The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Publisher: William Morrow
Published Date: June 18, 2013
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0062255655

Sussex, England.  A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral.  Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother.  He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back.  And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road.  Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways.  The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy.   And Lettie – magical, comforting, wise beyond her years – promised to protect him, no matter what.

My Thoughts 

All I really have to say about this book is huh? I just didn't "get it" and not really even sure what to say about it.  I read the whole book, but what I actually absorbed...

I'm sure it was "haunting" and "magical" to those who enjoy Gaiman's work, this is the first novel (or rather novella) I have read of his and I'm not certain if I will read anymore.  Maybe the genre just isn't for me.  I found myself very lost during the magic parts of the story.

My Rating: «

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison

Publisher: Penguin Books
Publish Date: June 25, 2013
Pages: 336
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0143133231

Jodi and Todd are at a bad place in their marriage.  Much is at stake, including the affluent life they lead in their beautiful waterfront condo in Chicago, as she, the killer, and he, the victim, rush haplessly toward the main event.  He is a committed cheater.  She lives and breathes denial.  He exists in dual worlds.  She likes to settle scores.  He decides to play for keeps.  She has nothing left to loose.  Told in alternating voices, The Silent Wife is about a marriage in the throes of dissolution, a couple headed for catastrophe, concessions that can’t be made, and a promise that won’t be kept.

My Thoughts
The description of the novel “A chilling psychological thriller” is a bit of an overstatement.  Had a very difficult time getting into this book, the story was a little all over the place.  One sentence is in the present then it carries on for paragraphs at a time in the past and what seemed to me to be irrelevant.  As a whole the entire book had very little dialogue.  The characters were hard to get into and were very much unlikeable; there is not one character you feel sympathetic for.

I found that the synopsis was misleading and found the actual story frustrating but yet fascinating at the same time.  I couldn’t put it down for the sole reason I was waiting for the “main event” to take shape, which doesn’t happen until three quarters of the way through the book and then the ending just drops off.

All in all, it’s an interesting concept but I just found the delivery of the story rather boring.

My Rating: «« (only because I finished it) 

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

Publisher: Hyperion
Publish Date: September 25, 2012
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover (local library)
ISBN: 1401323146

Willie Sutton was born in the squalid Irish slums of Brooklyn in 1901, and came of age at a time when banks were out of control.  If they weren’t failing outright, causing countless Americans to lose their jobs and homes, they were being propped with emergency bailouts.  Trapped in a cycle of panics, depressions and soaring unemployment, Sutton saw only one way out, only one way to win the girl of his dreams.

So began the career of America’s most successful bank robber.  Over three decades Sutton became so good at breaking into banks, and such a master at breaking out of prisons, police called him one of the most dangerous men in New York, and the FBI put him on its first-ever Most Wanted List.

But the public rooted for Sutton.  He never fired a shot, after all, and his victims were merely those bloodsucking banks.  When he was finally caught for good in 1952, crowds surrounded the jail and chanted his name.

It was more than poverty or rage at society that drove Sutton.  It was one unforgettable woman.  In all Sutton’s crimes and confinements, his first love (and first accomplice) was never far from his thoughts.  And when Sutton finally walked free – a surprise pardon on Christmas Eve, 1969 – he immediately set out to find her.

My Thoughts
Blending vast research with vivid imagination, J.R. Moehringer brings Willie Sutton blazing back to life.  This is a story with many layers including politics, crime and most of all love.  Even though this is a novel about a famous bank robber, Moeringer tells a beautiful love story which is the main reason Sutton chose the life of crime.  It gives us an extensive overview of the risk versus the reward of the profession. 

There are so many vibrant aspects to this story; beating by cops, narrow escapes, unexpected kindness, tearful betrayals and hair raising robberies, life lessons…I could go on and on.  I was absolutely transfixed by this book and I can’t praise it enough.  The story starts and ends on Christmas Eve 1969 and the author does not go on to tell us about Willie’s life after his release which lead me to do some research on my own and have become completely fascinated with Willie Sutton.  Although he never robbed another bank after his final release he still led a pretty interesting life.  He became an advocate for prison reform, consulted with banks implementing anti-robbery techniques and even became a spokesperson for the New Britain Bank and Trust Company.

Highly, highly recommended!

My Rating: «««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Publish Date: April 23, 2013
Pages: 448
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0385342070

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier.  She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart.  Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen.  As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can.  Finders keepers!  Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring, perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree.  He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages.  As Popp juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents…she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

My Thoughts
Sophie Kinsella is known for her over the top characters finding themselves in wacky situations that would never exist in real life, yet her stories still ooze with charm.  You will laugh your way through this entire novel and will find it hard to put down (I know I did).  Witty, refreshing and well thought out, the writing had nice flow and so did the plot.  Her characters are cleverly thought out and they will engross you from the beginning.  Highly recommended for any Sophie Kinsella fan out there! 

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
Publish Date: October 28, 2008
Pages: 400
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0385338738

When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise.  Her teeth are perfect.  Her body is toned.  Her handbag is Vuitton.  Having survived a car accident – in a Mercedes no less – Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends.  And who is this gorgeous husband – who also happens to be a multimillionaire?  With her mind still stuck three years in the past, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she, well, seems to be.  This is, until an adourably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance.  Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue.  How on earth did all this happen?  Will she ever remember?  And what will happen when she does?

My Thoughts

Sophie Kinsella is a masterful story teller; she mixes real life with just enough drama to carry you along and helps you invest in the characters.  If you are in the mood for checklit, it doesn’t get much better than this.  Remember Me? Is addictive and hard to put down as well as laugh out loud funny.  It is light and entertaining.  You can always count on Sophie Kinsella’s books for a delightful escape and this one is no exception.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publish Date: October 2, 2012
Pages: 256
Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1250012883

Paris, France: 1860’s.  Hundreds of houses are being razed, whole neighbourhoods reduced to ashes.  By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussman has set into motion a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently alter the face of old Paris, molding it into a “modern city.”  The reforms will erase generations of history – but in the midst of turmoil, one woman will take a stand.

Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end; as others flee, she stakes her claim in the basement of the old house on Rue Childebert, ignoring the sounds of change that come closer and closer each day.  Attempting to overcome the loneliness of her daily life, she begins to write letters to Armand, her beloved late husband.  And as she delves into the ritual of remembering, Rose is forced to come to terms with a secret that has been buried deep in her heart for thirty years.  Tatiana de Rosney’s The House I Loved is both a poignant story of one woman’s indelible strength, and an ode to Paris, where houses harbour the joys and sorrows of their inhabitants, and the secrets endure in the very walls.

My Thoughts
de Rosnay’s description of Paris, of the house, and the life at this crucial time in French history is very vivid.  The telling of the story through letters to her late husband was well-chosen instead of Rose just telling the story directly to the reader.  The other characters in the story fell a bit flat and the storyline moved along rather slow however, the history of Paris was enough to keep me engaged.  I would recommend The House I Loved however it is not in the same category as her previous novel Sarah’s Key.

**When the secret she has had buried deep for thirty years is revealed you don’t realize it until the story is over**

My Rating: «««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Thin, Rich, Pretty by Beth Harbison

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publish Date: July 6, 2010
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 

Twenty years ago, when they were teenagers, Holly and Nicola were the outsiders at summer camp.  Holly was the plump one, a dreamer who longed to be an artist.  Nicola was the shy, plain one who wanted nothing more than to be beautiful.  Their cabin nemesis was Lexi.  Rich, spoiled, evil Lexi.  One night, Holly and Nicola team up to pull one, daring act of vengeance but they never dream that this one act will have repercussions that will reach into the future, even twenty years later.  And they never realize the secret pain that Lexi holds very close, and how their need for revenge costs Lexi a great deal.

Today, Holly is a successful gallery owner, who has put her own artistic dreams on hold.  She struggles with her weight and for approval from her constantly-criticizing boyfriend.  Nicola is an almost-famous actress who believes that one little plastic surgery fix is just was she needs to put her over the edge into fame.  And Lexi is down on her luck and totally broke.

Holly will do anything to be thin.  Lexi will do anything to be rich.  And Nicola will do anything to be pretty.  Thin, Rich, Pretty is the story of three women who believe that happiness is the next dress size down, the next dollar figure up, or the next appreciative glance from a stranger.  But mostly it’s the story of how three women save each other, and show each other the path to the true contentment.

My Thoughts
Thin, Rich, Pretty is a book that deals with common issues that haunt girls and can carryover into adulthood, that won’t necessarily haunt you or cause you to reflect much on your reaction to the book and the characters.  If you are looking for something with deeper meaning this is not the book for you, however, the storyline is thoroughly enjoyable with solid character development along the way alternating between time spent at summer camp and the present, told from all three girls perspectives.

If you are a fan of Beth Harbison (like I am, obviously) then you will love this book.  It’s a light enjoyable easy read perfect as a vacation or beach read.

My Rating: ««««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.