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obsidian_blue's reviews
3094 reviews
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
5.0
Shocking though it is I never read any of the Wizard of Oz books. I of course saw the movie when I was a kid and absolutely adored it. I also played the voice of Oz, one of the munchkins, and one of the crows who was harassing the Scarecrow in elementary school. I wonder if my parents ever knew about the contents of these books since I had a ton of books growing up but nothing from the Oz series.
L. Frank Baum begins the story with a foreword discussing how he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in order to be pleasing to today's children (this was dated in 1900). One wonders what children he knew. I think that Baum does a good job of writing a 'modern' fairy tale but is still reminiscent of the older messed up tales written by Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm which is why I loved this story so much.
Though the story begins with Dorothy in Kansas we don't have any idea how old she is. We do know that she is not a teenager since she is referred to as a little girl frequently throughout the story.
As many of you know who are familiar with this story, Dorothy and Toto are carried away in a cyclone to the land of Oz. The house she is in promptly falls and kills the Wicked Witch of the East. The Witch of the North and the Munchkins promptly thank Dorothy for freeing the Munchkins from bondage and she is given the witch's kiss as protection and the dead witch's silver shoes to wear on her journey to the Emerald City to meet Oz with the hope that he can send her back home to Kansas.
I kept having to stop myself as I read in order to keep a quick sanity check. This book besides the names being the same and having some scenes that were then shown in the movie is like night and day.
I loved Dorothy's introduction to the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. We got an interesting back-story to each character and the back-story to the Tin Woodman surprised me a lot. The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion join Dorothy in order to receive brains, a heart, and courage from the Wizard of Oz.
Frequently throughout the story you realize that L. Frank Baum is poking fun at his characters for showing them not to be as smart or as loyal as they claim. I counted at least two times that our merry band left someone behind when something befall them. It was great that they came back each time, but I would have been side-eyeing everyone.
I really loved all of the details that L. Frank Baum about the land of Oz. I really loved hearing about how the whole land was divided into North, South, West, and East and what people and colors inhabited those lands. Frankly, I think he should be applauded because the world building is actually quite impressive in a book this short.
Of course we get to the party meeting the Wonderful Wizard who commands them to go off and kill the Wicked Witch of the West. At this point, unlike in the movie, the Wicked Witch has not met Dorothy is not trying to kill her. So the Wizard sucks for forcing the whole party to go forth and murder someone that didn't do a thing to them in order for them to gain what they want.
There were additional characters in this story that were never referenced in the movie such as the Queen of the Mice, the Hammer-Head people, The China people, and the Quadlings. I can see now why there are fourteen books in this series since there are so many people and places that are referenced that you want to find out more about.
This was a great first book in the Oz series though at times it did drag a bit. Probably because I already knew how it would end, but I was still fascinated by all the segues that our group goes through that were not shown in the movie. Each of our heroes comes to a respectable end though I am a bit surprised by how the Tin Woodman's story ends since he initially was in want of a heart in order to find the Munchkin girl who he loved before he was turned into tin. I wonder if L. Frank Baum forgot about that or was already thinking of book #2 in his series and decided to not revisit that whole story-line.
I am definitely going to see about finding an illustrated book that covers the entire series someday.
L. Frank Baum begins the story with a foreword discussing how he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in order to be pleasing to today's children (this was dated in 1900). One wonders what children he knew. I think that Baum does a good job of writing a 'modern' fairy tale but is still reminiscent of the older messed up tales written by Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm which is why I loved this story so much.
Though the story begins with Dorothy in Kansas we don't have any idea how old she is. We do know that she is not a teenager since she is referred to as a little girl frequently throughout the story.
As many of you know who are familiar with this story, Dorothy and Toto are carried away in a cyclone to the land of Oz. The house she is in promptly falls and kills the Wicked Witch of the East. The Witch of the North and the Munchkins promptly thank Dorothy for freeing the Munchkins from bondage and she is given the witch's kiss as protection and the dead witch's silver shoes to wear on her journey to the Emerald City to meet Oz with the hope that he can send her back home to Kansas.
I kept having to stop myself as I read in order to keep a quick sanity check. This book besides the names being the same and having some scenes that were then shown in the movie is like night and day.
I loved Dorothy's introduction to the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. We got an interesting back-story to each character and the back-story to the Tin Woodman surprised me a lot. The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion join Dorothy in order to receive brains, a heart, and courage from the Wizard of Oz.
Frequently throughout the story you realize that L. Frank Baum is poking fun at his characters for showing them not to be as smart or as loyal as they claim. I counted at least two times that our merry band left someone behind when something befall them. It was great that they came back each time, but I would have been side-eyeing everyone.
I really loved all of the details that L. Frank Baum about the land of Oz. I really loved hearing about how the whole land was divided into North, South, West, and East and what people and colors inhabited those lands. Frankly, I think he should be applauded because the world building is actually quite impressive in a book this short.
Of course we get to the party meeting the Wonderful Wizard who commands them to go off and kill the Wicked Witch of the West. At this point, unlike in the movie, the Wicked Witch has not met Dorothy is not trying to kill her. So the Wizard sucks for forcing the whole party to go forth and murder someone that didn't do a thing to them in order for them to gain what they want.
There were additional characters in this story that were never referenced in the movie such as the Queen of the Mice, the Hammer-Head people, The China people, and the Quadlings. I can see now why there are fourteen books in this series since there are so many people and places that are referenced that you want to find out more about.
This was a great first book in the Oz series though at times it did drag a bit. Probably because I already knew how it would end, but I was still fascinated by all the segues that our group goes through that were not shown in the movie. Each of our heroes comes to a respectable end though I am a bit surprised by how the Tin Woodman's story ends since he initially was in want of a heart in order to find the Munchkin girl who he loved before he was turned into tin. I wonder if L. Frank Baum forgot about that or was already thinking of book #2 in his series and decided to not revisit that whole story-line.
I am definitely going to see about finding an illustrated book that covers the entire series someday.
Lock In by John Scalzi
5.0
Even with 4.3 million of the United States population being afflicted with this, innovation in science and technology managed to allow human beings who were separate but still part of the day to day society to still be fully functioning. I could tell you more, but I don't want to spoil any readers out there.
Told in the first person by Chris Shane, our main character is afflicted with Haden's syndrome (read the book to find out more about it) resulting in him being "locked-in".
Chris's father is a former NBA basketball player turned millionaire businessman and his mother comes from a wealthy political Virginia family.
Can I just squee for a moment that our hero in this book is not only bi-racial, but according to the world building set up in this book, is also dealing with having Haden's syndrome and having it not stopping him from wanting to work for the FBI and do a good job. We also have the Navajo nation playing an important part in this book which I would love to see followed up on are remarked upon in subsequent books.
Chris honestly reminded me of my first day jitters more than 10 years ago when I first joined the federal government only he was much quick with a put down than I ever was back then.
Yeah so I am off of hot dogs for a while.
Right away Chris and his partner Agent Vann are thrown into a murder mystery and dealing with the fallout from the newly elected U.S. President refusing to fund anymore long-term programs for those afflicted with Haden's Syndrome. Finding out all of the ways everything that Chris and Agent Vann are investigating that ties in together is part of the journey, and boy is it fun.
So you get science fiction and then you also get a mystery that Chris and his partner Agent Vann who brought up memories of Goren and Eames, Sherlock and Holmes, pretty much every epic partnership I could think of while reading this book.
I also may have a fan-girl crush on the character of Agent Vann. She rocks and I wish she was a real live person so I could hang out with her.
This book had world building galore and it didn't rely on info-dumping to get the reader through it. I really loved Old Man's War, but that had some info-dumping that was just enough to draw me out of the story at times. The Android's Dream had way too much and I started to mentally tune out while reading.
The world-building was excellent in this book. John Scalzi makes this alternative future seem like a real life possibility. The ways in which he imagines science changing to deal with those afflicted with Haden's Syndrome and how that changed the United States in some ways, but in the end still had things trucking along was pretty cool. I do love science fiction and fantasy novels, but one thing that drives me crazy in most is if the world-building doesn't make sense or based on what I know of certain cities/countries I have a hard time believing could occur. This is why for the most part, most young adult dystopian novels bug me.
The science when discussed in this book wasn't too over my head (thank goodness) and probably because I have friends who are programmers and have played with programming in college and now at my day to day job here and there. I still don't like it, but I know enough about it that I was not totally in the weeds.
Additionally, all of the characters were tightly drawn and felt so real to me I could picture them in my head. Even secondary and tertiary characters felt real to me and I didn't find myself trying to recall who was who. Mr. Scalzi manages to wet your appetite enough for some people that you find yourself just powering through pages to figure out if he is going to release any more tid-bits about a character or just let it flow naturally throughout the novel (yeah one of those times when I was like just tell me, just tell me, I want to know). For example, there is a character named Detective Trinh that is a metro detective (D.C.) that makes me want to know more about this character. She actually reminded me a bit of Inspector Lestrade from the Sherlock Holmes books, dismissive towards Sherlock at first, and telling Watson how Sherlock was no good.
The mystery was really cool and I can honestly say I was surprised at the end reveal and how neatly it was done.
I am excited about this being the start of a series since I definitely need to figure out what Chris and Agent Vann are going to be up to next.
Told in the first person by Chris Shane, our main character is afflicted with Haden's syndrome (read the book to find out more about it) resulting in him being "locked-in".
Chris's father is a former NBA basketball player turned millionaire businessman and his mother comes from a wealthy political Virginia family.
Can I just squee for a moment that our hero in this book is not only bi-racial, but according to the world building set up in this book, is also dealing with having Haden's syndrome and having it not stopping him from wanting to work for the FBI and do a good job. We also have the Navajo nation playing an important part in this book which I would love to see followed up on are remarked upon in subsequent books.
Chris honestly reminded me of my first day jitters more than 10 years ago when I first joined the federal government only he was much quick with a put down than I ever was back then.
I'd guess that you'd have less-than-flattering ways of describing us, Davidson said.
Dodgers, I said.
What?
Dodgers, I repeated. It's short for 'Dodger Dogs'. It's the hot dog they serve at Dodger Stadium in L.A.
I know what a Dodger Dog is, Davidson said.
I don't think I get how you get from us to them.
Two ways, I said.
One, you guys are basically meat stuffed into skin. So are hot dogs.
Two, hot dogs are mostly lips and assholes, and so are you guys.
Yeah so I am off of hot dogs for a while.
Right away Chris and his partner Agent Vann are thrown into a murder mystery and dealing with the fallout from the newly elected U.S. President refusing to fund anymore long-term programs for those afflicted with Haden's Syndrome. Finding out all of the ways everything that Chris and Agent Vann are investigating that ties in together is part of the journey, and boy is it fun.
So you get science fiction and then you also get a mystery that Chris and his partner Agent Vann who brought up memories of Goren and Eames, Sherlock and Holmes, pretty much every epic partnership I could think of while reading this book.
I also may have a fan-girl crush on the character of Agent Vann. She rocks and I wish she was a real live person so I could hang out with her.
Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't, Vann said.
But whatever it is, I will absolutely fucking bury you in it.
And I will enjoy it, because you chose to waste my time making me deal with you.
Door number one or door number two.
Choose wisely.
And if you don't choose in ten seconds, we're going with door number two.
Choose.
This book had world building galore and it didn't rely on info-dumping to get the reader through it. I really loved Old Man's War, but that had some info-dumping that was just enough to draw me out of the story at times. The Android's Dream had way too much and I started to mentally tune out while reading.
The world-building was excellent in this book. John Scalzi makes this alternative future seem like a real life possibility. The ways in which he imagines science changing to deal with those afflicted with Haden's Syndrome and how that changed the United States in some ways, but in the end still had things trucking along was pretty cool. I do love science fiction and fantasy novels, but one thing that drives me crazy in most is if the world-building doesn't make sense or based on what I know of certain cities/countries I have a hard time believing could occur. This is why for the most part, most young adult dystopian novels bug me.
The science when discussed in this book wasn't too over my head (thank goodness) and probably because I have friends who are programmers and have played with programming in college and now at my day to day job here and there. I still don't like it, but I know enough about it that I was not totally in the weeds.
Additionally, all of the characters were tightly drawn and felt so real to me I could picture them in my head. Even secondary and tertiary characters felt real to me and I didn't find myself trying to recall who was who. Mr. Scalzi manages to wet your appetite enough for some people that you find yourself just powering through pages to figure out if he is going to release any more tid-bits about a character or just let it flow naturally throughout the novel (yeah one of those times when I was like just tell me, just tell me, I want to know). For example, there is a character named Detective Trinh that is a metro detective (D.C.) that makes me want to know more about this character. She actually reminded me a bit of Inspector Lestrade from the Sherlock Holmes books, dismissive towards Sherlock at first, and telling Watson how Sherlock was no good.
The mystery was really cool and I can honestly say I was surprised at the end reveal and how neatly it was done.
I am excited about this being the start of a series since I definitely need to figure out what Chris and Agent Vann are going to be up to next.
The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston
4.0
I really loved Paula Brackston's The Witch's Daughter and The Winter Witch. I was not that happy with The Midnight Witch and thought the story started to drag on forever to the point that I no longer cared how we got to the end, I just wanted to get there. I liked The Silver Witch much more than I did The Midnight Witch, but found that I had problems with this book, that were different than the issues I had with the last one.
Told in the third person, we have a book from two character's points of view. First, Tilda a widowed young woman trying to move on with her life. Second, Seren, a woman that lived centuries earlier.
I ended up giving this book just 3.5 stars due to the following:
First, the pacing of this novel was all over the place. I think that having the book broken up into two points of view (one being Tilda and the second being a young woman named Seren) was a good idea. However, with books like this, there tends to be a stronger voice that the reader likes more. In my case, I was invested more in the character of Seren and the passages that detailed her life. The sections dealing with Tilda were not that interesting until the very end of the book when you find out her connection to what is going on. I also had problems with the fact that the character of Tilda remained pretty much a mystery. I think I was already past the halfway point when I got the idea of what was going on with her and how she was "different." I don't need a huge information dump, however pieces of the puzzle being dropped here and there while the author has another "voice" in the novel the reader is supposed to be following as well made it a bit hard to figure out what the big deal with Tilda was and by the time I found out, I mentally shrugged.
Second, the character of Tilda didn't have enough substance for me and her "magic" made no sense.
For example, we hear about her deceased husband, however, I honestly didn't feel the emotion that she should have felt dealing with his loss. I had a lot of tell and not enough show for me. Maybe it would have helped if we had any dialogue/flashbacks providing some glimpses into their relationship. When we have Tilda trying to figure out the mystery of what is going on with her and her visions since I already knew as a reader who she was seeing, I found myself getting bored with those passages. We had to wait until about 3/4 of the book I recall before Tilda caught up with the rest of us readers. Maybe it would have been better, to not have the book broken up by two different voices.
Regarding Tilda's magic, it makes no sense at all. Especially when you figure out her connections. I am still scratching my head at it and decided to not dwell on it anymore.
Third, the romance that was introduced in the novel didn't work for me, for either characters. With regards to Tilda, I didn't feel any chemistry at all between her and her romantic partner. And Seren's romantic partner may end up angering some people.
Seren gets involved with a married Prince.
It didn't bother me. I had more of a problem with the fact that Seren's romantic partner didn't seem real to me. Throughout the entire book this person was just a blank slate and didn't seem to have much of a personality.
I really adored this cover though. I swear that Paula Brackston's covers are some of the prettiest I have ever seen.
Also, like I said, the chapters describing Seren and her life were the best parts of the book for me.I would have loved it if we actually just had a book told from Seren's point of view. Paula Brackston is able to mix storytelling with the history of the regions she writes about very well which is always what I enjoyed about her previous books.
Please note that I received this book for free via the Amazon Vine Program. This book will be released on April 21, 2015.
Told in the third person, we have a book from two character's points of view. First, Tilda a widowed young woman trying to move on with her life. Second, Seren, a woman that lived centuries earlier.
I ended up giving this book just 3.5 stars due to the following:
First, the pacing of this novel was all over the place. I think that having the book broken up into two points of view (one being Tilda and the second being a young woman named Seren) was a good idea. However, with books like this, there tends to be a stronger voice that the reader likes more. In my case, I was invested more in the character of Seren and the passages that detailed her life. The sections dealing with Tilda were not that interesting until the very end of the book when you find out her connection to what is going on. I also had problems with the fact that the character of Tilda remained pretty much a mystery. I think I was already past the halfway point when I got the idea of what was going on with her and how she was "different." I don't need a huge information dump, however pieces of the puzzle being dropped here and there while the author has another "voice" in the novel the reader is supposed to be following as well made it a bit hard to figure out what the big deal with Tilda was and by the time I found out, I mentally shrugged.
Second, the character of Tilda didn't have enough substance for me and her "magic" made no sense.
For example, we hear about her deceased husband, however, I honestly didn't feel the emotion that she should have felt dealing with his loss. I had a lot of tell and not enough show for me. Maybe it would have helped if we had any dialogue/flashbacks providing some glimpses into their relationship. When we have Tilda trying to figure out the mystery of what is going on with her and her visions since I already knew as a reader who she was seeing, I found myself getting bored with those passages. We had to wait until about 3/4 of the book I recall before Tilda caught up with the rest of us readers. Maybe it would have been better, to not have the book broken up by two different voices.
Regarding Tilda's magic, it makes no sense at all. Especially when you figure out her connections. I am still scratching my head at it and decided to not dwell on it anymore.
Third, the romance that was introduced in the novel didn't work for me, for either characters. With regards to Tilda, I didn't feel any chemistry at all between her and her romantic partner. And Seren's romantic partner may end up angering some people.
Spoiler
Seren gets involved with a married Prince.
It didn't bother me. I had more of a problem with the fact that Seren's romantic partner didn't seem real to me. Throughout the entire book this person was just a blank slate and didn't seem to have much of a personality.
I really adored this cover though. I swear that Paula Brackston's covers are some of the prettiest I have ever seen.
Also, like I said, the chapters describing Seren and her life were the best parts of the book for me.I would have loved it if we actually just had a book told from Seren's point of view. Paula Brackston is able to mix storytelling with the history of the regions she writes about very well which is always what I enjoyed about her previous books.
Please note that I received this book for free via the Amazon Vine Program. This book will be released on April 21, 2015.
A Slight Change of Plan by Dee Ernst
5.0
I really ended up loving this book and want to thank a friend who recommended it to me.
The protagonist of this novel is Kate Everett. Widowed for five years she finally decides to down-size from her huge house to a nice townhouse to get ready for the second stage of her life. However, things don't go as planned with Kate still thinking about what could have been with her first love from college popping up into her life and her family causing her fits.
There are so many novels out there with characters in their fifties trying to figure out what's next but this once I thought did a great job accurately portraying what life is like for older women and men.
I thought the character of Kate was just fantastic. I wanted to hang out and drink with her and one of her besties Cheryl and just laugh at things. Especially with Kate's insights about women in romance novels always opening bakeries, businesses, or other things and somehow finding themselves. I have not read a romance novel that has actually made me laugh out loud so much in such a long time I just ended up promptly buying her other book "Better Off Without Him" and can't wait to devour that book as well.
What made it really work for me though is that Kate did not take the "easy" option but the one that worked for her. Things did not magically get right in her life she had to work at it while also being honest about her marriage to her deceased husband.
I definitely recommend this novel!
The protagonist of this novel is Kate Everett. Widowed for five years she finally decides to down-size from her huge house to a nice townhouse to get ready for the second stage of her life. However, things don't go as planned with Kate still thinking about what could have been with her first love from college popping up into her life and her family causing her fits.
There are so many novels out there with characters in their fifties trying to figure out what's next but this once I thought did a great job accurately portraying what life is like for older women and men.
I thought the character of Kate was just fantastic. I wanted to hang out and drink with her and one of her besties Cheryl and just laugh at things. Especially with Kate's insights about women in romance novels always opening bakeries, businesses, or other things and somehow finding themselves. I have not read a romance novel that has actually made me laugh out loud so much in such a long time I just ended up promptly buying her other book "Better Off Without Him" and can't wait to devour that book as well.
What made it really work for me though is that Kate did not take the "easy" option but the one that worked for her. Things did not magically get right in her life she had to work at it while also being honest about her marriage to her deceased husband.
I definitely recommend this novel!
One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
2.0
I am sure many customers know who BJ Novak is and that he starred on "The Office" for several years and has done movies as well. I have loved his acting for years and always loved his character of Ryan on "The Office". I assumed that his collection of short stories would be funny but I found out that I was unfortunately wrong.
All in all there are approximately 63 short stories in "One More Thing". Don't worry about the number of stories in this collection since some of the stories are fairly short (shortest was just three or perhaps four sentences) and the longest was maybe around 10 pages. This is really the only positive thing I can say about these stories is that they read very fast and you tend to zip through them all.
The biggest issue for me which is why I gave this only 1.5 stars is that there is no common theme tying all of these stories together. I don't know if Mr. Novak was trying to be funny or high brow or make the reader think but in the end none of these stories worked for me. I am sure that his writing was meant to evoke reactions (what reactions I don't know) and that some of his stories were metaphors for something else taking place in society. However, the biggest reaction I had was a feeling of annoyance while reading these stories and that I was back in my college English Lit course all over again (and for those of you who wonder this was not a good thing at all).
I do want to say that there were some stories that I disliked less than others. Some of these were the following, "The Rematch", "The Something by John Grisham", "The Impatient Billionaire and the Mirror for Earth". Others I downright disliked such as "The Comedy Central Roast of Nelson Mandela," "The Ghost of Mark Twain, " and "The Vague Restaurant Critic." The other stories honestly didn't leave much of an impression on me.
All in all there are approximately 63 short stories in "One More Thing". Don't worry about the number of stories in this collection since some of the stories are fairly short (shortest was just three or perhaps four sentences) and the longest was maybe around 10 pages. This is really the only positive thing I can say about these stories is that they read very fast and you tend to zip through them all.
The biggest issue for me which is why I gave this only 1.5 stars is that there is no common theme tying all of these stories together. I don't know if Mr. Novak was trying to be funny or high brow or make the reader think but in the end none of these stories worked for me. I am sure that his writing was meant to evoke reactions (what reactions I don't know) and that some of his stories were metaphors for something else taking place in society. However, the biggest reaction I had was a feeling of annoyance while reading these stories and that I was back in my college English Lit course all over again (and for those of you who wonder this was not a good thing at all).
I do want to say that there were some stories that I disliked less than others. Some of these were the following, "The Rematch", "The Something by John Grisham", "The Impatient Billionaire and the Mirror for Earth". Others I downright disliked such as "The Comedy Central Roast of Nelson Mandela," "The Ghost of Mark Twain, " and "The Vague Restaurant Critic." The other stories honestly didn't leave much of an impression on me.
Sojasoße für Anfänger by Kirstin Chen
5.0
Kristin Chen's debut novel hits all the right notes out of the gate. I wish that "Crazy Rich Asians" had taken a page out of her book. Ms. Chen ensures that you get fully immersed in Singapore by following only one protagonist, Gretchen Lin. We do get some of the "crazy rich Asians" elements when Ms. Chen explains about how much some of her friends and family buy on designer wear or drop money at the latest nightclubs. However, these are more asides than major plot points and you don't find yourself getting bored or frustrated.
I loved that the character of Gretchen is struggling with what to do in her life after a surprising announcement from her husband. Fleeing San Francisco for Singapore we have Gretchen returning to work in her family's soy sauce factory. Ms. Lin then provides the readers with detailed explanations on how "real" soy sauce is prepared. Apparently the soy sauce I have dunked my sushi in all of these years is highly inferior stuff. It was quite interesting to hear how long it takes to make really good soy sauce and that you can actually cook meat with it as well, also drink it (which I would probably still never do).
Also though I found Gretchen to be aggravating at times when it came to her facing what was really going on in her life with her family, her family business, her husband she finally does end up coming to peace on what she needs to do.
Ms. Lin is able to immerse the reader in this novel in such a way that I felt as if I was along with Gretchen smelling soybeans, feeling the moist heat in Singapore, and the air in San Francisco.
My only minor quibble is that sometimes characters speak in Slingish, Chinese, Maylay, etc. I wish that it had been explained in some way. I was able to get the gist a few times but some of the sentences I had no idea what a person was trying to say.
I look forward to reading future books by Ms. Chen in the future. I 100% recommend this novel.
I loved that the character of Gretchen is struggling with what to do in her life after a surprising announcement from her husband. Fleeing San Francisco for Singapore we have Gretchen returning to work in her family's soy sauce factory. Ms. Lin then provides the readers with detailed explanations on how "real" soy sauce is prepared. Apparently the soy sauce I have dunked my sushi in all of these years is highly inferior stuff. It was quite interesting to hear how long it takes to make really good soy sauce and that you can actually cook meat with it as well, also drink it (which I would probably still never do).
Also though I found Gretchen to be aggravating at times when it came to her facing what was really going on in her life with her family, her family business, her husband she finally does end up coming to peace on what she needs to do.
Ms. Lin is able to immerse the reader in this novel in such a way that I felt as if I was along with Gretchen smelling soybeans, feeling the moist heat in Singapore, and the air in San Francisco.
My only minor quibble is that sometimes characters speak in Slingish, Chinese, Maylay, etc. I wish that it had been explained in some way. I was able to get the gist a few times but some of the sentences I had no idea what a person was trying to say.
I look forward to reading future books by Ms. Chen in the future. I 100% recommend this novel.
Three Girls and a New Beginning by Rachel Schurig
5.0
This is the fifth book in the "Three Girls" series and I was so blown away about how much I loved it and how sad it is to see the end of the girls..(maybe?)
Unlike with the previous novels being told from only one of the girls points of views this one is told from Ginny, Jen, and Annie's points of views. We have all of the girls happily settled and in two cases are moms. With more pressure on all of the girls whether it be from their professional lives or when it comes to comparing themselves to other mothers they are starting to keep things from one another and starting to feel resentful of each other.
What I thought was quite realistic is that as you grow up you stop telling your friends every thing that is going on with you. You have a husband/boyfriend/partner that you start to share things with and often if it is too private you feel embarrassed or ashamed to say to a friend that you are jealous of them or having a hard time. It makes you feel as if you are less of a woman somehow if you admit you can't do it all. So with all of the girls falling apart in their own ways when it comes to changes that are going on in all of their lives I thought it was quite realistic that eventually everything would implode.
The only thing I wish had been elaborated on more was the character of Kiki in this story. I loved reading Kiki's story in "The Truth About Ever After" and thought she was more a part of the group now at the conclusion of that novel. It just felt at times she was excluded from the gatherings and hanging out going on with all of the girls.
You definitely won't be disappointed if you pick up this novel! I suggest you read the other novels in the series first though so you can find out who is who. Start out with "Three Girls and a Baby" and work your way from there.
Unlike with the previous novels being told from only one of the girls points of views this one is told from Ginny, Jen, and Annie's points of views. We have all of the girls happily settled and in two cases are moms. With more pressure on all of the girls whether it be from their professional lives or when it comes to comparing themselves to other mothers they are starting to keep things from one another and starting to feel resentful of each other.
What I thought was quite realistic is that as you grow up you stop telling your friends every thing that is going on with you. You have a husband/boyfriend/partner that you start to share things with and often if it is too private you feel embarrassed or ashamed to say to a friend that you are jealous of them or having a hard time. It makes you feel as if you are less of a woman somehow if you admit you can't do it all. So with all of the girls falling apart in their own ways when it comes to changes that are going on in all of their lives I thought it was quite realistic that eventually everything would implode.
The only thing I wish had been elaborated on more was the character of Kiki in this story. I loved reading Kiki's story in "The Truth About Ever After" and thought she was more a part of the group now at the conclusion of that novel. It just felt at times she was excluded from the gatherings and hanging out going on with all of the girls.
You definitely won't be disappointed if you pick up this novel! I suggest you read the other novels in the series first though so you can find out who is who. Start out with "Three Girls and a Baby" and work your way from there.
When Girlfriends Let Go by Savannah Page
3.0
I was really excited to finally get to Jackie Kittredge's story in the "When Girlfriends" series. Based on tidbits told from Laura's and Emily's stories it seemed that Jackie grew up poor and abused by her family and managed to graduate college with all of the other girls. The queen of bad decisions with regards to her boyfriends or jobs she always needed her friends to step in and bail her out.
With this story now focused on Jackie we have her providing details on her life married to her husband Andrew. Andrew is a wealthy man in his 50s and Jackie is getting sick of how much time Andrew spends at work and starts thinking he is having an affair. Combine that with the upheaval in Laura and Claire's lives along with Sophie trying to make her business work and Emily planning her next adventure Jackie is starting to fill left out with regards to her friends lives.
I only gave this novel in the series 3 stars since I felt it lacked background on Jackie, there was very little growth on Jackie's side until the very end of the story, and I honestly did not buy that she and her husband had some great love story going on at all.
Regarding the backstory on Jackie. We do get some details here and there but its all pretty much glossed over about her family. We do get to hear some stories about her back in college but once again it was just told as an aside to something else. I never felt as if I truly got to know Jackie.
Jackie's lack of growth as a friend and wife was rampant throughout 90 percent of the novel. We do finally have her showing some growth towards the end but not in a way that I thought was healthy. I really wish that all of the friends had verbally smacked her around since she reminds me of way too many ex-friends of mine who were constant drama queens. Being around that kind of person all of the time is draining.
Finally, as I said Jackie's marriage to Andrew was just not written to show why in the world either one of them were with the other besides money for Jackie to spend and Andrew being married to a hot younger woman.
It seems as if there is going to be one more story in the "When Girlfriends" series and I hope that one ends on a good note. Also it would be really great if Savannah Page actually has some surprises up her sleeve instead of moving two characters I really don't think belong together towards each other.
I would recommend to fans of the series who want to catch up with all of the girls.
With this story now focused on Jackie we have her providing details on her life married to her husband Andrew. Andrew is a wealthy man in his 50s and Jackie is getting sick of how much time Andrew spends at work and starts thinking he is having an affair. Combine that with the upheaval in Laura and Claire's lives along with Sophie trying to make her business work and Emily planning her next adventure Jackie is starting to fill left out with regards to her friends lives.
I only gave this novel in the series 3 stars since I felt it lacked background on Jackie, there was very little growth on Jackie's side until the very end of the story, and I honestly did not buy that she and her husband had some great love story going on at all.
Regarding the backstory on Jackie. We do get some details here and there but its all pretty much glossed over about her family. We do get to hear some stories about her back in college but once again it was just told as an aside to something else. I never felt as if I truly got to know Jackie.
Jackie's lack of growth as a friend and wife was rampant throughout 90 percent of the novel. We do finally have her showing some growth towards the end but not in a way that I thought was healthy. I really wish that all of the friends had verbally smacked her around since she reminds me of way too many ex-friends of mine who were constant drama queens. Being around that kind of person all of the time is draining.
Finally, as I said Jackie's marriage to Andrew was just not written to show why in the world either one of them were with the other besides money for Jackie to spend and Andrew being married to a hot younger woman.
It seems as if there is going to be one more story in the "When Girlfriends" series and I hope that one ends on a good note. Also it would be really great if Savannah Page actually has some surprises up her sleeve instead of moving two characters I really don't think belong together towards each other.
I would recommend to fans of the series who want to catch up with all of the girls.
Love... Under Different Skies by Nick Spalding
5.0
Ahh Nick Spalding. I have loved every novel he has written starring Jaime and Laura Newman. Seriously if you want to laugh so hard you have milk/soda/tea spilling out of your nose start reading the first two books in the series, "Love From Both Sides" and "Love and Sleepless Nights". You get to see how Jaime and Laura first met and became man and wife and then follow them through the birth of their first child Poppy.
With "Love Under Different Skies" you have Jaime and Laura coming to an impasse in their marriage. Once again told from Jaime and Laura's points of view we follow a year of Jaime and Laura uprooting themselves from the UK to move to Australia with a new chocolate company that has hired Laura.
What I really loved about this novel is that you get to see gender roles flipped with Laura being the sole breadwinner and Jaime being the househusband. I thought Mr. Spalding was very realistic about how much resentment that would breed in a marriage from both sides.
We also get some lovely anecdotes about Australia, the people, the food, the weather. I seriously want to go there though it sounds like everything in the world there will kill you.
If Mr. Spalding continues with this series I hope he continues with the story told from both Jaime and Laura's point of view though it would be nice to get Poppy's thoughts when she is a pre-teen or teenager about her crazy parents.
I definitely recommend!
With "Love Under Different Skies" you have Jaime and Laura coming to an impasse in their marriage. Once again told from Jaime and Laura's points of view we follow a year of Jaime and Laura uprooting themselves from the UK to move to Australia with a new chocolate company that has hired Laura.
What I really loved about this novel is that you get to see gender roles flipped with Laura being the sole breadwinner and Jaime being the househusband. I thought Mr. Spalding was very realistic about how much resentment that would breed in a marriage from both sides.
We also get some lovely anecdotes about Australia, the people, the food, the weather. I seriously want to go there though it sounds like everything in the world there will kill you.
If Mr. Spalding continues with this series I hope he continues with the story told from both Jaime and Laura's point of view though it would be nice to get Poppy's thoughts when she is a pre-teen or teenager about her crazy parents.
I definitely recommend!
Out to Lunch by Stacey Ballis
5.0
I have read previous Stacey Ballis novels and though I may have liked or almost loved some of them I have never out and out loved one before. This novel touched so many things with me that I read it all over again when I finished it.
This novel focuses on Jenna who is still adjusting to losing her best friend and business partner Aimee. Aimee was Jenna's rock and without her around to tell her what to do she feels herself floundering. However, it seems that Aimee has one last to do for Jenna which is to manage the finances for her friend's widowed husband Wayne. Jenna is prepared to do anything but that since she never understood what Aimee saw in Wayne. With Jenna also starting a new relationship with someone that she keeps thinking is out of her league.
What I really liked about this novel is that you have Jenna struggling to come to grips with the loss of her best friend and trying to do her best to not let Wayne see how much she dislikes him. There were several laugh out loud moments for me. The best things were when Jenna would have the "Aimee voice" telling her the truth no hold barred. I know that when I lost my mother for several years afterwards I would automatically start thinking about what would she say if she could see me doing this or would she be ready to kick me in the butt for going out with another loser.
I have no criticisms of this novel except a very minor one which is that I wish that we had Jenna being more gracious with her parents. I never got why Jenna was so bent out of shape with her mother and father actually wanting to know what was going on with her or trying to check in to see how she was dealing with the loss of Aimee. I really wish we as readers had gotten more backstory there or at least Jenna's acknowledgement she was being irrational in some way.
There was also a new surprise of us seeing a couple from her previous novel, "Off the Menu" make an appearance which I loved.
I would definitely recommend this novel!
This novel focuses on Jenna who is still adjusting to losing her best friend and business partner Aimee. Aimee was Jenna's rock and without her around to tell her what to do she feels herself floundering. However, it seems that Aimee has one last to do for Jenna which is to manage the finances for her friend's widowed husband Wayne. Jenna is prepared to do anything but that since she never understood what Aimee saw in Wayne. With Jenna also starting a new relationship with someone that she keeps thinking is out of her league.
What I really liked about this novel is that you have Jenna struggling to come to grips with the loss of her best friend and trying to do her best to not let Wayne see how much she dislikes him. There were several laugh out loud moments for me. The best things were when Jenna would have the "Aimee voice" telling her the truth no hold barred. I know that when I lost my mother for several years afterwards I would automatically start thinking about what would she say if she could see me doing this or would she be ready to kick me in the butt for going out with another loser.
I have no criticisms of this novel except a very minor one which is that I wish that we had Jenna being more gracious with her parents. I never got why Jenna was so bent out of shape with her mother and father actually wanting to know what was going on with her or trying to check in to see how she was dealing with the loss of Aimee. I really wish we as readers had gotten more backstory there or at least Jenna's acknowledgement she was being irrational in some way.
There was also a new surprise of us seeing a couple from her previous novel, "Off the Menu" make an appearance which I loved.
I would definitely recommend this novel!