Win It: Havisham by Ronald Frame

Posted by Unknown on Friday, October 18, 2013. Filed under:
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Want your own copy of Havisham? It won't hit stores until November 5th, but we're giving away an advanced reader copy now!

Copies of this book were included in our gift bags at BEA, courtesy of the publisher, and we're happy to share the wealth.

All you have to do is comment on this post by midnight ET on October 22, 2013 and answer the question: Have you read Charles Dickens's Great Expectations? What did you think of it? (Be sure to include a way to contact you if your comment doesn't link directly to your email!)

 We'll pick a random commenter to send the book off to. Good luck!

Review: Havisham

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Havisham: A Novel by Ronald Frame
Published by: Faber & Faber
Our source: ARC from the publisher

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

Catherine Havisham was born into privilege. Handsome, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer, and lives in luxury in Satis House. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the arresting letters on the brewhouse wall - HAVISHAM. A reminder of all she owes to the family name and the family business.


Sent by her father to stay with the Chadwycks, Catherine discovers literature, music and masquerades - elegant pastimes to remove the taint of new money. But for all her growing sophistication Catherine is anything but worldly, and when a charismatic stranger pays her attention, everything - her heart, her future, the very Havisham name - is vulnerable.


Our thoughts:

Let me start off by saying: I am a huge fan of Charles Dickens.  Through the years I have read Great Expectations at least a half a dozen times and really am fascinated by the character of Miss Havisham, still running around in her wedding dress. When I saw the book Havisham, I knew I would like it.

The story depicts the circumstances that led up to Catherine Havisham, Dickens’s character from Great Expectations, stopping in time.  While I enjoyed the tale and re-visiting with characters from Great Expectations, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. While Ronald Frame did a fine job of telling this tale his writing style just cannot be compared to Dickens.

We would recommend this to:

Fans of Great Expectations and historical fiction.

Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 16, 2013. Filed under: , , , , ,
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Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Published by: Quirk
Our source: Complimentary Copy from the Publisher

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

A horrific family tragedy sends Jacob, 16, to a remote island off Wales, to the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, where he finds unusual old photographs. The children, one his grandfather, were more than peculiar, perhaps dangerous, quarantined for good reason - and maybe still alive.

Our thoughts:

I found this to be wonderfully strange and very creepy. I loved the idea of being able to go back to another time period. My favorite part of the book though was the pictures and how Riggs has tied these very odd photographs into his story. I found both the story and the photography to be very creative and entertaining.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is Riggs's first novel and I loved it. It's so full of adventure and fantasy that I didn't want it to end. Riggs's second novel of Miss Peregrine's peculiar children titled Hollow City is slated to come out in January 2014 and I can't wait. I' looking forward to not only the tale continuing, but also some more great photos.

We would recommend this to:

Fans of fantasy, horror and fiction of all ages, anyone looking for a good Halloween read

Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Posted by Kate on Monday, October 14, 2013. Filed under: , , , ,
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The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Our source: Our local library

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.
Our thoughts:
 
It seems like so many of the current vampire books have un-scary vampires. Here, the vampires are scary. They're still sexy and glamorous, but they're dangerous in a way that I feel is missing from other currently popular books. And it felt impressive that Tana does not want to be a vampire.
 
This book was great. It was a slowly building story that came together great. I loved the characters and the world Black built. It's one of those books that I wish I could have five sequels to read right now because I just want to keep living in the story.
 
And although the vampires were scary, the book itself wasn't too scary. I'm a wimp and could handle it just fine! If you're looking for a not-scary-but-seasonal Halloween read, I strongly recommend this one!

We would recommend this to:

Fans of vampire stories, people who like stories of friendship and survival,  anyone looking for a good Halloween read

Review: When We Were Strangers

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, October 11, 2013. Filed under: , , , ,
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When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt
Published by: William Morrow
Our source: Our local library

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

Even after her beloved mother's passing, 20-year-old Irma longs to stay in her Abruzzo mountain village, plying her needle. But too poor and plain to marry and subject to growing danger in her own home, she risks rough passage to America and workhouse servitude to achieve her dream of making dresses for gentlewomen. 

In the raw immigrant quarters and with the help of an entrepreneurial Irish serving girl, ribbon-decked Polish ragman and austere Alsatian dressmaker, Irma begins to stitch together a new life . . . until her peace and self are shattered in the charred remains of the Great Chicago Fire. Enduring a painful recovery, Irma reaches deep within to find that she has even more to offer the world than her remarkable ability with a needle and thread.

Our thoughts:

Set in the late 1800's, Irma Vitale leaves her home in the beautiful village of Opi, Italy and immigrates to the United States. The story explores Irma's passage to America aboard the Servia, but also her journey to womanhood.

  When Irma leaves Opi she is young, poor, and very naive. A stranger in a new land with few skills, this gripping tale tells of Irma's journey to find housing, work, an education, but also deals with much more complex issues such as abortion and death.

 Many of us are the strangers at some point in our lives. Whether it is going off to college, moving to a different area, or simply changing jobs, we find ourselves in a situation were all of our past skills are irrelevant. Sometimes I wonder if these circumstances help us to become resilient enough to forge ahead and achieve our goals?
I have recently also read Schoenewaldt's other novel, Swimming in the Moon and I loved both books. She is a fantastic story teller and I look forward to more of her works.

We would recommend this to:


Fans of historical fiction, coming of age stories

Review: Five Little Peppers and How They Grew

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, October 7, 2013. Filed under: , , , ,
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Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Published by: Whitman Publishing Company
Our source: Purchased through a book sale

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew was originally serialized in an 1880 edition of Wide Awake, a children's magazine. The publisher of the magazine, Daniel Lothrop, loved the Pepper stories so much that he published a hard-cover edition of the story -- and married the author in 1881.

Our thoughts:

When I was in kindergarten, I remember being one of the last students to know my alphabet letters. Philip, a neighborhood boy, was assigned the task of helping me to learn them. Once I learned to read there was no stopping me. My Mother claims that I wrote my name in every book in the house because I wanted them to all be mine. Personally, I think it has something to do with growing up in a large family.

My favorite book was The Five Little Peppers by Margaret Sidney.  I wanted to live in the little brown house along with Polly, Ben, Joel, Davie, Phronsie and their Mamsie.  I read that book so many times that it started to fall apart.

This year for Mother's Day, Kate gifted me with a copy of The Five Little Peppers that she found at a book sale. I never realized that the book I owned was an abbreviated children's version (which, may I add, I still have and still treasure). I finally got to read the full story and I loved it at much as I did as a child. If you are looking for a feel good, adventurous, chapter book that you can share with a child, this is definitely one to consider.

We would recommend this to:


Children, parents who want a great book to read to their kids, anyone feeling nostalgic for their childhood

Review: The Returned

Posted by Kate on Thursday, October 3, 2013. Filed under: , , ,
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The Returned by Jason Mott
Published by: Harlequin MIRA
Our source: ARC from the publisher

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

Our thoughts:

For me, science fiction tends to fall into two categories: This is never going to happen, or, I'm concerned this will happen next week. This book fell into the ladder. I found Mott's world of the dead returning after many years completely real and believable.

And his characters! I loved them all. They were complicated, flawed and completely realistic. 

This isn't a high-action science fiction story - it's more of a slow-burn as people deal with their rapidly changing world.  It's interesting and thought provoking and I thought it was incredibly well done.

I should also note that it's already been picked up by ABC as a future drama called, "Resurrection". I'm not always on board with my favorite books being made into movies or TV shows, but I think this one lends itself really well to it so I can't wait to check that out as well!

We would recommend this to:

Fans of apocalyptic stories, science fiction and those who highly value family.

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