Mari
This book is a hysterical read! Really, all this tidying up can be the source of so much anxiety/stress that we can afford to let go a little bit. The in-between-chapter quizzes are the best too. If I had one take-away from the books it's do what makes you happy, and don't lose sleep over what anyone else may think of a few dust bunnies, shoes by the door, etc.
The subject-matter is interesting enough, and the amount of research done to gather fascinating society anecdotes and business holdings must have been impressive, but the tone of this book is bone dry. The Astors' mountaineering made for a good read; all the subterfuge and nuance of a man become a titan of business. Then, the later society gossip is fun. Although, when the story swings forward to the 20th century pacing slows and everything just starts to sound like a litany of facts instead of a well-edited, woven-together retelling of Astor history. This book was not bad, but it was not great either.
Pretty Good Number One is Better
This is definitely a fun and interesting read with many travel tidbits to file away for a future trip to Hong Kong, although this book didn't feel as complete or as organized as Pretty Good Number One. More food photos and descriptions accompanied names of restaurants this time around, but stories conveying the cultural pulse of Hong Kong seemed lacking.
The anecdotes were spare, especially when I was looking forward to more accounts of day-to-day life from an American perspective. The trip was shorter, so definitely was less time for Mr. Amster-Burton to explore Hong Kong than his longer odyssey in Japan.
I would love to read another travel book from Amster-Burton if he spends at least another month with his family in another Asian city. There's a certain storytelling synergy that seems to only come from Amster-Burton after a longer stay in another country.
Pretty Good Number One accurately (sometimes hilariously!) tells all about the wonders of an American family eating they're way across Japan β Tokyo, Asakusa, Nakano, Kyoto and beyond.
No matter if you have or haven't been to Japan, if you love food and travel, this is a mega-fun read!
From cover-to-cover expect:
- A lot of helpful travel and food details
- Japanese micro-lessons
- Parenting anevdotes on raising an American pre-schooler to be an adventurous eater
Every chapter is as satisfying as the last, and reading this book was like revisiting Japan just a tiny bit.
Anthony Bourdain is a well-traveled, unapologetic chef who has been at the bottom of the barrel and can appreciate the stunning simplicity of sashimi or arepa as well as plates crafted through molecular gastronomy.
He knows the ins and outs of eating out and offers some valuable tips too along with some industry terms and Spanish you should never, ever repeat in polite company.
The observations about eating in any city, from New York to Tokyo, are stark and truthful. The man tells it like it is β jet lag is a bitch and sometimes all your soul needs is comfort food no matter where your are in this world.
If you follow Bourdain's television shows, then this book is right down your alley. If you're easily offended but still like reading food stories, then this book is worth stepping outside your comfort zone.
Outlander is one of the most intensely researched time-travel novels I've ever read. This books transcends the Time-Travel genre into full-fledged novel. The characters are fleshed out realistically, athough there were a few farcical moments late in the book. Outlander does for time-travel romance what Braveheart did for war movies.
The first installment of the trilogy was the strongest. Mockingjay suffers from lack of good pacing and organization, and is inevitably the weakest installment ofthe trilogy. By the end of all the seemingly endless pain and misery, I was just as tired as the characters. Whole chunks of soldiering around in District 13 could have been cut without affecting the story. I was a big fan of the President Snow and Katniss dynamic, Katniss' mental deterioration, and Peeta's role in this book. Beyond that, the story becomes convoluted by unnecessary characters when it stagnates in District 13. Not a bad ending, but I'm glad it ended. At least I feel the characters earned their ending, which is more than I can say about some other bestsellers. The Hunger Games is fine as a trilogy, but the overall story could have been tighter and more polished as one novel.
Bean's story is almost more intriguing than Ender's; his origins are a mystery and future even more uncertain. Ender's Shadow has the advantage of not needing to establish a whole world, which allows the story to focus solely on characters. Bean is a formidable character, but also such a victim that I was even pulling for him to exact revenge on a few characters. The end was believable and made me misty-eyed, which I never expect from sci-fi.
The Hunger Games is an interesting story from a first person present point-of-view of Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl from a coal-mining district. Katniss is established as a tough, Bear Grylls kind of girl with a fierce loyalty to her little sister and bottomless distrust of her unstable mother. There are moments when Katniss is inconsistent and waivers, but overall the story uneasily stands on its own two feet. The first third of the book could have been half as long but establishes the supporting cast fairly well. The garbled shreds of quasi-relationship between Gale and Katniss was weak sauce at best and could have been easily cut without altering the rest of the book. Somehow, the dynamic between Katniss and Peeta doesn't become too contrived or mushy for too long. Clearly, the strongest part of the book, the meat of the story, are the games themselves, although this book fights hard not to disintegrate into unrecoverable teen drama. I hope the next installment will be lighter on the repetitive lists of foodstuffs and dinner scenes, when the most important conversations during the Games happen away from the table. My love for Koushun Takami's Battle Royale will keep me invested in Katniss' struggle against The Capitol in hopes that the story will continue to claw itself farther away from young adult and into something more.
The story lacked any kind of true antagonist, and although the main character had some interesting personal strife, that part of the story took a back seat to the constant cooking and decorating. The heroine is a skilled surgeon and discovers she is not as normal as she thought, and seeing her deal with the loss of control was interesting, but I wish that aspect of her character was expanded a little more. Instead, she spent her time shopping, decorting, et cetera. The story stagnated because of it. Then, the one mysterious person that could have shed light on the heroine's abilities disappears to be saved for another sequel, I'm sure.
The father-son relationship in this book was well-developed, and even though this book is just a part in a series, those characters felt whole.
Overall, I had a bland experience reading these characters, and I wouldn't read this book again or recommend it to friends.
Lynn Kurland is a gifted author of a series that is comprised of both time-travel and historical novels. Her heroes and heroines are believable, unique, and have their own personal hurdles. Lianna and Jason, both peripheral characters in other novels, are adorable in Kiss in the Shadows. Poor Lianna is shunned at court through no fault of her own, and Jason's reputation as the apprentice of a rumored warlock precedes him. Both characters have to deal with their own troubles before they deal with their feelings for each other. Lianna may come across as a startled rabbit at first, but she shows her spine by the end of this novella. One of Kurland's most colorful heroes, Kendrick de Piaget, fills out this novel with his constant brotherly jabs and charm. I'm only sorry this novella isn't longer!
The first book in this series, βSapphire Dreamβ, is a fantastic read! βAmethyst Destinyβ has a we Dreamβ, is a fantastic read! βAmethyst Destinyβ has a well-developed hero and heroine, but suffers from a sloppy ending. I think I need to go back and re-read the last few pages due to quick scene changes and choppy sentence structure. Still, this second book was a strong sequel.
The character don't ring true because their lines have no natural cadence. Plus, the author went out of her way to include pop culture references that are painfully outdated. The time-travel convention was interesting, but not unique enough to carry the book. Adam was convincing enoug, but his relationship with the heroine felt stunted at best. Oh and the best friend, Jean, came across like a parole officer and not a friend. I have no idea why the heroine felt so attached to Jean. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless they're willing to overlook all of the above.
While all the earlier books in The Bride series are steller for the most part, Lyon's Gate left me cold and empty. Jason Sherbrooke is a good character with a good set of personal morals, but towards the end he just turns into every other Regency lordling by being forced into marriage due to compromising rumors. Since both Jason and Hallie are stubborn, I thought they would actually stay true to themselves and not marry. If this were any other twosome, I would expect a marriage by the end of this book, but because of the tragic events in Jason's life and less-than-desirable events of Hallie's love life, I thought for once the outcome would be different. My mistake. This book had lots of potential but fell short; it failed its characters and failed me.
This was a disappointing venture back into the lives of Alexandra and Douglas Sherbrooke's family. The Sherbrooke Twins, Jason and James, themselves were fairly flat characters while the ladies, Corrie and Judith, were so-so. Alex, Douglas, and their faithful manservant, Willcombe, stole the show whenever they were on the page. The intrigue surrounding the attempts on Douglas' life were thrilling enough, which left me wanting more excitement and less parlor room and ball scenes. Any external or internal dialogue from the twins was just uninteresting. The only enduring bits from this whole misadventure was another marriage into the Sherbrooke family and one of the twins' self-exile to America. The next book in the Bride Series, Lyons Gate, has more potential momentum going in than Sherbrooke Twins had all together.
Lynn Kurland writes solid, likable heroes and heroines β Persephone and Montgomery were no exception. Pippa is a grounded, down-on-her luck theater costumer with dreams of entering the world of haute couture. She could have made it to England without ghostly interference, so I'm confused as to why Kurland had to involve an apparition from a previous book.
After Pippa seeks to give her career a bump in England at her sister, Tess', medieval shindig, she and her other sister, Cinderella, stumble into a time gate. The location of the gate could have been better; I could see a bunch of people stumbling into another time as they walk across the main castle bridge.
Cindi should have been the main antagonist. She could have continued to cause more glorious trouble for Pippa in the past by allying herself with Montgomery's angry cousins, and then plunged forward in time to be the source of more mischief.
Cinderella's end was still satisfying, and the pacing in the second half of the book quickened as Pippa and Montgomery spent more time together. Even though Montgomery should have had just as much to do as lord of a keep as James McCleod did in A Dance Through Time, Kurland's βokayβ books are still ten times better than most books in this genre.
Usually I go for the paper-and-glue versions of books, but the audio book for A Walk in the Woods was even more riveting and entertaining. Bill Bryson has such a dry sense of humor that it can only be truly appreciated in audio form. I also loved hiking from an everyman's perspective. By having the story of challenging the Appalachian Trail by someone who hasn't been training or marathon hiking his whole life, I was brought into the story more easily and could appreciate every little laugh and hardship all the more.
This is one of those books that you kind of wonder why didn't you think of it yourself. The gods are well-written but the humans fall short, which is a huge negative since the second half centers around the humans. The allegorical journey to Hades to save a dead friend had a few unexpected turns, especially the inner workings of the spirit society. Gods Behaving Badly wasn't a terrible read but it wasn't the best read either.
