The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper

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I read this series years ago and decided I wanted to revisit it this fall.

Rod and I took an in-state vacation this summer - traveling over unknown roads in Iowa.  As we drove, this story came back to me.  What I remembered was the need to stay on the old ways - to remain on the roads that had been established long, long ago.  I thought about that as we drove down winding two-lane roads through NorthEast Iowa from one copse of trees to the next.

I want to be clear that these books are WAY more than that!  The premise of this series is the world contains good and evil - has since the very beginning.  And there are certain preordained times when the Light can take over for good. These books are the record of that final battle.

For me, this series was one of the first Good vs. Evil I met.  In true YA fashion the players in this battle are teenagers - three normal, average siblings, an old one (the 7th son of a 7th son) and the son of King Arthur who has been removed from his own time to keep him safe.  This group of five together with Merriman, their seasoned guide, face evil in different places and different times preparing for the final battle in the last book.

Rereading these after all these other recent YA dystopian books was interesting.  I don't know if I could entice my niece to read these - they are fairly dense - but, so rewarding!  Yes - you know who is going to win, but there is more to it than just that.  There isn't a romance or flashy techno toys - it is just the kids and the elements.  Instead there is a sense of a larger story - King Arthur's story woven through these books ties them in to a timeless story line.

I really liked these - again!!

The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa

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I am always intrigued at the way imaginary lands creatures carry over from one story to another. This series by Julie Kagawa is an excellent example of that.

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The first book - The Iron King - takes place partly in the our world and partly in the world of Faery - where King Oberon has had a half faery daughter named Meghan who figures out on her 16th birthday when she figures out her 4 yr old brother has been switched with a changeling.  As the Faery sight begins to emerge she realizes that her great friend Robbie is actually her protector Puck or Robin Goodfellow...sound familiar?  It's Midsummers night dream tied in to today's world.

But that isn't the only twist - the faery world of NeverNever is slowly dying due to a strange new fey of iron. Iron is the killer of all faery creatures - one touch is deadly.  Who knew?!   And there is a king aiming to take over the entire world of NeverNever.

image from LibraryThing

Meghan crosses path with Ash, the hunter from the winter court and sworn enemy of Puck and Grimalkin the Cait Sith (that is a fancy way of calling him the cheshire cat from Alice). This group comes together to defeat the Iron King and in so doing Meghan finds a part of herself she had no idea existed.

Iron Daughter picks up right where Iron King ends.  I love books that do that! 

image from LibraryThing

But - I really felt like each of the next books didn't have quite the build up the first one did. As a reader, the excitement Meghan felt as she was discovering her identity was gone. Instead, it was a slow smoldering romance. I wasn't as interested...but I can't seem to stop in the middle of a series. I wanted to know how Meghan overcomes the obstacles that her father and Mab the Winter Queen throw in front of her. I wanted to know if her relationship grows with Ash and if he decides what his real priorities are and if he and Puck continue the feud.  And probably most importantly I wanted to know how Meghan defeats the false Iron King.

And that took us through the next two books. 

The Iron Knight was completely different. Ash was the main character on a quest to become human so he could be with Meghan and the Iron Fey.  When I started this one I just wanted it to be over. It felt like the final season of ER - I just really didn't care anymore - but I had put enough time in that I didn't want to quit.  At least that is how I felt at the beginning. It did draw me in. I did care about Ash and Puck. I really didn't like Ariella though.  But - my favorite characters were Grimalkin and The Big Bad Wolf.  They were great!  

So - I really liked these books. I thought they were interesting and a new twist on the fairy tales we know. Great ideas!

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

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Well - I finished them all.

Of course, now I wish I was still in the midst of Bella's story.

This is the longest of the four books - it is also my least favorite of the books. Odd things happen in here - things that I did not want to happen.

In the end all is well, but I was not happy with the direction Stephanie took some of the characters. Some of it was just too contrived, too neat and tidy even for a vampire. The tension wasn't as real as the other books. I found myself just wanting to finish some parts.

But, as a whole the books hang together very well. I can't imagine reading them over the course of years - I was so immersed I couldn't stop reading!!

I still say that Jacob is my favorite!

Read these!!

The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff

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Well - this just proves that summer is actually here! It's the first evening of summer vacation, it's 11:23 and I've finished my first book. I didn't start it tonight - it just so happened I finished it tonight!

This book was such a pleasant surprise. I loved the Kommadant's Girl. So, I picked up this one in the book store. I read the back and it sounded amazingly familiar - I figured it would be a repeat of the Kommadant and wasn't all that intrigued...until I started reading it!

This is the story of Marta - the Kommadant's killer. The story begins from the moment she drops over on the bridge after seeing Emma off to a safe future. Marta is captured and tortured by the Gestapo hoping for information about the resistance. She is eventually rescued by Paul, an American who is liberating the Nazi prison where she is kept.

They have a whirlwind romance and Paul proposes. Marta travels to London before Paul to meet up with the aunt of a fellow refugee. But, Paul never shows up - killed in a plane crash on the way to London. Devastated, Marta marries Simon, a diplomat she met on the boat ride to London.

That's about all I can tell you...except Marta does a covert mission back to Germany and meets up with Emma and finds out what really happened to Jacob and just whose baby Emma was carrying at the end of Kommandant.

She also meets up with....

You will just have to read it. This is another great story by Jenoff. There are just enough twists and turns to keep you involved, yet it's predictible enough to be comfortable. And true love prevails! Yippee! :)

Stone Cold by David Baldacci

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This is the third Camel Club book and they just get better!!!

I don't want to say too much - because nothing should be given away.

I will say that this picks up the story right after The Collectors.

Loose ends are tied up - new ravelings are discovered and teased open to leave gapping holes in the known past.

The Camel Club is important, but they are not the center of the story - instead Oliver and Annabelle are.

Oliver Stone/John Carr is amazing.

All I can say is BRAVO David Baldacci!!!

Read this one for sure - but not before you have read The Camel Club and The Collectors!!!

World Without End by Ken Follett

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I must admit I was a little disappointed. I feel like sort of a traitor admitting that.

I so loved Pillars of the Earth!
 I've had World for quite a while and have saved it until I had the time to really sink into it....

I did like it, but World was almost the same as Pillars - just 200 years later.

The deep love relationships are thwarted again and again.
The pompous, hypocritical church tries to control events again and again.
The main characters are the only town members with vision and common sense - again.
The nobility are cold, heartless, twisted and only cared about appearance and money - again.

There were chapters I felt like I was watching a traffic accident. I was too curious to stop, but it was so painful to read the details.

Had I read this first - I think I might have called it my favorite.
I cared about the characters more than Pillars. The plague and the 'witch' accusations are a part of history that I've actually heard of - so it made it all more plausible.

But - I also need to admit that I read into the single digits of the night more than once with this story.

Bottom line - I really liked the story, the characters, the whole plot. But, standing on this side and looking back - it felt too much like a rerun for a wholehearted recommendation.

Shucks!

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

This was one of those books I just couldn't put down. It's a historical epic about the building of a massive cathedral in 1100 England.

The book follows four different characters and their families as they cross paths over many years. It opens with a disturbing hanging and a curse called down by a distraught woman....

From there it follows the path of Tom Builder and his family as they travel on foot from town to town looking for work as a stone cutter and builder. Times are difficult and the family experiences terrible tragedy when Tom's wife Agnes dies. But, their luck seems to change as they happen into Kingsbridge the same day the wooden roof of the old tumble down church burns down. The church is completely destoryed and Tom helps Father Phillip, the head monk of the small village, decide what to do to begin to solve the church's problem. So begins the building of the most amazing chuch rural England has ever seen.

Follett makes the reader appreciate the intricate detail and incredible work that the ancient builders experienced when creating their masterpieces. I'm not a builder, but I enjoyed the description of the hand labor that was required.

This incredible creation of beauty is surrounded by the squalor of the living conditions of many peasants of the day. The dicotome ( great word, right) of these two lives comes into play as Aliana enters the tale. She is the spoiled daughter of an Earl who loses his position when his castle is overtaken by William, a bully and a thug. This is allowed because of the political times. As William comes to claim the castle he also claims Aliana for his own by brutally raping her. Aliana and her brother Richard are penniless and lost. Yet, Aliana is resourceful and devises a way to regain some of their wealth by gathering the wool of the local farmers and taking it to market. Only to find that the sellers will not deal fairly with a young girl. Enter Father Phillip, he becomes the go between for the wool. And both Aliana and the Prior at Kingsbridge become very wealthy.

All of that takes about the first 100 pages of a 900+ page book.

It is so worth it!! I was enthralled from beginning to end! This is one I would gladly recommend for those who want to be lost in another time and life. It made me appreciate my hot shower, warm food and privacy!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Well - I finished it!! And I have to say it's as wonderful as I expected. There are so many pieces tied up - things that I only 1/2 remembered. As those ends are mended - you see Harry and his friends grow and change and grow again!
I completely loved it!!!!

I've read all the books outloud to Rod and we finished number 6 on Saturday. I am now reading Deathly Hallows to Rod. It's even better the second time around. I'm already making more connections...

I also spent a little time reading Harry blogs. Several things made sense that I had missed. But - it's a little disconcerting - people are so into these books. It makes me a little concerned for them - they need to get a life!!!

That's all I can say - but if you've read it and want to comment - I'd love to chat! :)

The Camel Club by David Baldacci

This is the book that proceeds The Collectors. I have to admit I liked The Collectors better. In this one you meet Oliver Stone, the leader of the Camel Club and self proclaimed truth seeker. He has a shady and unknown past. He is joined in the club by 3 other eccentric older Washington D.C. gentlemen, each seeking the truth in their own way. All that is well and good - they just seem like some eccentric old fuddy duddies - until they witness a murder and become embroiled in a mass cover-up and plot to kidnap the President.

You also meet Alex Ford, secret service veteran and fellow seeker of the truth. Alex is sent to investigate the death of a young fellow National Security worker. It is here that the Camel Club and Alex join forces - rather reluctantly.

What follows is terrorism turned on it's head. Terrorism for the sake of the world - not for any single government or country. But, things go astray as money is thrown into the mix. Not all the plotters are completely altruistic (sp).

Anyway, this is very political. I liked the more personal side of the second book. Although this introduction certainly made me feel a bit more sorry for Oliver Stone and the things he had to give up. That seems to be a theme in many Baldacci books - men pushed beyond the breaking point due to past losses.

So - a good read - but not my favorite..

Red River by Lalita Tademy

This was our July book club book. I can't decide how I felt about this one. It's well written and a great fictionalization of an actual event. But, it's really depressing. It's another example of the ways we (White Americans) have messed up the lives of others. I kept wondering how I can help improve this history. What can I do? How can I improve the lives of those around?

The book is a retelling of a Massacre that our history has called a riot. Blacks in Colfax, Louisiana voted Republican and the Democrats in power were unhappy with the change. So unhappy that they kidnapped the sheriff and stormed the court house. A place held by local blacks who were told that the Federals from New Orleans would be coming to help. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Instead 105 blacks were killed along with 3 whites. THe trials went all the way to the Supreme court and the innocence of the mob of whites was upheld. That's really hard to read and understand.

This book follows the Tademy family - the author's ancestors. They played a key role in the uprising and the following years in the Colfax area - including starting a black school.

i think it's really important to read this - but it didn't make it any easier!!!

07/07

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

Another AMAZING Picoult book.

Mariah is totally smitten by her husband. Unfortunately he doesn't feel quite the same way about her. When she and her daughter Faith catch him in their bedroom with another woman the marriage is officially over. Seven years earlier Mariah completely fell apart to the point of suicide after the same kind of an incident. THis time she has Faith and things are different and completely the same.

As Mariah fights to keep her sanity Faith begins to talk to an imaginary friend, her Gaurd. When Faith begins spouting scripture from the Old Testament Mariah realizes there is something not quite right. See, they are complete unbelievers - not just lapsed Jews or Christians, but unbelievers. So, Faith has never heard any verses from the Bible.

As Mariah tries to find an answer to Faith's 'problem' word that she is seeing God and a female God at that begins to leak out. People gather at Faith's home - a cult, a group of Catholics for a female God, and Ian Thompson the unevangelist for Aethists.


That is the scene. Catholics begin researching to see if she is really speaking to God - Jewish leaders question her connection as does her father - especially after she begins to bleed from her hands. And she begins healing people - including bringing her Jewish grandma back from the dead!!

Through the entire story I kept wondering....who would God appear to? Is a 7 year old all that unusual? Would I hear the voice if God appeared to me? And what about this bleeding - could that really happen?

This is one of those very thought provoking books that keeps you wondering. I loved it!!!

07/07

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I had a really hard time with this book. It is a fast read with short paragraphs and sparse description. That wasn't the problem. Instead the very idea of a nameless father and son traveling on a deteriating road through a bleak nuclear winter to a completely unknown future was difficult.

The characters show us the best and the worst of humanity. The father has to juggle impossible options - 1 bullet left in the gun and two starving travelers. Do you shoot your son to put him out of misery? Can you/could you do that? And what about saving this "good guy" from the cannibles day after day after day.

The boy is the voice of hope and kindness. It is he who reminds his father to help the old man, to give the thief back his clothes and to try to help the trapped innocents.

But, my goodness. What a world. What a future. What an ending. I read and read with my Afterschool special hopes - wanting some redemption for this struggling pair. They were constantly on the lookout for the good guys - but would they have recoginzed them if they found them. It appears they didn't. At least maybe...

I have to believe that is some sort of hope. The road doesn't end - it is all in your attitude on the journey. Each time it looked impossible - something happened to keep them going. That is what I hold on to. No matter how bleak our own future - I believe there is someone watching over the entire plan. Whether I make it to the end of the road or not - I know God is watching and I will be with him. That is what gives me the faith and the hope to begin each day again. I think the boy understood that.

So, dear reader - what do you think? Do you have the stuff to carry the flame? I have to believe that I would try.

06/07

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

What an amazing book. This story takes you back to carnival life in the 30s. A time when the trains pulled the circuses across the country. A time when people really did run away with the circus. And that is exactly the story this book tells - a young man, Jacob Jancowicz, who runs away from the life he's known. He is in the last two weeks of college when tragedy strikes - his parents are killed in an car accident and the bank actually owns everything. Instead of taking the final exams he simply walks out of the testing room and doesn't stop until he climbs aboard a train.

And his new life begins with the circus. He doesn't quite fit - he is educated and from a happy family. He immediately finds friends and enemies. Something he has never experienced before. He also is able to follow his love of animals as he cares for the varied animals in the menagerie. And he discovers a deep and forbidden love for another of the performers.

This was an amazing story - it chugged down the track quickly and with the same sense of anticipation and excitement that a real trip to the circus would have! The end is just as unexpected and as the final show under the big top!! I loved this!!!

06/07

The Collectors By: David Baldacci

This was another very quick read. I have read other Baldacci’s, but this pulled me in more than others.

The story is about a peculiar group of people who are collectors of one sort or another. The story begins by following two completely separate stories -one about a con and the other a killer in Washington D.C.

I don’t want to say much - because I don’t want to give anything away. But, this is the second in the series of the Camel Club and it won’t be the last!!

06/07

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I read this years and years ago and can’t believe how much I forgot! It was a great June read!

The last time I read it, I wasn’t a parent. It makes things happen completely differently as I read it through a parents’ eyes. Atticus was an amazing man. My favorite line is ...”Atticus is the same on the street as he is in the courtroom.” I’ve thought about that so often. Could my children describe me the same way? Am I the same in the classroom as at home?

I had forgotten a lot of the parts that tie the story together - only remembering sketchily how the story connects.

I would strongly recommend this one for a great read again - or a wonderful introduction to life in the south a long time ago!!

May book club

06/07

The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff

The time is WWII Prague. Emma is a shy, poor Jewish girl who meets an amazing and passionate young man, Jacob. Jacob sees her hidden away in the books of the library and they fall passionately in love. Then the war interfers with their new life.

Jacob joins the resistance and sends Emma to his Catholic aunt on the edges of Prague. Emma changes her name to Anna and begins working in Nazi headquarters for the Kommandant. 

So begins the next phase of Emma/Anna’s life. She is scared beyond all she knows that she will be discovered and killed. Here is a Jewish girl in the heart of Prague’s Nazi center.

But, Emma finds strength in a way she did not expect. She finds love in the Krysia’s house (the older aunt) caring for an orphaned child. She is able to slowly do more and more for the resistance as she discovers the Kommandan’ts secrets. But Anna has her secrets as well. As the Kommandant notices her again and again she must make very difficult choices that affect her life and the life of Jacob. Her choices will come to change her and the lives of many around her.

This is a great read - not easy, but thought provoking. It makes you wonder what choices you would make for the greater good...Sitting in the middle of Iowa the path looks clear - would it if the war swirled through our own world???

Excellent!!

05/07

Leon and the Champion Chip by Allen Kurzweil

Leon is back and better than ever. This time his Spitting Image is Lumpkin the class bully. Leon waits for the first day of school - anticipating the revenge he will finally have. But - his powers seem to have disappeared.

So begins the scientific research on how to repower the image. Leon is helped by PW and Lily-Matisse in this quest. A new teacher is added to the Classical school - Mr. Sparks. Sparks is the new science teacher. He begins the year by combining students passions with science - when he discovers Leon’s passion is potato chips that becomes the course of study for the rest of the year. The class uses potato chips to test, to learn about classification, taxonomy, chemical and electrical energy, aerodynamics, optics, acidity, wireless communication, recycling, ballistics and cosmology. But, parents are not happy with this study and with the teacher that is leading the students. Leon and his helpers must save Sparks career while celebrating the amazing potato chip.

I loved this as much as Leon and the Spitting Image. Leon is still strugging to fit in and to avoid Lumpkin. But, this book shows the 3 maturing and moving beyond their own selves to help out in the larger world!! A fun and funny read!

05/07

The Tenth Circle by: Jodi Picoult

This is a little different than other Picoult books I’ve read. Interspersed throughout this book is a graphic novel written by the main character, Daniel Stone, that mirrors the story. It adds to the authenticity of the story.

I must admit, I had a hard time with this book. It’s about the tragedies of a 14 year-old. It was hard to read as the mother of a 15 year-old. But, I wanted to see how the characters moved through the events.

It was not a happy story and didn’t end with all the problems tied into a neat bow. It was a story of a journey both internally and across the country. As the characters moved from the safety of what they knew in Bethel, Maine to the absolute unknown of Bethel, Alaska they each changed. Mom - Laura, Dad - Daniel and Daughter - Trixie, will never be the same. What they each learned on the journey became the most important part of this story.

So - can I recommend it?? Not whole heartedly or without reservation. But, it is a story that haunts me and causes me to continue to pause and look more closely at the relationships in my own family.

01/07

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

cover image from LibraryThing

I started reading the Harry Potter books out loud to my family (my husband, 15 year old and 10 year old daughters) this summer when we were on vacation. We had almost finished this one when the summer was over - so we put it away and forgot about it. This weekend we made a 4 hour trip to Omaha and brought the book out again.

These books are great read alouds. There is enough action to keep the story moving and the same characters keep visiting the story. But, more than that we connect with the characters and want to watch them grow and win.

So - on the way to Omaha we finished this story. We heard Harry battle Voldemort as the young man - Tom Riddle. We squirmed together as the Basilisk haunted Hogwarts. And dreaded his return to the Dursleys after the school term.

This is the 3rd time I’ve read the book - once to myself and twice aloud - once to my husband and once to the whole family. And I would happily read it again to my grandchildren in the distant future!!!

11/06