Take A Peek Book Review: You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

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.

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other — and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour, the award-winning author of Hold Still and The Disenchantments, and David Levithan, the best-selling author of Every Day and co-author of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (with Rachel Cohn) and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green), You Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

My Thoughts:

This YA novel about connection and identity has a sincerity to it that is so loud and clear that it threatens to overshadow the story itself. The intentions are great, but I felt as though the plot itself was a bit flimsy.

The characters in You Know Me Well are all searching for their own truths, each on the way to becoming a more authentic version of themselves. The storyline takes place during Pride Week in San Francisco. Mark has been out for years, and is secretly in love with his best friend, while Kate finally has a chance to meet the girl she’s dreamed about from a distance. And after years of going to school together but never actually interacting, Mark and Kate connect and form an instant and deep friendship, finding in each other a kindred spirit, someone with whom they can be honest and reveal their inner worries, fears, hopes, and insecurities.

The action takes place over the course of an eventful week, in which friendships are made and broken and love is both found and lost. The condensed timeline keeps the story moving along, but I had some little doubts in my mind about the suddenness of Kate and Mark’s friendship and the complete trust that they establish in seemingly no time at all.

You Know Me Well is written in alternating chapters, as the authors take turns presenting Kate’s and Mark’s points of view. It’s an effective technique, as we get to know the two characters both as they see themselves and as they see each other. Readers of David Levithan’s earlier works will be familiar with this approach, which he’s used with other co-writers in books such as Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, among others.

David Levithan is an amazing writer, and once again we see his beautiful language at play in conveying the inner landscape of young adults on the verge of becoming who they’re meant to be. There’s a nice little homage to his recent novel Two Boys Kissing (review), which is one of the loveliest young adult books I’ve ever read.

You Know Me Well has a lot going for it, and it’s a quick and touching read, but ultimately I felt as though the messaging about positive identity and acceptance was more overt and heavy-handed than it needed to be. Then again, I’m an adult reading the book, and not truly the target audience. I imagine that reading You Know Me Well could be a profoundly important experience for a teen, gay or straight or anywhere along the rainbow, who’s trying to establish a strong self and figure out their place in the world.

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The details:

Title: You Know Me Well
Author: Nina LaCour and David Levithan
Publisher: St Martin’s Griffin
Publication date: June 7, 2016
Length: 256 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

2Jun2016

Book Review: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

My thoughts:

Sleeping Giants is so weird… and I loved it.

The entire story is told through transcripts, a series of interviews and journal entries that, once pieced together, tell the story of a world-changing discovery and the lengths one man in particular will go to see the project through to completion.

While there are a handful of recurring central characters — Kara, the gutsy helicopter pilot, Vincent, a linguist, Dr. Franklin, the project leader — the main character is really the unnamed person conducting the interviews. He (I’m pretty sure it’s a he) sets the wheels in motion for the entire project, and has a cold, logical approach that seems brutal at first, although over time we can also see his brilliance and his absolute mastery of manipulation, even on a global scale.

The hand initially discovered is only one piece of an artifact that will, over the ensuing years, be pursued and retrieved all across the world — even if that involves entering foreign air space and initiating near-catastrophic political and military actions. The reasons for the seemingly blind pursuit of the objects become clearer over time, as the true implications of the discovery and what it means for humanity as a whole are revealed bit by bit. Meanwhile, there’s non-stop action as the tension builds and builds.

Sleeping Giants is really a geeky delight. For people into science stories, this is a good one. It involves decoding never-before-seen language and technology and recreating a device without knowing what its purpose is. For those who enjoy action and thrills, there are plenty, including military expeditions and mad escapes. For those into medical thrillers, there are biological experiments and humans being subjected to all sorts of studies, willing or not.

On top of all that, the characters are just plain fun. Kara is especially terrific — and maybe it’s the combination of her name and being a pilot, but I couldn’t help picturing her as a modern-day version of Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica.

Sleeping Giants is already being developed as a movie, and I can easily imagine it being great. Meanwhile, the second book in the series, Waking Gods, is scheduled for publication in 2017 (and believe me, I can’t wait to see what happens next.)

You know when you read a library book, finish it, and then realize you need your own personal copy? That.

Sleeping Giants is a terrific read. Check it out!

_________________________________________

The details:

Title: Sleeping Giants
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: April 26, 2016
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Library

1Jun2016

Thursday Quotables: A Fine and Bitter Snow

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

A Fine and Bitter Snow by Dana Stabenow
(published 2002)

Yes, more Kate Shugak! I can’t get enough of this series. I read books 11 and 12 this past week, and thought I’d share a passage from #12 that appealed to the introvert in me:

The great thing about the moose and the grizzly and the wolf was that they had not been gifted by their creator with the power of speech. They couldn’t make conversation. The moose might kick your ass and the grizzly might rip it off and the wolf might eat it, but they wouldn’t talk you to death while they got on with the job.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

31May2016

Shelf Control #38: Ghost Flower

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Shelf Control is all about the books we want to read — and already own! Consider this a variation of a Wishing & Waiting post… but looking at books already available, and in most cases, sitting right there on our shelves and e-readers.

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: Ghost Flower
Author: Michele Jaffe
Published: 2012
Length: 368 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Eve, a runaway, finds a new job at a coffee shop on the outskirts of Tuscon. When she’s approached by two wealthy teens who claim she bears an uncanny resemblance to their missing cousin Aurora, her life takes a turn for the dark and mysterious. Drawn into a scheme to win Aurora’s inheritance, Eve finds herself impersonating the girl, who disappeared three years ago on the night her best friend Elizabeth died. But when Liza’s ghost begins to haunt Eve, doing harm to the people close to her under the guise of “protecting” her, Eve finds herself in a nightmare maze of lies and deception that leads her to question even her own identity. She realizes her only chance is to uncover the truth about what happened the night Liza died, and to find Liza’s killer – before she’s next.

This teen thriller by Michele Jaffe will keep readers turning pages well into the night.

How I got it:

I bought it!

When I got it:

Probably about two years ago, while traveling.

Why I want to read it:

This was a total impulse buy. I was on a trip with my daughter, and we were in a store stocking up on supplies when I just happened to wander into the book aisle. Something about the cover and synopsis caught my attention, but I still haven’t gotten around to starting it. I do think it sounds good!

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link below!
And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and have fun!

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):

30May2016

When is local too local?

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

San Francisco. As in, I left my heart…

I’m a transplant, as are a good chunk of the people I meet here in SF. I grew up on the East Coast, but San Francisco has been home for 20+ years now. And obviously, I must love it, since I’ve stayed and put down roots.

It always amuses me when I read books or see movies or TV shows set in my fair city. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I really don’t. Which brings me to the question:

When is local too local?

Is there such a thing as having too much local content in fiction? When does it enhance, and when does it distract?

I’ve read plenty of books by now that are set in San Francisco. Because, let’s face it, San Francisco is one of those places that get instant recognition. Golden Gate Bridge, Victorian houses, Alcatraz… they’re all so picturesque, while also being worldwide tourist magnets. So sometimes, key scenes in books will take place with the bridge or the skyline in the backdrop, and that’s about it. But sometimes, the city itself is a part of the story, and that can be a wonderful thing.

Some of my favorites take place in San Francisco. Take for example the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin, which is pure and simple an ode to the history and soul and flavor of the city. On a different note, there are the works of Christopher Moore, who sets remarkably weird and wacky supernatural tales in the City by the Bay — and it totally works. I mean, vampire parrots of Telegraph Hill? The Marina Safeway as a key plot location? A heroic Golden Gate Bridge painter? Moore’s books are hilarious, and the way he uses the city’s oddities and quirks (and notable personae, especially the Emperor) are just delightful.

I’ve also read a few great books where the city is just a subtle presence, but one that adds flavor without hitting the big tourist attractions. A recent example is the delightful YA novel Up To This Pointe, which delights in the quieter parts of SF that only residents really know and love — West Portal, the Outer Sunset, and Ocean Beach (my side of town!). The places here aren’t the point of the story, but they do add a sense of home and connection that give the main character roots and a point of origin.

Still, sometimes, the local flavor can feel like it’s inserted in order to check items off a list. Maybe it’s when the details are overdone — in one book, every time the characters take public transportation, the specific bus route is named — and I’d find myself veering out of the story and into an internal dialogue about how the N doesn’t actually stop there or no, that’s not the best way to get from the avenues to downtown. In a recent urban fantasy book (which I didn’t enjoy as a whole, and which shall remain nameless), whenever the main character would rush off to save the day, I felt like the story was being narrated by GPS: She took a left on Van Ness, then turned right on Sutter and continued onward for a mile and a half. Not only was it not engaging writing, but again, it completely took me out of the story and into recontructing street maps in my head.

My most recent foray into San Francisco fiction is the new novel All Stories Are Love Stories by Elizabeth Percer (reviewed here). In this book, catastrophic earthquakes that ravish the city serve as a backdrop for a study of characters and their loves and losses. The relationships are interesting enough, but once the quakes hit, all I wanted was to know more. The book does a great job of describing the reasons why huge quakes in SF would be devastating — the crowded design, the unstable ground, the drought, the understaffing of local emergency response, and the reliance on bridges for 2/3 of the entry points to the city. I was interested in the characters, but I couldn’t maintain my focus on them once the local landmarks started coming down and the fires started destroying Chinatown and North Beach. At that point, the SF resident in me just wanted to know more — what was still standing? Did they get the fires out? What happened to the bridges? … and my interest in the main storyline, the characters and their fates, dwindled in the face of the destruction of the place I call home. (I had a quibble with the end of the book as well, which jumps forward a few months and shows the city bouncing back — which is nice, but doesn’t tell me how they got there, and left me feeling that it was a little too rosy to be realistic.)

Don’t even get me started on San Francisco in film. Have you noticed how much movie folks love to destroy San Francisco? Quick, need a scene to show horrific destruction due to aliens/melting of the earth’s core/rampaging apes? Cut to the Golden Gate Bridge! Seriously, it’s kind of ridiculous how often movies use the bridge as shorthand for letting us know that life as we know it is now at serious risk. Can’t they destroy something else once in a while?

For me, the local setting in fiction is a mixed bag. When well done, it can absolutely enhance my enjoyment of a good story. I love when the essence, sights and sounds and smells, of a particular neighborhood are used to give texture or groundedness to a story. Rooting the characters in a real place and time can make them seem more alive, and can make the story feel like it could be happening just around the corner. But when the place overrides the story elements, or when the background events seem more attention-worthy than the actual plot, that’s when I start to have trouble with it all.

How about you? How do you feel about reading fiction that’s set in your real-world location, or a place that you know and love? Does it add to your enjoyment, or does it distract you from the plot and characters?

Please share your thoughts!

A note on images: I’d love to give credit where credit is due! All images were found on Pinterest, but original sources were unclear.

30May2016

Book Review: All Stories Are Love Stories by Elizabeth Percer

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

In this thoughtful, mesmerizing tale with echoes of Station Eleven, the author of An Uncommon Education follows a group of survivors thrown together in the aftermath of two major earthquakes that strike San Francisco within an hour of each other—an achingly beautiful and lyrical novel about the power of nature, the resilience of the human spirit, and the enduring strength of love.

On Valentine’s Day, two major earthquakes strike San Francisco within the same hour, devastating the city and its primary entry points, sparking fires throughout, and leaving its residents without power, gas, or water.

Among the disparate survivors whose fates will become intertwined are Max, a man who began the day with birthday celebrations tinged with regret; Vashti, a young woman who has already buried three of the people she loved most . . . but cannot forget Max, the one man who got away; and Gene, a Stanford geologist who knows far too much about the terrifying earthquakes that have damaged this beautiful city and irrevocably changed the course of their lives.

As day turns to night and fires burn across the city, Max and Vashti—trapped beneath the rubble of the collapsed Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium—must confront each other and face the truth about their past, while Gene embarks on a frantic search through the realization of his worst nightmares to find his way back to his ailing lover and their home.

My thoughts:

All Stories Are Love Stories has some beautiful writing, but using the destruction of San Francisco to set the stage for an exploration of love, commitment, and abandonment might be a step too far.

The characters in this book have all suffered through childhoods characterized by loss, and all feel some sort of aching hole in their lives. Max and Vashti both yearn for what they’ve lost, despite building lives apart from one another. Gene and Franklin have a happy and loving relationship, but loss lurks around the corner, as Franklin has recently been diagnosed with MS and the resulting deterioration frightens Gene no end.

Much of the core of this novel is interior, as we live within the heads of the characters and witness their ruminations on how they’ve reached this particular moment in their lives.

And then disaster strikes. I was both horrified and fascinated by the depiction of the earthquakes and the utter destruction left in their wake, and yet we see so much of it strictly in terms of how it affects this particular group of people.

The comparison to Station Eleven in the synopsis is wishful thinking, in my opinion. Station Eleven was gorgeous and epic in scope, while maintaining the intimacy of personal experience. In All Stories Are Love Stories, we do get these intense personal stories, but somehow, it feels like the biggest stories are always happening off-screen.

The book does do a very good job of showing love in many different forms — between sisters, between lovers, between parent and child — and the risk one takes in loving. Is loving someone and sacrificing for them worthwhile, even when it ultimately must end in grief?

If anything, All Stories Are Love Stories seems to reinforce the sentiment: “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” In the sense that this book can also be described as a love letter to San Francisco (a very over-used phrase, but it really applies here), the quote works as well. Despite its geological faults and its sociological flaws, there’s something unique and magical about San Francisco — enough so that people continue to rebuild the city every time it gets knocked down. For San Francisco, and for its people, it’s the loving that matters most, not the loss.

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The details:

Title: All Stories Are Love Stories
Author: Elizabeth Percer
Publisher: Harper
Publication date: March 22, 2016
Length: 350 pages
Genre: Adult fiction
Source: Library

30May2016

The Monday Check-In ~ 5/30/2016

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

In real life:

My baby boy graduated from middle school! I know it’s a total cliché, but I’ll say it anyway: Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday he was a tiny little thing, and now here he is, taller than me (not that that’s all that hard) and ready for the next chapter in his life.

What did I read last week?

The Fireman by Joe Hill: Finished last week. Fantastic book. Here’s my review.

At the Edge of Summer by Jessica Brockmole: Done! My review is here.

All Stories Are Love Stories by Elizabeth Percer: Using a catastrophic earthquake in San Francisco as a backdrop, this novel explores love, abandonment, and commitment. I just finished the book on Sunday, and need to think about it a bit more before deciding whether to write a review.

I also read two more fabulous books in the Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow, numbers 11 and 12. This series continues to be great! (For more on my love for Kate Shugak, check out my post here.)

Outlander update!

Finally, back to Scotland! Here’s my reaction post for season 2’s 8th episode, “The Fox’s Lair”:

Insta-Reaction: Outlander, Season 2, Episode 8

Fresh Catch:

Yowza. Three library holds came in all at once.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel: Just starting. I’m going to try to polish off my library books before diving back into the stack of my own books that are piled up and waiting for attention.

Now playing via audiobook:

Back to my Potter audio adventure! It’s been a treat revisiting the Harry Potter series via audiobook, and I’m about 1/3 of the way through HP3 at this point. Loving it, needless to say.

Ongoing reads:

My book group is reading and discussing two chapter per week of both Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon and Emma by Jane Austen. This is an online group, and anyone is welcome to join us — so if you’re interested, just ask me how!

So many books, so little time…

29May2016

Insta-Reaction: Outlander, Season 2, Episode 8

Posted in Outlander by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Season 2 has begun! My intention is to write an “Insta-Reaction” post for each episode right after viewing, to share some initial thoughts, questions, reactions — you name it.

Warning:

I may be talking about events from this episode, other episodes, and/or the book series… so if you’d rather not know, now’s your chance to walk away!

Outlander, episode 208: “The Fox’s Lair”

The official synopsis (via Starz):

Claire and Jamie call upon Jamie’s grandsire, Lord Lovat, in an attempt to elicit support. However, a visiting Colum MacKenzie has other plans, and Lord Lovat’s manipulations ensure that his own interests will be served.

My take:

Hello, Scotland!

Major plot points:

Jamie and Claire return home to Lallybroch.
Potatoes are very exciting.
Charles Stuart has forged Jamie’s name on a document supposedly signed by his supporters, so that even unwillingly, Jamie is now a traitor.
Claire and Jamie realize that the only way to still change the future is to help Charles to win, now that he’s landed on Scottish soil and the rebellion is underway.
Jamie goes to seek support from his obnoxious grandfather, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat. Ick.
Laoghaire turns up! Double ick.
The MacKenzies, led by Colum, are remaining neutral, but Lord Lovat finds a way to play both sides.

Insta-reaction:

Scotland! Scotland! Scotland!

Paris was pretty, but it’s lovely to be back in the Highlands. And I was really pleased with the new opening credits, which drop the French chamber music in favor of a warlike drumbeat and more bagpipes. Glorious.

It’s not clear how much time has passed for Jamie and Claire, but apparently long enough since the Paris trauma for them to have found their way back to a loving, romantic, and intimate relationship. Thank the gods and goddesses — no one likes to see these two at odds.

Claire and Jenny seem reunited as sisters, and there’s briefly peace and harmony at Lallybroch, with Murtagh and Fergus there as part of the family too. Sadly, the calm doesn’t last long, as Jamie is forced into the position of having to either stay and fight for Charles and Scotland, or flee and leave his entire family behind to face the certain destruction following Culloden and the Clearances. Not much of a choice. Jamie can never abandon his people or his home, so despite all of their maneuvering in Paris, Jamie will end up fighting for Charles after all.

Potatoes!

Lord Lovat is every bit as slimy as we’d expect. He’s mean to everyone around him and has no respect for women (which is actually putting it mildly — he’s abusive and it’s implied that he’s married at least two of his three wives by force). Lord Lovat (the Old Fox) only acts based on his own gain, so he tries to extort a price from Jamie for his support of Charles — he wants Lallybroch. Ugh, this guy is the worst.

Colum shows up for a visit too, and he wants them all to stay out of the Rising. Claire has an understandably tense reunion with Colum, given that she holds him responsible for her arrest (in season 1) and her trial as a witch.

The biggest surprise of the episode is the appearance of Laoghaire. Book readers know that she isn’t in book 2 at all, so it’s a break from canon to have her appear in this season. She’s come with Colum to Lord Lovat’s castle as Colum’s maid, and while there, she begs Claire for forgiveness, saying that she’s prayed to God, knows she’s done wrong, and repents of her actions toward Claire. Claire refuses to absolve Laoghaire, but ultimately agrees to ask Jamie to think kindly of her again in exchange for Laoghaire playing a role in gaining the support of Young Simon, Lovat’s son and heir.

I can hear the book fans screaming from here! First of all, let’s face it, no one likes Laoghaire. Okay, that’s putting it mildly. People HATE Laoghaire. She’s an awful little wench who almost cost Claire her life. So here’s a big difference: In the books, Claire never tells Jamie about the role Laoghaire played in causing her arrest. In the TV show, Jamie absolutely knows, and both Jamie and Claire blame her for Claire’s near death.

SPOILER FOR BOOK/SEASON 3!!!!

(I know I said already that there would be spoilers, but an extra warning can’t hurt.)

In Voyager, the 3rd book, the big reveal is that Jamie ends up married to Laoghaire during the years after Claire has returned through the stones. (I’m trying to vague things up a bit — it really goes against my nature to be spoilery!). This is super outrageous to Claire (and to readers), because Laoghaire is the evil little twit who almost got Claire dead… but Jamie didn’t know, or else he couldn’t have agreed to the marriage, we’re led to understand.

But now, TV Laoghaire has come and asked for forgiveness, and has made it clear that she still hopes Jamie will love her some day. In the “Inside the Episode” feature afterwards, the director implies that Laoghaire is included here in order to make things that happen later make more sense. I know, I know — readers are probably outraged right about now. But I guess the show’s thinking is that viewers could never accept Jamie marrying Laoghaire later on without at least seeing some act of contrition on her part.

You know what? I’m just not going to worry about it too much. I can’t get too worked up about it. Hopefully, this is the last we’ll see of Laoghaire this season, and now we move on.

Insta-reaction wrap-up:

I’m super happy to be back in Scotland (obviously)… but I also have to admit that this week’s episode felt a little uneventful after the last few episodes in Paris. While there was political maneuvering and debate in this episode, there was a distinct lack of drama. That’s okay, I suppose — this truly is a bridge episode, moving up from the French court into the second half of this season’s plot, the actual Rising back in Scotland. This episode had to set the scene, get us back to the Highlands, and starting moving the chess pieces around. It did that, and now we’re ready to dive into the more military-focused back half of the season.

Remember, we still need to find out exactly why and how Claire ended up back in the 20th century at the beginning of the season!

And furthermore…

Was Jamie holding the baby at Lallybroch not the sweetest and saddest thing? I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it must have been for Claire to watch him with a baby in his arms, with their loss still so fresh in their hearts.

And of course, Jamie wearing kilts 24/7 is a win for everyone.

26May2016

Take A Peek Book Review: At the Edge of Summer by Jessica Brockmole

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.

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Luc Crépet is accustomed to his mother’s bringing wounded creatures to their idyllic château in the French countryside, where healing comes naturally amid the lush wildflowers and crumbling stone walls. Yet his maman’s newest project is the most surprising: a fifteen-year-old Scottish girl grieving over her parents’ fate. A curious child with an artistic soul, Clare Ross finds solace in her connection to Luc, and she in turn inspires him in ways he never thought possible. Then, just as suddenly as Clare arrives, she is gone, whisked away by her grandfather to the farthest reaches of the globe. Devastated by her departure, Luc begins to write letters to Clare—and, even as she moves from Portugal to Africa and beyond, the memory of the summer they shared keeps her grounded.

Years later, in the wake of World War I, Clare, now an artist, returns to France to help create facial prostheses for wounded soldiers. One of the wary veterans who comes to the studio seems familiar, and as his mask takes shape beneath her fingers, she recognizes Luc. But is this soldier, made bitter by battle and betrayal, the same boy who once wrote her wistful letters from Paris? After war and so many years apart, can Clare and Luc recapture how they felt at the edge of that long-ago summer?

Bringing to life two unforgettable characters and the rich historical period they inhabit, Jessica Brockmole shows how love and forgiveness can redeem us.

My Thoughts:

The synopsis pretty much covers it all. At the Edge of Summer is a book about two people who meet one summer, a 15-year-old orphaned girl and a 19-year-old college student. They form a strong bond and help each other discover crucial aspects of themselves, then spend years apart, separated first by geography and then by war.

The story should have been much more moving than I found it. I simply didn’t connect with the characters in the first section of the book, during their early summer together, so I never really invested in their connection or their relationship. Clare’s artistic aspirations didn’t resonate with me, and I couldn’t envision her as a real person.

Luc is much more sympathetic, and the portions of the story about his wartime experiences are quite sad to read. Still, something about this book just left me cold.

I was interested to see the depiction of the real-life studio in Paris that specialized in masks for men disfigured during the war. I’ve encountered versions of this story before, most recently in a short story in the Fall of Poppies collection (to which Jessica Brockmole contributed a terrific story, by the way). The studio really existed, and its real-life founder, Anna Coleman Ladd, is included in this novel as well.

Stories of the First World War and the horrific experiences of the soldiers, on the battlefields, in the trenches, and upon their return to society, are always moving and startling to read about. Somehow, though, At the Edge of Summer failed to fully engage my emotions. I consider it a decent novel, but wouldn’t go farther than saying that it was a fine read and I don’t regret the time spent on it.

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The details:

Title: At The Edge of Summer
Author: Jessica Brockmole
Publisher: Ballantine
Publication date: May 17, 2016
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

25May2016

Thursday Quotables: Rush Oh!

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett
(published 2016)

I reviewed this wonderful book last week (check out my review here). It’s about a whaling community in Australia in 1908, and if that sounds a bit odd or dry — well, I promise you won’t think so once you start reading it! Here’s a lovely little moment that captures the tone of the narrator’s voice:

He was smiling at me and his eyes were shining in the darkness, and at that point, I’m afraid that something within me seemed to seize up in a kind of panic. Any girlish gaiety that I had been blessed with at birth had stiffened and stuck from lack of use, and although I was only nineteen years of age, I felt unable to rise to the obvious demands of the occasion.

“I’m sorry. I’m no good at this. I can’t do it,” I said, lurching abruptly to my feet.

Swiftly he reached up and pulled me back down again.

“Do what?”

“This light-hearted banter between the sexes that you are obviously hoping for.”

“Of course you can do it! You’ve been doing it extremely well up to this moment.”

“That is kind of you to say, but I am only too aware of my shortcomings…”

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!