Our book for June was Sister, by Rosamund Lupton. Not very many people made it out to the discussion. I'm not sure if this is a reflection of their busy schedules or their opinion of the book. Sister is Lupton's debut novel and earned a star review from Publishers Weekly and was listed on Amazon's Best Books of the Month for June 2011.
The novel is written as a letter from Beatrice (Bee) to her dead sister,
Tess, recounting the events since Tess's disappearance. Within this
framework, Bee alternates between having a conversation with Tess and
re-telling her story to a lawyer. The reader is kept in suspense as to whether Tess was murdered, as Bee believes, or has simply committed suicide, as the police believe.
I found the storyline
intriguing, trying to guess what really happened. However, it
was also quite confusing keeping the timeline straight. There was the present
(Bee writing the letter), the past (her recounting the events to the
lawyer), and the "distant" past (the things that she was telling the
lawyer about). The writing itself has a bit of a dream-like quality to
it. (I liked the concept of "singing your song" to the one you love.)
Between the time jumps and the passive writing style, it was hard for me
to be fully drawn into the story.
Those who attended the discussion had mixed reviews: the rating scores ranged from 4 to 10 (based on a 1 - 10 scale, with 10 being "I loved it.")
Feel free to add your comments!
Friday, July 5, 2013
Sweet Salt Air
Our book for May was Sweet Salt Air, by Barbara Delinsky. I was lucky enough to win advance reader copies (ARC) for our group with the proviso that we post comments on Barbara Delinsky's
Facebook page (https://facebook.com/bdelinsky) or on our own personal Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and/or blogs. If you've read the book, and haven't already done so, please post comments somewhere. Thanks!
In Sweet Salt Air, Nicole and Charlotte are lifelong friends until a secret sends Charlotte away. Ten years later Nicole, who now has secrets of her own, invites Charlotte back into her life to collaborate on a summer project. Charlotte, lured by the island life she misses and feeling she owes Nicole, agrees. Will the bonds of friendship be strong enough to withstand past betrayals? The story takes place on an imaginary island off the coast of Maine. Delinsky does such a wonderful job describing Quinnipeague that it comes to life in much the same way a character would.
Themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, trust, honesty, fear of success, meaning of family, love, and so much more are in this easy-to-read novel. However, none of these themes are explored very deeply and the book reads like a Hallmark movie. (Making this a beach read? A piece of fluff? Not worth your time? You decide.) A big complaint was the number of typos found, but remember these are ARCs and the final product should be free of these issues.
I loved the romance story within the story as well as the "mystical" aspects of the garden. I couldn't put it down.
Here are some of the thoughts expressed by various members of our group:
* "I thoroughly enjoyed it."
* "If you read this book late at night, you promise yourself that you will only read a few more pages but you keep reading."
* "Would love to believe that the treatment he received can help MS as I know several people with it."
* Cecily's story & herb lore were interesting. Was the herbology true?
* Recipes should have been included or an online addendum would have been nice
* We all loved the cover!
Seven people attended the discussion and nine people rated the book. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "I loved it" it scored 6.3.
Feel free to add your comments!
Facebook page (https://facebook.com/bdelinsky) or on our own personal Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and/or blogs. If you've read the book, and haven't already done so, please post comments somewhere. Thanks!
In Sweet Salt Air, Nicole and Charlotte are lifelong friends until a secret sends Charlotte away. Ten years later Nicole, who now has secrets of her own, invites Charlotte back into her life to collaborate on a summer project. Charlotte, lured by the island life she misses and feeling she owes Nicole, agrees. Will the bonds of friendship be strong enough to withstand past betrayals? The story takes place on an imaginary island off the coast of Maine. Delinsky does such a wonderful job describing Quinnipeague that it comes to life in much the same way a character would.
Themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, trust, honesty, fear of success, meaning of family, love, and so much more are in this easy-to-read novel. However, none of these themes are explored very deeply and the book reads like a Hallmark movie. (Making this a beach read? A piece of fluff? Not worth your time? You decide.) A big complaint was the number of typos found, but remember these are ARCs and the final product should be free of these issues.
I loved the romance story within the story as well as the "mystical" aspects of the garden. I couldn't put it down.
Here are some of the thoughts expressed by various members of our group:
* "I thoroughly enjoyed it."
* "If you read this book late at night, you promise yourself that you will only read a few more pages but you keep reading."
* "Would love to believe that the treatment he received can help MS as I know several people with it."
* Cecily's story & herb lore were interesting. Was the herbology true?
* Recipes should have been included or an online addendum would have been nice
* We all loved the cover!
Seven people attended the discussion and nine people rated the book. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "I loved it" it scored 6.3.
Feel free to add your comments!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)