Summary of August's Adventures

I spent less time amongst the pages of books this month than I have in the last couple of months, but my August adventures were no less worthwhile. I traveled the world and through time, ducked a few physical and magical blows, tracked down the bad guys, and breathed in the ocean air. August found me in the middle of Manhattan's drug scene, trying to uncover the motive of the suspicious deaths of two teenagers. I got an inside look into a sexual assualt and murder investigation on the campus of the Air Force Academy. I walked the streets of Washington D.C., in hopes of catching a serial killer that preys on the young. As the middle of the month approached, I took time out to reflect on life and what it offers: the love and the loss, spending time with a grieving family, a man who nearly faced death, and a young woman who is stricking out on her own. I then traveled to the 14th century where I joined up with a group of God's chosen as they began the journey to discover and carry out their divine purpose. I ended the day in the present time, visiting old friends, as we fought black magic side by side. I had planned to visit a little town in Lake District in England this month, but that wasn't to be. Over all, I would say I was busy enough!

I think next I'll travel to Minnesota and visit my old friends, the Monkeewrench gang and their friends in the Minneapolis Police Department.

Happy Reading!

Review of Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

2006, RoC
404 pgs
Fantasy
Rating: (Very Good)

First Sentence: Blood leaves no stain on a Warden’s grey cloak.

Reason for Reading: I wanted to visit with my old friend, Harry Dresden. This is by far one of my favorite series to read.

Comments: I know a handful of fellow booklovers who do not like reading book series for one reason or another. Most say that they do not enjoy having a story drawn out over many books, lose interest in the characters, and one or two have gone so far as to suggest that reading series books is a waste of time with so many different authors out there whose books they would like to try. I think they have commitment issues, myself. Seriously though, I like revisiting familiar characters—it’s almost like visiting an old friend. Most of the series books I read can stand alone if the reader is only interested in the main story line. There are usually personal or side story lines that thread throughout the books in a series. I have found, however, that I prefer to read a series in order simply for the opportunity to see the characters grow and progress through their lives. Not to mention it’s an opportunity to see an author grow as well.

With every book of the Dresden Files series I have read, I am amazed at the talent Jim Butcher has for sucking a reader in right from the start and not letting go until the very last page. His previous books have often been nonstop action and suspense. Although this latest novel is chalk full of suspense and life threatening, it also offers a moment here and there for the heart rate to stabilize before the next heart racing moment begins. This provides for the opportunity to get to know some of the regular characters a little better, delving into their relationships with Harry, including gaining insight into Charity’s obvious dislike for Harry.

Chicago’s modern day wizard, Harry Dresden, is now a Warden of the White Council, a position he never thought he would find himself in. As a warden, it is one of his jobs to enforce the Laws of Magic, laws that were designed to protect people from the misuse and abuse of magic. Often times the punishment for breaking one of the laws is death.

With the war between the Red Court vampires and the White Council raging around the world, Harry is given the secret task of trying to find out why the faeries have not joined in the fight as expected. He doesn’t relish having to interact with the Sidhe again, however, he is the only one who might be able to get to the bottom of the matter. As is typical in Harry’s world, nothing is ever simple. To complicate matters, Harry finds out that black magic is afoot in his city, and he must find and stop it before too much damage can be done. It seems that the evildoers from horror movies are coming to life, attacking and murdering people at a convention for horror movie fans. It becomes even more personal for him when the life of the daughter of his good friend Michael is threatened. Once again, Harry finds himself racing against time to come out ahead—and almost all the odds are against him.

Author Jim Butcher has delivered another great urban fantasy that had me racing through the pages to find out would happen next. I look forward to the next book in the series to see where Mr. Butcher will take me next. I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the next book!

Favorite Part: I adore Mouse. He’s such a great character and who wouldn’t want him on his or her side in a pinch?

Miscellaneous: When I hit the half way mark in this particular book, a hint of sadness touched my thoughts. With this book, I am all caught up in the series and will now have to wait for any new books to come out. I am eagerly awaiting the TV series that is being made based on the Dresden Files—I hope it is even half as good as the books.

Review of The Strength of the Sun by Catherine Chidgey

2000, Picador
270 pgs
Fiction
Rating: (Very Good)


First Sentence: One Sunday morning in 1988, a bite was taken from the sun.

Reason for Reading: When going through the list of possible books to review for Curledup.com, I came upon this title. It seemed different than the other books I was considering reviewing and sounded interesting. I decided to give it a try.

Comments: In The Strength of the Sun, the character Patrick Mercer stated, “‘My point is: a book can provide a link to other lives, a window to another time. It can illuminate the past.’” And in the case of Catherine Chidgey’s novel, this book has done just that.

Patrick Mercer, a curator at a university museum in England, left his wife in 1988, the day after the solar eclipse. Through Patrick’s love and knowledge of the history of manuscripts and the occasional myth, Chidgey was able to incorporate interesting tidbits about those topics throughout the novel. After driving his car off a bridge and into the river, Patrick suddenly finds himself in a hospital. Patrick drifts in and out of consciousness. Snatches of childhood memories fill his dreams as friends read to him from his bedside.

The day of the eclipse turned out to be a life-changing one for the Pearse family, when 15-year-old Laura goes missing in New Zealand. She had set out to watch the eclipse from the wind turbine and was never to be seen again. Six years after her disappearance, her parents, Ruth and Malcolm, give birth to a son, Daniel, who appears to have special needs. Ruth and Malcolm go through the motions of living, each in their own way, the grief and loss of their daughter never completely leaving them. Author Catherine Chidgey’s most powerful portion of the novel came through in the story of the Pearse family and their loss. It was a story that pierced the heart.

And then there is Colette, a young twenty-one year old who wants nothing more than to be out on her own, far away from her mother. She yearns to shed the clutter of the past and spread her own wings. Her mother, on the other hand, wants only to hold on tightly to everything possible, surrounding herself with memories and objects.

The book opens with a letter Colette receives from the friends of Patrick Mercer, a form letter describing his health, promising future updates, and encouraging correspondence to Patrick whether by tape or letter so that he can hear from those out there who care about him. Colette has not a clue who Patrick is, searching her memories, imagining he might be someone she met on a trip overseas.

It is from there that the seemingly unrelated pieces of a puzzle begin to fit together to form a complete portrait. Chidgey successfully integrates the past with the present. The narrative flowed back and forth in time, the lives of the various characters at first appearing to be separate, however coming together in unexpected ways. This was similar on a more personal level as well; the characters themselves seemed to gravitate toward being alone, being separate, only to be drawn together, and feel the need to connect with others as the novel progressed.

The author’s descriptive style flowed smoothly for the most part, with only a slow moment here and there. The Strength of the Sun is a novel about love and loss as well as the connectedness and distance between people. It is well worth taking the time to read. Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Wendy Runyon, 2006

Favorite Part: The story of Ruth and Malcolm, Daniel and their memories of Laura.

Least Favorite Part: I wasn’t too fond of Colette as a character. I found her to be a rather dry.

Miscellaneous: My move to the day shift may be delayed. I hope management decides to tell me one way or the other before the day I was told I would be starting my new schedule. I don't mind continuing on my current shift for awhile longer. I just don't like the limbo. Why is it that these kinds of decisions are put off until the very last minute?

First DNF of the Year

Haweswater by Sarah Hall
Harper Perennial, 2002
267 pgs.
Historical Fiction
DNF (Did Not Finish)

First Sentence: The sound of water slipping through the wooden spokes of the cartwheels was like a slow, soft-washing hum.

Reaon For Reading: I was selected by the publishing company, Harper Collins to preview the novel for their First Look Program.

From Publishers Weekly: Mardale, the remote British hamlet where Hall's remarkable debut novel is set, is a close-knit community of tenant farmers "where grand events and theatrical schemes rarely take place." So when a handsome stranger arrives in 1936, suspicions run high among the hardworking villagers. Jack Liggett is up-front about his plans for Mardale: he has come to inform the villagers that their homes would soon be at the bottom of a massive reservoir. According to Liggett, the dam associated with the project will be a "wonderful piece of architecture and engineering." But the villagers, who view the project as "so strange and vast that at first it was not taken seriously," resist, setting off a losing struggle between the insular community and the modern world. Caught in the middle is Janet Lightburn, the daughter of a local farmer, who begins a tempestuous and tragic romance with Jack. A Booker Prize finalist for her second novel, The Electric Michelangelo, (published in the U.S. in 2005), Hall is a talented writer, and though U.S. readers may have trouble with the phonetically rendered dialogue ("Twa Pund. Eh? Yan more ootstanding' "), the story, with its undertones of loss and grief, tugs at the heart. (Oct.)

Comments: After three unsuccessful tries, I finally made the decision to set aside Sarah Hall's Haweswater. I was selected to preview the novel for Harper Collins First Look Program (although I honestly cannot remember putting my name in for this one), and so feel a slight sense of guilt that I wasn't even able to reach page 47 before calling it quits.

From the very first, I knew that reading the book would require more of my attention because of the heavy descriptive writing style the author used. I actually enjoyed the prologue of the book, as a farmer comes to the conclusion that this will be his very last visit to the valley that once was his home but which is now flooded with water. There was a feeling of loss and sadness that came off the pages in that first section. I was hopeful then that I would be able to enjoy the novel, however, I quickly found myself bored, the story dragged down by the description, and my attention waned considerably.

I do not easily give up on books. I have found some real treasures among books that take a while to get off the ground so to speak. And yet, there comes a time when I realize that going on is not worth the effort. I read for pleasure, and if I force myself to read a book I am not enjoying, it takes the fun out of it. With the plethora of books available right at my finger tips, there is little point in wasting time on a book that doesn't catch my fancy after all.

I see promise in Haweswater, and I do hope to return to it in the future. So many factors play a part in making a good match between a reader and a book, including where a person is in his or her life at any given moment. There are some books I know from the very start that I probably won't like at any time in my life, but this is one that I may make a connection with at another time.

Miscellaneous: It's been a day and a half since I last cracked open a book to read after deciding to give up on Sarah Hall's novel. My husband and I have been watching the second season of Veronica Mars on DVD, which has kept me from making the final decision on what to read next: Jim Butcher or P.J. Tracy. Choices, choices . . .

Review of The Begotten by Lisa T. Bergren

2006, Berkley Praise
384 pgs
Christian Thriller
Rating: (Good)


First Sentence: “This way, Your Grace,” whispered a monk ahead of him, gesturing toward a room bathed in shadows.

Reason for Reading: I was asked to review this particular book for the Front Street Reviews website.

Comments: The Begotten is the first novel in a trilogy by author Lisa T. Bergren. It is the story of an ordinary group of people who discover that they have exceptional God-given gifts that are both miraculous and great in nature. The Gifted, as they are known, are called to come together for a divine purpose outlined in a centuries’ old letter from Paul, which has remained hidden and relatively unnoticed.

The book opens in eighth century Constantinople, as a priest, in his final act before being carried off to the pyre, asks his apprentice to take a letter from a holy manuscript and travel to Roma, where both will be safe. The Church’s hold on the people tightens, as the desire for power becomes more important than faith, and some in the Church seek to become more important than God.

The story picks up again six centuries later as Captain Gianni de Capezzana leads twenty-four knights of the Church into the catacombs in Roma where they discover just how powerful and diabolical their enemy can be. Gianni is determined to hunt down the evil Sorcerer wherever it may lead him. It is on that pursuit for the evildoer that his path crosses with a band of travelers on their way to Siena: the independent and strong-willed Lady Daria d’Angelo, who is gifted with the ability to heal; her faithful servant, the freed slave Hasani, who seems to have a talent for knowing what is to come; and a wise Dominican priest, Father Piero, who possesses a portion of the prophecy, believed to be written by Paul.

In the novel, which gets off to a slow start as the author builds the foundation for what will become a suspenseful, fast paced and intriguing story, the Gifted begin the difficult task of not only fortifying their stronghold, the home of noblewoman Lady Daria d’Angelo whose business and political clout are being threatened by outside forces, and finding worthy supporters to their cause. The chosen ones recognize immediately that their enemies will not only attack them physically, but also on a spiritual level. With the guidance of the priest Father Piero, the group find themselves questioning some of their long held beliefs and religious practices, as they reinforce their spiritual strength.

Furthermore, their enemies are vast. Not only does a confrontation with the evil Sorcerer seem imminent, but the Gifted know a threat lies with the Church as well, who will not easily tolerate a challenge to what they perceive as their religious power over the people.

Lisa T. Bergren has created the beginning of a tale that will resonant with many Christian readers, and perhaps some non-Christians as well. The author is well researched in her knowledge and interpretation of the scriptures. She has created characters who are easy to identify and empathize with, although many of the characters were two dimensional. There was very little gray area between good vs. evil. The Begotten is the promising start of what will be an entertaining trilogy.

Favorite Part: The scene in the piazza when Daria comes face to face with the Sorcerer.

Miscellaneous: Christian fiction is not really my cup of tea and so it was with some hesitation that I decided to give this particular book a try. I'm glad I decided to take a chance on it.