Book Review: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

If you randomly find yourself uttering things like “Anybody want a peanut?”, “Have fun storming the castle,” or “I’m not a witch. I’m your wife!” — then face it: You’re a hopeless Princess Bride fanatic… and you’ll probably enjoy As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Prince Bride very, very much.

Written by Cary Elwes (Westley!!!), the book is a nice jaunt back in time, telling tales from behind the scenes of the production, from his casting and the early days of filming all the way through the cast’s reunion for a 25th anniversary celebration of this amazing movie.

Surprisingly, The Princess Bride was not a huge success when it was first released — perhaps due to completely bungled marketing on the part of the studio. Audiences who saw the movie loved it; the problem was, not that many people actually saw it. But with the advent of VHS (remember those?), the popularity of the movie took off until it became the cult classic it is today.

In As You Wish, Cary (can I call him Cary? I feel like we’re connected…) tells about his early meetings with director Rob Reiner and with his co-stars, and how the movie was made, start to finish. His reminiscences about the late, great André the Giant are particularly sweet and heartfelt, and his obviously sincere praise for the rest of the cast is quite lovely and a lot of fun to read. Side notes from Reiner, Billy Crystal, Robin Wright, and other cast members help round out the story of the movie-making, sharing other perspectives and anecdotes related to events that Cary describes.

I especially enjoyed the little tidbits that I hadn’t known before. Did you know that Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin did all of their own sword fighting in the movie? They trained rigorously for months to pull off The Greatest Swordfight in Modern Times, which makes it extra fun to watch and rewatch, now that I know.

If you’re a fan of The Princess Bride, this quick book is a fun way to spend an afternoon or two. It’s not especially earthshaking or surprising in any way, and there’s certainly no gossip or scandalous escapades here. As You Wish is a tribute to a movie that so many of us know and love, and it’s clear from reading this book that Cary Elwes and the rest of the cast and crew consider being a part of The Princess Bride a once-in-a-lifetime, extra special experience. Consider this a lovely little gift to the fans, straight from Cary Elwes’s heart… and enjoy.

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The details:

Title: As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride
Author: Cary Elwes (with Joe Layden)
Publisher: Touchstone
Publication date: October, 2014
Length: 259 pages
Genre: Entertainment/memoir/non-fiction
Source: Purchased as a gift… then borrowed it back to read!

1Jan2015

Fields & Fantasies presents… Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Posted in Book Reviews, Fields & Fantasies by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the December pick for the Fields & Fantasies book club! Each month or so, in collaboration with my wonderful co-host Diana of Strahbary’s Fields, we’ll pick one book to read and discuss. Today, we’re looking at Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh:

Synopsis (Goodreads):

This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative–like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it–but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book:

Pictures
Words
Stories about things that happened to me
Stories about things that happened to other people because of me
Eight billion dollars*
Stories about dogs
The secret to eternal happiness*

*These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

My two cents:

How do I even begin to describe a book like Hyperbole and a Half? Besides saying that I found myself bursting into uncontrollable giggles while reading — and you can ask my family: I’m not usually the uncontrollable giggles type.

So — Allie Brosh is well-known for her web comic/blog (also called Hyperbole and a Half). I’d never read anything by her prior to reading this book. But I understand she has quite a following, and I can see why.

Unflinchingly honest, the author splits this book between odd childhood behavior, her two dogs (the “simple” dog and the “helper” dog), and her own struggle with depression. I’ll admit it straight out — the dog stories are the ones that really cracked me up. How to even describe the glory of her test of the simple dog’s IQ? Or the helper dog’s hatred of the fact that other dogs exist anywhere at all? And then there’s the story of the mad goose that came into her house one night, like some evil spirit out of a horror movie.

If you were sitting quietly on your couch, waiting for your girlfriend to come back inside so you could finish watching your movie, and while you were waiting, someone called you up and said “I’ll give you a million dollars if you can guess what’s going to happen next,” you absolutely would not guess “I am going to be brutally and unexpectedly attacked by a goose in my own home.” Even if you had a hundred guesses, you would not guess that.

I absolutely loved the first piece in the book, about finding a letter from herself at age 10, written to her adult self. I won’t even try to describe it — but let’s just say that by page 2, my first laughing fit had kicked in.

And then there’s the cake story from when she was three years old:

I had tasted cake and there was no going back. My tiny body had morphed into a writhing mass of pure tenacity encased in a layer of desperation. I would eat all of the cake or I would evaporate from the sheer power of my desire to eat it.

Seriously, read the cake story. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed until I cried…

Her ruminations on depression are eye-opening and informative — and somehow manage to convey all the depths of nothingness inherent in depression while still being human and even humorous. A friend who has struggled on and off with depression for years informs me that this book is one of the few she’s read where she really could see herself on the page.

Likewise, I loved the author’s honesty in a section in which she delves into identity and believing herself to be a good person –without actually having to back it up most of the time:

I like to believe that I would behave heroically in a disaster situation. I like to think this because it makes me feel good about myself. Conveniently, it is very unlikely that I will ever actually have to do anything to prove it. As long as I never encounter a disaster situation, I can keep believing I’m a hero indefinitely.

She ‘fesses up to the fact that she likes to be proud of herself for being a good person, but suspects that without seeking that internal approval for her own good deeds, she might actually be a horrible person.

I don’t just want to do the right thing. I want to WANT to do the right thing. This might seem like a noble goal to strive for, but I don’t actually care about adhering to morality. It’s more that being aware of not wanting to do the right thing ruins my ability to enjoy doing the right thing after I’m forced into doing it through shame.

Hyperbole and a Half is a very quick read. The primitive, brightly-colored drawing are hilarious, and the interplay between words and pictures is perfect.

Not many books can make you burst into giggles and at the same time force you to examine your inner self and take a hard look at your actions and motivations. Reading Hyperbole and a Half is a surprisingly thought-provoking and moving experience for something that’s just so damned funny.

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And just to show that intelligent people can disagree, I’ll point out that while I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads, Diana gave it only 2 stars — and doesn’t seem to have liked it at all. I’ll add the link to Diana’s review once it’s up!

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The details:

Title: Hyperbole and a Half
Author: Allie Brosh
Publisher: Touchstone
Publication date: 2013
Length: 369 pages
Genre: Humor
Source: Purchased

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Next for Fields & Fantasies:

Our January book will be Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

30Dec2014

Binge! Saga by Brian K. Vaughan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Let us now praise the glory that is Saga.

I’m in love with this series. Really and truly. It’s always exciting to read a series of books — novels, comics, or whatever — and feel as thrilled by the last as you were with the first. Not that volume 4 is the end of Saga, but it’s the last one I read, and I loved it just as much as volumes 1, 2, and 3.

Okay, deep breaths.

Saga is a comic series available in trade paperback collections (as well as a new deluxe collection now out in hardcover). Saga is ongoing, with the next individual comic edition (#25) scheduled for release in February. Meanwhile, the volume 4 paperback edition has just been released this month, taking us up through issue #24. Does all this make sense?

So what’s it all about? In a nutshell:

The planet of Landfall is inhabited by winged people who have been locked in an unending cycle of war with the horned, magic-wielding residents of Wreath, Landfall’s moon. The two populations absolutely hate and want to eradicate each other. However, generations earlier, both Landfall and Wreath recognized the huge toll the war was taking on their planets — so they outsourced the war to other worlds.

Alana is a Landfall soldier, and Marko is a prisoner of war from Wreath. The two fall for each other and escape, making themselves the most-wanted fugitives in the galaxy. Absolutely no one is on their side; their union is considered disgusting and treasonous by both peoples. And not only are they in love — they’ve had a baby, which is an unheard-of abomination. We follow Alana and Marko on the run, meet the various bounty hunters and government agents trying to track them down, and see the crew of allies they slowly build.

That’s the basic idea. The plot goes off in all sorts of interesting directions, with new characters showing up and new worlds being introduced. Alana and Marko are gorgeous to look at, have strong and interesting personalities, and feel as fully-developed as the characters you’d encounter in the best of traditional novels.

Plus, did I say gorgeous already? The artwork is amazing, thanks to the fabulous skills of Fiona Staples. While not shying away from bloody gore or fairly explicit sex, the illustrations are also tremendously nuanced, fully capturing emotions and connections (as well as all the action, of which there is plenty).

I’d read volumes 1 and 2 last year, then re-read them this past week before moving straight ahead with #3 and #4. Reading all four volumes in a row is an engrossing experience. I was completely sucked into the world of Saga, and shouted a loud “NOOOOOO” when I reached the end, which was quite a bit cliff-hanger-y and left me all agitated and anxious. I want more!

I cannot wait for the next installment. (Well, to be truthful, I suppose I can, since I’m waiting for the next collection to become available rather than reading the individual comic issues.) If you enjoy terrifically written adventures with fresh and exciting characters, intense passion, and high-stakes conflict, check out Saga.

PS – This is Lying Cat. Lying Cat is awesome. You’re welcome.

26Dec2014

Series Binge: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Curse you, Marissa Meyer! (Okay, not really).

This is why I hold back. This is why I don’t let myself start new series. Because THIS happens. I read one book. Do I stop? No. I keep going. And before I know it, I’ve read three novels, three short stories, and I’m pulling my hair out over the fact that THERE ARE NO MORE BOOKS. For now.

Last week, I wrote a review of Cinder. And since then, I gobbled up Scarlet and Cress, plus the stories Glitches, The Little Android, and The Queen’s Army.

For those who aren’t familiar with the series, here’s the general idea: In a world set at some point far into the future, over a hundred years since the end of World War Four, planet Earth is divided into large commonwealths who live at peace with one another — but the Earthen peace is threatened by hostilities from Luna. The moon was settled and colonized generations earlier, and over the generations, the Lunar population has developed its own characteristics, most notably the ability to control bioelectricity — basically, the ability to control actions, perceptions, and emotions of others. This makes Lunars very dangerous and very scary to “normal” Earthens.

The Lunar Chronicles books take classic fairy tales and plunk them down in this futuristic landscape, creating a mash-up that’s surprisingly original — and which surprised me by how good it really is.

Cinder herself (think Cinderella) is our #1 heroine, a lowly cyborg mechanic who’s discovered to have a secret connection to the Lunar world. When she catches the eye of Prince Kai, heir to the throne of the Eastern Commonwealth, a chain of events is set into motion that makes Cinder the planet’s most-wanted fugitive.

By the 2nd book, Cinder is joined in her struggle by Scarlet (Red Riding Hood), the farm girl whose grandmother was involved in a royal deception many years earlier. Scarlet is tracked by bioengineered super-soldier Wolf — but she can’t quite tell if he’s the man of her dreams, or the most dangerous thing she’s ever encountered.

In book 3, Cress (Rapunzel) enters Cinder’s world. Cress has been trapped on a satellite in Earth orbit for seven years, completely alone (and with no sharp objects, hence no haircuts). Cress is a master hacker under the control of the Lunar high command, but her true sympathies lie with Cinder and her ragtag band… and the daring, wise-ass space captain Carswell Thorne who comes along to rescue Cress.

And now? Two more books are scheduled for release in 2015: Fairest, focusing on Luna’s evil Queen Levana, comes out in January, and Winter will be released in November. Both relate to the Snow White story — the queen’s version and then the princess’s.

Why do I love these books? Many reasons, but for starters:

In many fairy tale retellings, the fairy tale structure is too obvious. Sure, maybe the story is set in a different time, but the overall story is preserved and presented more or less intact. In The Lunar Chronicles, the fairy tale framework is a supporting structure, but doesn’t dominate or force the story into a shape that restricts the characters or action in any way. So yes, in Cinder, there’s an unloved stepsister, a ball, and a handsome prince — but beyond that, there’s a plague, the second-class citizen status of cyborgs, and geopolitical maneuvering that goes way beyond a rags-to-riches love story.

Likewise, in Scarlet, we have a girl in a red hoodie seeking her grandmother and menaced by a wolf — but also a secret army, mind control, a Big Brother-ish tracking system, and desperate fugitives. In Cress, there’s a girl with long hair locked away, and a dashing hero who is blinded in the rescue attempt — but also space chases, gun battles, kidnappings, and royal subterfuge. The through-stories are never obscured by the fairy tale structure, so Cinder remains the key person of interest throughout the following books, even though the titles would indicate that they’re not about her.

What maybe doesn’t work for me quite as much is the over-emphasis on romance and coupledom. Clearly, with fairy tales as their base, the romance will not be ignored. Still, is it truly necessary for each book to match up its main character with her soulmate? This, I think, is where the fairy tale retelling maybe gets in the way a bit. With so much action, with the intrigue of this sci-fi world — full of new mechanical wonders, genetic mutations and manipulations, and political danger and strategy — we don’t necessarily need so many supercouples. By the end of Cress, there are three clearly defined couples — all of whom seem to have achieved instant soulmate status — and the love story of Winter has been more than hinted at as well.

There is some amazing fan art out there. This one is from http://lostie815.deviantart.com/art/Lunar-Chronicles-Characters-421566528 — check it out, there’s lots more!

The super-coupledom is really a minor issue, though. I’d call it a gnat-sized irritant in the midst of an absolute smorgasbord of sci-fi, futuristic, female-powered adventure. I love the ultra-imaginative world-building in this series, the distinctive voices of the characters, and the way that the shifting narrative viewpoints add on top of one another to keep expanding our knowledge of this world and all its hidden nooks and crannies.

If you’re a curmudgeonly old hold-out (like I was until about a week ago), resisting the hype and refusing to give in to yet another YA series craze… well, come on! If I can do it, so can you! Sure, I’m a little bent out of shape about having to wait for more, but *sigh* I’m sure I can find other books to read in the meantime.

And hey, if I need a dose of more of the Lunar Chronicles, I’m sure there are a thousand or so Pinterest boards to lose a few hours to.

Final note: The three short stories are all available free online, and are definitely worth checking out. Of the three, The Little Android actually broke my heart just a little. It’s a stand-alone, in that it does not include any characters from the main novels, but it is set in the same world. And it just happens to be a retelling of The Little Mermaid — the non-Disney version, which is one of the saddest fairy tales ever.

Don’t say I never did anything for you. Here are the links to the stories:
Glitches
The Little Android
The Queen’s Army

And now, back to my resolution not to start any more series!

Until the next irresistible one comes along…

20Dec2014

Take A Peek Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

“Take a Peek” book reviews are short and (possibly) sweet, keeping the commentary brief and providing a little peek at what the book’s about and what I thought. This week’s “take a peek” book:

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts:

Ever since this book came out in 2012, I’ve seen all of my blogger peeps raving about it and drooling over the sequels. I hadn’t gotten on the bandwagon, and thought that this was one YA series that I could sit out.

Color me silly. I was wrong.

I finally picked up Cinder when I was looking for a new audiobook to keep me company during my daily drives, and thought this would be a low commitment choice. And I quickly found myself completely hooked.

The idea of a Cinderella retelling didn’t really appeal to me. Most Cinderella stories I’ve read ended up feeling kind of sappy to me, and the idea of a poor girl saved from an awful life by fancy party clothes and a handsome prince doesn’t typically sit well with my inner feminist. Cinder manages to stick to the basic themes of the Cinderella story, but with a heroine who’s strong, empowered, and more likely to to be the rescuer than the one in need of rescue.

Cinder is a cyborg, which in this society means an outcast, less than human. Her wicked stepmother and stepsister are exactly as you’d expect, although the younger stepsister, Peony, is adorable and lovable. Cinder is a talented mechanic with a dry, take-no-bull-from-anyone demeanor. She wears heavy workgloves to cover up her mechanical hand, is often seen with oil stains all over her face and clothes, and dreams of freedom and escape, not of balls and princes.

Prince Kai falls for Cinder as herself, oil stains and all. He’s not just a pretty face either; as the heir to the imperial throne, it’s up to Kai to continue negotiating a peace treaty with the fearsome Lunar queen, Levana. Kai is smart and keenly aware of his responsibilities — and knows that his own personal desires must take second place to the welfare of his people and all of Earth.

The action is quick and the story is quite compelling. I found myself frustrated by the slower pace demanded by listening to the audiobook, so after listening to quite a bit of it at 1.25x speed (not recommended!), I finally switched over to a hard copy so I could devour the rest. The audiobook narrator, Rebecca Soler, is fabulous, by the way. She captures the personalities and intonations of each character and makes them all distinct. I loved the ironic humor in Cinder’s voice, Peony’s girlish good nature, and the android Iko, among others. Just to be clear that my switch to printed format was not at all caused by dissatisfaction with the audiobook — it was more about how I read and the fact that I have a hard time with audiobooks unless I’m driving or working out… and in this case, I wasn’t doing either often enough to let me advance through Cinder as quickly as I wanted to.

Summing it all up: Cinder is pretty terrific! The story is inspired by the classic fairy tale, but with generous amounts of originality shaping it into something new and different. The climactic ball scene and the aftermath caught me completely by surprise, as the author takes the familiar elements of the story and turns them on their head. If I’d read Cinder when it first came out, I might have been frustrated by the cliffhanger ending, but at this point, I know there are two more books available to me before I join the crowd of avid fans dying for the next release.

Excuse me, please, while I run to the library. Scarlet and Cress are calling my name!

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The details:

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Publication date: 2012
Length: 390 pages
Genre: Young adult/science fiction
Source: Library

19Dec2014

Book Review: Jinn and Juice by Nicole Peeler

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

With Jinn and Juice, Nicole Peeler launches a new urban fantasy series — and that’s very good news for fans of her hilarious and awesome Jane True series and for fans of paranormal fictional shenanigans in general.

In Jinn and Juice, we meet Leila — burlesque belly dancer, Pittsburgh resident… and 1,000-year-old jinni (genie). Leila was a young woman cursed by her family’s jinni, the evil Kouros, to live as a jinni for one thousand years. As a jinni, Leila has super magical powers, but she’s also subject to the will and whims of whoever happens to be her Master. Jinni can be either Bound or unBound — meaning that they can be Called and then basically owned by whatever Magi happens to find them. Once Bound to a Magi, jinni must be obedient and carry out their Magi’s orders. On the plus side, though, Bound jinni have access to all sorts of tremendous powers that they can’t access unBound, so there’s that.

For Leila, this jinni business basically sucks. She does not want to be a jinni. She’d love to be human again, and can be — so long as she is unBound when her 1,000 year curse ends. If she’s Bound at that time, then she’ll be cursed for another 1,000 years. Like I said, it sucks.

Leila lives in Pittsburgh, whose steel-soaked grounds provide a weird kind of magical current that Leila can plug into, although most supernaturals find Pittsburgh magic tainted and poisonous. Surrounding Leila are a Peeler-esque cast of unusual characters, including a psychic drag queen, an oracle, a will-o-the-wisp, and a pair of icky-creepy spider wraiths. This odd community works together in a paranormal burlesque club and forms a family of sorts — and they all band together to protect Leila when she is Called and Bound by a new Magi, the kinda-hot Ozan (known as Oz).

Together, Leila and Oz and company set out to locate a missing girl and figure out what the heck is causing all sorts of magical havoc in Pittsburgh. And meanwhile, Leila finds herself drawn to Oz more and more… but is that just the power of the Master-Jinni relationship, or is there actually a there there?

Okay, explanations aside, let me tell you about Jinn and Juice. First of all, it’s fun. If you’ve never read anything by Nicole Peeler, the main thing to know is that she’s hilarious. Her writing rocks, even when the storyline turns dangerous or tragic. Serious and often deadly things do happen, but the author gives her characters amazing lines that are eminently quote-worthy:

“While French fries on salads is pretty magical, that’s not what makes Pittsburgh special,” I said…

Nowadays magic was something for Dungeons and Dragons. In books, vampires sparkled and really wanted to marry teenagers who tripped a lot. Hollywood only dreamed about jinn. And none of these creatures or powers really existed in the same universe as chaos theory, or particle accelerators, or atomic bombs… except they did.

“Hit it with the bench!” shouted Ozan, and I had to obey. I reached for what had been one of the picnic table’s benches, hefting it with ease in one of my hamlike hands. Raising it above my head, I brought it down with all my strength on the bugbear’s head.
“Hulk smash!” I shouted, just for the fun of it.

“Are we ready?” Charlie asked, eyeballing our ragtag bunch with a worried expression. We didn’t exactly look professional… in fact, we looked exactly as you’d imagine a gothic burlesque would look, if it decided to do a SWAT team number.

Second thing to know: Love and sex matter in Peeler’s books. Attraction is hot. Sparks fly. Knees go weak with desire. The sexy factor in Jinn and Juice is top notch. Which is not to say that it’s all easy: One really interesting aspect of this story is how the power dynamics affect the sexual and emotional relationships. Leila’s master can order her to have sex with him if he chooses (although, hilariously, jinni seem to have all sorts of work-arounds when dealing with not-terribly-precise commands for acts that don’t suit them); he could even order her to enjoy it, I suppose. The fact that Leila’s new master is too decent to indulge is noteworthy — and later, even when the attraction is mutual and Leila is very into it, he declines — because how can either of them be sure that it’s real and not just a result of the Magi-Jinni bond?

Fangirl aside: This reminded me of the sire bond issues during the last season of The Vampire Diaries. I’m a big geeky nerd, I know.

The plot of Jinn and Juice is fueled by action, but it’s the people that really make it a treat. Leila herself is pretty awesome (especially how she’s the biggest, baddest thing in the room, despite her seemingly petite human frame), and I love her gang of eccentric, magical friends. Oz is just the right combination of smart, sexy, and sensitive, and the growing emotions and desire between Leila and Oz give off sparks.

Fans of the Jane True series will absolutely want to give Jinn and Juice a whirl — and really, this is a great choice for any one who enjoys urban fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Fun, magic, snark, along with dangerous, malevolent, volatile bad guys, make for quite an enjoyable and fast-paced adventure. Here’s hoping that the next installment in the series comes along soon!

Want. More. Now.

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The details:

Title: Jinn and Juice
Author: Nicole Peeler
Publisher: Orbit
Publication date: November 25, 2014
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased

11Dec2014

Book Review: The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

First things first: The Rosie Effect is a sequel, continuing the story begun in The Rosie Project. And really, if you haven’t read the first book, there’s no point in reading this one.

The Rosie Effect picks up soon after the end of The Rosie Project, following Rosie and Don to Manhattan as they begin their lives as a married couple, with the complications you’d expect from this unusual pair. No sooner have they started settling into their lives — Don as a visiting professor at Columbia Medical School, Rosie finishing up her PhD thesis and entering med school — than a bombshell of a surprise comes along: Rosie is pregnant. And Don is thrown for a loop.

Rosie and Don take very different approaches to pregnancy, of course. Don, ever the man of science, embarks on a plan to maximize Rosie’s health — and Rosie does not take kindly to Don’s constant input on everything from appropriate pregnancy nutrition to stress levels to exercise needs. The marriage is on the rocks, and it doesn’t seem like there’s much hope.

Meanwhile, Don finds himself in exactly the sort of absurd situations you’d expect. Upon getting advice from a friend that he should spend some time observing children in order to prepare for fatherhood, Don does exactly that… and ends up getting arrested after hanging out in a children’s playground taking videos of the kids playing.

Ultimately, the plot of The Rosie Effect boils down to a headline from a 1980s women’s magazine: Can this marriage be saved?

My reaction to this book is mixed. While there are certainly many amusing scenarios (let’s not forget the Bluefin Tuna Incident!), I’m not at all convinced that a sequel to The Rosie Project was necessary. In The Rosie Effect, it’s really just a lot of more of the same. Don is peculiar, highly intelligent, and emotionally stilted. He does some pretty amazing things, but always from a place of cluelessness. There’s a cast of supporting characters who are funny, unusual, and perfect complements to Don’s oddball nature. Rosie herself seems to be a bit absent in this book; while she’s always around and is on Don’s mind constantly, I wouldn’t have had much sense of her personality or desires without having read the first book.

Basically, everything that I found delightful and charming about the first book is repeated here in the second — and that’s the problem. The Rosie Project was new and different; The Rosie Effect is just a continuation. Without the newness, it’s treading familiar ground, and I simply wasn’t nearly as amused as I was the first time I encountered Don Tillman in all his glory.

The Rosie Effect is a quick read, but I actually think I could have done without it. It definitely picks up by the end, but there’s only so many time similar antics can play out before they become tedious. The Rosie Project was one of my favorite books of 2013, but in my opinion, should have been left as a stand-alone story. Sadly, this unnecessary sequel was mostly a disappointment to me. Still, the author is clearly quite talented, and I hope he’ll tell a new tale in whatever he publishes next.

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The details:

Title: The Rosie Effect
Author: Graeme Simsion
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: US publication date: December 30, 2014
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy via NetGalley

11Dec2014

Audiobook Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, and it blew me away. I haven’t been this mesmerized by any book — much less a non-fiction book — in a long time.

In this true story, we follow the amazing life of Louis Zamperini – childhood troublemaker, Olympic runner, WWII bombadier, and POW camp survivor. Louis’s story is so incredible that if it were fiction, I’d have complained, “Come on. How much can one person go through? This is beyond belief.”

Louis’s war-era ordeal began when his B-24 bomber crashed during a search flight for a missing plane in the Pacific. Louis then spent 47 days adrift on a life raft with no food or rations except what he and his companions could somehow catch or collect. Rescue finally came from a Japanese ship, and Louis then spent the next two years in a series of Japanese POW camps, suffering horrible brutality and inhumane, degrading conditions.

And yet, this remarkable man survived, spirit intact. He managed to hang on through one long period of deprivation and physical hardship after another, maintaining his hope and courage, supported by memories of his family’s love as well as the friendship of the other prisoners by his side.

I am so glad that I finally read (heard) this book. The narration is no-frills, but quite good. I was afraid that a non-fiction audiobook would be too dry to hold my interest, since my attention does tend to wander quite easily when I listen to books. No worries needed, in the case of Unbroken. I was as fascinated by this book as I’ve ever been by any suspense novel, and found myself both breathless with anticipation and moved to tears at times.

With the movie release scheduled for Christmas day, Unbroken is getting a renewed burst of media coverage — although as far as I can tell, it’s been on the the bestseller list continuously since it was published. (According to the New York Times, it’s been on the list for 181 weeks!). If you’re thinking of seeing the movie but haven’t read the book, I’d say read it first. I loved all the little details of Louis’s life, the quotes from letters, diaries, and newspaper articles, the interviews with family members and friends, and the historical context in which his story takes place.

Unbroken is a rich and moving story, and I just can’t recommend it highly enough. Whether in print or via audio, it should not be missed.

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The details:

Title: Unbroken
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: First published 2010
Length: 406 pages
Genre: Non-fiction/History
Source: Purchased

Audiobook info:
Narrated by Edward Herrmann
Length: 14 hours

7Dec2014

Book Review: The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Jojo Moyes is quickly becoming one of my go-to, auto-buy authors. After reading a few of her more recent books, I decided to look into some of her previously published works, and picked up a copy of The Last Letter From Your Lover, which was originally released in 2010.

In Last Letter, we follow two timelines: a contemporary story bookending the novel and then a 1960s story, the major part of the book both in terms of length and where the heart of the tale is concentrated. Within the two timelines, we follow three different narrative arcs, all of which come together by the book’s end.

In the prologue, we meet journalist Ellie Haworth, whose career is suffering while her private life consumes her every waking thought. Ellie is one year into an ill-advised affair with a married man, and despite absolutely no evidence to support her hopes, Ellie can’t help dreaming of the day when she finally gets more from her lover. As part of a retrospective feature at work, Ellie starts going through her newspaper’s archives and comes across an old letter that knocks her socks off. Drenched in romance, the letter-writer (identified only as “B.”) declares:

I’ll be at Platform 4, Paddington, at 7:15 on Friday evening, and there is nothing in the world that would make me happier than if you found the courage to come with me… I’ll be waiting on the platform from a quarter to seven. Know that you hold my heart, my hopes, in your hands.

Ellie doesn’t know who wrote the letter or to whom it was addressed, but she’s reduced to tears by the passion and the emotion. The letter seems to awaken something in Ellie…

From there, the action switches to 1960, in which a pampered, sheltered wife of a very powerful man meets a brash and disrespectful reporter. Jennifer Stirling is beautiful but bored; Anthony O’Hare despises the spoiled society members who flit through life above and apart from the world’s real troubles. Of course, sparks fly between Jennifer and Anthony, but obstacles keep the lovers apart.

In yet a third narrative stream, we see Jennifer waking up in a hospital after a car accident, suffering from amnesia and brought back home by her husband Laurence to recover. Jennifer feels certain that she’s missing something important, but has no idea what has truly happened or what that key piece of information about her past might be.

Eventually, the story streams come together. Ellie traces the mysterious love letter to Jennifer, now in her 60s, and sets out to discover whether the lovers ever did manage to unite and start a new life together. At the same time, Ellie faces some unpleasant truths about her own love life, and must make decisions about who she is and who she wants to be.

I enjoyed Last Letter, although perhaps not quite as much as some of the author’s other novels. The mixed timelines didn’t especially work in favor of narrative tension. After meeting Ellie in the prologue, we don’t see her again until about halfway through the book. Meanwhile, the story of Jennifer and Anthony’s relationship is interwoven with Jennifer’s post-crash story, and sorting out what came first and what resulted is a bit of a challenge.

By the end of the book, I was very invested in Jennifer and Anthony’s story and in finding out what had happened between them, but given the mixed narratives and the shifting point-of-views, it was always a struggle to piece together the actual events versus the characters’ perceptions of events, which were often two different things. I didn’t quite buy the build-up of the love affair or believe how instantly and passionately they fell in love, yet as the story moved forward, it was the descriptions of their thwarted yearnings that were more convincing than their stolen moments together.

Jennifer reminded me strongly of Mad Men‘s Betty Draper, although a less childish and selfish version. Still, she’s the quintessential beautiful but useless society wife, a woman whose job is to be ornamental and a credit to her husband, with no actual skills or education and no chance of forging a life of her own. As the story progresses, it’s heartening to see Jennifer face up to her reality and try to find a way to take control and pursue a path that gives her life meaning, despite the cost.

Ellie’s story is a bit pale by comparison, and the parallels aren’t always comfortable ones. We’re meant to sympathize with and root for this young woman, but it’s hard to do so while she’s enmeshed in a very stupid affair, refusing to acknowledge the real damage she may be doing to herself and to others. An awakening eventually comes, of course, thanks in large part to Ellie’s growing fascination with Jennifer and her exposure to what real love looks like. Perhaps Ellie is meant to be the reader’s entry point into the story, but Jennifer is the far more compelling character.

One especially fun feature of this novel is the lead-in page for each chapter, each featuring an excerpt from a real break-up letter, text, or email. Some are wistful, some are harsh, and some are downright comical (like the text message “U n me finished”), but all add a touch of spice and poignancy to this sentimental and occasionally sorrowful book.

All in all, The Last Letter From Your Lover is an engaging and often moving look at how love doesn’t always work out, how life can get in the way, and how sometimes it isn’t too late to start over and find happiness. For those new to Jojo Moyes, I’d probably suggest starting elsewhere, but fans of the author shouldn’t miss this one.

Want to know more? Check out my reviews of other books by Jojo Moyes:
The Girl You Left Behind
One Plus One
The Ship of Brides
Me Before You

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The details:

Title: The Last Letter From Your Lover
Author: Jojo Moyes
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication date: First published in UK in 2010
Length: 390 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased

1Dec2014

Take a Peek Review: Ocean’s Edge by Denise Townsend

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I don’t usually review erotica… and I tend to avoid like the plague book covers featuring chiseled male chests or artfully draped semi-clad torsos. You know the ones I’m talking about.

But I’m willing to make an exception for the works of Denise Townsend — Denise Townsend being the erotica-writing alter ego of one of my very favorite urban fantasy authors (whose more mainstream works still feature scorching hot sexytimes).

So when I saw NetGalley featuring an ARC of Ocean’s Edge by Denise Townsend, I jumped on it.

Here’s what you need to know about her Ocean stories — Ocean’s Touch, Ocean’s Surrender, and now Ocean’s Edge:

Each features a strong woman, recovering from pain or trauma in her past. Each also features a selkie, a super sexy magical being from the sea who appears on the beach as a smoking hot male who wants nothing more in life than to help the main character find her way back to health and happiness. And each involves some majorly hot and heavy action.

In Ocean’s Edge, the main character Rachel is a rape survivor who’s retreated into a shell, but is slowly regaining her confidence through her devotion to martial arts training. When she meets the selkie Conleth, she learns to reclaim her own sexuality, and with Con’s loving guidance, is able to turn to Jake, who runs the dojo where she trains. Between (and I mean literally between) Con and Jake, Rachel is given the support she needs to move past her attack, work with the police to track down her assailant, and start building a future that includes a healthy self-image and the love of a good man.

What I enjoy so much about these books is the strength of the women. Rachel is not a victim. She’s been through a terrible ordeal, but it’s her own inner core of strength and determination that enables her to survive and thrive. Denise Townsend’s main characters are not damsels in distress; they’re women who save themselves. The love interests are there for them when they triumph, but not to triumph on their behalf. These are women who fight their own battles, and also know what it takes to pursue the passion and pleasure that they deserve.

Plus, okay, these books are hot. And explicit. And steamy. And… yeah, hot. And hey: Selkies. If all of this appeals to you, then definitely check out Denise Townsend’s books. You can thank me later.