Review: Tribute by Nora Roberts

Tribute by Nora Roberts

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sometimes you just need a good, not too challenging read. I find that Nora Roberts is very consistent in delivering these.

Tribute is the story of Cilla.  She is a former child star, descended from a line of celebrities, who has retired from show business to rebuild her grandmother’s house. Across the street is Ford Sawyer, famous graphic novelist. They meet. They become friends. Bad things happen to Cilla. They deal with them together. They fall in love. I wouldn’t want to give away the ending!

More seriously, it is the story of a woman coming to terms with her past. There are parts of her life that many people would envy– she is still a celebrity, as is her mother. She is reasonably well off from her childhood work and her ongoing small projects.

She also has things working against her– a distant relationship with her father, a highly dysfunctional one with her mother. She knows she wants out of Hollywood, but isn’t sure what she does want to do, or where she belongs. And beyond that, someone is trying to scare her, maybe even kill her.

I think there are two things that make Nora Roberts books work for me, both of which came through in this novel.

First are the lead characters. I always find them interesting, even if requiring of some suspension of disbelief. I enjoyed being part of Cilla’s mental journey, coming to terms with her past, her relationships with her parents, and deciding on what direction she wants to go. Ford is of course a little too perfect, but he’s fun that way. They actually develop a friendship, and at no point are the words “I can’t live without you” spoken.

Second is the writing itself. Most of the time I don’t notice it, which I find an advantage. Occasionally there is a description that I really enjoy. I like the small moments– the cartoons that Ford draws for Cilla, the dog that chases invisible cats.

The aspect of this book that I’d nitpick is the plethora of supporting characters. I realize there are two reasons for having so many. One is to show an entire town accepting Cilla as one of them. The other is to camouflage the bad guy. Unfortunately, it kept me from getting to know any of them.

I wasn’t sure whether to put this book as straight romance or romantic suspense, since the suspense elements don’t dominate the book. The four stars were fairly easy to decide on– I enjoyed the read, and it worked well within my expectations of a romance novel.

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Review: Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

I’m discovering that reviewing audiobooks is a little trickier for me than paper books. My recall isn’t any worse (and may be better) but I can’t easily go back and confirm what I remember. This time, I also wanted to go back and verify something from a previous book in the series, which was even worse!

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I didn’t enjoy this as much as previous books in the series. I don’t know if I was just not in the right mood for it, or if the book wasn’t that compelling. All of the books have a very comfortable feel to them, like hanging out with interesting neighbors. In this book, the neighbors are having an ordinary day.

The mystery of the under-performing football team led to some interesting observations on human nature. I think there are a lot of similar conversations happening locally as we have the mystery of the under-performing hockey team. I didn’t have any problems with this story line, but it wasn’t enough to carry the book.

A second storyline involved Mma Makutsi and her nemesis from her secretarial school days, Violet Sephotho. Violet has decided that Mma Makutsi’s fiancé, Mr. Phuti Radiphuti, is too good for Mma Makutsi,and she decides to claim him for herself.

I liked the storyline, but I had some problems with how it was handled. Fairly early on, we have a couple of scenes where the reader sees Violet with Mr. RadiPhuti, putting this plot line in action. Everything after that we see from Mma Makutsi’s POV. I would have liked this to be consistent through the book. Either POV would have been fine with me. In addition, although the Violet story is wrapped up, I didn’t feel a sense of resolution at the end with Mma Makutsi and Mr. Phuti Radiphuti.

I’m not sure if the fate of Mma Ramotswe’s tiny white van is substantial enought to be called a plot line, or if it is a running thread through the book. It is a sweet story, and may be setting up an adventure for the next book.

I was disappointed not to see more of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni in this book. We see the two apprentices (and the younger one is even given a name and a life) but they seem to be stalled in apprenticeship, even after taking over considerable responsibility when Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni was disabled in a previous book. I’d miss them if they moved on, but I think it is time for them to take control of their lives.

There were a number of other small stories and themes running through the book. I think the cultural observations that came out of discussions of chairs and of walking were some of the most interesting parts.

Throughout the book, there was a lot of foreshadowing of dire events, which never came to pass. I’m not sure if this is a statement in itself, or another set up for the next book, or if I just have an over active imagination.

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was wonderful as always in this series, and really adds to the experience for me.

Fans of the series will enjoy this. Casual readers can decide whether or not they want to pick it up. I would not start the series with this book.

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Field Trip!

My favorite author is in town this week.  Or a few towns over, about a half hour drive away.  On Tuesday night, Laurie R. King will be talking about The Language of Bees (see my review), and I’ll be there to hear her read from it, listen to her answer questions (and try to come up with one of my own), and (hopefully*) get my copy signed.

I thought back to the last time I went to an author event at a bookstore, which happens to be the last time LRK was touring with a book.  I came out very excited, looking at the list of upcoming authors and flagging the ones I’d like to see.

It didn’t happen.  It was too hard with all of the normal day to day activities.

I hope I’m as energized this time.  Maybe this blog will give me the excuse to follow through.

*The Kepler’s web page says that only books bought there can be signed.  I was planning on bringing my Amazon copy (that I’ve already read and reviewed) and use my book budget for buying books I haven’t read.  Now I’m in a quandry…

 

Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My review

Note:  The reason I read this book now was because my daughter received a copy for her 11th birthday, and I’d heard differing things on whether it would be appropriate for her to read.  She’s a big reader (she takes after me in that way), but hadn’t been particularly interested in Twilight.  When she opened the present, she handed it over to me, to see if I thought it would be OK for her.  My conclusions as to appropriateness for her are at the end.

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is another book I had a hard time rating. In the end, I gave it a high 3.  It wasn’t a particularly good book, but I enjoyed it in spite of that. It may be my fastest 500 page read ever.

Joe Prince wrote a fantastic (and hilarious) one star review, and I don’t disagree with anything he had to say, but I liked the book anyway.

This is clearly a book for teen girls, and the inner teen girl in the rest of us.

The ugly duckling storyline has a wide appeal to this demographic.  Bella is just an ordinary girl at her old school. She’s never had a boyfriend, hasn’t even been asked out. But suddenly, she’s got multiple boys drooling over her, including the mysterious, beautiful guy that usually doesn’t talk to anyone outside his family!

The adventure aspect of the last third of the book has a very teen sensibility as well. Our Heroine comes up with a plan to outsmart the Bad Guys. Of course, she needs help to pull it off, so the team of Good Guys comes to help with implementation.  Of course, said plan involves the separation of Our Heroine and our Hero, the Love of Her Life. And I should probably mark this as a spoiler, but really, is anyone surprised to hear that Our Hero comes to the rescue just in the nick of time!

The writing walks the line of being sensual without getting explicitly sexual, with characters that are clearly (very clearly) attracted to each other. I think the author did a good job of allowing the book to be accessible to girls of differing levels of interest in sexuality.

I found it VERY important NOT to stop and think while reading this book– I had to sit back and enjoy the ride and not think about the convenient coincidences, the age difference between Edward and Bella, and more. And I had to look past the whole “Overwhelming, can’t live without you, love at first sight” thing that the entire book is based on.

The other thing I need to mention is the repetitiveness of the book.  The same things  were said over and over.  See the review I linked to at the beginning for examples.  Luckily, the book moved so fast it wasn’t an issue for me.

Would I recommend this book? Very strongly no, if you are reluctant to read it, you should probably avoid it! Would I discourage anyone who is already interested from reading it? No, there’s a good chance you’ll have a very fun read.

Now, the question I need to answer: will I let my 11 year old read it?  Yes.  I suggested that she wait until summer, which was OK with her.  She doesn’t seem to be in any hurry, although one of her best friends read and enjoyed it. I will wait for her to bring up the book this summer– probably when she is desperate for something new to read.

I told her that the book mostly mostly about the two characters falling in love.  She shrugged and said that seems to be happening a lot in books she reads these days.  I said that I didn’t think she’d read any where that was the main point of the book rather than a side plot.  She thought about it and agreed.

I think that the sensual/sexual aspects will go over her head– she’s a relatively naive 5th grader.    There isn’t anything explicit.  I don’t think the violence will be too much for her.

I’ll need to think through the potential conversations we should have.  Love at first sight; being overwhelmed be a boyfriend/girlfriend and potential for bad decisions, secrets and lies of omission, and more.  This could be a good opportunity, if I make proper use of it.

My time of attempting to censor what she reads probably is short– maybe two more years.  This is the first time it has come up, because she really hasn’t been interested in anything I worried about her reading.  In the end, I want her to be able to make her own decisions about what is appropriate for her, in books and in life.

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Review: Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a fairly low 3 stars for me. As I was listening to this book, it just wasn’t quite working for me. I kept trying to figure out what (if anything) was wrong with it. I wanted to enjoy this book as entertaining fluff. Was I just not in the mood for it? The characters should have been interesting. The plot should have been amusing. Why wasn’t it coming together for me?

I felt like I should have liked Gus, the single parent who has worked her way to the top of the food TV world. I should have been interested in her two adult daughters, who are dealing with being related to a celebrity as well as the everyday business of their own lives. I should have been sympathetic to the reclusive neighbor when her big secret is revealed. I should have loved or hated the beautiful upstart who is given a spot co-hosting with Gus. Instead, I just didn’t care about them or the various men that held the plot lines together.

I normally don’t mind a book jumping between character viewpoints, since I feel it gives me a chance to get to know the characters better by seeing them through each others eyes. In this case, I think it interrupted any bonds I might have formed with them.

The plot centered on Gus being told she must boost the ratings on her TV show. Along the way, she (and the characters above) have unexpected things happen and get a chance to straighten out their quirky lives. There were too many little things happening to have time to have anything big happen– even when there were events that should have been significant. The ending was too pat for my tastes as well.

In the end, I don’t think there was anything really wrong with the book, except that the author didn’t quite pull off what she was trying to do.

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Review: Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb

Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I found this book to be  touching and well written.

When Mia is 15, her mother is diagnosed with melanoma, then dies 12 days later. Mia had been very close to her mother. They understood each other, in the same way Mia’s sister Alex and their father understand each other. Just as the family is figuring out their new roles, Mia’s father has a heart attack, followed by Alex leaving for college.

The book is about Mia, her growing up and her healing. Along the way, we see some of her father’s story and her sister’s story as well. Each of them is an interesting character, but only Mia is truly compelling. Mia meets some very intriguing people along the way, usually through her father’s hospital stays. We see all the other characters through Mia’s teenage eyes, and it is quite a sight.

The author does a wonderful job of showing us Mia’s grief without wallowing in it. We see her explosion at school, and her sorting through her memories of her mother. We see her translate her concern for her health as well as her father’s into an obsession with healthy eating, and a panic over her own mole. We also see a number of normal teenage moments in a not-so-normal situation. We see Mia’s search for a new best friend, and her quest for a boyfriend, which swings between funny, touching, and (at one point) terrifying.

This was a book club read for me, and not one I’d have picked up on my own (I hadn’t even heard of it). Everyone in the book club enjoyed it. We didn’t have a very in-depth discussion. We each pointed out parts that we’d enjoyed, had discussions about some of the characters, and talked about the link between the book and the author’s life. The discussion then drifted to other subjects.

I think we could have had more of a discussion, and we might have on a different month. I’d evaluate this as an OK book club book, with material worth discussing, but you have to work at finding it.

This book was a very quick read, seeming even shorter than its 238 pages. I read it in one sitting, and we all found it moved quickly. The book delivers what it promises, so if the description appeals to you, give the book a try.

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Review: The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It is possible that my rating of 4 stars for this book is unfair. One of the criteria I use for assigning 5 stars is whether I will reread a book, and there is no question I will revisit this one.  I will get my hardcover signed, and I will probably buy another copy in paperback, so I can keep my signed hardback safe. I will purchase it again in audio as soon as it is available on Audible.com. It is hard to give a higher endorsement to a book than being willing to pay money for it multiple times.

The problem is that this book is up against a very high bar. I’m comparing it to the rest of the Mary Russell books, and for my taste, this book ranks near the bottom of that select group.

For those that haven’t read this series: Mary Russell meets Sherlock Holmes when she is a teenager, and he is semi-retired. They discover their minds work in much the same way, and she apprentices with the Great Detective, while continuing to work towards attending Oxford, and then getting degrees in Theology and Chemistry. After she comes of age, their relationship develops into a partnership both personal and professional.  (The books are much better than that summary would lead you to believe.)

The books that I like best in the series take me on a journey within Russell, where I can participate in her growth. This book was far more centered on the plot and the setting. (Others may not see this as a bad thing!) The premise of the book is that Holmes has a long lost son, who surfaces to ask for Holmes’ help in finding his wife and daughter. The search draws Russell in, due both to her relationship with Holmes, and the realization that her professional (theological) expertise is called for. The story delves into alternate forms of worship taken to extremes.

The book has the usual strengths of a Mary Russell novel: an interesting mystery, strong characters, and good writing.

“Mystery” might be the wrong word, perhaps “adventure” might be better, because it is clear who the “bad guy” is well before the end, the challenge is catching him before dire bad things happen. I like the balance between the more cerebral aspects of tracking down clues and completing patterns to establish the location of said villain, and the all out chasing across the UK in terrible weather and an airplane that is about to fall apart.

I indicated earlier I was disappointed not to see Russell growing in this novel, but that isn’t true. It just isn’t the emphasis of the book (although I can see the potential being set up for the next book in the series). Russell does respond to events in the book in ways that will change her, long term.  We also get to know her better during the book, which I appreciate since she is one of my favorite characters in any book. We also get to see a different side of Holmes, one in keeping with the well-known detective– How would he respond to an adult son in danger? We get to find out.  I also enjoyed seeing more of Mycroft Holmes, a recurring character, and liked the variety of people that appear briefly in the novel.

I always appreciate that the language in LRK’s novels doesn’t get in the way of the story, a pet peeve of mine.   Too be honest, I was reading too quickly to get a sense of her language for most of the book.  It just isn’t what I’m primarily interested in.  I did notice something:  The books are primarily in first person, from Russell’s point of view.   In the previous book, LRK experimented with sections told from Holmes’ viewpoint, which worked because of what was happening in that novel, which made Russell an even more unreliable narrator than usual. This time, there is some information for the reader that Russell isn’t party to– so LRK gave us several chapters that consisted solely of conversations (I was able to find two on a quick look, there may be more).  I found this an interesting change in the texture of the book as I was reading.

Would I recommend this book to someone that has read and enjoyed the other Mary Russell books? Absolutely. Would I recommend it as a starting point for the series? There isn’t anything you need to know from previous books for this one to make sense. You could easily pick it up and read. However, I’d suggest starting with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, since it is the first and best of the series, and it does set up the characters of Russell and Holmes.   From there, you can decide if you want to read through the series in order, or skip forward to this book.

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April wrap up

My big book accomplishment for the month was starting this blog. My first post was on April 14, and my first review was posted April 17.

Every year I say I’m going to keep track of the books I read. This is the first year I can remember where I’ve stuck to it past March, so hooray for me! 🙂 My book count for the month of April is nine. Four were audiobooks, five were on paper. I’ve read 33 books so far this year, and 13 of those were audiobooks.

This months reads:

• D.A. by Connie Willis
• All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown (audio) (book club M)
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin (audio)
• Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
• Malice Domestic 3 (audio)
• Dead Ex by Harly Jane Kozak (audio)
• The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (book club L)
• The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King (review coming soon)

(Early reviews are on Goodreads, later are on this blog).

This was a good month of reading, with a nice variety of books. My favorites were the last two, Little Brother and The Language of Bees.

I’m currently reading Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb, which I need to finish for book club M’s discussion on Monday evening. I’ve been dragging out Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell for some time now, but I think I’ll try to finish it this month. Maybe.

I’m currently listening to Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs, and while it isn’t bad,  I’m not overly excited by it.  NetLibrary and my computer are not getting along well, which is limiting my options for this months listening. (Note to self: must take time from reading, blogging, and reading blogs to troubleshoot).

Sometime during May, I will be reading Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi for book club L.  Since book club M will meet on June 1, I’ll be reading something for it during May, but I’m not sure which book yet.  Other than that, I have a tall to-be-read pile, and I’m sure plenty will be added to it this month.  I don’t have specific plans.

What did everyone else read?  Anything particularly good?