Random Musings: A Wrinkle in Time

 I have been reading to my daughter at naptime for four years now, sharing with her some of my favorite works.  We've read through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Princess Bride, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter (at least twice) and some of my most cherished Diana Wynne Jones books just to name a few.  This naptime reading will soon be coming to an end so we're now on a mission to cover any of the big things we missed.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to start my childhood favorite, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time with Kidlet... that is until I started to read it.

I remember adoring this book as a child and ripping through the rest of the series.  I loved that it was so different from anything I'd ever read before.  It opened new genres to me.  I do remember feeling like things were really left to the imagination, but now I view it as lack of explanation.  It's missing the depth I crave...  children's books need whimsy, but, in my opinion, they need some weight too.  I also didn't remember all the religious overtones... and they sure are plentiful.

I shall alway be grateful that this book led me into the realms of fantasy and sci-fi, but, for me,  I don't think A Wrinkle in Time is quite on pedestal it used to be.  Now I must decide whether to spend my few remaining naptime reads on the rest of the series, or move on and let her revisit this on her own when she's ready.

Have you ever revisited something and found it wanting?

Jenn's Review: Fallen

Summary:   There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her. ~product description

Review:  This has been on my TBR list for a while, so perhaps my anticipation ramped up my expectations, perhaps my recent reads have raised the bar, or maybe angels are just a sub-genre of paranormal that I don’t enjoy as much, but I was underwhelmed.  I wouldn’t say that I didn’t like it, it certainly held my attention, and at no point did I feel the need to put it down. 

I felt like I spent most of the book waiting for the reveal.  It’s not a secret that the book is about angels, but it takes three quarters of the book for Lucinda to be introduced to this knowledge.  Granted, lots of interesting other things happen in that amount of time, but most of the supernatural occurrences go unexplained.  There are some twists and turns when things come to climax, but most of them were predictable and I wasn’t engaged enough with the characters to be concerned, shocked, or upset at anything that happened to them.  That being said, I enjoyed Lauren Kate’s writing style and her ability to hold my interest.

I may be tempted to pick up the second book in the series the next time I’m looking for a light, quick read or when my TBR pile thins out a little, but I don’t think this will be a must read series for me.

Final Take:  3.5/5

Children's Corner: Where the Wild Things Are

Review: My 4 year old son was in love with Where the Wild Things Are a couple months ago but it has recently gotten put to the bottom of the pile as we read other books. I've been meaning to do a children's corner about it since he picked it up and now that Mr. Sendak has left this earth it seemed appropriate to do it now.

This book would have scared the poop out of my daughter at this age but my son thinks it's great fun. As a parent I find it less than thrilling to read. Now, don't get me wrong I think for a kid it's a wonderful book. Learning to use your imagination and having it take you to far off places where you are king (or queen) definitely helps shape kid's ability to imagine. I just find that there aren't enough words and too many pages for them to just look at. I remember enjoying the book as a kid and maybe that's why it's a book for kids because they are just learning about their imagination.

I did buy my nephew a copy of the book too because my brother in law had never read it as a kid and I do think everyone needs to experience it in their lifetime.

I'm still curious as to how they made a feature length movie out of this one. I could see a 45 minute cartoon but a movie? It's not something I'm seeking out to watch at this point either.

I definitely think that Mr. Sendak was ahead of his time with this book, showing that not all children's books need to be sweet and full of bright colors. I will be seeking out his Little Bear books to share with both of my children. I'm also open for other suggestions on his books.

Julie's Review: Spider Bones

Summary: John Lowery was declared dead in 1968—the victim of a Huey crash in Vietnam, his body buried long ago in North Carolina. Four decades later, Temperance Brennan is called to the scene of a drowning in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim appears to have died while in the midst of a bizarre sexual practice. The corpse is later identified as John Lowery. But how could Lowery have died twice, and how did an American soldier end up in Canada? Tempe sets off for the answer, exhuming Lowery’s grave in North Carolina and taking the remains to Hawaii for reanalysis—to the headquarters of JPAC, the U.S. military’s Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command, which strives to recover Americans who have died in past conflicts. In Hawaii, Tempe is joined by her colleague and ex-lover Detective Andrew Ryan (how “ex” is he?) and by her daughter, who is recovering from her own tragic loss. Soon another set of remains is located, with Lowery’s dog tags tangled among them. Three bodies—all identified as Lowery. And then Tempe is contacted by Hadley Perry, Honolulu’s flamboyant medical examiner, who needs help identifying the remains of an adolescent boy found offshore. Was he the victim of a shark attack? Or something much more sinister? ~amazon.com

Review: I always order the new Kathy Reichs' novel when it comes out but then I end up getting behind again. So, I was thrilled when Spider Bones into the What's in a Name Challenge for 2012. I'm always sorry that I stay away from the books as soon as I pick one up. I love Tempe. I love how candid she is. She's not perfect, she's got her troubles but she's brilliant at her work.

Spider Bones is definitely jargon heavy, so if you don't like your "alphabet" when it comes to reading, then it's probably not going to be a pleasant read for you. I get so that I understand enough to keep track of what's going on but I don't feel the big need to keep a log of what it mean. Ms. Reichs does come back enough to it so you don't get lost.

While I didn't find this case itself as interesting as some others; what I found compelling was what our government does to try to find KIA/POW/MIAs from various wars. How even today we are still searching for men/women who served in World War I. What stunned me was how big these recovery teams are and how many people they do identify in a year!

Tempe travels from Montreal to North Carolina to Hawaii for the case. Her daughter Katy has received devastating news right before Tempe has to leave, so she encourages her to join her on the Hawaii leg of the trip. Eventually, Ryan and his daughter Lily join them as well since Ryan is assigned to the initial case out of Montreal.

What starts as a simple case of mistaken identity, escalates into something that spans decades, continents and years of scientific research. As with all of her books, Tempe gets herself into a situation which ends up with her life being in danger some how. I'm guessing this isn't really true to life in the realm of being a forensic anthropologist.

Things at the end of the novel still aren't resolved between her and Ryan. I can understand her trepidation about taking another chance on Ryan when she feels like he needs to focus on other things but I hope that it doesn't drag out for another 5 books.

I definitely have to catch up on her next novel Flash and Bones before yet another one comes out in August.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Jenn's Review

 

Giveaway: Charmfall

We are thrilled to be able to giveaway a copy of the latest book in the Chloe Neill Dark Elite series, Charmfall. (Jenn's review)


To enter, fill out the form below by midnight EST, May 18, 2012. You must be over 18 and a resident of the US or Canada. One entry per person.

Author Interview: Allison Winn Scotch

Yesterday I reviewed Allison Winn Scotch's newest novel, The Song Remains the Same; which I loved!! Today, I'm thrilled that she took the time to answer our questions. This is her 2nd time doing a Q&A for us and we couldn't be happier.

GJR: Except for a few chapters, the novel is written from the point of view of Nell, how important was it for the readers to connect immediately with her?

Allison Winn Scotch (AWS): Given how little information Nell has about herself, and thus, how little information the readers really have about it, it’s critical that they connect with her on an emotional level right way. I have a few favorite sections of the book, but that initial opening chapter is definitely one of them: for me (and I know that I’m biased! Ha!), the blank slate of her situation is really moving and intriguing, so hopefully, if I did my job well, readers will agree.

GJR: Nell wants to be a new person before she even knew who she was before the accident, why was she so adamant about that?

AWS: Well, when she wakes up, she has all of these ideas about who she really should be. I think in the way that a lot of us would or could wake up in a new life or with no memory of our history and hope that we are completely fabulous. I mean, it’s doubtful that you’d wake up and think, “I hope I’m in a kind of crappy marriage or that I don’t like my job,” etc. And once she understands how middling her current life was, she can’t help but re-envision it for herself. That becomes what she holds onto as she sorts her way through the memory loss.

GJR: As soon as Nell learns that her dad left them, this becomes the focus of her quest. Why did you have Nell latch on to her dad as the key to her past?

AWS: Good question. When you’re writing complicated characters, you have to give them reasons for their complications. Often times, this comes from their past, just as often times outside of fiction, this comes from the past. I had to come up with a tangible reason for why Nell would become the person she became – someone who was living a life that really wasn’t hers – and why she’d stay stuck for so long. I think parental abandonment can do this: it would leave a scar even when you wished that it hadn’t. And you probably really couldn’t erase that scar unless you did some really hard work on yourself.

GJR: How much research did you do about dissociative amnesia? What kind of research did you do?

AWS: My father is a neurosurgeon, so I grew up knowing a lot more about the brain than most kids: it’s what we talked about around the dinner table. (Really!) So with that as a starting point, I spoke with my dad, I read case studies and research online, that sort of thing. It sounds totally implausible, but it actually does happen!

GJR: As a reader I was suspicious and less trusting of the people in Nell’s life than she was. Do you think it’s in our nature to trust, like Nell, or to be distrustful until someone earns it?

AWS: Ooh, fantastic question. I can only speak to myself, but I’m a pretty trusting person, albeit with caveats. What I mean by that is that I think I can also read people pretty well, and if they pass the sniff test, I generally give them the benefit of the doubt. But you have to understand that Nell didn’t even know what her own sniff test was. We all have ours, but she didn’t. She only knew that these people were important to her in the past – her sister, her husband – why shouldn’t she trust them? I think if you consider it from that angle, it’s easy to see why she did. She knew she once trusted them, so why not now?

GJR: How did you decide on the songs that are featured as “The Best of Nell Slattery”? Did the songs drive the chapters or did you fit the songs in afterwards? Did you have to get special rights to use the lyrics?

AWS: Another great question. I fit the songs in afterward, but I did know which parts of the chapter they would come into play for. And at certain points in the editing process, I adjusted the chapters accordingly. Originally, I wanted each chapter to start off with a stanza from a song, but this proved insanely expensive. It turns out that if lyrics are embedded within a chapter (but not used as the opening) you can use a certain amount of words/lines from a song without having to buy the rights, so that’s what I did. And ironically, it ended up being much better for the book – it just blended everything together in a much more seamless way. As far as how I chose the songs? I was all over the place for a long time until I finally honed in on that they all needed to be from a very specific time in her childhood. From there, I spent weeks pouring over billboard charts and listening to music that I thought would evoke each specific moment.

GJR: Music is huge in The Song Remains the Same: what are the top 5 songs that would be the soundtrack for your life?

AWS: Oh my gosh! Impossible question: I am one of those people who have about five songs from each year, much less my life. But a few that come to mind are “Babe,” by Styx (high school), “Better Man,” by Pearl Jam (college), “Little Silver Ring” by The Samples (also college), “Wide Open Spaces” by The Dixie Chicks (post-college) and “Read My Mind” by The Killers (also post-college).

GJR: You’ve said that The Song Remains the Same is the best novel you’ve written. That’s a pretty bold statement. What makes you say that?

AWS: Ha! I just…I just think I was pushed to write a better, sharper, more literary novel this time around. Partially because I wanted to challenge myself and partially because my editor insisted on it. I took more chances, I dove deeper into the nitty-gritty of my characters and their dark places. I don’t know. It’s hard to quantify, but I do think that writers all have their favorites. Whether or not readers agree is probably a different discussion! But we all know (I think) when we’ve done our best work…and conversely, when we haven’t.

GJR: Are you working on another novel? Any little morsel of you can give us about the plot?

AWS: I’m actually not right now. I’ve taken some time this past year to learn how to write screenplays (it’s a very different skill than novels), and I have a few of those in the works. I just wanted to stretch myself and try something different. I have no doubt that I’ll get back to book soon though! I adore movies but there is nothing quite like reading (and writing) a great book.

Thanks to Allison for taking the time out of her busy day to answer our questions!