The Heights

The Heights

Peter Hedges

Tim Welch is a history teacher at a private school still working on his dissertation about loss. Kate Welch is a stay at home mom who loves taking care of her children. Everything changes when they meet Anna Brody. Tim takes a year off, Kate gets a job. New feelings appear. Told from several different perspectives, but mainly Tim and Kate you get to learn what life is like in the Heights.

Hedges, who wrote both the novel and screenplay for Whats Eating Gilbert Grape as well as several other screenplays has come up with one of the most over told stories ever. It's rare for an avid reader, such as myself to think "This would be better as a movie" but it's true. The story unfolds like some mediocre character driven drama. The book itself reads like an Oscar nominee, not an Oscar winner, one of those dry dramas where everyone makes bad choices and says terrible things and people rave about it for a few weeks and then when they think about it years latery they're all like 'yeah, that was kind of terrible'.

The characters themselves are contrived, Kate is endearing in the beginning before she becomes annoying. Tim is interesting before becoming pathetic. Anna Brody is always mysterious before you realize she is about to cause to most uneventful causal event ever.

There is obviously a demographic for novels like this, and with it being only 293 pages it's a little hard to justify putting it down.  Hedges, stick to writing for the screen. Love your movies, hated this novel.

My Rating
**

Hop!

It's Friday and, as I am learning, that means it's time for another Blog Hop! I'm looking forward to not messing this one up like I did last time and finding a ton of new and great blogs. If you're over from the Hop and want to drop in and say hi feel free to comment here (or on anything, I'm not picky).

Oh, and I know it's really early. I'm not crazy, just not tired.

-Sarah

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Steig Larsson
(From the back cover)

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of inquiry and corruption.

Having seen copies of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or it's squeal The Girl Who Plays with Fire everywhere in the past few weeks i decided I needed to check it out. It's an intriguing set of mysteries. The books original Swedish title translated to Men Who Hate Women, and that theme is ever present through the book in the mysteries that Mikael and Lisbeth are trying to solve.

In the beginning it seems like there is far to much story to cover. There's the libel case that Blomkivist has just lost against the corporate giant Wennerstrom, there is Harriet Vanger who is dead or missing and comes from a dysfunctional family that also happens to own a large business, and there is Salander who is always distant and defiant. I'm  impressed at how Larsson connected all of these stories and made them into something worth reading. Some parts could drag, and if I had to read about how Blomkivist didn't think he could solve this case one more time I may have set the book down, never to finish.  

The Vanger family is very interesting. It's a huge family (with a small family tree in the front of the book) and everyone has secrets. I had a hard time trusting any of them throughout, not even Henrik Vanger, the lovable old man who has brought in Blomkivist. Henrik's obsessive nature makes him someone you need to watch. The fact that Blomkivist agrees to work for him shows of his trusting nature, and makes him the biggest contrast for the interdependent Salander.

That's it for my attempt at a spoiler free review. It's vague but pretty much every plot point was important in the bigger picture.

My Review
3.5/5

Friday Hop

I just discovered the Book Blogger Hop. So hi to anyone stopping by from there! I'm supper excited to go find other amazing book blogs now. Hope everyone else is enjoying the Hop as much as I am and that everyone has a great weekend.

-Sarah

A Vintage Affair

A Vintage Affair

Isabel Wollff

Meet Phoebe Swift. She has just left her job to start a high end vintage clothing store, Village Vintage. She's in the middle of a bad break-up, her best friends death and her parents drama. With her Village Vintage taking off she is introduce to two very different but interesting love interests, meets a fascinating old woman and buys some awesome clothes.

Not being one who typically reads chick lit I am always surprised by how easy it is to get absorbed by the few good story's that exist in the genera. The characters are all pretty typical, but the Vintage shop is a nice touch and really makes the story interesting. There is an underlying World War II story that stretches throughout the novel and gives it more depth then expected. Overall it was a fun, super quick read (I read it in two days and it's 340 pages). If you're looking for the next great novel, you'll be sadly disappointed but if you're looking for a great escape for summer you're in for a good time.

My Rating
4/5

Thanks to the LibraryThing Early Review program for the book!

The Seduction of the Water

The Seduction of the Water

Carol Goodman

Iris Greenfeder has a lot of almost's in her life, she's almost in an amazing relationship, almost (well, ok not almost) done with her dissertation and almost has all the knowledge she ever wants to know about her mother. While teaching English for new immigrants, indifferent art students and convicts she comes up with an assignment about Fairytales of peoples childhood. Her assignment inspires her to start writing about her mother, a famous novelist herself and sets her in motion to go back to the hotel she grew up in and find out everything there is to know about her mother and the unpublished third book of the trilogy she was writing. Along the way she falls for one of her ex students, meets up with old acquaintance and learns that there may be more interesting secrets in her mothers life than where she hid the manuscript.

Carol Goodman does an excellent job of depicting a Hotel rich in history and personality in the Hotel Equinox, where the majority of the story takes place. Her characters are rich with excellent and often quirky personalities. Iris herself often toes the line from so single minded she could end up annoying, but she always snaps back into a driven girl. Among other characters are Aidan, an ex-con with a great story and a huge heart, Aunt Sophie, who is strict but caring and Harry Kron who's Hotel chain and arts patronage saves Iris's childhood home.

The most compelling part of this story is the mixture between fairytale and real life.  The Seduction of the Water starts with a short piece Iris wrote about a Selkie story her mother used to tell her. It sets the tone for all the other often overlooked tales that are incorporated in the book, such as the Tam-Lin and the Swan Wife. Most chapters are started with and excerpt for Tirra Glynn books her mother wrote that also incorporate old world fairy tales, a new and interesting fantasy work and snip-its of her own life.

While the story does have a mystery element it doesn't play as big of a part as the romantic themes and life searching moments that can be found throughout the novel. All in all it was a quick, compelling read. Definitely worth checking out at the library or buying as a paperback.

My Rating:
4/5

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories - Modern Tales for Out Life & Times

James Finn Garner

Imagine the stories of your youth. Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs. Now Imagine them told in a completely politically correct manner. These funny, short stories are perfect for lite before bed reading or while waiting for the train. My favorite happened to be The Three Little Pigs, which has the wolf, still wolf-like but also with capitalist motives. These stories are perfect for pretty much anyone, but I and a hard time finding a copy of the collection. If you're up for the search they're definitely worth your time.

My Rating
5/5