The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

From the book cover:
Nothing goes right for Eloise. The one day she wears her new suede boots, it rains cats and dogs. When the subway stops short, she's always the one thrown into some stranger's lap. Plus, she's had more than her share of misfortune in the way of love. In fact, after she realizes romantic heroes are a thing of the past, she decides it's time for a fresh start.

Setting off for England, Eloise is determined to finish her dissertation on that dashing pair of spies, the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. But what she discovers is something the finest historians have missed: the secret history of the Pink Carnation - the most elusive spy of all time. As she works to unmask this obscure spy, Eloise stumbles across answers to all kinds of questions. How did the Pink Carnation save England from Napoleon? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly escape her bad luck and find a living, breathing hero all her own?
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This novel was recommended to me by one of my lunchtime book club members. She said it's fluff - perfect for vacation reading, I concur. It's great for holiday reading because you'll have no problem putting it down to go swimming, hiking, skiing or any other activity that's on your getaway itinerary.

Reading this novel, I felt like I was reading a dollar bin reject. The romantic scenes are so over done. Some of the plot lines make absolutely no sense. Did masked men commonly roam the streets of Paris and take ferries in the middle of the night in the 18th and 19th century? Since when is it romantic to shove your hand down a women's top on a ferry? Checking for bruises is a cheesy excuse. How can two people roll around on a boat in the throws of passion, with one of them wearing a mask? I had a hard time buying a lot of the plot that Lauren Willig was trying to sell.

Would I recommend this novel? No. It's not worth the time and the tums you'll have to take to keep your lunch down after reading the cringe-worthy love scenes. Some people have said this novel contains bits of comedic relief, I found none - unless you count all of the 'harrumphs', 'cracks','thumps','whumps' and other sounds littered throughout the novel. This novel isn't even at the level of a Harlequin.

2/5

The Bastard of Istanbul

                                                           From the book cover:
As an Armenian American living in San Francisco, Armanoush feels like part of her identity is missing and that she must make a journey back to the past, to Turkey, in order to start living her life. Aysa is a nineteen-year-old woman living in an extended all-female household in Istanbul who loves Johnny Cash and the French existentialists. The Bastard of Istanbul tells the story of their two families - and a secret connection linking them to a violent event in the history of their homeland. Filled with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it, and about Turkey itself.

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Elif Shafak is a storytelling and plot building genius. She jumps from continents and perspectives adding mystery and layers.

More than the characters, this novel is about Turkey. After this book was published, Elik Shafak was accused by the Turkish government of 'insulting Turkishness' and could have spent three years in prison, had the charges not been dropped.

Not knowing much about Turkey's history, this novel has awakened a desire to learn more. Jammed packed with characters and themes, it's easy to get distracted.

At the root of this novel is the question: How much does the past determine the future? Elif Shafak appears to answer this question in the closing pages of the novel.

Family stories intermingle in such ways that what happened generations ago can have an impact on seemingly irrelevant developments of the present day. The past is anything but bygone...If Levent Kazanci hadn't grown up to be such a bitter and abusive man, would his only son, Mustafa, have ended up being a different person? If generations ago in 1915 Shushan hadn't been left an orphan, would Aysa today still be a bastard? p. 356

The Bastard of Istanbul isn't for everyone. It took me two tries to get into it. At the close of the first quarter I was hooked despite having to spend a great deal of time trying to figure out how the characters were all connected. The 19-year jump didn't help matters. Nevertheless, I am glad that I made the effort to read this novel.

Novels like this are why I love to read. I've learned about a country and two cultures and hadn't previously given much thought to.

3.5/5

Frangipani

From the book cover:
Materena Mahi, a professional cleaner and the best listener in all of Tahiti, is usually the one solving the problems. But right now she is having trouble with her daughter Leilani, who no longer wants to do what her mother tells her. This colourful slice of Tahitian life is filled with wisdom, laughter - and two of the most stubborn women you will ever meet.
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Set on the beautiful island of Tahiti, Célestine Hitiura Vaite's Frangipani is a beautiful story about a mother's relationship with her daughter. The reader is privy to Materena and her female relatives' joys, heartaches and nail-biting fears as they struggle to impart Tahitian traditions, legends, customs and social etiquettes on their daughters.

Vaite is a natural storyteller. Most of the story is told from Materena's perspective with very few exceptions. Materena is an expert in two areas - Tahitian people and cleaning. When some thing is on her mind she picks up her broom. Materena tells her story with colourful details from the lives of her relatives interwoven. There's never a dull moment in the community of Faa'a. There's always some drama being shared at the Chinese store, someone spending more than 10 minutes in the church confession (a sign of an indiscretion of a sexual nature - according the old ladies of Faa'a), or even total strangers sharing their story and hoping for advice from our heroine.

My favourite chapter, titled "into womanhood", features an emotional Materna giving Leilana her 'Welcome into Womanhood' talk. She's so happy she's in tears while Leilani is impatiently asking when her mom will go to the Chinese store for her Kotex. Materna decides not to give Leilana the tradition talk about not washing your hair during your period, not touching plants, trees and flower during your period and making sure to rest. Instead she gives her a Welcome into Womenhood talk for the new century.

“Don’t get married before you have at least one child with your man. Children are the hardest part in a couple’s life. When there are no children, everything is easy, everybody wants to get married. Once there are children, everything changes.”

There's definitely some truth to this, but surely there's got to be another solution than not getting married. She warns Leilana about all of the things that are wrong with Tahitian men but then also warns her against foreign men.

Fragipani is an easy-read. I would definitely recommend it. I fully intend to search for Célestine Hitiura Vaite's other novels Breadfruit and  Tiare in Bloom.

4/5

Angels Fall

From the book cover:
When Reece Gilmore witnesses a murder in the mountains above Angel's Fist and tells the local sheriff, he does not believe her. He can't find a body or one shred of evidence. All he can find is that Reece herself has been the victim of a vicious crime and is emotionally unstable. Luckily for Reece, there is one man who believes her - the enigmatic Brody.
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Nora Roberts' Angels Fall is an easy-read romantic suspence hybrid about the romance that blossoms between Reece Gilmore, a traumatized young chef, and Brody, a sexy writer escaping his own demons, as they try to identify a woman Reece saw being murdered.

I can appreciate Reece's nerves and obsessive-compulsive behaviours when the novel opens - it makes sense, considering everything she's been through. What doesn't make sense is the ease with which she falls into a relationship with Brody. She falls in love and puts her trust in Brody too easily, considering everything she's been through - watching and hearing her closet friends being murdered. But at the end of the day this is primarily a romance novel so I guess the hunk and the heroine must get together.

Angels Fall is literary fast food. It provides an escape but doesn't teach any life lessons.

I know Nora Roberts is probably trying to tell the reader about the healing powers of love, but I don't buy it. If this is real life, Reese and Brody, and Lo and Linda-Gail won't last ten years. As Reese continues to heal she'll probably outgrow the perfect life that Brody has planned for them at the close of the novel. Lo will probably end up cheating on Linda-Gail.

2.5/5

Angels Fall is the 2007 made-for-tv movie starring Heather Locklear as Reese Gilmour.

Anybody Out There?

                                 From the book cover:
In the wake of a dreadful accident, Anna Walsh is recuperating at her parents' home in Dublin. She is desperate to get back to New York - to her glamorous job as PR assistant for Candy Grrrl cosmetics and to her husband, Aidan, the love of her life. But on her return, Anna is forced to accept that her life will never be the same again.
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Marian Keyes' Anyone Out There? is an easy-read novel about a very difficult topic: grief. I was a quarter way through the novel before I realized that Aidan, our protagonist's husband, was dead. Thankfully, I've never grieved a husband so I can't stay how accurate or 'real' the experience Ms. Keyes describes is. But, I imagine grieving is one of those things where no two experiences are the same.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, but it is not life altering.

Ms. Keyes paints quite a few colourful characters. Most of them are relegated to secondary status and thus don't undergo significant character growth.

Our heroine's character development is mirrored by her physical and emotional healing. Her physical recovery provides the imagery for her emotional growth and rejuvenation. When we first meet Anna, she is living in her parents living room - dependant on them for everything (feedings, medication and bathing). As the story progresses, Anna moves back to the apartment she shared with her late husband and goes back to work. As her physical condition improves so too does she emotional health. She goes from believing her husband is alive (she calls his cellphone and sends him emails) to acknowledging his death and attempting to contact him through a psychic to finally accepting that he is in a better place and she must continue to live her life. As the novel wraps she accepts her husband's death and is well enough to dance at her sister's wedding.

This novel is very entertaining. It's a great blend of drama and comedy. I can almost see this novel being being made into a movie with Natalie Portman playing the role of Anna Walsh and Ryan Reynolds as Aidan Maddox.

3/5

The Forest Laird

From the book cover:
In the pre-dawn hours of August 24, 1305, in London's Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace, who is to be executed at dawn, is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last confession. So begins The Forest Laird, the first book in Jack Whyte's masterful new trilogy, The Guardians.

Wallace's story leads us through his many lives - as an outlaw and a fugitive, a hero and a patriot, a rebel and a kingmaker. He is the first herioc figure from the Scottish Wars of Independence brought blazingly to life in Whyte's trilogy, to be followed by Wallace's two compatriots, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and Sir James Douglas, known as the Black Douglas. Their exploits and escapades, desperate struggles and medieval savagery, high ideals and fierce patrioticism are the stuff of legends, and the soul and substance of these epic novels.
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Jack Whyte's The Forest Laird is a man's novel that women can enjoy. It's historical fiction at its finest. The subject matter is legendary and the action sequences are powerful with clear outcomes. Whyte's use of language is in turns smart and overdone. At times, one can hear the characters' voice, pitch and tone as they converse with each other.

Language is a major element in most historical fictions. And in Jack Whyte's The Forest Laird there is no exception, language is used to add colour, bring the characters to life and to distinguish between commoners and the wealthy, educated and/or well-bred. When our hero, William Wallace, decides to become a verdeer on his uncle's land, his choice is unheard of because he is educated and can speak Latin. In Wallace's Scotland, knowing how to read and write and speak more than one language are luxuries very few enjoy. Illiteracy and language play a part in the plot on a few occasions. Whyte makes a habit of telling the reader when the characters switch languages; at times this is redundant because it is pretty obvious when the characters are speaking the Scottish dialect, as the words read phonetically. Reading phonetics is a struggle at times but it has plenty of rewards as it does add richness to the text.

Depictions of the brutal savagery that was commonplace in that era, had me cringing, and sometimes retching. Much of the action is off the page. Whyte employs his characters to bridge plot gaps and describe off-page battles that impact the story, through conversations. At some points this is dry and boring, but in certain instances I am grateful as I could not stomach all of the details. The events that open the novel are one such case. Wallace and his cousin James (the narrator) are young boys running away from a group of drunken English soldiers, who've killed Wallace's family and used the two cousins "as women." They are discovered by an outlawed archer, who becomes their caretaker. The boys tells the archer and the reader about the events that led to them being orphaned, homeless and brutalized. The description of the injuries sustained by Wallace's dead family and him and his cousin left me feeling queasy.

There aren't a lot of action sequences but the few that Whyte does include are well executed and easy to follow. The vividness of Whyte's action sequences probably has to do with his meticulous description of the landscape, weapons and all of the factors that impact the outcome of a battle.

The novel's ending is a disappointment. Readers could have done with less of the narrator's blathering in the middle of the novel and more of the actions that led to Wallace's execution in 1305. The novel ends when the story seems to be picking up. This type of ending requires the reader to have previous knowledge of William Wallace's Scotland.

Would I recommend this novel? Yes, but in order to really enjoy this novel you've got to have an interest in historical fiction, and a strong stomach.

3/5

 Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama film starring Mel Gibson as William Wallace. Please note Braveheart is not based on The Forest Laird. It's simply another depiction of the Life of William Wallace.

Sammy The Seal

Syd Hoff's Sammy The Seal changed my life. It's the first book I read on my own. I can remember the day I accomplished this feat, just like it was last month. I was home sick from school (where I was enrolled in my second year of grade two). I sat in our living room, focusing on the pages and carefully sounding out the words. By time I finished reading the book, my lips were really dry, I was really thirsty, and I was filled with one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment that I have ever experienced in my life.


I think almost everyone can relate to Sammy and his longing to see life outside the zoo. Haven't we all asked "what if?" or wondered "what would that be like?"


Through this tale about a seal who leaves the zoo to spend a day exploring the city and going to school, Mr. Hoff teaches children that there is no place like home.  Sammy goes from being unhappy at the zoo at the start of the story to be happy to return to the zoo at the end of the story, which is also the end of the day.


The language in this book is appropriate for young children and beginner readers. The key message is a cliche and everyone (even the kid re-doing grade two) knows that seals don't talk, visit the city or go to school.


Sammy the Seal taught me that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. The story isn't clever but it was just perfect for me back then.


3/5