Emma and Me

Character development matters. This book is proof. I have been reading this book for the past few nights and got to page 65 before I put it down. The story sounds interesting. The writing is fine. However, I didn't care about the characters enough to get the through the boring spots. If Flock had set up her characters better, I would have kept reading to see what happens to the girls. So, I wouldn't recommend this book on that factor alone.

While Beauty Slept

This is a great book! It's an extremely creative book and very well written. The characters were believable and complex, even while being archetype.

The story is told by a great grandmother (Elise) once she hears her great granddaughter tell the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. She proceeds to recount the real story behind the fairy tale and it is fantastic.

So many fairy tales or books that give a different account of the fairy tale, they are full of magic and unbelievable details. While Beauty Slept thankfully isn't. It's a creative account of how the fairy tale could have come to pass.

I highly recommend this book to those who like a good story, a well written book, and enjoy surprises and trying to figure things out. Just remember the time period and setting (fictional as it may be). Women are not well taken care of and are treated as objects, so there are some inappropriate relations in the novel.

It's on my list of favorite books and I hope Blackwell writes more novels like this one!

Mrs. Kimble

Mrs. Kimble is about three different women who end up marrying the same man (not at the same time!). While it was a compelling and engaging book, I didn't love it. And wouldn't recommend it. It's a very sad commentary on marriage and divorce and while it's probably pretty realistic, it's not redemptive at all and thus, not worth the read.

For the most part, the women in the novel are portrayed as victims. The infidelity in the book is seen as the good, right, and better choice.

The ending of the book had such potential, but it turns out I don't get it. It ended too abruptly and confusing. And overall, for the topics in the book, it should be been more complex and complicated than it was. 

The writing was just okay. This book gets a 1.5 out of 5. There is really only one character in the book I actually liked and were it not for him, I would have put the book down.

The Goldfinch

It's been a while since my last book post. We just moved. We put our kids in public school for the first time ever. We just added 10 chicks to our family. And did I mention we just moved??

I have read this past month. A lot. Through the unpacking of boxes and hanging of pictures. Through the packing of school lunches and the paperwork that the teacher's send home. Through the homework proofing. Through feeding and watering chicks.

The Goldfinch is almost 800 pages. So while I haven't posted in a while, it's certainly not for lack of reading.

This book gets mostly mixed reviews from me. I'll do this in bullet points:

• Tartt tried too hard to make the book deeper than it needed to be
• The book is pretentious
• There is a good balance of detail to story line
• It's an interesting story
• The first 7/8s of the book needed to be 3/4s shorter
• The ending of the actual story was good - lots of surprises
• However, the ending (well, the book on the whole), was too philosophical for my taste in fiction
• Tartt's philosophical commentary was poor - she rambled and it didn't even make sense 

The book is rough (language and non graphic sexuality), but that makes sense due to the age of the characters and the colorfulness of the lifestyles in the book. It'd make a fine book club book. And as long as you can stand the bits of color in  there and have a month (or longer) to read it, it'd be a fine book to read. However, if you don't read this popular book you're not missing out on much.