The Forgotten Garden

Following my sprint through Bite Me, I had hoped to have similar luck reading An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin. One of my favorite books was Shopgirl, also by Martin, so I had hopes this would also pique my interest. Sadly, I lost my drive to keep reading and took that to mean it was time to move on. (Maybe it's time I started a blog about the books I've put down recently?)

Skimming through the list of books on ye olde kobo, I realized I had bought the Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (or did Mum buy it?), so I decided to give it a go. The funny thing about kobo books is that, as soon you as you have bought them and loaded them to your devise, the only way to remember what they're about is to actually start reading, or go online. There is no synopsis on the back cover...being that there is no back cover for which to have this printed.

I started into the story and next thing I knew I was being swept away by the characters. The story is of 38 year old Cassandra whose grandmother passes away, leaving her with a cottage in England and a mystery to go along with it. Nell, the grandmother, was found on the docks of an Australian town at 4 years old and discovered the parents who raised her weren't her biological parents. Cassandra sets off from Australia to England to find out who her grandmother really is. The story shifts time periods from 2005 to 1975 to 1907 and back. I was totally captivated through the whole tale and would definitely recommend it.

First One Down

With my goal of reading 40 books this year in mind (we'll see how that goes!), I have finished the first for 2011. I borrowed Bite Me by Christopher Moore. This is the latest from one of my favorite authors and the third in his vampire series. A far cry from the Twilight saga, these stories take on a morbid twist with lots of bizarre characters and humorous moments. I've read all of Moore's books and while this series is not my favorite of his, it was thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. I suspect a sequel may be on the way though... One can hope!!

The Last of 2010

For whatever reason I decided to end of 2010 by slogging through two of the driest, slowest books I've tackled in years.

Months ago, Mare and I decided to read Jane Austen's Emma. We decided to read it together as a way of making sure we stayed on track and finished it. I've seen the movie (with Gwyneth Paltrow) and really liked it, and I also have enjoyed watching Clueless which is based on this story as well. Unfortunately the book itself was a terrible slog. I don't know how many times Mare and I had to convince each other to carry on. It took months. Just when I was fairly certain that something was going to happen....nothing did. Again and again and again. I honestly can't figure out how a book with so little plot could have lasted through the ages. Anyway, I think it's safe to say I would not recommend anyone read it. (I've also heard that of all Austen's works, this is one of the hardest to get through, which does make me feel somewhat better).

After finally closing Emma, I picked up the 4th book in Jean M Auel's Earth's Children series: The Plains of Passage. Yet another very slow moving book. Auel has made colourful description somewhat of her trademark and I was expecting it to some degree...but the extend to which the descriptions went on was bordering on torturous. The story followed a pattern though: Description of foliage, terrain and animals, declaration of love from the two main characters, descriptive sex scene, description of foliage, terrain and animals, declaration of love, sex scene (complete with the frequent use of the word "manhood"), Description of foliage, terrain and animals, declaration of love, sex. I think you're getting the picture. When the two main characters actually encountered other people it became interesting (except that each time they encountered a group of people there would be the cursory "my what a strange accent she has" thought from the new people with regards to Ayla. I get it, she has a funny accent. I didn't need to be told 13 times). I'm not going to lie, I did rather a lot of skimming through the description bits...and the sex. Believe it or not, I do intend to read the next one in the series. I suspect there will be substantially less description as I believe the two main characters have reached their final destination and the travelling aspect (with changes in scenery) will be at a minimum.

So, with the final page of Plains I officially reached 34 books read in 2010. Not too bad, if I do say so myself! That's more than one every two weeks. I'm hoping to read 40 this year. Though we'll see how that goes. It's good to have goals, right?