Book Review: A Tale For The Time Being

"It made me feel sad when I caught myself pretending that everybody out there in cyberspace cared about what I thought, when really nobody gives a shit. And when I multiplied that sad feeling by all the millions of people in their little rooms, furiously writing and posting to their lonely little pages that nobody has time to read because they're all so busy writing and posting, it kind of broke my heart."

Wow, this book was deep. It took me to deep places. From attempted suicides, tsunamis, earthquakes, ghosts, kamikaze pilots, and great-grandmother Zen Buddhist nuns. From a small, lonely island off the western coast of Canada to the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. A Tale For The Time Being follows the lives of two separate women, who are strangers to each other. Naoki or "Nao" as she's called is a poor Japanese teenager who is relentlessly bullied. Nao decides to write the life story of her 104-year-old great-grandmother who lives in a Zen Buddhist temple. Somehow the notebook ends up washing up on the shore of the Canadian island where Ruth calls home. Ruth is half-Japanese and an author and is immediately drawn in to the lives of Nao and her family.The notebook becomes a total enigma.

I loved this book. I wanted to savor every moment of it and yet devour it at the same time. It's really hard to describe the book or the way it made me think and feel. It had an esoteric feeling to it and I couldn't help feel that I was reading something profound. Like secrets of the universe were hidden inside its pages. Yet, the book had humor. It also had incredible sadness and depth. Sometimes, the story even got a bit spooky. How can a book have so much to offer and really be so complex, yet be written in such a neat and clean manner? ...and yet also have a quirkiness to it?

The author, Ruth Ozeki, did an amazing job. Half way through I went on AbeBooks and bought her other two novels, My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. Does anyone else ever feel like sometimes you buy a book, but then lose the yearning to read it right away? Then it sits on your shelf for maybe weeks, months, or years and you almost forget it's there. Then one day, that book just pops in your head and you are all the sudden out-of-the-blue compelled to read it right away. You must read it now and you don't know why. That's what this book did to me. It's like once you finish reading one of those books, you think "this was the right time to read, if I would have read it when I first acquired it, it wouldn't have been the same." It's like books come into your life for a reason and if you follow those sudden yearnings, it's almost always the right time.

I am giving A Tale For The Time Being 5 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Gods Without Men

Short Review:

This novel was really deep and confusing at times. Gods Without Men is a New Age-y tale with multiple narrators and main characters. Some of the characters lived a hundred or more years ago while many of them are modern day people. The one thing that all the characters have in common are visits to a set of mysterious and possibly mystical rocks somewhere in the Mojave Desert. Much of the book revolves around one family in particular, The Matharus. The Matharus are a mixed-race couple, Jas is of Indian descent and his wife is Jewish. Their son, Raj, is autistic and doesn't speak, focus, and responds negatively to touch. He's known for having loud outbursts and tantrums. When the family is kicked out of a fancy resort because of Raj's behavior they end up in a shady motel in the California Desert. On a trip to see The Pinnacles, the odd rock formation, Raj disappears seemingly into thin air. 

Gods Without Men is a really great book, especially for anyone with an interest in New Age topics. There's a heavy focus on UFOs. I loved the multiple narratives and how many of the characters lives would intersect. I don't feel like the ending was fully explained, where exactly did Raj go? I guess not fully explaining does add to the esoteric-feel of the book, it leaves your mind open to ponder and draw your own conclusions. I am giving 4 out 5 stars to Gods Without Men. It's been on To-Read list for a while and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

Book Review: Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2)

Shadow of Night is the second book in the All Souls Trilogy. This installment finds Matthew and Diana back in Matthew's old home of 1590 London. There we meet some of Matthew's famous friends during the time, including his employer, Queen Elizabeth I. Matthew and Diana are still on the search for the elusive manuscript, Ashmole 782. Their search takes them from Elizabethan England to Prague. 

I honestly did not enjoy this one as much as the first. I loved the first one, mostly because of the scholarly atmosphere of Oxford that the book was set in. I didn't enjoy the location or the time period this book was set in. I've never been interested in historic London. I enjoy books set in modern London, but not so much historical fiction set in the city. However, even the story line wasn't as interesting as the first one to me. It was good, but compared to the first it falls short a bit. 

I found I did enjoy the parts set in Prague a bit more. The change of setting was nice. I also enjoyed the addition of the characters of the children, Jack and Annie. Most of the parts I enjoyed featured them, especially little Jack. I will miss them if they don't somehow make an appearance in the third book. 

In this book, I also found I liked Matthew a lot less. He reminded me of Edward Cullen. Just so mercurial and really like an overgrown whiny baby. I guess those are stereotypical vampire love interest traits. But, ugh! There were points where I was wondering what Diana could see him other than he's rich and apparently their fated (or more like doomed) to be together. 

Despite a few annoyances (the setting and Matthew) I did enjoy this book and I do look forward to the next, The Book of Life. I pre-ordered it on Amazon and I am interested to see how the story will end and if they will ever find Ashmole 782 and discover its secrets (if any).

 I am giving Shadow of Night 3 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)

Oh my God... okay so, this book is like grown-up Twilight. It has everything vampires, witches, time-travel, scholarly-things, France, England, upstate New York, demons, magical realism... 

I know it sounds like it could be a mess, but everything is so well done and nicely written. First, I love books about scholars. A Discovery of Witches follows Diana Bishop who is an Oxford historian who specialises in alchemistry. Diana is also a witch. In the book's world vampires, witches, and demons all are real and co-exist together pretty well for the most part. 

When Diana accidentally comes across an ancient manuscript that went missing centuries ago, she becomes the interest of all the world's creatures. The problem is Diana didn't realize the manuscript's importance so she returned it to Oxford's Bodleian Library, where no one can seem to find it again. It's then that she meets vampire Matthew Clairmont. Matthew and Diana fall in love, despite Diana's mistrust of vampires. Things get complicated because vampires and witches falling in love is forbidden by an ancient contract between the creatures. They leave Oxford for Matthew's family estate in Saint Lucien, France. After Matthew being threatened by an enemy vampire and Diana kidnapped by a fellow witch, they then leave for Diana's home in Madison, New York where it is eventually decided that they should hide back in time (though this book ends as they are leaving for the 16th century).

This book was just so good and I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I look forward to reading the next one as this is the first in the trilogy. It really had something for everybody and I remained interested all the way through.

Book Review: The Dark Mirror (The Bridei Chronicles #1)

Today The Book Babe welcomes guest blogger, Jackie Pifer. Jackie is a dear school friend of mine! She's a fellow 20-something bookworm currently residing here in Central Florida.

The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier

Book one of The Bridei Chronicles 4 out of 5 stars

As a fan of fantasies, epic fantasies in particular, The Dark Mirror was certainly right up my alley. I have not had the pleasure of reading one of Juliet Marillier’s books yet, and The Dark Mirror was my first. It held everything I could have asked for: blood, angst, geography, historical value (however fictional it might be), love, loss, magic, and magical creatures. Although it did most certainly contain these essential elements, it did fall flat at some points. I gave this book 4 out of five stars, but to be completely honest it at times deserved less. Don’t get me wrong, this was a fantastic book. Marillier has a way with words that I can only be jealous of. Her comprehension of how to put historical fact and fantastical fiction together was absolutely seamless. I just wish there was more.. and less.

I wish there was more to Bridei, one of the two foremost characters. I deeply wished him to portray more flaws and less perfection and more magical ability, especially considering his druidic training. As well, I wished for Tuala to have shown more of her capabilities (and backbone). It irked me that this master author skirted on truly describing magic in general. Her characterization was lovely, but lackluster when it came to putting me under a spell from her wondrous tale. I wish there was less. Less of Broichen being so bullheaded. It became ridiculous and not believable to the point where I wanted to skip his parts. I wish there were less parts that were not described with detail and only shown as flashes of a vision or memory. Yes, less of that, and more descriptiveness! I also was not fond that some of the best characters were just passerby or fleeting at best. I loved Donal, Fokel, and Faolan. These three really brightened up the whole book and it was a damned shame that Marillier barely scratched the surface with them.

I will most certainly be picking up the other books in this series. There is no doubt in my mind that I must get them. The Bridei Chronicles have intrigued me and I would like to see what comes next. I hope that whatever paths are explored next within books 2 & 3 are just as good, and better, than what I have read thus far.

-- J.P.

Book Review: The Fury and The Terror

Hmm... okay. So, I'm trying to gather my thoughts so that I can adequately, coherently, and fairly review this book. A little background on how the book came to me first. My sweety pie, Jeremiah, borrowed this book to me. I didn't ask for a book to borrow, but one evening he had two books sitting on his coffee table for me that he apparently thought I'd enjoy. He and I have pretty different taste in books, though we have found some "common denominators" in books we've read in the past. He prefers "spy novels" and I prefer... well, anything really as long as it's words on a page with a good enough story line. I just have never read a spy book or a book where guns or war- for example- play a heavy role in the overall theme. When he handed me this book, I wasn't really sure if I would like it or what to expect, but I trust his opinion in books and am always looking to expand my reading horizons.

Also, how awkward is it when a friend or significant other gives you a book that they loved and you read it and find it subpar? Yikes. Jeremiah said, "I re-read this book at least once a year." Okay, so there's a lot of pressure for me to like this book. 

So, I went home and began reading. In the beginning, I was confused. I had no idea what's going on and it wasn't so enjoyable. However, with the introduction of the character of Eden Waring, which comes very early in the book, I really started enjoying it. Now, let me go back to the confusing part. This is probably not the author's fault, but rather Jeremiah's fault. He forgot one important detail about the book- it's the second in the series. By the time, he remembered I was already over 100 pages in. No turning back now. In retrospect, I do wish I would have stopped and went back and read the first, The Fury. Even during the last few pages of the book, I still was confused and had questions about some things. Luckily, the book was good enough that my confusion wasn't enough for me to want to put it down.

I think the female characters are what really kept me going. I really enjoyed Eden, Rona, and Bertie. Even though Rona was one of the "bad guys" she was one of my favorite characters. See, I wish I could describe the book, but I really can't. I don't really know where to start as there's so much going on. Also, some things I just don't know because oops, I didn't read the first one. To best sum up- very superficially- what's happening I'll use part of the Goodreads description, "The United States is besieged by terrorists- terrorists who work from within The White House itself. Their weapon of choice is a type of mind control not even dreamed of years ago." Psychic capabilities play a large role in the story. For that, I really liked the sci-fi elements. 

The author is definitely a great storyteller. I loved how the book could go from super-intense to almost humorous. Almost like The X-Files, but in book format. I *hate* to reference television shows while writing book reviews (not) which some kind person on Goodreads chastised me for. I can't be the only person who while watching a movie is reminded of a book, or while reading a book is reminded of a TV show or even a song. Is that such a crime? 

Anyways, I do plan on getting around to reading the first book in the series eventually. I'm giving The Fury and The Terror 4 out of 5 stars. I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable and interesting it was.