Water for Elephants

I first read Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants many, many moons ago. I love the idea 

of the old circus, the glamour and the sparkle and the majesty, even though I've never 

actually been to the circus! 

Once the movie came out, I meant to read Water for Elephants again to refresh my memory, but life got busy and books get packed (and moved and moved again) and other books get read instead and the movie was never seen. But it finally made it to the top of my pile! 

I enjoyed Water for Elephants as much the second time as I did the first. It encompasses the magic of the circus along with the devastation of The Great Depression.  It's a love story, love for a woman, an elephant, and the circus. It's a touching story with characters who come to life. I really felt like I knew the characters and I cared about what happened to them. 

The only thing I don't like about this novel is the bookending of the past by the present.

 Of course, I always say that about books like this. I don't feel the need for the small story

 of the present. I'm happy with the story of the past. It's enough for me. It's a great story 

and I think you'll like it too! Enjoy! 

Gone Girl

On their fifth anniversary, Amy disappears. And Nick is the police's number one suspect.

Something's up, and evidence is mounting against Nick.  He's definitely keeping a secret, but did he kill Amy? And if not, what happened? 

Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is quite the adventure and enjoyable read. It's so crazy, but I really liked it. I didn't really like the end-end, the wrap up. But what other ending could their be? I don't know. I think I would have left that out, but really. Great book. Go check it out. Now. 

Before Versailles: Before the History You Know . . . A Novel of Louis XIV

Before Versailles  by Karleen Koen introduces us to a younger Louis XIV than we are used to.  This is Louis before he became the great sun god that we know him as today. This is a newly wed Louis trying to establish himself as a king, trying to decide what kind of king he wants to be and who he can trust. 

The story is not only told around Louis, but many characters at court tell their story and their interaction with the king.  Sometimes there are almost too many characters, but one can only fault history. 

Equally the main character as Louis is Louise, a lady-in-waiting to the king's sister-in-law, Henriette. Louise is new to court, and she, too, must decide who she wants to be and who she can trust. 

I began  Before Versailles with some trepidation; I wasn't sure how dense the reading would be.  Once I got used to Koen's style, I really enjoyed the novel. I learned a lot about XIV that I never knew before and now I want to read more about him.  I recommend this to any historical fiction junkie like myself, or anyone wanting to learn more about France and Louis XIV's early days. 

The Things I Do For You

The Things I Do For You by Mary Carter is about a married couple, Bailey and Brad, who live in New York. Baby-hungry Bailey is new to the world of real estate, but before she can get her big sale, she's called to the hospital. Brad has been in an accident with his great-aunt, who shouldn't have been driving.

Brad has a near-death experience, and sees himself in "the light." Previously agnostic, he is quite a different person. Bailey is a little annoyed by his undying optimism, but she still loves Brad. Nothing can change that, even an entire personality change. At first Bailey thinks it's survivors guilt, but it seems to be more than that. All Brad wants to do is talk about his experience and joins on online group for folks with experiences like his.

Brad finds out that his great-aunt has left her secret wealth entirely to him, which he then uses to buy a broken-down lighthouse upstate to turn into a bed and breakfast. Needless to say, Bailey is less than pleased, but goes along with his idea. The B&B, along with the continual presence of Brad's near-death experience, his support group, and secrets Brad has been keeping from Bailey, put their marriage vows to the test. Will Brad and Bailey make it? 

At first, I didn't really like Bailey. It bugged me how much she let Brad walk all over her. But then her faults started to show too, and while Bailey and I will never be friends, I became engrossed in the story. I wanted to know all the secrets. I wanted to know if Brad and Bailey made it. 

However, I felt like there were too many story lines going on. There's the baby-hungry Bailey with hesitant Brad line. There's the Bed and Breakfast, with guests, with possible ghosts, both the aunt and the old lighthouse ghosts. There's the near-death experience

rearing it's ugly head, along with the support group. This could have easily been been taken apart and written into two or three novels instead of one. It wasn't confusing, just a little overwhelming and scattered. It left some things unclear instead of delving in deeper. 

In the end, I liked The Things I Do For You, [though I could have done without the epilogue. Unnecessary  and he sounded much younger than 20] and recommend it as a chick-lit romance. Once you get into it, it would make a great beach or vacation read. Be forewarned, however, there's a little bit of sexy-time talk and some curse words. Read on, my friends!

*I won this novel from Goodreads FirstReads. All opinions expressed are my own. 

The First Princess of Wales

After I read The Irish Princess, I thought it would be worth it to look into more books by Karen Harper, and I found The First Princess of Wales. I thought it sounded super neat! An earlier time period than I've read and new characters; I'm always up for that! So I checked it out from the library and started reading it, when I realized that the original title was Sweet Passion's Pain. If I had known that in the first place, I don't know that I would have picked up the book. It sounds a little like a harlequin novel! But I was already into the book and liked it so far, and it didn't seem naughty, so I kept reading. 

The First Princess of Wales is a historical fiction set in medieval times about a young girl, Joan of Kent, who is brought to Queen Phillipa's court and meets and falls in love, and lust, with Edward the Black Knight, Prince of Wales, who returns her lusty feelings, and perhaps her love. However, the Queen and King do not find Joan to be a suitable match for their son and she is quickly married off to someone else., despite the fact that Edward and Joan have become lovers and intend to stay that way. [Their lovemaking is not described in awkward detail.] It felt a lot like that game we used to play: Do, Date, or Marry. Or was it Do, Dump, or Marry? Either  way . . .

This novel just didn't read the way I thought it would. It wasn't what I thought it would be. [I also came into the novel thinking it was about the York/Lancaster split. My bad! But I'd love to read a book like that if anyone knows of one!] What I thought would be at least the middle, if not earlier, was the end! It took so long to get there, and then there was nothing after! I wanted to read more and was disappointed that it was already over. If I wasn't so determined to finish the book though . . . it's just that Harper's books take soooo long to read! They draaaag on and on! Both of hers that I've read have taken me much longer than I would have though given the number of pages and subject matter. I feel like I should like her work, but I just really don't. I kept finding myself thinking that it would have been more exciting if Philippa Gregory had written it. She's much more of a captivating author. Gregory also includes a family tree when necessary, which Harper didn't. I really needed one, because Joan and Edward are related, probably third cousins given my reading, but sometimes they talked and made it sound like a much closer relation. A family tree would have been helpful. Gregory, as most historical fiction writers, also adds an author's note or a historical note at the end to explain what was truth and where liberties were taken. Harper did no such thing. So I went to my easiest and closest resource: Wikipedia. And Wikipedia makes Joan sound so much more interesting than the book ever did!  It talks about her plotting to get even with the king for her fathers death, as does the back of the book, but that was hardly present compared to her pining over Edward and their illicit rendezvouses!  Harper clearly took liberties with her characters, especially their ages in relation to one another and when events happened, and was inconsistent throughout. 

Really, it was like Karen Harper took some characters from history and instead of writing a historical fiction, she wrote a romance. And it was a very strange romance at that, given that *ahem* force was often used. Anyway, there were some good parts, but I expected a much higher caliber of writing and, frankly, research about the subject. The First Princess of Wales was a bit of a let-down for me. 

Dragon Bones

Dragon Bones is Lisa See's third book of the Red Princess series. I haven't read the first two, but I still understood it pretty well. It's a murder-mystery love story between Inspector Liu Hulan and Attorney David Stark, who happen to be married, but estranged as they separately mourn the death of their young daughter. Together they are assigned to cases near the 3 Gorges Dam along the Yangtze River in China. Liu is to investigate a suspicious death and David is to find out how Chinese artifacts are being smuggled out of the country. See paints a modern picture of China while tying in the mysteries of the past.  i like how See shows me her perspective of China and occasionally characters speak in Chinese that See translates for the reader. It wasn't an awesome book, but it was certainly enjoyable.  I liked reading about modern China (okay, 1990s China) and I enjoyed the characters as well as the mystery and journey of the novel.  If you think you might enjoy this Chinese murder-mystery style romance, give it a try!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

This novel tells the story of two children, one Chinese and one Japanese but both American, during WWII. They become friends and puppy love takes over. But racial differences during the war make it hard for them to even see one another. And then they start placing the Japanese-Americans into Internment Camps. 

Ford's novel bounces back and forth from the 1980s - "Present" - and the war years as the Panama Hotel is re-opened and belongings from Interned Japanese are found. Memories are sparked. And then the ending is exactly what you would suspect. 

The story had a few good moments and a very sweet succinct ending. Yet at times I was bored by the story and found it rather predictable.  Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. Not sure I would recommend it, but I won't berate you if you love it.