Book review: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

I love books. I love hedgehogs. I love Paris. I love elegance. So, think I, when I see this book - and no, I hadn't read a single review about it, in fact, I'd never heard of it before I saw it in an airport bookstore - what could be better?

It's set in Paris. Check #1. It's a book. Check #2. It's got a hedgehog in the title. Check #3. It's got elegance in the title. Check #4.

So of course I bought it. But I'll tell you right up front that if I hadn't asked my book club to read it, I probably would have put it away about 2 chapters in. Now, I hope that I would have gone back to it eventually - but I can't guarantee it.

So right here is a huge thanks to my book club. I stuck with the book - nothing worse than showing up at book club and NOT having read a book you recommended - and another of couple of chapters in and I was hooked. Completely, utterly, absolutely hooked in a way I haven't been with a book for a very long time.

The writing is lovely (elegant, actually). The characters are fascinating and the story is engaging. This is a book that I didn't want to end - by the time I got to the last few chapters, I wanted it to go on forever.

That's the sign of a great book. Now I'm going to go back and buy her first book and I'll let you know what I think.

Buy this book or get it from the library. Stick with it - you're gonna love it.

Kate

Book review - Plain Kate by Erin Bow

I'm a big fan of YA as you know, plus it's hard to resist a book that has your name in the title. I bought Erin Bow's debut novel, Plain Kate, on Friday and I finished it Friday evening.

I bought it for a whole bunch of reasons:

1. Of course I loved the title.

2. The cover is even more gorgeous in person than it is in this blog.

3. The inside cover blurb blew me away.

4. Erin Bow lives in Canada.

I actually walked away from the book - it's in hardcover and I try not to buy too many books in hardcover as I already spend wayyyy too much money on books - and hardcover books are expensive. But in the end, I went back and bought it.

And I loved it. I loved the characters - Plain Kate and her cat Taggle, the wizard Linay and the gypsies she encounters throughout her journey. I loved the writing, deceptively simple, it draws you in without a single jarring moment. I love the story from beginning to end, even when I'm worried that something terrible will happen, I have to keep reading. And the ending? It's sad and perfect at the same time.

This book is worth buying in hardcover - and I'll read it again. Soon.

Kate

South of Broad, Pat Conroy

I'm a fan of Pat Conroy's writing and have been since very early on, though I have to admit that I became a huge fan with PRINCE OF TIDES.

I've had SOUTH OF BROAD on my TBR pile since it came out but was saving it - as I often do with books I'm truly looking forward to - for a special occasion. The special occasion was that my book club needed an alternate book to read and I suggested this.

I dove right into it, but have to admit that if it weren't for the book club thing, I probably would have given it up two pages in. For some reason, the prologue, short as it was, rubbed me the wrong way and felt way too contrived for my liking. Not that it wasn't beautiful writing, it was. Not that it wasn't, in some ways, vintage Pat Conroy, it was.

But I'm a reader who reads for story. I read - and love - literary fiction, but I tend to shy away from those writers whose language overwhelms the story. So I took a step back from this book right away - beautiful language but I wasn't hooked. In fact, the opposite happened.

The good news is thanks to my book club. I forced myself to finish, painfully, slowly and with great disappointment in my hear, the first five pages. Two pages into Chapter 1 I was hooked and I read the entire book, all 462 glorious pages of it, in less than two days. I LOVED it. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me cringe with disgust and it made me howl with anger. I LOVED it.

This is a book that bowled me over from beginning to end. Once the story began, I didn't want to put it down. I had to in a couple of places because I was weeping so hard I couldn't see the type. I had to in another couple of places because I was so pissed off at the actions of a character that I wanted to smack that character across the head and say smarten up, you idiot.

Now that's better than good writing, that's fabulous writing. And thanks again to my book club. I would have put this book down and missed one of the best reading experiences I've ever had. Oh, I know I would have come back to it eventually, but I'm glad I didn't have to wait.

Kate

Friday book review - Patricia Briggs, HUNTING GROUND

I discovered Patricia Briggs the same way I discover a lot of new-to-me writers - in an anthology. I liked the anthology - but I LOVED her story. It was about werewolves (and I'm not that keen on them) and I was enthralled.

I think I bought the book about six months ago and I know I've read the story at least three or four times since then. I haven't re-read the other stories in the anthology - not because I didn't enjoy them, but because, for me, they paled in comparison to Patricia's story.

And it's interesting, because I bought the anthology because I'm a big fan of Eileen Wilks - but in the end I loved it because of Patricia Briggs.

The first book in the Alpha and Omega series is called Cry Wolf and I liked that book, but this book - Hunting Ground - is the second book in the series and this is where the series got going for me.

I just ran over to Patricia Briggs' homepage and she confirmed what I'd thought about Cry Wolf - that the heroine, Anna, didn't speak to her as loudly as did the hero, Charles, in that book. In this book, though, Anna is clear and funny and smart and heroic. She's great.

And I loved the plot - complicated and romantic and wild.

If you're going to read these books, start with the novella in On the Prowl - it gives you a great grounding for the next books in the series.

Thanks, Patricia, for a great night's read. Three times.

Kate

Friday book review - Chris Cleave's LITTLE BEE

Wow, this is so not what I expected. A friend - whose movie preferences tend to be cheerful - lent LITTLE BEE to me and so my expectations (based on the title and my friend and movies) were relatively light.

Definitely not.

It's beautifully written and the characters are great. It's the kind of book that makes the reader think and think and then think again about all the things that we take for granted. How do we deal with a crisis? And after the crisis is over, how do we deal with the aftermath? How much of what we tell people is truth and how much not? What secrets do we keep and when (and why) do we reveal them?

A young woman ends up in Britain as she runs away from her terrible life in Nigeria. When she finally leaves the detention centre, she runs to the only people she knows, a couple she met on the beach before she left Nigeria. But the plot is almost the least part of the book. The characters, the language, the settings - all are outstanding.

This book was one of those books I won't read again (and I'm the kind of reader who reads almost everything more than once) but am glad I did the first time. It made me realize how fortunate most of us are and made me realize how we unduly complicate our lives by not being honest with our friends and family and co-workers.

So it gets a recommendation from me - but it's not the kind of book you want to read if you're having a bad day.

Kate

Sunday book review - Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD

Cormac McCarthy is one of those writers that is loved by many and disliked by just as many - perhaps because his vision of the world is generally a very bleak one.

And THE ROAD is a particularly bleak vision of the world - it's post-apocalyptic fiction set in a world that has been completely and utterly devasted. There's no time frame, no way to know exactly what has happened, but what is left is brutally and unconditionally disastrous.

So you could decide not to read McCarthy because of this vision - and I have to admit that I wouldn't blame you. Even I - who loves his writing - only reads it when I'm feeling at my most upbeat. Because otherwise, I think I'd end up feeling suicidal.

You can look at almost any of his many books and see this bleakness of vision. You may have seen the couple of great movies that have been made from his books in the past few years - All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men. These are a pretty accurate reflection of his vision of the world.

But the thing about Cormac McCarthy is this.

Despite this bleakness, the thing that comes through in all his books is love. Unselfish love. Love of a father for his son. Of a brother. Of a friend.

In this book, the love of a father for his son, the love of that son for his father and for the world, for the people who are suffering and scared to death in this ruined world they traverse. The redemption is every book is a personal one - it's about courage and honor and bravery and most of all, it's about love.

So if you get a chance, pick up one of his ten books. Pick up ALL THE PRETTY HORSES and give it a chance. Because, in the end, you'll see exactly what I mean. And you'll feel sad, no question, but you'll also feel that no matter what happens, there will be the possibility of love and redemption. No matter how bad and how scary the world, no matter what disasters occur, love will out.

Try it.

Kate

The Gargoyle, Andrew Davidson

This is one of those books you'll either love or you'll hate.

And when I was reading it, I spent a lot of time thinking about how few of those books are out there, how so many books are - and I don't mean this in a bad way - much of a muchness. You know, you pick up a book because you're pretty confident about what you're going to get with it and that's what you want.

And maybe that's why there are so few books out there like The Gargoyle - because we, in these tough times, want to know what we're getting.

Nevertheless, The Gargoyle is worth reading. Don't pick it up if you hate horror films or have a strong gag reflex. Don't pick it up if you dislike ambiguity.

But do pick it up if you want to read something completely different, something that will make all those other books you're reading feel just the slightest bit tame. Once I'd read it, I totally understand why Andrew Davidson got a huge advance and the book sold into translation all over the world. I also totally understood why it didn't do all that well in sales.

I will tell you that I almost gave up on this book in the first 100 pages. They're tough to read. But I couldn't help myself and I kept reading. And I was glad I did. This book worked for me. The writing, the story, the characters. They all grabbed me by the throat and ripped (and when I say ripped, I mean that) me along with them on their incredible journey.

If that's the kind of book you're looking to read, you're going to want to read The Gargoyle.

Kate

Sparkle

Just this morning I finished reading Jennifer Greene's Sparkle - and I loved it. Jennifer writes for Next as I do, but she also writes for a host of other lines - HQN, Desire, Mira, Avon - I don't know how she does it, but she does, and well.

You'll love this book - the two main characters, Poppy and Bren, are two women you'd love to be friends with, to get to know. And Righteous, the town they live in, and the characters who live there, are great fun.

If you love animals, this book is for you. If you love small town settings, this book is for you. If you love reading books about women's friendships, this book is for you. If you love reading books about women who figure out - fairly late in life, how to change their lives, this book is for you. Add to this a terrific romance and you've got a book that has everything.

And besides all of that - it's funny and poignant and sweet and wonderful.

This is a great book Put it on your to be read list.

Kate