54: A New Author

My friend Chadya was keen to help me find some new authors to read and so bought me a bunch of books for Christmas. Knowing my love of Ted Dekker, and also that her husband Scott and I have very similar taste in books, she bought me Deadfall by Robert Liparulo.

She wasn't sure if I would like the book, so I said I would read the first paragraph...I find I can usually get a sense for an author's style from the first page or so...well, the first page of Deadfall had me groaning in pain. I could tell that the story was going to be interesting enough. In fact, the story itself had me hooked right away. But the narrative was so corny I thought this was going to be a really, really painful read. Later on I read it to Andrew and he just groaned, 'It's like a bad cliche'.

Lucky for me (and Liparulo), his writing improved drastically after that.

Though the story reminded me of some of Dekker's more recent storylines, I liked how this one played out SO much better. Dekker seems to me as if he's torn between writing a really good thriller, and trying too hard to be like Frank Peretti. AND his stories seem to be getting a little too similar lately. Reading Deadfall was a little like watching 24. For every success the characters had, three bad things happened. REALLY intense. I remember thinking to myself, this would make an awesome movie...though it would end up with at least a 14A rating, so maybe not one I'd want to watch!!

Anyway, it was a great novel and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on his other two (or more?!) books!

53

The Deep End by Joy Fielding

Got this book on a recommendation from a friend - was expecting a nice little murder mystery along the lines of Agatha or maybe even Martha. Hmn. If this had been a movie I would be freaking right out about now. Definitely a thriller type of action packed mystery. Mostly a good read though there were some PG13 moments that weren't really necessary.

Now on to the pile of Christmas books...

52: Last Chance Saloon by Marion Keyes

This book was just what I needed after the harrowing sadness of the last two books. A nice, happy ending....and lots of fluff. yay for fluff!

fifty + one

Just finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter yesterday.

From the first sentence I was captivated by the writing in this book. It's an amazing story by a truly gifted author. however, it's also an incredibly sad story. So much so that I kept putting the book down swearing I wasn't going to read any more of it. I'm the kind of person that will sink into a deep depression if I read the wrong story. This was a wrong story.

Even so the story telling was so powerful I kept picking up the book and reading more.

Definitely worth a read. Just make sure you have LOTS of kleenex and chocolate on hand when you do pick it up!

hmn, I just read the little tagline on this blog. So apparently I wasn't just out to read as many books as possible - I wanted to read gooooood books too. Yah. Failed on that one. Since I'm pretty sure my intention was to read classics. Luckily the book I have my eye on to read next is a recommendation from Claire's blog. So I'm pretty confident it will amount to more than the fluff I've been reading lately.

Hawaii five-Oh!

"Adopted as a child, Philippa Palfrey liked to fantasize that she was the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat - until she meets her real mother and learns a shocking truth."

I've read Children of Men and many of the Richard Jury series, so I thought I knew what I was getting myself into here. Not at all. I was expecting an easy (quick) murder mystery. In this novel, the murder happened in the past. This is more the story of the people whose lives were forever altered by the murder.

Forty Seven thru Forty Nine

Things got a bit crazy 'round our house lately and it's taken me ages to add books to this blog. Plus, I've been working on the third book for ages...finally have some time for this project:

Martha Grimes is always a favorite. I love her characters - even the villains are usually lovable. This was the first of her Richard Jury books in a while that I didn't guess the ending to. And I was a bit disappointed that the ending was a little confusing. Not that I need everything tied up in nice tidy packages, but I really was confused at the end of this. May have read it just a little too quickly though...

...since my sister lent me this book and I was eager to begin it. Of all the shopaholic books, this one pricked my conscience the most. I couldn't possibly be like her, could ?! The endings to these books are always too tidy, but they make for a light, fluffy, quick read. Looking forward to Shopaholic and Baby which is due out on paperback on Boxing Day.


If My Father Loved Me was a big step away from the fluff I've been reading. And that might be part of why it took me so long to finish it (that and the busy-ness around here lately). I love this section from the opening pages:

...you don't feel yourself growing older. You reach and age - which probably varies according to your history and personal circumstances, but in my case was twenty seven - and there you are, fully formed. As time passes you note your failures and allow yourself to appreciate what you have done well, but there remains the inner indvidual who isn't aware of alteration either mental or physical. Inside my skin, a millimetre or so beneath the eroding surface, I remain twenty-seven years old. It's a shock, when riding the escalator to confront an unexpected mirror and be obliged to check the discrepancy...what is alarming is the possibility that when we do start to feel our age, it might all happen at once. What if we go from being twenty-seven to being sixty-seven in a day, suddenly getting infirm knees and crochet shawls and a fondness for Book at Bedtime crumbling away into old ladies as the light falls on us...

I've noticed quite a few of my peers blogging about this very subject. Interesting that we all seem to feel the same way!

Rosie Thomas has this marvellous insight which really made me feel like I was talking to someone who understood me. I usually can't stand 'coming of age' stories, but this one has so many aspects I immediately wanted to lend it to everyone I know.