The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

I have been a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis for as long as I can remember. My mother loved the books when she was growing up and she passed that love on down to me. with 2007 coming to a close I was feeling a little nostalgic and decided to pick up The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for a quick re-read. (Plus with Prince Caspian soon being made into a movie it will be a good refresher before I reread that book as well.)

This book still had all of the wonder and magic that it had for me when I was a kid. In fact, the book probably means more to me now then it did then. Because now I can understand all the various undertones of the story. When I first read the book I was too young to understand all that was going on under the surface of the main plot. So, to be able to see and digest all the many layers made the book more rewarding and enjoyable. This is a great series and I plan on re-reading the rest of the books at some point in 2008.

In Short: As enjoyable to read now as it was when I was child. If not more so since now I understand the subplots and the allegory of it all.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Next Up: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker

I picked Blink of an Eye up on a whim on a recent trip to the library. I read the cover and it sounded like an interesting story. Boy meets girl, boy helps girl out run even suppressive muslim type people who want to drag her back to her country.

What I got was this weird book with a supernatural twist that just didn't seem to jive with the story as a whole, came out of no where, had no explanation and just defied any sense of believability. Perhaps if I had known about this little twist when I picked up the book it wouldn't have been so bad. But as I was unprepared for it every time Seth "saw" all the possible futures I just rolled my eyes and thought 'here we go again.' This ability of Seth's allowed him and Mirim to defy all odds to escape and outwit the various people who where chasing them (government agents, assassins, and the like). Therefore the book was less interesting me than if Seth had been able to outwit all these people/groups using just his wits alone. After all Seth was supposed to be some sort of genious, yet his intellect didn't come into play as much as his ability to see the future.

Overall I was disappointed in this novel. I excepted a fun little adventure book and it just never delievered. After reading this I'll probably think twice about picking up another book by Ted Dekker.


In Short: Kind of a blah novel with a random supernatural twist that never quite seemed believable.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Next Up: The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

I first became aware of this book when I saw previews for the movie. Since I like to read the books that movies are based on before I see the film I was happy to find a copy available on BookMooch.

I wasn't expecting a lot from this novel. It falls into the chick lit genre after all so I was just hoping to be entertained. And in that the book didn't fail. I found myself laughing out loud and even coming close to tears. I love the idea that someone could love someone else so much that even when they knew that they were dying they did everything they could so that they could help the person left behind to cope. Gerry did this with Holly through letters.

The letters where never very long but they all contained a simple message. Some small task for Holly to do to help her move on after he died. Little things like to buy a new outfit or to do something out of character and sing at kareoke. The letters were enough to bring Holly through that first year without the love of her life. Holly has her ups and downs but she gets through it. PS I Love You is a quick read and doesn't go into anything too deep but it was enjoyable for what it was.

In Short: Your standard chick lit fare. Light hearted, not much substance but still fun.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Next Up: Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker

An Irish Christmas by Melody Carlson

An Irish Christmas by Melody Carlson is a story that is told from two different points of view, that of the two main characters: Colleen Fitzgerald and her son Jaime. The story takes place in the early 1960s shortly after the loss of Colleen's husband.

I was really excited about this book but found myself disappointed in it. I often felt that the dialog was a little forced. Especially when it came to inserting slag words from the day. The plot was also horrible predictable and the characters would get on my nerves. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to reach through the pages to smack Jaime for the way that he acted towards his mother. This boy dropped out of school and lied to his parents for years.....yet he when he told his mother he got angry at her when she was upset with him for the lies. He would then blow up other little things that she would do into bigger deals then they wore for nothing else but to make her feel bad. Yet through it all she would forgive him and often agree that he was right to be mad.

The story was a fairly quick read so for that I was thankful and the writing while not stellar could have been worse. While I am not sure if this is a book that I'd recommend to others I can't say that I regret the time that I spent reading it.

In Short: A short and predictable story that once read one will probably forget shortly thereafter.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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Next Up: PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

A Russian Diary by Anna Politkovskaya

Publisher: Random House

Source: Borrowed from library

Publication Date: 22 May 2007

Series or Standalone: Standalone

ISBN: 1400066824

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 400

Websites:

Anna Politkovskaya - Official Site/Wiki

Anna Politkovskaya - Blog

Anna Politkovskaya - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Russia

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

When I read the back of this book I was intrigued. A Russian Diary is a non-fiction work by a journalist who lived, worked and was murdered in Russia. As Russia is not a place that I know too much about I was eager to learn more of its history and politics.

This work was set up in the form of a diary. However, once you start to read it its clear that this is no actual diary. While I wasn't expecting any fluffy words along the lines of 'had tea with Aunt Svetlana today' I was expecting more real time entries. This was not the case. Its clear upon reading this 'diary' that the information recorded under each date was added long after the fact and events that happen later are often mentioned before their time.

As I mentioned I was eager to read this book. In the end though I was only able to make it through the first 100 pages before calling it quits. And just getting through those pages was a chore. Politkovskaya may have been a journalist but she tossed out any objectivity that she may have had out the window when writing this book. What I managed to read was filled with such hate against President Vladimir Putin and his regime that it was almost impossible to separate the facts from Politkovskaya's personal beliefs. To read her version Putin almost single handly ruined all that was good about Russia to serve his own needs.

Politkovskaya's may well be the way things really happened but I just couldn't bear to read the venom that was in her words. As much as I would like to know more about Russia and her history I think that I will have to search for another book to learn it from.

Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto

Publisher: Serpent's Tail

Source: Borrowed from library

Publication Date: 01 Apr 2006

Series or Standalone: Standalone

ISBN: 185242897X

Format: Paperback

Pages: 213

Websites:

Mia Couto - Official Site

Mia Couto - Blog

Mia Couto - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: Mozambique

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

First Line: War had killed the road thereabouts.

I had initially started to read the book Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell as it was suggested to me on the Go Review That Book! Group on Librarything.com. However just as I was starting to read it a few books that I had put on hold at the library came in so I put that book aside and began to read Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto.

I first heard about this book on Librarything and was intrigued by what people said about it. This book takes place entirely in a burnt out bus somewhere in Mozambique during the civil war that occurred there during the 1980's. The main story takes place between Muidinga a young boy and the older man, Tuahir, who takes it upon himself to care for him. Tuahir is a gruff character who cares deeply for Muidinga but doesn't like to show it openly. Instead he shows him with small actions rather than words the love that he feels. After leaving a refugee camp Tuahir and Muidinga wander Mozambique and eventually take refuge in a burnt out bus. While in the bus they find among the remain belongs a series of diaries and bond between the two grows as they lose themselves in the story that the diaries contain.

Sleepwalking Land is a powerful novel with a dream-like feel to it. In the hands of a less talented author this story would probably have been very disjointed. Couto manages to weave the two stories together in an almost seamless way. The characters are lovable as well as memorable as is the story that they tell. Sleepwalking Land is a short novel but its one whose message of the power of love and hope is one that stays will you long after the book is down. Couto has a beautiful way of speaking and I look forward to reading other novels by him.

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

Publisher: Three Rivers Press

Source: Purchased

Publication Date: 05 Dec 2006

Series or Standalone: Series

ISBN: 0307336824

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Websites:

Lisa Unger - Official Site

Lisa Unger - Blog

Lisa Unger - Twitter

Place(s) Traveled to: New York, New York // New Jersey

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

First Line: There were times when she wished he were dead.

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger is a story that calls into question a person's identity. What do you do when the world and life you thought you knew turned out to be based on a web of lies? The novel is told in the first person by Ridley Jones a free-lance writer whose life changes when she is in the right place at the right time and saves a child from getting hit by a car. This small act gives her 15 minutes of fame and brings her to the attention of a man claiming to be her father. That she was kidnapped on the night her mother was murdered. While some people might dismiss the story as coming from a crack pot looking for attention, Ridley does not. Instead it causes her to question everything that she thought was true.

Beautiful Lies is a debut novel for Unger and as such there are a few flaws with it. What I found most annoying while reading was that it was very repetitious. It seemed like every other page I turned Ridley was saying once again how her entire life was turned upside down by one small act. There were also times when it was hard to figure out the time line. The events were all in chronological order but the narration didn't always make it clear. Most of the time it seemed as though Ridley was talking about events as they happened...then every so often she would do a quick flash forward or backtrack. Although perhaps that's just a result of the fact that I get up so early these mornings to catch the train.

I also found it hard to fully engross myself in the events of the story. I couldn't ever seem to convince myself that it was real and could actually happen so that took a little something away from my enjoyment of the book. I like to immerse myself into the stories that I read whenever I can. Overall though this was a fast paced mystery (albeit an easy one to figure out) from a new author that shows promise. I look forward to reading more from Lisa Unger to seeing how her writing develops in the future.

Ridley Jones Series Order

Book 1: Beautiful Lies

Book 2: Sliver of Truth