Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Teaser Tuesday



Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


From You by Caroline Kepnes

You"Calm down, Joe. They don't like it when a guy comes on too strong."

(this is an internal monologue)

Thursday, September 25, 2014

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber



The Book of Strange New Things It begins with Peter, a devoted man of faith, as he is called to the mission of a lifetime, one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, Bea. Peter becomes immersed in the mysteries of an astonishing new environment, overseen by an enigmatic corporation known only as USIC. His work introduces him to a seemingly friendly native population struggling with a dangerous illness and hungry for Peter’s teachings—his Bible is their “book of strange new things.” But Peter is rattled when Bea’s letters from home become increasingly desperate: typhoons and earthquakes are devastating whole countries, and governments are crumbling. Bea’s faith, once the guiding light of their lives, begins to falter.

Suddenly, a separation measured by an otherworldly distance, and defined both by one newly discovered world and another in a state of collapse, is threatened by an ever-widening gulf that is much less quantifiable. While Peter is reconciling the needs of his congregation with the desires of his strange employer, Bea is struggling for survival. Their trials lay bare a profound meditation on faith, love tested beyond endurance, and our responsibility to those closest to us.

This is not Crimson Petal and the White, so if you go into it thinking that’s what you’re going to get, you’ll be disappointed. This is, however, a fascinating novel that leaves the reader with many questions.

Faber’s writing style always captures my attention. There’s something about the way he structures his scenes, even his sentences, that make the novel read smoothly and without allowing it to become dull even once. For a book of the size this one is, this is a great virtue. 

I enjoyed his descriptions of Oasis and its inhabitants, because although he paints a vivid picture, he doesn’t bog down the narrative with too much description. In fantasy or sci fi novels this can be tricky to achieve. The only thing that was slightly frustrating was the insertion of strange characters to represent the way the Oasans pronounced certain words. I understand what it’s supposed to stand for, but it makes the reading experience less smooth. It’s a bit distracting. 

The characters are not too likeable, so don’t expect to fall in love with any of them. I particularly didn’t enjoy Bea, who becomes a whiny brat as the story progresses, but Peter, with his incessant Bible quoting is no fieldtrip either. Still, they are real characters who have faults and dimensions, which allow them to pop out of the narrative. 

This is a novel that I really do recommend.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Tapestry Weaving: A Comprehensive Study Guide
I'm learning to weave, so apart from all the other books I'm reading, I'm also working my way through this tapestry weaving book:


"Tapestry is a weft-faced weave, which means that the weft completely covers the warp, forming a flat, smooth surface."


And here is a picture of me with my lovely Glimakra Gobelin loom!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Musing Mondays




Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!


The Book of Strange New ThingsI've been reading The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. It is a very interesting book and, as with all of Faber's novels, it really catches your attention and doesn't let go. Definitely one I would recommend. 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
London: A Life in MapsShare the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!


"The London Docks in Wapping, opened in 1805, boasted vast underground wine vaults."

I just thought that was awesome.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Wakening the Crow by Stephen Gregory

Wakening the CrowWith the looming shadow of Edgar Allan Poe falling over one family, Gregory takes the reader into a world of uncertainty and fear.

Oliver Gooch comes across a tooth, in a velvet box, with a handwritten note from 1888 to say it's a tooth from the boy Edgar Allan Poe. He displays it in his new bookshop, and names the store Poe's Tooth Books.

Oliver took the money from his small daughter Chloe's accident insurance and bought a converted church to live in with his altered child and wife. Rosie hopes Chloe will came back to herself but Oliver is secretly relieved to have this new easy-to-manage child, and holds at bay the guilt that the accident was a result of his negligence. On a freezing night he and Chloe come across the crow, a raggedy skeletal wretch of a bird, and it refuses to leave. It infiltrates their lives, it alters Oliver's relationship with Rosie, it changes Chloe. It's a dangerous presence in the firelit, shadowy old vestry, in Poe's Tooth Books. 




This was one strange book. It has a very Gothic feel to it, which is always a positive for me, but it somehow felt hollow. Like there wasn’t much of a story there. 

I think the main issue that I had with the novel was that all the characters were so unlikable. I don’t mind unlikeable characters if they’re interesting ones, but I didn’t feel connected to these in the least. I wanted the protagonist to turn into an anti-hero of some sort, but it just never got there. 

The writing was good, at least. The author has some beautiful turn of phrases that really catch the reader’s attention. There were some hard moments for me to read because they describe in graphic detail an animal being hurt and that’s something I had to skip. But kudos to the author, I suppose, for making the images so visceral that I couldn’t read them. 

If you like Gothic fiction and don’t mind a novel full of unlikeable characters, then you might like this one.
 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 From Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

Far Far Away“He says that all that happens when you go far, far away is that you discover you've brought yourself along.”

Monday, September 8, 2014

Musing Mondays

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…
• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

I just finished reading Confessions of a Sociopath by M.E. Thomas. It was a very interesting read, though it did get a bit repetitive towards the end. You can read my review here

Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight by M.E. Thomas



Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight The first memoir of its kind, Confessions of a Sociopath is an engrossing, highly captivating narrative of the author's life as a diagnosed sociopath.

She is a charismatic charmer, an ambitious self-promoter, and a cunning and calculating liar. She can induce you to invest in her financial schemes, vote for her causes, and even join her in bed. Like a real-life Lisbeth Salander, she has her own system of ethics, and like Dexter, she thrives on bending and occasionally breaking the rules. She is a diagnosed, high-functioning, noncriminal sociopath, and this is her world from her point of view.

Drawn from the author's own experiences; her popular blog, Sociopathworld.com; and scientific literature, Confessions of a Sociopath is part confessional memoir, part primer for the curious. Written from the point of view of a diagnosed sociopath, it unveils for the very first time these people who are hiding in plain sight. The book confirms suspicions and debunks myths about sociopathy, providing a road map for dealing with the sociopath in your life.

I’ve always been fascinated by the sociopathic mind, so this book was right up my alley. 

It started off strong, presenting the author’s inner voice in a clear way that left no doubt that she is a sociopath. Right off the bat, she tells us she is a megalomaniac, meaning she is prone to aggrandizing her own self worth. This made for amusing reading, since the reader never knows if what she was saying was actually the truth. Ms. Thomas makes for a great unreliable narrator. 

The book starts to get a bit repetitive about half way through. We do get more real-life examples which are interesting, but there are only so many times that you can read about someone’s lack of empathy without your mind wandering. Granted, this is a large part of the sociopathic personality, but it still felt like it was repeated ad nauseam. 

If you are like me and are interested in learning about sociopaths, then this can be a great read, albeit a somewhat repetitive one.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays




Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight 




 “Everybody slips up because we're not perfect; that's what mercy is for.”