Book rêveur

I went into this book with high hopes. Not sure where the problem is - in me or in Jean Rhys, but I was disappointed. First part was good and moody, then the second part was more like meh and I didn`t care much for the last part. The pacing was chaotic, the author`s "voice" boring and I had a hard time to feel any sympathy towards poor and at the end mad Antoinette. As for the young Rochester, Rhys can say what she likes that this is a prequel to Bronte`s "Jane Eyre", but I couldn`t put these two Rochesters together as much as I tried. 

I`m so sad that the book which started quite promising with nice exotic and gothic feeling went down the hill and ended as poorly written average novel. I know that there are many glamorous reviews and many people call this a great book. For me "Wide Sargasso Sea" is the big disappointment of 2013.

2,5 stars for constant feeling of dread and unhappiness.

What if the ones you loved and lost came back? What to feel, how to react, what to do? There is no simple answer, and this isn`t a simple book. Poetry in prose about life and death. It`s more like philosophy than thriller: slow paced and without much fighting and blood. Some are happy, some are angry, but generally both the living and the Returned are just scared and confused. Not all the people understand that it`s a second chance in life to love, to forgive and to let go. I liked that author didn`t try to give some crappy explanation how it`s possible that the dead ones come back as if nothing had happened. He leaves it to the miracle and I`m satisfied with that.

Sometimes it was emotionally hard to read, sometimes I didn`t want to start a new chapter because I could imagine myself opening the door and there stands my granddad.... Sometimes I was so scared for everyone in Arcadia and expected mind blowing violence to break out in every new page. I was quite surprised when it didn`t. Thank you Jason Mott that you didn`t take the easy way out.

This book touched my soul. 

I expected a light summer read. Summer, motorcycles, hot guy.... Anyone? I got what I asked for, but I got so much more. What started out light and flirty soon become quite sad and serious at some parts. Jude`s dad has Alzheimer and his memory is fading quickly. Jude hopes that restoring dad`s beloved bike will miraculously stop the disease. Of course, it`s not possible. Don`t worry, there is romance too. It`s funny how Jude tries to stick to some silly oath given to her sisters not to get involved with Vargas brothers. It takes time to realize that not all people are the same, it`s not possible to restore good old times and you have to live your own life and follow your own dreams. Even if your heart might get broken.

I`m not sure what I read. It`s more 2,5 stars, because it was ok and some parts I liked, but I couldn`t get a grip on the story. It`s like something is going on and nothing is happening at the same time. Not what I expected. The synopsis was SO promising, but the book didn`t live up to my expectations. The mood was somewhat flat and not as dark as it could be. The plot wasn`t so life changing for characters as promised. Worst of all, there is not a single character to be liked and related to. Still I liked the 1960s atmosphere and author`s style is quite beautiful. Reminded me of "The Great Gatsby" and "Breakfast at Tiffany`s".

I don`t know how it happened but this was my first encounter with Roald Dahl. Somehow I have mised him for years. Anyway "Matilda" is such a funny and smart children`s book and I`m sorry I didn`t read as a child. As an adult I found some places too exaggerated. Besides everything is so simple, there is no middle ground. Headmistress is almost like some creature from hell and Miss Honey could be an angel. So this book is more for children, although I enjoyed it quite a lot. 

Let me tell you straight away, that grew up reading about two great detectives - Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. I love it when detectives THINK and search and not simply run after the bad guy or use some "super powers" aka CSI. So it`s not easy to please me when it comes to crime mysteries and thrillers. But Jussi Adler-Olsen does just that - he pleases me with his nice crime plot and his detectives from Q department does quite a lot of thinking and searching.

I`m not sure how I felt about knowing from the start who the killer is, but on the other hand being able to look into killer`s head was really exciting and didn`t help me to figure out what the ending will be (and that says A LOT, because quite often it`s easy to guess). It takes time to understand the killer and what`s going on.The plot is a little bit like a manual how to kill and go unnoticed for years. If not for this letter in a bottle, no one would have found out the crimes were committed. That`s unsettling. 

Detectives from the Q department are a strange bundle of people. Head detective Carl Morck loves to sleep and seems quite slow, but his head is in the right place. Then there is Asad - smart and quick to see the details and put everything together, and Rose, Carl`s secretary or something like that. Very expressive lady. All of them have some problems and secrets in life and I hope to find out those in further books.

This is #3 in the series about Q department, but it`s not mandatory to start with the #1. As I liked this one, I`ll go back and read #1 and #2 as well. 

I had high hopes for this book. Nice cover, mysterious  synopsis, summer, sea... Besides I haven`t read anything about mythical sea creatures. So I was excited to pick it up. My excitement lasted for maybe two minutes. Then I started to tell myself - ok, sometimes it takes time to get into a book, keep on reading. Long story short - it didn`t get better and I ended up skimming through pages, doing occasional face palms and wishing for the book to end.

My God, to spoil such good idea with poor plot twists and totally uninteresting characters it`s such a shame. Characters were as complicated as fence pole. Gemma turns into this fascinating mythological creature and all she thinks is - oh, I can swim really fast now. She is not scared and she`s barely questioning what`s going on. 

It felt like the author has rushed through the story without much thought. Too bad. I`m curious what`s going to happen next, but I highly doubt I`ll read the rest of the series. 

So SO true.

Oh my, I haven`t read anything so bizarre and disturbing before. Partly horror, partly fantasy, partly grotesque, partly poetry. I`m not sure I understood everything I read because I can`t explain some stories, but the macabre got the best of me. Mariposa Girls, Quiet Camp and So Many Wings were so creepy and great. Girls screw the blades of skates straight to their naked feet, other girls are sent to some strange camp to learn to be quiet in some violent ways and woman steals her ex-husband`s hand and nurses it. Did I mention that husband is dead and not her husband already for seven years? 

Definitely worth reading if you look for something different. I got a galley, book should come out on October 1st 2013.

The world is a book....

I love travel memories. They are always mixture of adventures, cultural experiences and searching for oneself and happiness. This book sounded promising, so off I went with it. Now, after the journey, I must say that it wasn`t bad, but I feel somehow fooled. The middle part about searching for an apartment and trying to settle down and start her own business in Mexico was really good and interesting. But the beginning and ending of the book didn`t seem honest. It was more like very calculated feelings and thoughts to get across some message. I don`t like playing with my mind in such way. 

It`s nice that she found her way in life, but I`m not going to scream Viva together with the author. 

I`m slowly going through classics I haven`t read and to be honest it`s often quite boring or tiresome. It seems I have no patience for classics anymore, but I used to enjoy it. Go figures.

"The Catcher in the Rye" is one of the novels I must have read when I was a teen, because then I could have enjoyed it. Now it felt boring and even stupid. Sure, I can see why it is so great and everything, but I`m too old for it. After reading "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" it couldn`t offer me anything new. Truth to be said, I remember more about Charley than about Holden. 

Read it while you are young, skip it if you are an adult.