Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Accident by Linwood Barclay

What drives this story is Glen's search for what happened to his wife. As he dwells deeper into her life the last few days she was alive he discovers she may have gotten herself into some dangerous stuff.

The Accident is surrounded by mystery. Unlike some books where the reader is aloud to see and hear things the main character can not, in The Accident the reader unravels the mystery at the same pace as Glen. At times this is good because you are confused with him as he tries to sort out the facts, at other times, mainly towards the beginning of the book, the lack of information makes it difficult to hold that much interest in the story.

As he delves deeper into his neighbours personal lives it seems everyone in the book had some dark secret except for him. It was like everyone around him was having a party and he wasn't invited. I don't know why this bothered me, perhaps I felt that it was hard to believe that he never noticed anything wrong until that night. I also found the book to be very discouraging at times when more and more clues were discovered, yet he never seemed any closer to revealing the truth about his wife's accident.

But don't misunderstand, this was still a good story. Once I got into it and was surrounded by all the characters and their many secrets, I was as determined as Glen to find out what happened. There were so many times when you think you have it figured out, and can't put the book down, only to be proven wrong with a new suspect to consider. This book teaches us that sometimes acceptance is just as important as discovering the truth.

If you like a mystery that will keep you on your toes, you should read this book. 4/5

Buy on Amazon

Friday, October 28, 2011

Coming Soon: Oct 31

Considering it is Halloween week starting Monday, I was hoping for some good horror books to come out. No such luck. Instead I have a new addition to a series about the witch that scared us all when we were young children.


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It's the final book in the Wicked Series. When I first heard of the play Wicked I was very interested in the idea. I like when people take a well know story and try to update it for modern times, or tell "the real story" of what happened. I think its creative and always interesting. So after I found out they were books I immediately bought the first one and read it. I had mixed thoughts about it. First I found the story very interesting, I liked how the author did such a good job tying in the original story, and took all the facts we already knew and created a very different world but made it believable. While I respected the story, I found the book very slow. Although I wanted to know what happened for curiosity's sake, it did not hold my interest.  When I finally finished it I couldn't make my self go through reading the next ones. 
The problem could well be that I just bore easily. So, if you enjoy the books here's the details. Oz is still full of social unrest. Now it is up to Rain to take action. Elphaba's granddaughter was born at the end of Son of a Witch, and now she is old enough to continue the legacy amid all the chaos in Oz. Did I mention Dorthy was back?




Cover ImageNora Robert's next book is out, The Next Always. The first in her Inn Boonsboro Series, The Next Always follows Beckett, an architect whose family is remodeling a historic hotel in the town of Boonsboro, Maryland. But Beckett is interested in more then just updating this hotel, he also has his eyes on Clare, a young widow who just moved back to town, who he has wanted to kiss since he was fifteen.
While all the reviews note that Roberts did a great job of creating the perfect small town feeling, some said that the suspense in the book feels unnecessary, and at moments she spends too much time describing the details of restoring the hotel.








Cover ImageDannielle Steel's book Hotel Vendome, appears to be a romantic read of a young girls life from childhood to adulthood, as she attempts to follow in her father's footsteps and run one of the most elegant hotels in New York. Helois' father Hugues begged and borrowed enough money to buy an old and run down hotel on a quiet street in Manhattan, only to turn it into a world class luxury hotel. The hotel is the spot for the rich and famous and a great place for his family, but when his wife runs off with a rock star Hugues is left to raise their daughter on his own. She grows up happy, surrounded by stars, world travellers, and her father's employees who all adore her. The hotel is the centre of her universe, so in order to continue the family business she travels to hotel school in Switzerland. By the end of the novel both father and daughter find their life's transformed.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Top Ten Halloween Reads

Today I am taking place in Top Ten Tuesday over at the Broke and the Bookish.

This weeks top ten is the perfect Halloween reads. Here are my picks. 




1. The Shining by Stephan King - I read this one when I was in high school, and am now forever creep out by hedges shaped like animals.


2. Spider Light by Sarah Rayne - I remember that this book was very disturbing. Anything involving a creep abandoned mill and a Asylum has to be.





3. Phantoms by Dean Koontz - He is my favourite author and this is the first book I read of his that got me hooked for life. (It's also a movie with Ben Affleck.) Another Koontz book I remember scaring me was..


4. The Taking by Dean Koontz - In this book the world as we know it is coming to an end. The moment that stuck with me? A doll sitting on a diner stool, that opened its eyes and came to life.


 


5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly - A classic and must read for Halloween. Its not scary, but is a great monster story for its time.


6. The Ruins by Scott Smith - A group of teenagers are alone in the wilderness in Mexico. Trapped on a hill, one by one they go crazy, and then they start to die.






7. It by Stephan King - I admit I did not read the book, but the movie was scary. I'm not afraid of clowns but this gives anyone a good reason to be.

8. The Amityville Horror - I had a recommendation for book 8. Don't  base your judgment on the movie, I heard this book is pretty scary.



This is all I have for now. Ill try to think of some more.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Coming Soon: October 24

Nothing is jumping out at me this week as something I must read. but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of choices for people with different tastes then me. If you like Christmas themed novels, Debbie Macomber has two for you.


Cover ImageIn Trading Christmas two adults with completely opposite personalities, who met over the Internet and don't know each other, decide to swap houses for the holidays.

The first in this weird house swap is Emily Springer who decided to live in Charles Brewster's house in Boston so she can visit her daughter for the holidays. When she gets there, it turns out her daughter has gone to Florida.

Charles arrives at Emily's house, mistakenly thinking she lived in a prison town that he assumed would be void of Christmas cheer. Instead she lives in Santa's village, too bad for this grouch.

Then conveniently, (it seems no one communicates in this book) Emily's friend Faith shows up looking for her at her house and finds Charles. Then Charles' brother Ray shows up at his house looking for him, and finds Emily. Because this is a romance novel, love starts to emerge from these misunderstandings.



Cover ImageThe second Christmas novel I found is The Perfect Christmas.
All Cassie Beaumont wants is a family. She wants to find her perfect match in a husband and have kids, but she's not having any luck. She tried blind dates and Internet sites but with no luck. For her last attempt at finding love she turn to a matchmaker. Simon is expensive and choosy with his clients, but comes highly recommended.
Lucky for Cassie he takes her as a client, but has three tasks he wants her to do before he introduces her to what he thinks is her perfect match. To her surprise they are all Christmas related: be a charity bell ringer, dress as an elf at a mall, and cook a turkey dinner for her neighbours.
When Cassie completes these tasks she finally gets to met the man, who turns out to be a big surprise.






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Brenda Novak has a book named In Close.
Clair's mother, Alana, went missing 15 years ago, which was big news in their small quiet town. Now in the present, Clair's husband has died in a freak accident. The interesting point was he was investigating Alana's disappearance.
Is Alana dead or did she simply run off? Clair wants answers, and with the help of her ex boyfriend she launches her own investigation. Clair has some questions and it turns out there is someone in the town who is willing to kill to keep the answers a secret.
Other notable novels...
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Man Booker Prize Winner is....


The Man Booker prize winner has been announced! The winner? The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.


Here a short description of the book.

Tony and his friends first met Adrian Finn when they were in school. They went through adolescence together trading jokes. Adrian was a little more serious then them, but they promised to stay friends. When something tragic happened in Adrian's life, Tony and his friends became distant and moved on with their lives trying to forget it.
Several years later Tony is divorced with a daughter. He gets along well with his ex. But one day Tony gets a letter from a lawyer that proves our memory of the past is imperfect.


Saturday, October 15, 2011

Coming Soon Oct 17

Cover ImageBonnie is coming out next week! I'm so excited. I loved the first too and can't wait to see if we finally get to find out who killed her. I'm in the middle of another book now so I'm going to have to hurry it up so I can read this one. The synopsis says that Bonnie's father is a key player in her disappearance. I liked his character so am glad he's a big part of this book. And it also says that Bonnie's disappearance isn't as random as everyone thinks... Oh I can't wait.



Cover ImagePhilippa Gregory has a new book. If you don't know her, she writes Fiction/non-fiction books about the English monarchy. (She is the author of The Other Boleyn Girl ) I put the slash there because although her books are fiction they are based in facts, and she interprets the history as she thinks it happened. This book is about Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford. Jacquetta has the second sight and her husband, the Duke of Bedford introduces her to the world of alchemy. When he dies and leaves her a wealthy widow, she secretly marries her only friend, her late husbands squire Richard Woodville, and moves back to England to serve the court of King Henry VI. She soon begins to sense a growing threat form the danger of royal rivals. This is the story of the real life mother of the white queen.



Cover Image There is another Dexter book coming too. This week is great for books! Number six in the series is called Double Dexter. I watch the series on T.V, but only read the first book. I don't know why I never read the rest. I think I was overwhelmed that there were so many, and now there is one more. In this one Dexter is plagued by a copy cat who wants to be the new serial killer in Miami. He witnesses Dexter commit a murder and is stalking Dexter to learn his methods. When the copy cat commits a murder that re-opens a case Deborah solved, Dexter must find a way to stop this want-a-be without getting caught by his old enemy Sgt. Doakes.
Dexter is a great series where the killer is the hero, and his character is more important and interesting then the story line.










Here are some more books coming this week...

 
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Family and Holidays              Children/Young Adult
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Emotional






Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The critics were right when they called The Night Circus a magical, enchanting story.

Reveurs are fans of the circus who are enchanted by its mysteriousness, and follow it around the world so they can experience it over and over, always finding new wonders. While reading the book I felt like a reveur, I loved the magic of the circus and after putting the book down, could not wait to visit it again.

I found the storyline only the secondary appeal of the book. The real wonder is the circus itself. The atmosphere that Morgenstern created is amazing. My favourite chapters were the one written in first person, they do not follow any of the characters, instead you take the place of a patron discovering a new tent. Morgenstern describes it so well that I can picture it, the smell of caramel in the air and the crunch of gravel under your feet. I wish the Cirques des Reves existed for real. I would recommend reading the book just to experience her imagination.

The story line between the main characters was good as well. Celia and Marco are dueling magicians, and the circus is their chessboard. But to the disapointment of their teachers they fall in love. I wouldn't call it a love story, even though the story was focused on how Marco and Celia  fall in love. There were too many other amazing characters for it to be just about them. One of my favourites was Baily. The story of a boy who doesn't quite fit in, falling in love with the circus. His story was one of fate, and reinforces that everyone has a purpose in life.

There were a few moments when I got confused with the timeline. Near the end of the book it jumps between 1901 and 1902. Once you get the hang of it, its not bad, but it took me a while and a little bit of turning back to see what year the chapter I just read took place in.

Great read 5/5


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

On Vacation

Im on holidays this week so wont post as much. If I meet any famous people while here in Hollywood I'll let you all know!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Random House Giveaway


If you live in Canada and you want to read The Night Circus, (I'm almost done and it's a good read) you should head over to Random House and enter their contest to win a signed copy.

Just follow the link below. The contest ends October 19th. Good Luck


Friday, October 7, 2011

Coming Soon: October 10

This week is a pretty good week for new releases.


First, a new book by Nickolas Sparks. If you have a soft spot for stories about high school sweet hearts, this book will be good for you. Being a Nickolas Sparks book, I can't guarantee a happy ending, but I can say it will be a heart wrenching love story. In 1984 two high school students from the opposite sides of the tracks fell in love. Amanda and Dawson's love seemed to defy everything around them until senior year, when unforeseen events tore them apart. Now 25 years later they are reunited at funeral back in the small town Oriental, North Carolina. Their lives didn't go exactly as they planned all those years ago and they both remember the first love they shared together.


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The second release that looks good is The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugendies. I am having a hard time trying to come up with a short description of this book. The book takes place in 1980. The main character Madeleine is in college as a English major. The book seems to focus around a love triangle with her, her boyfriend Leonard, and her friend Mitchell, who is convinced that she is destined to be with him. From the description I read, I think the characters live their lives after college trying to apply what they learned in school to their real lives.  Madeleine her love of literature such as Jane Austen, Leonard studied Darwinism and Mitchell Christian mysticism. 


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For those of you who like young adult books, the next book in the Maze Runner series is out. I've never heard of or read them before. This is what I got.. Thomas has remembered more then they think. He knows Wicked can not be trusted...  That's it, I hope that means something to you. These books have amazing rating and reviews, so you might want to check them out.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Scotiabank Giller Prize Short List

While we are waiting for the results of the Man Booker Prize, (they come out Oct 18th!)  we can look over the just released short list for the Giller Prize.

The Giller prize is for the best Canadian novel, published in English, across the country - sorry Quebec. Two of the books may look familiar. Both The Sister Brothers and Half Blood Blues were on the Man Booker short list.

Here is a link to Toronto Life Magazine, which gives a brief description of all the books. The winner will be announced November 8. Did I mention the prize was $50,000? Good luck to all the authors.