Another Vlog About Books

I got a new webcam for my birthday and wanted to try it out! I'll be linking to the other Nestie's vlogs as they post them and if any of my blog followers want to play alone, leave a link and I'll post yours too!

Here's the list of questions:

1) Show us or tell us about the most valuable book in your collection - either for monetary or sentimental value.

2) What are your literary pet peeves?

3) What is your favorite non-book literary possession?

4) Show us/tell us about where you usually read.

5) Give up a literary confession - something you do that would drive other readers nuts.

6) What book/genre is your guilty pleasure?

7) Describe your biggest fangirl moment relating to books.

8) What book have you reread the most times?

9) How many books do you own?

10) Show us/tell us about how your books are organized.

11) Do you lend books to friends?  If so, how do you make sure you get them back?

Book Review: Faith by Jennifer Haigh

Faith is the story of Father Art as told by his half-sister Sheila.  Father Art has been accused of molesting a child in his church, and Sheila returns to her hometown to defend him.  However, she learns that her family is hiding some secrets, long buried, that may impact her own interpretation of the events and her brother's innocence or guilt.

Writing
Beautiful.  This was literary fiction at its best for me - beautiful writing that is accessible and engrossing at the same time.  This isn't one that you'll struggle to get through, but it's also not one that sacrifices characterization or depth for the sake of plot.  You spend the majority of the story not knowing if Father Art is guilty or innocent, but that isn't the major focus of the book.  You get inside the characters heads through Sheila, although at the beginning she admits that she is reconstructing events the way she imagines they occurred in some cases.  I liked not having an omniscient narrator and only knowing what Sheila knows and filling in the blanks as she fills them in.  I cared deeply about each character and was fascinated to see the ways they dealt with the issue guilt and belief in the face of this enormous test of faith.

Entertainment Value
Completely engrossing.  I couldn't put it down.  It's not an easy read, but it's also not so difficult that you feel like it's dragging.  I read it over the course of two days because I couldn't put it down.  The issue of whether or not Father Art is guilty is intriguing, but I was more interested in the development of the characters and how each character's own faith was highlighted and tested throughout the book. 

Overall
This was my first five star book of the year.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it because I was starting to worry that I was in a slump.  I've had trouble concentrating on the books I've read so far this year, but this was the exception.  I was into the story and the characters through the entire book and couldn't get enough.  I highly recommend this to all readers, even if you aren't typically interested in literary fiction.  This is a good one to start with if you don't usually read in the genre because it does have an intriguing plot.  I also loved that the author addressed the issue of religious faith from multiple points of view without expressing her own biases.  I doubt it would ever happen because of the language used in the book (several uses of the "f word") but I'd love to see this book sold in Christian bookstores. 

Thank you to Trish at TLC for including me on the tour.  Click here to see a list of other reviews from the tour.

Book Review: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

This book was given to me on my birthday last year, so I think it's appropriate that I review it on my birthday this year.  For the record, it came from my now brother in law, then just Sugar Bear's boyfriend.  He had heard about how much I love drama and thought this was a fairly good soap opera type book.  And of course it is a very classic story that spans generations and is full of the dramz.  Maggie Cleary and her forbiden love, Father Ralph are the focus of the story, which is set in Australia surrounding World War II.

Writing
I honestly didn't really find it to be exceptional.  I've read many reviews on Goodreads saying otherwise, but I wasn't terribly impressed.  I didn't fall in love with any of the characters and at parts the plot dragged.  I did find the descriptions of Australia and New Zealand to be stunning.

Entertainment Value
Decent.  I wasn't blown away by the drama in it the way I expected to be.  But I think part of that is that I'm reading it at a time when so much more is available to us in the way of family drama.  When the book was released in 1977, I think the idea of a priest having an affair and illegitimate child would have been a lot more shocking than it is now.  Which is kind of sad.  But in a time when sex scandals involving priests are much more horrific, I kind of felt like "ok, and...?"  That said, the book still held my interest.  It's a long book and I didn't consider giving up on it at any points. 

Overall
I'd give it a try if you're a fan of romance novels, family dramas, or Australian historical fiction.  As I mentioned in the writing review, there are some beautiful descriptions of the Austalian landscape.  It's a decent read, but after a steady diet of shows like The OC and One Tree Hill (yes I watched both) I didn't find it as shocking as I think it would have been for readers in the 70's.

In My Mailbox (29)

I mentioned at the beginning of the year that my new goals include walking every single day - and so far I've yet to miss a day, even when it's rained.  I'm also working on giving myself non-food rewards.  I'm almost at 50 miles since the beginning of the year AND I worked some overtime this morning, so I decided to go ahead and give myself a reward and went to McKays with a stack of books to trade.  I got:

Library Confidential: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas In The Public Library

The Mighty Queens of Freeville

Eye Contact

Those That Wake

Belong to Me

Vernon God Little

This Is A Book (I don't know anything about it but Buddy was reading a copy at Christmas and I want to be able to talk to him about it, so I grabbed a copy)

Women Who Love Books Too Much (as if that title is even possible!)

Some Girls: My Life In A Harem

Assisted Loving: Tales of Double Dating With My Dad

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading

Amy And Isabelle

It was also a good week for review books:

What Happened To Hannah by Mary Kay McComas 

Spin by Catherine McKenzie

Both of these came for upcoming TLC tours

Diary of a Mad Fat Girl

All There Is: Love Stories From Storycorps

Library Video

No book reviews today, just this awesome video from Buzzfeed with tv and movie clips of libraries.  How many do you recognize?

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Ransom Riggs, the author of Miss Peregrine's Home was inspired to write the book when he found some creepy old pictures of children in what appeared to be supernatural poses - such as the cover shot.  He wound up finding several collections of these photos and used them to illustrate his YA novel.  The premise is interesting: a school for kids with supernatural abilities discovered by a young boy whose grandfather attended the school.  And the pictures themselves are wonderfully creepy.  As far as the book itself, well...

Writing
Basic YA fiction-style and generic quality.  Not great, not awful.  No complaints but also no raves.

Entertainment Value
This part is tricky.  I loved the first half of the book.  I was deliciously creeped out by the tragedy that occurs in the main character (Jacob)'s family at the beginning of the book.  I was intrigued by the school and what would happen when Jacob found it.  I was really into it.  And then things started to go downhill.  The last half of the book was a struggle to get through.  Once Jacob finds the school and meets the students, the book totally shifts gears.  I felt like I was reading two different books by the end.  The second half was slow and drawn out with a surprise cliff hanger ending.  Not only did I not enjoy the second half, I was super annoyed by the "surprise" sequel.  There's no indication on the cover or the GR page or anywhere else that this is a series book, but at the end we are left with a major cliffhanger ending.  When you look up the author on GR you can find out he has a sequel planned.  Because of how slow the second half of the book is, it really comes across to me as a case of the author drawing out what could have been a stand alone book into a series to sell more books.  I was not impressed.

Overall
I didn't hate the book.  If you really wanted to read it, I don't think you should avoid it just because I didn't like it.  I didn't dislike it so much that I'd specifically recommend against reading it.  But my recommendation if you're on the fence is that you check out the pictures and save your time reading something else.  I won't be picking up the sequel.

Book Review: The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories

This is seriously the cutest cover ever, right?  I mean, look how precious!  Also, please note the name on the cover - Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  When I got the email asking me to review this, I was beyond thrilled.  I hadn't heard of the HITRECORD project, but I looked into it once I knew I'd be reviewing the book and it's really cool.  I'll let JGL himself tell you about it:



These stories are so tiny that it's hard to do my usual writing/entertainment value review for them.  They are only a sentence or two long at most, and half of the book is illustrations.  The book is precious - the stories are by turns funny, cute, inspiring, and touching.  And the illustrations are amazing.  I only wish they were bigger or sold in the project's store so I could buy some as art.  They DO have some cute t-shirts and tote bags, so be sure to check that out.  If nothing else, do yourself a favor and find a copy of the book (the first in a three part series).  It's adorable!