The Roots of the Olive Tree

The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo
Review copy provided by Harper Collins via TLC Book Tours
Description from Goodreads:

Five generations of firstborn Keller women live in the same house on an olive grove in secluded northern California. Matriarch Anna is 112 and trying to be the oldest woman in the world-and succeeding heartily. Her daughter Bets, granddaughter Callie, great-granddaughter Deb, and great-great granddaughter Erin are also defying longevity norms. When a geneticist comes to study the women at the same time Erin announces she is pregnant with a firstborn boy, the Kellers′ roots are shaken wide open. Told in the third-person perspective of each of the women, the story and mystery of their existence is revealed in compulsive prose and compassionate drive.

My take:
Have you ever read a book where you thought, "I wish I knew these people. I want to talk to these people?" Well, I have and I want to know Anna from The Roots of the Olive Tree.  Anna is the matriarch of the Keller family and at 112 years old, she is still active both physically and mentally. I loved the way her life unfolded story by story. The reader is given the final product -- Anna at 112 years old - and she is such a great character. Feisty, wise, curious, Anna thinks she is set in her ways, but she is still interested in the world and in living. We are treated to small glimpses into her life - small pieces of the puzzle that come together to make the mature woman - which are interspersed within the current story. 

One of my favorite passages about Anna occurs pretty early in the book and, for me, set the tone for Anna for the remainder of the book:

All that the generations beneath her did not know worried Anna. She wanted to find someone who would listen to her. Really listen. The world hated old people. Even her own family thought they'd learned all they needed to know from Anna. She was no longer consulted, and she couldn't start a story without her daughter, or granddaughter, interrupting to finish it for her. They had no perspective, no understanding of how much still needed to be preserved. It would take a lifetime to tell them her secrets, and Anna had already lived two lifetimes. p.7

 Each generation of the Keller women is given her chance to tell her own life stories. Each woman is very different from the next, but they all have a strong family connection. A mother-daughter relationship may be strained, but the grandmother-granddaughter relationship fills any gaps. I loved the way this connection between generations is slowly developed so that the reader discovers the layers of relationship and understanding there is between these women.

This is a wonderful book about family, living life well, accepting people for who they are, loving, forgiving, adapting, continuing on. The common idea running through the story of living a long life and how that might be attained is fun, educational and inspirational. I don't know if there are any definite answers, but the story is wonderful and maybe just loving the life you live is an answer, but maybe not the answer.

The Roots of the Olive Tree is a book that I will be recommending to everyone who will listen to me. I loved the characters - especially Anna. I  also enjoyed reading about the olive trees, olive oil and all the lore surrounding them.

The thing I think I loved the most was the family story -  the family secrets that were kept, discovered, or revealed and the ordinary stories that became part of the family lore and ritual of bedtime stories.

 

About Courtney Miller Santo

Courtney Miller Santo grasped the importance of stories from listening to her great-grandmother, who lives in Northern California. She learned to write stories in the journalism program at Washington and Lee University and then discovered the limits of true stories working as a reporter in Virginia. She teaches creative writing at the University of Memphis, where she earned her MFA. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, Irreantum, Sunstone, and Segullah. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, two children, and dog. Her most prized possession is a photo of five generations of the women in her own family.

You can find Courtney Miller Santo's website here.

The White Devil

The White Devil by Justin Evans
review copy provided by Harper
Description from Goodreads:
 Sex, Death, and Boarding School

When seventeen-year-old Andrew Taylor is transplanted from his American high school to a British boarding school--the English, hypertraditional, all-boys Harrow School--he finds his past mistakes following him, with an added element of horror: visions of a pale, white-haired boy from Harrow's past. Either Andrew is losing his mind, or the house legend about his dormitory being haunted is true.

When one of his schoolmates dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and spurned by nearly all his peers. In his loneliness and isolation, Andrew becomes obsessed with Lord Byron's story and the poet's status not only as a literary genius and infamous seducer but also as a student at the very different Harrow of two centuries ago--a place rife with violence, squalor, incurable diseases, and tormented love affairs.

When frightening and tragic events from that long-ago past start to recur in Harrow's present, and Andrew's haunting begins to seem all too real, he is forced to solve a two-hundred-year-old mystery that threatens the lives of his friends and his teachers--and, most terrifyingly, his own.

My Take:
I must state first thing that any book that deals extensively with Lord Byron will definitely be on my To Read List. A ghost story that involves Lord Byron in any way will be at the top of my To Read List. So, naturally, The White Devil was a book I just had to read.

There were so many things about this book that worked for me and only a few that kind of bugged me. I really think that what bothered me the most was the fact that the so-called experts on Lord Byron in the book kept saying that he was a spoiled rich kid. He was never really what we would consider rich -- he had a title and was able to trade on that and his fame and amazing looks to borrow money, but he was not rich.  Right after reading the book, I would also have said that I didn't like the ending very much. But after some reflection, I have to admit that the ending does work especially within the context of a Gothic novel. I had to think back on some of Mary Shelley's more obscure novellas and remember how dark and unhappy the endings were. 

The White Devil is an amazing, dark, haunting story that stayed with me long after I had finished reading it. It has everything a story about an extremely old, haunted, exclusive British boarding school needs. The atmosphere of the school as described in the book is almost palpable. The emotions run high and the story is very fast paced. I read it in just a day or two.  

There are many quotes of Byron's poetry -- which I love -- and I think it really worked in the story. Andrew is supposed to be a Lord Byron look alike and he is to play Byron in the school play, so we get to watch him discover Byron's poetry and learn a lot more about Byron's life than he had ever anticipated. The research into Byron's life is due to trying to figure out what exactly is going on at the school. I thought the ghost story plot line worked pretty well in the novel. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it did surprise me at first and I guess that is a good thing. I enjoyed the descriptions of the extensive research involved in solving the mystery and I especially loved the development and growth of poet/housemaster Piers Fawkes' character throughout the book. 

I was very happy to see that the author quotes from "Darkness", one of my favorite Byron poems in the novel.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream

The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars

Did wander darkling in the external space,

Rayless, and pathless, and the icy Earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

(Now that Byron has you in his grasp, you'll have to do a quick search to read the rest of the poem.Go read some Bryon.)

Miss Me When I'm Gone

  
Miss Me When I'm Gone by Emily Arsenault
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Description from Goodreads:
MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE is the story of the sudden death of Eliza, the author of Tammyland, a "honky-tonk" Eat, Pray, Love, and Jamie, the friend who finds in Eliza's next, unpublished manuscript a mystery that could lead to a killer.

A William Morrow Paperback Original
A brand new mystery from the author of the critically acclaimed Broken Teaglass and In Search of the Rose Notes

Gretchen Waters is most famous for her book Tammyland-a "honky-tonk Eat, Pray, Love," a memoir about her divorce and her admiration for Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton. When Gretchen dies falling on a set of stone steps outside of a library, everyone thinks it was an accident or a botched mugging. Jamie, Gretchen's best friend from college, certainly has no reason to suspect foul play. That is, until she becomes Gretchen's literary executor. Gretchen's latest manuscript is much darker than Tammyland-ostensibly about her favorite classic male country singers, it's really about a murder in her family that haunted her childhood. From beyond the grave, Gretchen's writing opens up a sinister new world, and suddenly, Gretchen's death seems suspicious-and then Jamie finds herself in danger as well..

My take:
I like a good mystery, and the premise of Miss Me When I'm Gone sounded really interesting.  But since I'm not really a fan of country music, I wasn't sure if I'd really like the book. While I'm not a fan of country music, I am very familiar with it - I did grow up in Oklahoma after all; so, I did know all the singers and the songs referenced and I had even seen many, if not all, of the specific performances discussed in the book. But, honestly, the country music subject didn't bother me -- it was really kind of fun and worked really well in this story.


I brought the book with me to the gym thinking I'd start it and if it didn't capture my interest, that was okay since I still got my workout. Well, the hour on the treadmill actually sped by and I just kept reading after I got home.  I was really caught up in the mystery - or mysteries. There are excerpts throughout the novel that are from the novel that Gretchen wrote as well as her research notes for her second novel that she didn't get to complete before she was killed. I found myself much more interested in the excerpts that were supposed to be from Tammyland, Gretchen's country-singer inspired book, than I thought I would be. The way author Emily Arsenault uses the Gretchen book and notes to help further her story was very well done and made the reading go quickly and I had fun gathering my own clues as I read the research notes and interviews. 


This is a mystery, obviously, but it is also a book about friendship, growing up, impending motherhood and a glimpse at how people and life can be so much more complicated that we might think. It is a very fast read and not too heavy. I read it in less than 24 hours because I just couldn't put it down. I would highly recommend this book.




 

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Description from Goodreads:

Debut novelist Michael Boccacino invites readers into the world beyond the realm of the living in Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling, a Victorian gothic tale of the strange and supernatural. But all who enter this house must beware--for there is a price to pay for visitors who wish to save those they love. The story of a British governess and her young charges seduced by the otherworldly enticements of a mysterious mansion in the forest following the inexplicable death of the former nanny, this Tim Burton-like tale of dark fantasy is a bewitching treat for fans of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as readers who love creepy gothic tales and mysterious shadowy English manor houses. Not since Suzanna Clarke introduced Jonathan Strange to Mr. Norrell, and Neil Gaiman's Coraline crawled through a secret door into a twisted and sinister mirror world, has there been a journey as wondrously fantastic and terrifying as Charlotte Markham's adventures in the House of Darkling.

My take:
Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling was just as deliciously creepy and wonderfully Gothic as the cover description and blurbs state. I enjoyed every dark, creepy, haunting minute of reading this book.This was such an interesting book. I found it to be very Victorian Gothic but not really a horror story, although there is much that is disturbing and kind of startling in this laced-up Victorian village.


I can't really even begin to try to explain the story -- it would give too much away and might ruin the discovery for the potential reader. There is a very otherworldly feel to the book that just pulled me into the story - much like Coraline or any movie by Tim Burton. The basic premise is that Charlotte Markham has lost her husband and has taken the position of governess for the young sons of the widower, Mr. Darrow. When their nanny dies under mysterious and violent circumstances, she takes on that role as well - and then during the process of helping the boys deal with this new loss, finds herself in a very strange situation between the real world and another, shadow world that is somehow influencing the real one in some very negative ways. Any more explanation would just ruin things.


Suffice it to say, if you enjoy dark, Gothic tales of  the Victorian variety, this would be a great choice. I really loved this book -- despite - or because of some of the very creepy, disturbing events and ideas in it. This would make a great read for October - to set the mood for the month.

The Thing About Thugs

The Thing About Thugs by Tabish Khair
ARC provided by the publisher through TLC Book Tours
Description from back cover of the book:
In a small Bihari village, Captain William T. Meadows finds just the man to further his phrenological research back home: Amir Ali, confessed member of the infamous Thugee cult. With tales of a murderous youth redeemed, Ali gains passage to England, his villainously shaped skull there to be studied. Only Ali knows just how embroidered his story is, so when a killer begins depriving London’s underclass of their heads, suspicion naturally falls on the “thug.” With help from fellow immigrants led by a shrewd Punjabi woman, Ali journeys deep into a hostile city in an attempt to save himself and end the gruesome murders.
Ranging from skull-lined mansions to underground tunnels concealing a ghostly people, The Thing about Thugs is a feat of imagination to rival Wilkie Collins or Michael Chabon. Short-listed for the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize, this Victorian role reversal is a sly take on the post-colonial novel and marks the arrival of a compelling Indian novelist to North America.

My take:
The Thing About Thugs is such an interesting book on many different levels.The premise of the book is intriguing and has enough potential scandal to draw the reader in. But there is so much more to this book.  Tabish Khair, the author, uses more than one type of storytelling in the novel. There is first-person narration, third-person narration, personal letters, and newspaper articles - all used to tell the story from different perspectives and in some cases, different versions of the same story. Once I got the various voices straight in my own mind, I thoroughly enjoyed the transitions from voice to voice and really loved the different views of the characters, events, motivations, and the world presented in each different type of storytelling. I especially enjoyed the disparity between the excerpts from the writings of Captain Meadows and Amir Ali's version written in his personal letters.

The mystery of exactly who is killing the members of London's underclass is never a mystery to the reader, but the general public and the authorities jump to all the wrong conclusions in the matter. The way the elites reason and the complete wrongness of their beliefs is quite fun to read. The limited views held by many about class, race, gender, etc. are all dealt with in the novel. While I did enjoy Amir Ali and his quest to find the real murderer, I found that the character I was the most interested in was Qui Hy - an intriguing, mystery of a woman who is more capable than most of the well-educated, wealthy men of the city. I so want to read more about her and her Irish husband. Such great characters!

The Thing About Thugs is a beautifully written book. Khair is a wonderful writer with great skill in descriptive writing. I absolutely loved his many, beautiful descriptions of Victorian London throughout the book. To compare this book to Wilkie Collins is quite apt. The atmosphere is similar and I feel the book should be savored in much the same way as one would savor a Wilkie Collins novel. The book is only 244 pages long, but I read it as slowly as I could to savor the words -- until a certain point in the story and then I just couldn't stop reading until I had reached the end. I would highly recommend this book.


About Tabish Khair

Tabish Khair is an award-winning poet, journalist, critic, educator and novelist. A citizen of India, he lives in Denmark and teaches literature at Aarhus University.Here is his website.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book You can find the rest of the blog tour stops here.

The Prisoner of Heaven

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
review copy provided by Harper Collins via TLC Book Tours
Description from book cover:
The internationally acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion, and revenge in which the heroes of The Shadow of the Wind andThe Angel’s Game must contend with a nemesis that threatens to destroy them.

Barcelona, 1957. It is Christmas, and Daniel Sempere and his wife, Bea, have much to celebrate. They have a beautiful new baby son named Julián, and their close friend Fermín Romero de Torres is about to be wed. But their joy is eclipsed when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to divulge a terrible secret that has been buried for two decades in the city’s dark past. His appearance plunges Fermín and Daniel into a dangerous adventure that will take them back to the 1940s and the early days of Franco’s dictatorship. The terrifying events of that time launch them on a search for the truth that will put into peril everything they love and ultimately transform their lives.

Full of intrigue and emotion, The Prisoner of Heaven is a majestic novel in which the threads of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game converge under the spell of literature and bring us toward the enigma hidden at the heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a collection of lost treasures known only to its few initiates, and the very core of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s enchanting fictional world.

My take:

How should I start my review of The Prisoner of Heaven? This is the question that has been plaguing me for days now. I absolutely loved The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - this is the book I always recommend to absolutely everyone.  When The Angel's Game was released, I wanted to read it but I was so worried that it couldn't possibly live up to The Shadow of the Wind that I kept putting off actually reading it. I just really didn't want to be disappointed. But when I was given the opportunity to read The Prisoner of Heaven, I just had to jump at it. As the author says, each book can be read on its own. I think this is true because I had no problem following the storyline and was able to enjoy the book through to the end.

As with The Shadow of the Wind, I was drawn into the story from the first few pages. Once the mysterious stranger shows up and makes it necessary for Fermin to tell Daniel the story he has hinted at in the past, the reader is plunged into a terrific and horrific tale about Fermin's time in prison and fills in many gaps of history and explains a great many things. It also raises many more questions. This is one of the many things I love about Carlos Ruiz Zafon's writing. There are layers upon layers of story here. So much to think about and plots to try to unravel.

I'm a sucker for a book about books and, of course, The Shadow of the Wind fit that bill perfectly. I found The Prisoner of Heaven to be about books in a different way. While part of the story is about a writer, I found some of the motivation for much of the horror of events to be caused by the desire of  and envy of the ability to write well -- ambition above talent and total lack of morals. Everything seems to lead back to books and their ability to draw the reader into a new magical world.

After reading The Prisoner of Heaven, I can see that there is a much bigger story being woven here. The books seem to be piecing together the whole picture slowing and beautifully. The writing is absolutely beautiful and the way the story unfolds is masterful. There is just something about these books. I can't get them out of my head. I find myself thinking about them long after I have closed the book. This is always a sign that I've found something worth reading again and again. I will be reading The Angel's Game and anxiously looking forward to the next book in the series.


About Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of two critically acclaimed and internationally bestselling novels, The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game, is one of the world’s most read and best-loved writers. His work, which also includes prizewinning young adult novels, has been translated into more than fifty languages and published around the world, garnering numerous international prizes and reaching millions of readers. He divides his time between Barcelona and Los Angeles.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book. You can find the rest of the blog tour stops here.

The Car Thief

The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner
ARC provided by Blue Dot Literary
Description from Goodreads:
It’s 1959. Sixteen year-old Alex Housman has just stolen his fourteenth car and frankly doesn’t know why. His divorced, working class father grinds out the night shift at the local Chevy Plant in Detroit, kept afloat by the flask in his glove compartment and the open bottles in his Flint, Michigan home.

Abandoned and alone, father and son struggle to express a deep love for each other, even as Alex fills his day juggling cheap thrills and a crushing depression. He cruises and steals, running from, and to, the police, compelled by reasons he frustratingly can’t put into words. And then there’s Irene Shaeffer, the pretty girl in school whose admiration Alex needs like a drug in order to get by. Broke and fighting to survive, Alex and his father face the realities of estrangement, incarceration, and even violence as their lives hurtle toward the climactic episode that a New York Times reviewer called “one of the most profoundly powerful in American fiction.”

In this rich, beautifully crafted story, Weesner accomplishes a rare feat: He’s written a transcendent piece of literature in deceptively plain language, painting a gripping portrait of a father and a son, otherwise invisible among the mundane, everyday details of life in blue collar America. A true and enduring American classic.

My take:
The premise of the novel sounded interesting to me and I looked forward to reading it. When I started the book, I was in for a shock to my system.  This novel is unlike most other "young adult" books I have read in recent years. It has a much different feel to it. I have to say that it has a much older and more literary style than most contemporary fiction.  Believe me when I say that this is not a bad thing. Once I adjusted to the writing style, this was a wonderful read. It seems obvious that it was written about an earlier time and was written during an earlier time - it kind of reminded me of reading The Outsiders for the first time. Does anyone read The Outsiders anymore? Although Alex Housman, the protagonist of The Car Thief, is not a member of a gang, his life is similar to the boys in The Outsiders - absent or ill-equipped parents, dreary homes, poor school attendance and performance, very little to look forward to in life, depressing circumstances, etc.

I found the book to be refreshing in the way the author doesn't try to make Alex into a hero, or a hunky heart throb - he is just a kid who has a difficult life and he tries to deal with things. The story feels authentic, real, not some kind of modern fairy tale. Alex has a tough life - no doubt about that, but Weesner doesn't attempt to make excuses for the things Alex chooses to do - stealing cars, peeping in windows, treating his brother badly, skipping school, stealing money - he just describes the way Alex thinks and what he does. Often Alex doesn't seem to really know why he does things, but he has no other coping mechanism, so he copes the only way he knows, he leaves the school building, sneaks off to the movies, steals cars, follows girls around. Over time, Alex attempts to get his life in order, but he runs into many obstacles and has to learn to cope on his own because his father isn't equipped with any better coping skills and doesn't really know how to be a parent.

This isn't a feel-good book, it is often depressing and just plain sad. However, the simple, eloquent way that Weesner describes Alex's eventual growth and maturing is wonderful. I felt that this was in many ways, much more believable and interesting than many current books about teens today. For the careful, patient reader, this book can be quite a literary treat. It is not fluff and not trite. The sense of hope and promise of a better life at the end felt authentic and satisfying for the reader without being unrealistic or silly. I am quite happy to have had the opportunity to read this fine novel.

Bloodline

Bloodline by James Rollins
review copy provided by William Morrow/HarperCollins
Description from Goodreads:
In a thrilling masterwork that will make you rethink your perceptions of life and death, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes you to the edge of medicine, genetics, and technology, revealing the next evolutionary leap forward: immortality.

Galilee, 1025. Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth: the Bachal Isu -- the staff of Jesus Christ -- a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for a covert rescue mission into the African jungle. The woman is no rich tourist: she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal which has been manipulating events throughout history...and now challenges the current presidency.

For this unique mission, SIGMA is aided by a pair of special operatives with unique talents: former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane. But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal, as Gray and his team discover that the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark repercussions. And the danger is only beginning...

Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a conspiracy that goes back centuries...a scheme that lies within our genetic code. With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity, asking:

Could you live forever?

Would you live forever?

My take:

Until Bloodline, I had never read any of James Rollins books. I'm not sure exactly why that is, now. I had so much fun reading this book! First of all, who doesn't love a good conspiracy? I mean, really? And I absolutely love a good Knights Templar conspiracy, so it also had that going for it. This book kept me on the edge of my seat from very early on. The story is very fast paced and exciting. I don't like to explain too much about conspiracy books -- I always end up giving too much away.


Apparently, this is Sigma Force novel #8, so I will have to go back and read the other books. However, this did not diminish my enjoyment of the book or my ability to follow the story. I would classify Bloodline as a definite Thriller but with a whole lot of science as well. I might have said science fiction instead of science, but after reading the Author's Note to Readers: Truth or Fiction at the end of the book, I have to just go with science. And that is actually more disturbing. The robotics in the book are quite fascinating and fun to read about, the DNA work and some of the experiments described are disturbing and very unsettling. 


One of my favorite parts of the book was everything pertaining to Captain Tucker Wayne and his military dog Kane. I loved the descriptions of their bond and the way they worked together as a team. The characters in Bloodline are well drawn and there is obviously much more to their relationships that has been built over their time together.  I would like to read the previous books so I can get to know these characters better. 


Rollins can definitely write a conspiracy novel - I loved the way things twist and turn and keep the reader just on the edge of figuring it all out and then there is another twist and everything is uncertain again. Nothing is quite what it seems. Everyone is suspect. This is one of the better conspiracies I've read in a long while.

Beach Colors

Beach Colors by Shelley Noble
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Book Description from publisher website:
While renowned designer Margaux Sullivan was presenting her highly praised collection during New York City's Fashion Week, her husband was cleaning out their bank account. A week after he disappeared, the bank foreclosed on Margaux's apartment and business.

Suddenly broke, betrayed, and humiliated, Margaux has nowhere else to turn to but home: the small coastal town of Crescent Cove, Connecticut, where she once knew love, joy, and family before she put them behind her on the climb to fame. When she's stopped for speeding by local interim police chief Nick Prescott, Margaux barely remembers the "townie" boy who worshipped her from afar every summer. But Nick is all grown up now, a college professor who gave up his career to care for his orphaned nephew, Connor. Though still vulnerable, Margaux is soon rediscovering the beauty of the shore through young Connor's eyes . . . and, thanks to Nick, finding a forgotten place in her heart that wants to love again.

But as she continues to work on a bold new line that will get her back into the game, Margaux realizes that soon she will have to make the most important, most difficult decision of her life. . . .

My Take:
Beach Colors by Shelley Noble is a great summer book. In fact, I'd say it is just about the perfect beach read. It takes place mostly at Crescent Cove, Connecticut and follows Margaux as she deals with the betrayal by her husband and finds her true creative side, finds out who her true friends are and just who she really wants to be. I enjoyed this book so much. I loved the descriptions of the beaches, the cottages, the people and all the amazing colors visible in nature if one just takes the time to see them.  I found the story to be an uplifting one of self-discovery, recovery from trauma  with a bit of romance. The story deals with long-time friendship, loyalty, being true to yourself, importance of family, and the whole townie vs. summer people thing all while giving wonderful descriptions of a lovely little coastal town - great combinations for a summertime book. This isn't an earth shattering book, but it is just so much fun. Perfect for summer. This is the book I'll be suggesting to friends for a summertime read.

FEED

Feed by Mira Grant
purchased from local bookstore
Description from Goodreads:

In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks.

It raised the dead.

Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed "The Rising," and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all:

When will you rise?

My Take:
The first thing I have to say is that I absolutely loved this book! I have recommended it to everyone who would listen to me. I didn't write a review of it after I first read it, because, quite honestly, I was afraid that I wouldn't do the book justice. I had just started this blog and felt really intimidated by the idea of trying to get my thoughts down.  I re-read Feed and Deadline in the last couple of days to get ready for the last book in the trilogy, Blackout, which is out this month. Even the second time reading the books was great. I cried just like the first time I read it. I never thought that I would cry while reading a zombie book.  Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) does a really great job with these books and I have to give her credit for creating such a complex story while maintaining all the fun and urgency required by the genre.

Now, here's the thing. The zombies in this series are not so much the bad guys as hapless victims. They can't help what they become after they die. This was something done to them without their permission or knowledge. The whole process on how the zombies came to be is really fascinating and fun to read about.

Georgia and Shaun Mason are adopted siblings who grew up after The Rising and this is the only life they know. How unfortunate  . . . horrifying. . . exciting for them. Georgia and Shaun really have only each other growing up since their adoptive parents pretty much just use them as a way to get higher ratings for their blogs. Georgia and Shaun make a great team. They're both smart mouths with sarcastic senses of humor.  I loved the banter back and forth between Georgia and Shaun and Buffy and Mahir and -- well you get the picture. Great dialogue.

I thought the world building was well done  and the conspiracies in the story are just so crazy-wicked-great. (I know that's not a real term, but tough.) The story is fast-paced and I ended up reading straight through - even the second time around. Also, any book series that has this many references to The Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell, and Joss Whedon is going to be a hit with me. Just sayin'.  I thought that Feed is just what a zombie book should be - fun, scary (but not in the way you might think) and extremely hard to put down.

Now excuse me, but I have to get back to reading Blackout now. My review . . . (or geeky fan-girl gush-fest) of Deadline will be forthcoming.