Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
Sept 2007, 278 pages
Portland detective Archie Sheridan was captured by serial killer Gretchen Lowell and tortured for ten days. During that time, Archie was somehow changed, and a twisted relationship grew between them. Finally, Gretchen let him go rather than kill him, as she usually would do to her victims. Two years later, Archie is slowly recovering and is called back to work to find a new serial killer. Although he still has many issues relating to his capture (drug abuse, horrible flashbacks, residual feelings for Gretchen, etc), he works on the new case, tailed by journalist Susan Ward who is assigned to write about the human interest aspects of the case, given Archie's history.
I liked this book for a few reasons. Most immediately is the setting in Portland, Oregon, a town I love. Archie and Susan visit areas such as Sauvie Island, Cleveland High School, and spots downtown. It's a fun way to have connection to a book, but is also a bit distracting. (I found myself in the middle of some suspenseful section suddenly thinking excitedly, "Hey, I've been there!")
More generally, I liked this book for the in-depth look at the twisted relationship between Archie and Gretchen. One would expect Archie to have only negative feelings for his captor, but instead there is a much more complicated situation there. The author takes the time to really look closely at that, despite how uncomfortable it may be.
Also, as might be expected in a detective novel, the plot zooms along as we eagerly follow the developments of the investigation and make guesses as to who might be the killer. We also get flashbacks to the investigation of Gretchen two years before that led to Archie's capture. All of these story lines are captivating.
Showing posts with label characters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label characters. Show all posts
Saturday, May 19, 2007
How I Came West, and Why I Stayed
How I Came West, and Why I Stayed
Stories by Alison Baker
1993, 182 pages
My friend Kathleen gave me this book for my birthday this year. It's even autographed, which is always fun. It's a collection of short stories, all very quirky. They usually focus on female protagonists who are in some kind of unusual situation, often exploring or researching.
The first story is about a woman traveling the country looking for the lost cheerleaders. She heard there was a flock of them in the mountains outside of a small town. She visits the small town, and gets to know the citizens. They have rumors of the cheerleaders but no one has ever seen them. Sometimes you can find their tracks in the snow or hear their cheers when the wind blows right.
Another story tells of a kindergartener's experience of when a pair of Siamese twins join her class mid-year. She ends up going out with one of them, and another girl goes out with the other. Eventually, the twins leave when their family moves to Chicago, where there are more "of their own kind", which the kindergarteners interpret as meaning that Chicago is filled with Siamese twins, but in fact they are referring to black people.
Another story is narrated by a girl born to explorer parents in the arctic circle. Eventually the parents die and the girl grows up alone, wandering the ice.
These stories explore many themes and emotions, and most are quite powerful. I can usually just read one short story at a time, and then leave the book alone for a week or two. They are kind of like a rich dessert.
There were a couple I think weren't as strong, but all were interesting in some way. They would appeal more to fans of fantastic fiction, rather than literal fiction. Many of the stories are set in worlds slightly different from ours, or situations that wouldn't quite happen in real life, which I know some readers don't enjoy as much. I like reading about strange worlds though.
Stories by Alison Baker
1993, 182 pages
My friend Kathleen gave me this book for my birthday this year. It's even autographed, which is always fun. It's a collection of short stories, all very quirky. They usually focus on female protagonists who are in some kind of unusual situation, often exploring or researching.
The first story is about a woman traveling the country looking for the lost cheerleaders. She heard there was a flock of them in the mountains outside of a small town. She visits the small town, and gets to know the citizens. They have rumors of the cheerleaders but no one has ever seen them. Sometimes you can find their tracks in the snow or hear their cheers when the wind blows right.
Another story tells of a kindergartener's experience of when a pair of Siamese twins join her class mid-year. She ends up going out with one of them, and another girl goes out with the other. Eventually, the twins leave when their family moves to Chicago, where there are more "of their own kind", which the kindergarteners interpret as meaning that Chicago is filled with Siamese twins, but in fact they are referring to black people.
Another story is narrated by a girl born to explorer parents in the arctic circle. Eventually the parents die and the girl grows up alone, wandering the ice.
These stories explore many themes and emotions, and most are quite powerful. I can usually just read one short story at a time, and then leave the book alone for a week or two. They are kind of like a rich dessert.
There were a couple I think weren't as strong, but all were interesting in some way. They would appeal more to fans of fantastic fiction, rather than literal fiction. Many of the stories are set in worlds slightly different from ours, or situations that wouldn't quite happen in real life, which I know some readers don't enjoy as much. I like reading about strange worlds though.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Loving Frank
I finished this novel on Saturday night. When I first started reading this book, it really pulled me in, and I couldn't stop for about 200 pages. Then, suddenly, I tired of it. I got bored, and set it down for about two weeks. The problem, I think, is that it's historical fiction, and when historical fiction ventures a little too far into the non-fiction side, my I-can't-finish-non-fiction affliction flares up.
So, basically, it's the story of a love affair between the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, both of whom are married with children when they meet. Leaving their families for each other would be hard to do in modern times. Back then, it was incredibly scandalous and completely immoral. Added to the fact that women were not able to support themselves very well and needed men, this was a very hard period for Mamah in particular. She was not only leaving her family, but discovering herself and her needs and strengths, something that women of that era didn't frequently have the freedom to do. There is a lot of discussion of the morals of the time, and the beginnings of the feminist movement, and not a whole lot about Frank Lloyd Wright. He happens to design a few buildings during his relationship with Mamah, but this book is not about his work.
Saturday night, I picked up the book again finally, for a little bedtime reading. Since I had gotten bored with it by then, it seemed like a good choice to help me drift off. But, no. About 3 pages past the point where I had set it down for two weeks, something incredibly dramatic happens and I couldn't help but finish the book that night. Luckily I didn't have too much left to read or I might have been up late.
Overall feeling about the book: worth reading, lots of interesting snapshots of Europe and America and Feminism in the early 1900's. The story line drags a bit in the middle but picks up again at the end. If you like setting and period pieces, that should hold you over through the slower plot times.
So, basically, it's the story of a love affair between the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, both of whom are married with children when they meet. Leaving their families for each other would be hard to do in modern times. Back then, it was incredibly scandalous and completely immoral. Added to the fact that women were not able to support themselves very well and needed men, this was a very hard period for Mamah in particular. She was not only leaving her family, but discovering herself and her needs and strengths, something that women of that era didn't frequently have the freedom to do. There is a lot of discussion of the morals of the time, and the beginnings of the feminist movement, and not a whole lot about Frank Lloyd Wright. He happens to design a few buildings during his relationship with Mamah, but this book is not about his work.
Saturday night, I picked up the book again finally, for a little bedtime reading. Since I had gotten bored with it by then, it seemed like a good choice to help me drift off. But, no. About 3 pages past the point where I had set it down for two weeks, something incredibly dramatic happens and I couldn't help but finish the book that night. Luckily I didn't have too much left to read or I might have been up late.
Overall feeling about the book: worth reading, lots of interesting snapshots of Europe and America and Feminism in the early 1900's. The story line drags a bit in the middle but picks up again at the end. If you like setting and period pieces, that should hold you over through the slower plot times.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
An Abundance of Katherines
An Abundance of Katherines
By John Green
Published by Dutton Juvenile, September 21, 2006
Reality Fiction, Mathematics, Relationships
215 pages plus appendix
ISBN13: 978-0525476887
Grades 9 and up
$16.99
Freshly heartbroken from getting dumped by the nineteenth Katherine in a row, former child-prodigy Colin (“not a prodigy, not yet a genius”) Singleton and his best friend Hassan decide to take a road trip. Without a clear destination in mind, they drive off in Colin’s hearse in hopes of finding something, anything, to distract themselves. Colin compulsively makes anagrams of words and finds connections between seemingly random things, and Hassan makes jokes out of everything. The two boys -- Colin a fresh high school graduate and Hassan a little more than a year into his “taking a year off before college” phase -- find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee, the final resting place of Franz Ferdinand, the former Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Also in this town lives an intriguing girl who is not, for once, named Katherine. Through a series of incidents, Colin is inspired to derive a mathematical formula that can model and predict all romantic relationships, which, if successful, can finally mark Colin’s passage from prodigy to genius.
John Green has created an assembly of characters likeable, believable, and identifiable. Their interactions with each other feel real, with creative, funny, and sometimes completely unexpected dialog. Although Colin is filled with facts, languages, and anagram talents, he can’t quite seem to figure out human relationships or himself. Hassan, filled with humor and likeability, can’t seem to motivate himself to get on with his life or take anything seriously. The road trip and the town they land in serve to knock some sense into both of them, and hopefully bring some to the reader as well. With its humor and clever feel, this book would appeal to teens and adults, but some swearing and sexual scenes might keep this from being ideal for younger teens.
Finally, it should be noted that the math used throughout the book does not have to be understood to enjoy the story, but it is real math and those with some math skills should enjoy the way it augments the plot. (For those who need some math touch up, there is an appendix at the end which further explains the math used in the book.)
By John Green
Published by Dutton Juvenile, September 21, 2006
Reality Fiction, Mathematics, Relationships
215 pages plus appendix
ISBN13: 978-0525476887
Grades 9 and up
$16.99
Freshly heartbroken from getting dumped by the nineteenth Katherine in a row, former child-prodigy Colin (“not a prodigy, not yet a genius”) Singleton and his best friend Hassan decide to take a road trip. Without a clear destination in mind, they drive off in Colin’s hearse in hopes of finding something, anything, to distract themselves. Colin compulsively makes anagrams of words and finds connections between seemingly random things, and Hassan makes jokes out of everything. The two boys -- Colin a fresh high school graduate and Hassan a little more than a year into his “taking a year off before college” phase -- find themselves in Gutshot, Tennessee, the final resting place of Franz Ferdinand, the former Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Also in this town lives an intriguing girl who is not, for once, named Katherine. Through a series of incidents, Colin is inspired to derive a mathematical formula that can model and predict all romantic relationships, which, if successful, can finally mark Colin’s passage from prodigy to genius.
John Green has created an assembly of characters likeable, believable, and identifiable. Their interactions with each other feel real, with creative, funny, and sometimes completely unexpected dialog. Although Colin is filled with facts, languages, and anagram talents, he can’t quite seem to figure out human relationships or himself. Hassan, filled with humor and likeability, can’t seem to motivate himself to get on with his life or take anything seriously. The road trip and the town they land in serve to knock some sense into both of them, and hopefully bring some to the reader as well. With its humor and clever feel, this book would appeal to teens and adults, but some swearing and sexual scenes might keep this from being ideal for younger teens.
Finally, it should be noted that the math used throughout the book does not have to be understood to enjoy the story, but it is real math and those with some math skills should enjoy the way it augments the plot. (For those who need some math touch up, there is an appendix at the end which further explains the math used in the book.)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Pucker
Pucker
by Melanie Gideon
• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill (May 18, 2006)
• ISBN: 1595140557
• Genre: Fantasy, coming of age
Thomas Quicksilver, a 17-year old with disfiguring burn scars on his face from a childhood accident, lives with his mother who earns money by telling people their futures. Thomas and his mother escaped from Isaura, a parallel world where seeing the future is an everyday occurance, after a terrifying attack that killed his father and wounded his mother, and caused the fire that burned Thomas’ face. Now, his mother is slowly dying as a result of the attack and only one thing can save her. However, this thing remains back on the world from which they ran. Now Thomas must return and seek out a way to save his mother’s life.
Thomas’ life since the accident that burned his face has been difficult; few people seem to be able to see past the burn marks that disfigure him. An outcast at school and in the world at large, he has grown accustomed to not being seen. All that changes when he returns to Isaura. His face is magically healed and he must become accustomed to attention and the effects of attention on him. As he struggles to remain faithful to the reason he came back to Isaura, he learns things that finally help him understand himself and his past.
Told in first person in the voice of Thomas, this book is extremely engaging. The reader connects immediately to the pain of this disfigured teenager and struggles with him in his search for meaning. When Thomas discovers the attention of girls, it almost overwhelms him. This book would appeal to both girls and boys by exploring coming of age issues such as emerging sexuality, self-knowledge, and getting to know your parents as people. Although told in a boy’s voice, girls will identify with any of the many female characters. Some profanity, mild sexuality described but nothing explicit.
by Melanie Gideon
• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill (May 18, 2006)
• ISBN: 1595140557
• Genre: Fantasy, coming of age
Thomas Quicksilver, a 17-year old with disfiguring burn scars on his face from a childhood accident, lives with his mother who earns money by telling people their futures. Thomas and his mother escaped from Isaura, a parallel world where seeing the future is an everyday occurance, after a terrifying attack that killed his father and wounded his mother, and caused the fire that burned Thomas’ face. Now, his mother is slowly dying as a result of the attack and only one thing can save her. However, this thing remains back on the world from which they ran. Now Thomas must return and seek out a way to save his mother’s life.
Thomas’ life since the accident that burned his face has been difficult; few people seem to be able to see past the burn marks that disfigure him. An outcast at school and in the world at large, he has grown accustomed to not being seen. All that changes when he returns to Isaura. His face is magically healed and he must become accustomed to attention and the effects of attention on him. As he struggles to remain faithful to the reason he came back to Isaura, he learns things that finally help him understand himself and his past.
Told in first person in the voice of Thomas, this book is extremely engaging. The reader connects immediately to the pain of this disfigured teenager and struggles with him in his search for meaning. When Thomas discovers the attention of girls, it almost overwhelms him. This book would appeal to both girls and boys by exploring coming of age issues such as emerging sexuality, self-knowledge, and getting to know your parents as people. Although told in a boy’s voice, girls will identify with any of the many female characters. Some profanity, mild sexuality described but nothing explicit.
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