shocking surprise. He did not stop Christmas from coming! And the Grinch realizes something new. That maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. That maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!
 
 
1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber (I already read one by her and liked it, so why not.)
 
The people of Cedar Cove know how to celebrate Christmas. Like Grace and Olivia and everyone else, Beth Morehouse expects thisChristmas to be one of her best. Her small Christmas-tree farm is prospering, her daughters and her dogs are happy and well, and her new relationship with local vet Ted Reynolds is showing plenty of romantic promise.But…someone recently left a basket filled with puppieson her doorstep, puppies she’s determined to place in good homes. That’s complication number one. And number two is that her daughters Bailey and Sophie have invited their dad, Beth’s ex-husband, Kent, to Cedar Cove for Christmas. The girls have visions of a mom-and-dad reunion dancing in their heads.As always in life—and in Cedar Cove—there are surprises, too. More than one family’s going to have a puppy under the tree. More than one scheme will go awry. And more than one romance will have a happy ending!

So those are your options, folks! Poll is on the right-hand side. Get your vote in!

~Sarah

 

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