The Confabulist by Steven Galloway

Publisher: Knopf Canada

Publish Date:April 29, 2014

Format: Advanced reading copy

Pages: -

ISBN: -

The Confabulist weaves together the life, loves and murder of the world’s greatest magician, Harry Houdini, with the story of the man who killed him (twice): Martin Strauss, an everyday man whose fate was tied to the magician’s in unforeseen ways.  A cast of memorable characters spins around Houdini’s celebrity-driven life, as they did in his time: from the Romanov family soon to be assassinated, to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the powerful heads of Scotland Yard, and the Spiritualists who would use whoever they could to establish their religion.  A brilliant novel about fame and ambition, reality and illusion, and the ways that love, grief and imagination can alter what we perceive and believe.

My Thoughts

Whether or not this book is historically accurate (which it's not) I still found it to be an entertaining read.  I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to others, just as long as they don't dissect and really analyze it.  Harry Houdini was a fascinating person - there is no doubt about it.  And his career was only a small part of it.  And I think that's what I wanted more of with this book.  So much of it was fabricated (such as Martin Strauss) that I wanted maybe just a bit more reality.  But on the other hand had I wanted all the facts I would have just read a biography.  I liked the uniqueness of this retelling and learned a few things about Houdini that I didn't know before such as his involvement with the Romanov family and his strange relationship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the spiritualists.  But it did peak my interest enough  that I gave it 4 stars because it grasped my interest and held it, I never struggled to keep going. 

Thank you to Random House Canada via Goodreads First Reads Giveaway for an advanced copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

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.

Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Publisher: Random House Audio

Publish Date: February 12, 2013

Format: Audio

Discs: 7

ISBN: 978 0385361279

Bee is an orphan who lives with a carnival and sleeps in the back of a tractor trailer.  Every day she endures taunts for the birthmark on her face – though her beloved Pauline, the only person who has ever cared for her, tells her it is a precious diamond.  When Pauline is sent to work for another carnival, Bee is lost.

Then a scruffy dog shows up, as unwanted as she, and Bee realizes that she must find a home for them both.  She runs off to a house with gingerbread trim that reminds her of frosting.  There are two mysterious women, Mrs. Swift and Mrs. Potter that take her in.  They clothe her, though their clothes are strangely out of date.  They feed her, though there is nothing in their house to eat.  They help her go to school, though they won’t enter the building themselves.  And, strangely, only Bee seems able to see them.

Whoever these women are, they matter.  They matter to Bee.  And they are helping Bee realize that she, too, matters to the world – if only she will let herself be a part of it.

My Thoughts

I happened to stumble upon this one while looking online for audio books at my local library.  When I went to pick it up I was told it was located in the middle grade/young adult section.  I was going to leave it behind when I discovered it was juvenile, but I was just so drawn to the cover and the concept behind the story I just couldn't resist.  And I am very glad I didn't!

What a powerful story that is full of self discovery and self acceptance and at the center of it all is courageous heroine Bee that you can't help but root for and fall in love with.  I loved the setting, 1942 travelling carnival during the height of WWII and found it the perfect backdrop for this story.  I loved Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Swift, and thought they were a nice touch to the plot and really enjoyed the magical aspect that only Bee could see them.  All I wanted while reading was to go out and buy a floppy orange hat.  I hated Pauline for abandoning our precious little Bee when she needed her most, all for a love interest.  But in the end Pauline had redeeming qualities.  

Packed full of wisdom, heartbreak and hope, it's not just a story for kids.  Adults will fall in love with it as well. I thought it was a very enchanting book narrated by Ariadne Meyers; whom I loved listening to reading The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen.  Meyers will help you fall in love with Bee just a little bit more.

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 Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Publisher: Random House Audio

Publish Date: March 4, 2011

Format: Audio

Discs: 6

ISBN: 978 0307877772

The Red Garden introduces us to the luminous and haunting would of Blackwell, Massachusetts, capturing the unexpected turns in its history and in our own lives.

In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters’ lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions.

From the towns founder, a brave young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or bears, to the young man who runs away to New York City with only his dog for company, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded Civil War soldier who is saved by a passionate neighbour, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year when summer never arrives.

At the center of everyone’s life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look.

My Thoughts

Well I didn't love it, but I didn't all together hate it either.  This was my first book by Alice Hoffman and I listened to it on audio.  While I really enjoyed the narration (done by Nancy Travis from Last Man Standing) I found the story as a whole to be very choppy and wish it would have been classified as a collection of short stories.  I found it had to develop an emotional connection to any character because once I got into a story line it ended and went on to the next chapter.  I often felt robbed when all I wanted was more. 

I wish the author would have stuck with Hallie Brady as the main focal point of the story as I found myself very interested in her but as soon as the years and stories progressed my mind would wander and the previous story would be lost.

Although I did enjoy some of the stories, such as the Fisherman's wife, I found others to drag on and unimportant to the overall story and history of Blackwell.  I also didn't quite buy into the "magical red garden" and for it supposedly being the main focus of the overall tone of the novel I found it lacking interest.

I feel like I'm ripping this one apart, but like I said, I didn't hate it, it was just different and left me with mixed feelings.  Mixed feeling reviews are always the hardest to write. I'm defiantly willing to read more from Alice Hoffman. 

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 Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: March 22, 2011
Format: download library
Pages: - 
ISBN: -

It’s dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruins generations ago.  The Blue Ridge Madam-built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather and once the finest home in Wall of Water, North Carolina has stood for years as a monument to misfortune and scandal.  Willa has lately learned that an old classmate – socialite Paxton Osgood – has restored the house to its former glory, with plans to turn it into a top-flight inn.  But when a skeleton is found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, long-kept secrets come to light, accompanied by a spate of strange occurrences throughout the town.  Thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the passions and betrayals that once bound their families – and uncover the truths that have transcended time to touch the hearts of the living.

My Thoughts

I really really enjoyed this book.  The cover of the novel was just so beautiful how could I not fall in love with it?  I found it a nice easy read and got completely wrapped up in the story.  While the story lacked any real depth, I found it cute and entertaining and kept me engaged.  It had the perfect blend of charm and haunting mystery you just needed to devour and has the flawless magical realism aspect Sarah Addison Allen seems to have perfected.

Sarah Addison Allen has quickly made her way onto my auto-read list and I can't wait to consume myself with the rest of her novels.

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 Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Publisher: Random House Audio
Publish Date: May 20, 2008
Format: Audio
Discs: 5
ISBN:

Josey Cirrini is sure of three things: winter is her favourite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her closet.  For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother’s house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night…Until she finds her closet harbouring Della Lee Baker, a local waitress who is one part nemesis-and two parts fairy godmother.  With Della Lee’s tough love, Josey’s narrow existence quickly expands.  She even bonds with Chole Finely, a young woman who is hounded by books that inexplicably appear when she needs them – and who has a close connection to Josey’s longtime crush.  Soon Josey is living in a world where the colour red has startling powers, and passion can make eggs fry in their cartons.  And that’s just for starters.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book, it was a really fun light-hearted story of one girl and her journey of self discovery.  I found all the characters enchanting and the magical touch of the story very charming.  I would have to say that Chole was my favourite - I wish books would just appear to me.  I would be saving a boat load of money.  There was just something so sweet and innocent about her that spoke to me.  Josey, you just felt sad for.  And Della Lee was there to bring them all together.  Very entertaining and leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling.

I found the end was predicable, but but not realistic.  It ended the way I figured it would, but everything was just to neat and tidy and in it's place for me.  I like a little mystery in an ending and a little left to the imagination.  

This is the first book I've read by Sarah Addison Allen, although I've had her first novel Garden Spells on my bookshelf for years - it's about time it comes off for a read.
My Rating: ««««

Buy it Now!

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.