The House at the End of the Street

Last Saturday, I was at Barnes and Noble with Hannah. I made a deal with her that if she actually reads, I will buy her books. She's currently reading The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. As we were in the young adult section buying her book, I came across the book I ended up buying for myself. I bought The House at the End of the Street by Lily Blake because I had seen the commercials for the movie, and wanted to see if the movie would be worth it.

Looking back, I wish I had looked at the title page of the book.  Had I done so, I would have seen that the book is based on the screenplay of the movie, which usually indicates the book is not going to be good. I paid $13 to read a book based on a screenplay. I am so ashamed.

This book is about Elissa, who moves with her mother, Sarah, from the Chicago area to the Seattle area (I think). Elissa's parents are divorced, and Elissa never sees her father. A partial reason for the move halfway across the country is because Sarah is worried that Elissa will end up a pregnant teen with no future.  She feels that moving will get Elissa away from bad influences.

The house they move to is large, and the rent is cheap. Why, you ask? Because it is next door to a house where a little girl was injured, became mentally impaired, and killed her parents.  The house is still inhabited by older brother, Ryan, who is a bit of an outcast. Elissa meets Ryan, and they become fast friends.  There are times when you think their relationship will come to more, but something always stops it.

I won't ruin the suspense, but Ryan is hiding things and Elissa gets caught up in it.

Perhaps if this had been a legitimate book that they made a movie out of, I would have enjoyed it more. The book itself was nowhere near as scary as the commercials for the movie make it appear. I am looking forward to the movie though.  I have a feeling that this will be one of the rare occasions where the movie is better than the book.

The Kingmaker's Daughter

The most recent offering from Philippa Gregory in her series about the Cousin's War is The Kingmaker's Daughter. It is the story of Anne Neville, the youngest daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. It begins when she is first presented to Elizabeth Woodville, wife and queen of Edward V.  It follows her through the marriage of her sister Isabel to George of Clarence, and her own marriage to the man who becomes Richard III. 

I have never given much thought to Anne Neville in my reading of British historical fiction, but I think I would have liked her, provided she is anything like Ms. Gregory portrayed her.

One thing I like about this book is the rivalry between sisters Anne and Isabel.  It is reminiscent of The Other Boleyn Girl, which is still my favorite by this author. Something I like about this series (as well as the Tudor series) is that Ms. Gregory visits the points of view of multiple people. I have read about Elizabeth Woodville, Anne Neville, Jaquetta Rivers, and Margaret Beaufort, all female players in the Wars of the Roses.

I look forward to the next installment.

World Without End

A little over two years ago, the miniseries, Pillars of the Earth, aired on Fridays on Starz. I enjoyed the series, so I decided to read the book. This, by the way, seems to be my curse: if I like a show or movie and it happens to be a book, I'll read it. Most of the time, it works out ok. There were two memorable instances where it did not: Carrie by Stephen King, and Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.

Anyway, back to the point.

Not long after I read Pillars of the Earth, my quasi-sister-in-law purchased World Without End by Ken Follett for me. It is a sequel of sorts. It also takes place in the village of Kingsbridge, England, but it is 200 years after the events in Pillars. This time, they are building a bridge instead of a cathedral, at least at first. Instead of the long, drawn out love story of Jack and Aliana, it's Merthin and Caris.

The main thing I got out of this book is that monks are bad guys. Seriously. Caris' cousin, Godwyn, becomes prior of the cathedral after his uncle dies, but he is a most unscrupulous character. He steals from the nuns, lies, blackmails people, and instead of working for the good of the village, he does everything he can to thwart their efforts. His right hand man, Philemon, is just as bad.

When I was reading, I genuinely wanted to know what happened with/to Caris and Merthin, and Gwenda and Wulfric. I would go to bed at night wondering what was in store for them. Some of the characters I couldn't care less about, like the aforementioned monks, and Merthin's brother, Ralph.

There was one whole section that took place during a war, which just happens to be where I was when school started back. I have no problem watching wars and battles in movies, but I find them tedious to read about. So, when school started, I didn't feel too compelled to read because I was stuck at a part that was boring to me. I was so glad when I pushed through it.

A week ago, I was halfway through the book; today I finished. This was an ok book. Not my favorite, and definitely did not live up to its predecessor. However, I am glad I read it.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Long time, no see...er, blog. I started back to work the week before last, and the students started school this week, so I've been a bit busy. Too busy to get much reading done.  I am halfway through World Without End by Ken Follett, but I think I've only managed to read a chapter or so the past two weeks.

We bought the blu-ray version of The Hunger Games on August 18th, and watched it that evening.  One of the previews on the movie was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I had heard about this book from my days of posting on the message boards on the-n.com. Didn't really give reading it much of a thought until I saw the movie trailer. The movie has Emma Watson, Hermione from the Harry Potter movies.  Love her. Also has the guy who played Percy Jackson in Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Looked good, so I went in search of the book. I checked ebay and Amazon, but it was going to be upwards of $12 for a paperback, and that didn't include shipping. Fast forward to today...we were at Target, and they had it for $11.20. My husband bought it for me. Took a little less than twelve hours to read cover to cover, and I kinda feel bad that he spent that much for something I read so fast. :/

Anyway...The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The format of this book is that of an epistle novel, meaning that it is written in letters. In this case, the letters are from Charlie to A Friend. Charlie, as well as all of the other names he mentions, is not his actual name. He changed them to protect the innocent, so to speak.

Charlie is beginning his freshman year of high school. He is the youngest child; his brother is a football star, and his sister is pretty and smart. Charlie cries easily and alot. Charlie has a troubled past, and has spent time in the hospital-the kind for mental health issues. Charlie doesn't have any friends until one Friday night, he goes to a football game and sees someone he recognizes from shop class, Patrick. Patrick is there with his stepsister, Sam, who Charlie has a crush on.  Patrick and Sam introduce Charlie to their friends, and they go to alot of parties and showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Charlie also has what I would term a weird relationship with his advanced English teacher.  The teacher insists that Charlie call him Bill, and gives him special assignments. Toward the end of the book, Bill invites Charlie to his house-a huge teacher no-no.

The book chronicles Charlie's freshman year, and everything he goes through. Then there is the epilogue, which parts of came completely out of left field for me. I had to go back and re-read something because I missed it the first time, and it makes the revelations of the epilogue make sense.

Pretty good book. Right up there with Go Ask Alice by Anonymous, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. 

I will be taking it to school on Tuesday when we go back, and putting it on my classroom library shelves.

Now to finish the Follett book....

Oliver Potzsch Sequel

Summer Book #20: The Dark Monk by Oliver Potzsch

The first book I got for my kindle that I actually paid for was The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch. That book was only ok, and the title a misnomer since Magdalene, the Hangman's Daughter was a minor character in the book. I cannot pinpoint why I bought the sequel for my kindle this summer. Perhaps I am a glutton for punishment who cannot start a series, no matter how bad, and not finish it. Perhaps I was hoping that this installment would be better than the first. Luckily for me, the latter was true, so this wasn't a total waste of time.

This book was only titled slightly better than the first book in this series. At least it wasn't named for a minor character. In this case, it is named for the villain.

At the beginning, a priest is poisoned because he found something he shouldn't have. While investigating the death, the hangman, Jakob Kuisl, and the town medicus, Simon, stumble upon a mystery, the same one the priest died for. The mystery has to do with a possible Templar treasure. The priest's sister, Benedikta, comes to town for his funeral, and becomes drawn into the mystery herself because she wants to know what it was her brother died for. Clues to this mystery take Simon and Benedikta all over the Priest's Corner in Bavaria. Jakob helps where he can, but he has been charged by the Elector's Representative to locate and capture bands of robbers who are tormenting the town. The hangman's daughter, Magdalena, plays her part in helping to solve the mystery as well, while being jealous of the relationship she perceives that Simon is having with Benedikta.

Simon solves the mystery, Jakob rids the town of robbers, and we get a Scooby Doo ending.  You know the kind I'm talking about. For all intents and purposes, the mask is pulled off, and the person says "And I would've gotten away with it too, if not for you meddling kids!" The subject of the Scooby Doo ending was not a total surprise; you had to know that there was going to be some kind of twist involving this person. I just thought the reveal was cheesy, hence the term Scooby Doo ending.

If you slogged through The Hangman's Daughter, give The Dark Monk a chance. The storyline makes much more sense, and was, at times, fun to read. I will be reading the third installment when it is released.

Rival to the Queen

Summer book #19: Rival to the Queen by Carolly Erickson

I bought this book because I am fascinated by all things Tudor. Because this was about Elizabeth I, this "rival" could have been anyone: Amy Dudley, Lettice Knollys, Mary Stuart, etc.  This particular book was about Lettice Knollys.

Lettice Knollys was Elizabeth's cousin.  When Elizabeth came to the throne, she wanted all of her "Boleyn relatives" by her side in places of honor.  Lettie was made one of Elizabeth's ladies in waiting. Elizabeth, at least in this book, hated Lettie because Lettie was beautiful where Elizabeth was not.  As the book progresses, we find that Elizabeth hates Lettie even more because Lettie marries Robert Dudley, a great favorite of the queen.

Ms. Erickson takes liberty with history in this book, which is fine by me, to an extent.  For a "great" historian, it seems silly that she changed names and events that are historically noted. One example of this is changing Kat Ashley to Ms. Clinkerte. Another is the event that gets Lettie's son banished from court: historically, it is because he walked into Elizabeth's room while she was in a state of undress. In this book, it was because he acted as though he was going to draw his sword when Elizabeth struck his face. Perhaps it's just me, but I think if an author is going to take liberties to keep the story moving, they shouldn't mess with the actual historic accounts. Mess with the filler instead.

Unlike many other books I have read about Elizabeth I, this was a bit on the boring side. I don't know if this is because I have already read so much about Elizabeth I, or if the subject matter was itself just boring.  This was told from Lettie's side, which was ok. It's safe to say I wouldn't read this one again.

Sisterhood Everlasting

Summer book #18: Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

I came across this book one day while perusing the aisles at Target.  I didn't buy it that day because I am vehemently opposed to spending $12 for a paperback book.  So, I came home, and bought it off of ebay for a fraction of that.

I have read all of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants books.  Way back when I used to watch Good Morning America, it was recommended for mothers to read with their daughters. I thought I'd read them to see if the books were something I would share with my daughter when she was old enough. I fell in love with these books.  The bonds that Bee, Tibby, Lena, and Carmen shared were magical, and you knew that they'd always be friends. When Forever in Blue came out, I thought that was the end for these girls. Imagine my surprise to learn that there was another book.

I started this book on Sunday evening, and finished last night.  It started out like all of the other books in the series: catching up on the lives of each of the girls.  It's been ten years in their lives, and although they are still good friends, their lives have taken different directions.  Carmen is an actress in New York, engaged to a man she's not sure she loves. Lena is an art teacher in Rhode Island, but still wonders what would have happened between herself and Kostos. Bee live in California with Eric, the boy she met at soccer camp all those years ago.  She's a wanderer, and has trouble staying in one place. Tibby lives in Australia with Brian.

They've lost touch incrementally over the years, and Tibby tries to bridge that gap.  She sends them each a plane ticket to meet her at Lena's grandparent's house in Santorini, Greece.  Bee, Lena, and Carmen can't hold in their excitement to all be together again, but are quickly sobered when Tibby doesn't come to pick them up.  Why? Because Tibby died, drowned in the waters of the Caldera.  This is a blow to the girls, and they grow further apart.  For months they don't talk to each other.  Things don't feel the same without Tibby. Tibby, however, anticipates this, and gives each of them letters from beyond the grave with instructions.

Will the remaining Septembers follow the directions? What will they learn about themselves? Will they ever be close again? Read and find out.

Despite the fact that I was sad throughout most of this book, I enjoyed it. It ended well, and Brashares left it open to revisit it later, if she so chooses.  Maybe not my favorite summer book, it was one I enjoyed. Not it will find a place on a shelf in my classroom library.