Hey, what's on the shelf? Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

From Amazon.ca:

1570 in the Italian city of Ferrara, and the convent of Santa Caterina is filled with noble women who are married to Christ because many cannot find husbands outside. Enter sixteen-year-old Serafina, ripped by her family from an illicit love affair, howling with rage and hormones and determined to escape. While on the other side of the great walls, counter-reformation forces in the Church are pushing for change, inside, Serafina's spirit and defiance ignite a fire that threatens to engulf the whole convent.

SACRED HEARTS is a novel about power, creativity and passion - both of the body and of the soul. Hidden history brought alive by a wonderful storyteller, renowned for her Italian Renaissance novels.

I like Sarah Dunant's work normally, but from the back of the jacket I thought this was going to be about Serafina, although she actually plays more of a supporting role to Zuana, another sister in the convent. Serafina comes in screaming her head off because she's unwilling to become a bride of Christ since she has a lover on the outside.

I thought a lot of the situations weren't very plausible, and the plot moved at a bit of a snail's pace for me.

Hey, what's on the shelf? Alice Hartley's Happiness - Philippa Gregory

All I really have to say about this one is WTF?

From Amazon.ca:

Social mores come under bestselling author Philippa Gregory's acute scrutiny in this reissue of a long-unavailable novel of betrayal, revenge and liberation! Alice Hartley can no longer arouse the interest of her pompous husband, the adulterous professor. Despite her efforts, she still leaves him cold. Just as she is compelled to face this chilling truth, she meets Michael, a young student with an excessive libido. In Michael, Alice discovers an endless supply of all she has sought: revenge, sex and a large house suitable for conversion. Soon the house is thigh-deep with women joyfully casting off the shacles of their oppression. Sadly, some narrow-minded neigbours and numerous forces of the law seem completely impervious to all those healing vibrations!

Okay, seriously, from reading the above, you'd still never imagine the things that happen in this book and I am wondering if Philippa Gregory partook in some drugs to come up with this storyline. Like it says above, this is a rerelease, and on the inside of the jacket it says that this book has been made into a miniseries on the BBC!

It's a short read at just 249 pages, and at some points you have to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. I don't think I regret reading it, or feel it was a waste of my time, but.. yeah.

That's all I have to say about that.

Hey, what's ont he shelf? Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

From Amazon.ca:

Margaret Mitchell's epic novel of love and war won the Pulitzer Prize and went on to give rise to two authorized sequels and one of the most popular and celebrated movies of all time.
Many novels have been written about the Civil War and its aftermath. None take us into the burning fields and cities of the American South as Gone With the Wind does, creating haunting scenes and thrilling portraits of characters so vivid that we remember their words and feel their fear and hunger for the rest of our lives.

In the two main characters, the white-shouldered, irresistible Scarlett and the flashy, contemptuous Rhett, Margaret Mitchell not only conveyed a timeless story of survival under the harshest of circumstances, she also created two of the most famous lovers in the English-speaking world since Romeo and Juliet.

My first thought is what? There's a sequel! I must get it!

This book was a great read, and being a classic novel I was expecting it to be a bit dry, but I found myself at the end of this massive tome (1448 pages) looking for more. I was completely swept up in the civil war and the world of Scarlett and Rhett. All of the characters were vivid and interesting.

No wonder this is on the list of books to read before you die. I have the DVD on reserve from the library.

Hey, what's on the shelf? The Broken Window - Jeffrey Deaver

From Amazon.ca:

"Lincoln Rhyme and partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose masterful staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information...

When Lincoln's cousin is arrested on murder charges, the case against Arthur Rhyme is perfect... too perfect. Forensic evidence from Arthur's home is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of Lincoln's estranged cousin is sealed.

At the behest of Arthur's wife Judy, Lincoln begrudgingly agrees to investigate the case. Soon Lincoln and Amelia uncover a string of similar murders and rapes with perpetrators claiming innocence and ignorance despite ironclad evidence at the scenes of the crime. Rhyme's tem realizes this "perfect" evidence may actually be the result of masterful identity theft, AND manipulation. An information service company -- Strategic Systems Datacorp-- seems to have all the answers but is reluctant to share its information. Still, Rhyme and Sachs and their assembled team begin putting together a chilling pattern and consistent trace evidence, and their investigation points to one master criminal, whom they dub "522".

When "522" learns the identies of the crime fighting team, the hunters become the hunted. Full of Deaver's trademark plot twists, THE BROKEN WINDOW will put the partnership of Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs to the ultimate test."

Okay, so apparently this is the 8th book about Lincoln Rhyme. And I think that the reference to Deaver's trademark plot twists is interesting, because I didn't find it twisty at all.

I actually found this book quite boring and I was ready for it to end. It's a good idea, and is totally possible today with all the information floating around, and malicious people who would love to get their hands on it, but I really have to give this book a meh.

I was tipped off to Jeffrey Deaver one day while commuting. A lady in a wheelchair asked me what I was reading and we got to talking about books, and she recommended Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series. She said that it was very inspirational for her since Lincoln Rhyme is a quadriplegic. I thought it was pretty cool that Deaver did that. You don't see a lot of qadriplegic cops in crime novels, so I thought that was a good idea.

I'd pass on this book though, and I'm not planning on picking up any of Deaver's other work.

Hey, What's on the Shelf? The Devil's Queen - Jeanne Kalogridis

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE Jeanne Kalogridis. I have everything that's been published so far, and my Diaries of the family Dracul (Covenant with the Vampire, Children of the Vampire and Lord of the Vampires) have been so well loved they are practically falling apart.

After those, Jeanne went on to publish The Borgia Bride, and I, Mona Lisa. Both of those were great too! I find that I just fall through the page right into the vivid scenes presented. These books are hard to get your hands on though. In all cases, including The Devil's Queen, I had to order them from Amazon, because none of my local bookshops seemed to have it!

Anyways, on with the show..

The Devil's Queen is the story of Catherine de Medici, and begins with the fall of the Medici family.

From Amazon.ca:

From Jeanne Kalogridis, the bestselling author of I, Mona Lisa and The Borgia Bride, comes a newe novel that tells the passionate story of a queen who loved not wisely...but all too well. Confidante of Nostradamus, scheming mother in law to Mary, Queen of Scots, and architect of the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, Catherine de Medici is one of the most maligned monarchs in history. In her latest historical fiction, Jeanne Kalogridis tells Catherine's story - that of a tender young girl, destined to be a pawn in Machiavellian games. Born into one of Florence's most powerful families, Catherine was soon left a favuliously rich heiress by the early deaths of her parents. Violent confilict rent the city state and she found hersle imprisioned and threatened by her family's enemies before finally being realeased and married off to the handson Prince Henry of France. Overshadowed by her husband's mistress, the gorgeous, conniving Diane de Poitiers, and unable to bear children, Catherine resorted to the dark arts of sorcery to win Henry's love and enhance her fertility - for which she would pay a price. Against the lavish and decadent backdrop of the French court, and Catherine's blood-soaked visions of the future, Kalogridis reveals the great love and desire Catherine bore for her husband, Henry, and her stark determination to keep her sons on the throne.

This was a great book. Definately DEFINATELY worth picking up.

What's on the shelf? Vision in White - Nora Roberts

Vision in White - Nora Roberts

It's a typical Nora Roberts book with situations and names changed, but you know exactly what's going to happen and can't help but roll your eyes as how it does happen.

Four friends (let's see if I cared enough to remember their names, Mac (the main character), Parker, Emmaline, and Laurel) run a wedding business called Vows in Parker's parents old estate. Parker's parents died and left the house to her so she's made it into a business, and most of the outbuildings, poolhouses etc., into homes for her friends. Mac is a photographer with a really annoying mother who doesn't seem to be too integral to the story. I think Roberts could just say that Mac was afraid to love because of her observation of her mother's relationships. I think we could have done without toxic mom.

Anyway, one day they are doing a bridal consult and Mac is in the kitchen and manages to spill diet coke on her blouse so she takes it off and this guy ambles into the kitchen and OMG walks into a doorframe and hurts himself. Mac comes to the rescue and realizes that it's this guy Carter that she went to school with and he's there for the consult with his sister, whose name escapes me.

From here, you pretty much go through Carter trying to thaw Mac out, and Mac running away, and coming back and a cheesy ending.

I'm glad I didn't buy this one. I think for the next three books, she's just going to do a find and replace and change the names. I won't bother with the next one.

Hey, What's on the Shelf? God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens

God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens

I was surprised nobody on the train slapped me for reading this!

Christopher Hitchens is a pretty controversial speaker and in this book he talks about a lot of the contradiction in the bible and religion in general. It was interesting.

Yeah, this is a crappy review. I don't know what else to really say except that I agreed with most of it.

I'm planning on picking up Hitchen's The Pocket Athiest sometime soon.

Hey, what's on the shelf? The Sunne in Splendour: A Novel of Richard III by Sharon Kay Penman

This is the story of Richard III as it was meant to be told. His successor, a tudor decided to besmirch all former record of Richard's reign, specifically, what kind of a person he was.

Richard's brother Edward becomes king at a young age, and the book mostly follows the relationship between Edward and Richard through the book. When Edward dies, Richard finds himself in quite the predicament whether or not he takes the crown.

There's lots of betrayal, action and backstabbing and it's definately a good read if you are into historical fiction.

Hey, What's on the shelf? Honolulu by Alan Brennert

From Amazon.ca:

From the bestselling author of the 'dazzling historical saga' ( The Washington Post ) , Moloka'i , comes the irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city Honolulu is the richly imagined story of Jin, a young 'picture bride' who leaves her native Korea-where girls are so little valued that she is known as Regret-and journeys to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the prosperous young husband and the chance at an education she has been promised, Jin is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his disappointments out on his new wife, forcing her to make her own way in a strange land. Struggling to build a business with the help of her fellow picture brides, Jin finds both opportunity and prejudice, but ultimately transforms herself from a naive young girl into a resourceful woman. Prospering along with her adopted city, which is fast growing from a small territorial capital to the great multicultural city it is today, Jin can never forget the people she left behind in Korea, and returns one last time to make her peace with her former life. With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawaii far off the tourist track, Honolulu is a spellbinding story of the triumphs and sacrifices of the human spirit that is sure to become another reading group favorite.

I don't know how I felt about this book by the time I got to the end. It had some good parts where I was gripped and other parts where it lost me.

Hey, what's on the shelf? The Falcons of Montabard, by Elizabeth Chadwick

I've been busy and not blogging inclined lately, but I don't think anyone actually reads this so who cares?!

The Falcons of Montabard

Summary from Publisher:

In the aftermath of tragedy and scandal, Sabin FitzSimon, illegitimate son of a Norman earl, leaves England for the Holy Land in search of a new beginning. At first it seems impossible as the demons from his past life return to haunt him. There is more scandal and banishment, and Sabin finds his back to the wall. In the heat and dust, magnificence and danger of Northern Syria, he must either face himself, or be vanquished. Annais, daughter of Edmund Strongfist is a quiet, convent-raised young woman when she accompanies her father to their new life in the Holy Land. Her encounters with Sabin FitzSimon leave her bewildered, desirous, and more than a little hostile. Bravely facing up to heartache, an arranged marriage, war and death, she falls deeply in love with the country and its people. But it will take more than love to secure what she holds dear, including Sabin FitzSimon. It will take courage, endurance and raw determination to succeed...

It has been a while since I read this about a month ago. I enjoyed the Falcons of Montabard enough to want to seek out more books by Chadwick.

Sabin is an illegitimate child of a Norman Earl, and he is caught rollicking with the King's mistress when he is dismissed from court, and decides that he's going to go away and turn over a new leaf. A lot of interesting things happen to Sabin, and I think he's a good character, I liked him a lot. I don't want to say much because I don't want to give the story away so you'll have to try it out yourself.

Hey, what's on the shelf? Pandemic by Daniel Kalla

Pandemic - Daniel Kalla

A killer version of influenza has been released by terrorists to get American troops out of Islamic lands, and Noah Haldane with the WHO has to stop the spread.

Kalla is a physician from right here in Vancouver, and has done a pretty good job with this book. It took me a while to get through it. At first I thought maybe we had another Michael Crichton type writer because it was really exciting, however, the excitement started to wane about half way through.

We learn a bit about Noah's home life in the book. That he has a daughter named Chloe, and a wife who is having an affair with a woman since Noah always seems to be off on business. The story around Noah and his wife Anna and their crumbling marriage doesn't have a lot of interesting things about it and I didn't really think that it was essential to the story. To me it seemed like filler, maybe to grab female readers.

Anyways, as Noah is zipping around the world trying to contain the pandemic, we are shown the world of the Islamic extremists and their motives for spreading the disease to take America to her knees.

This book was ok, but that's about as glowing a rating as I can give it.

Hey, What's on the Shelf? The Sealed Letter - Emma Donoghue

The Sealed Letter - Emma Donoghue

I picked this one up from the library because I thoroughly enjoyed another book of Donoghue's, Slammerkin.

This one is about Helen Codrington and her friend Emily Faithfull, known to her friends as Fido. Helen has never been happy with her husband, and has been unfaithful with other men. Finally her husband manages to catch wind of the fact that she has been fooling around. She's not completely discrete about it. Anyways, he wants a divorce and the book focuses on the details of the court proceedings.

I never know how much to say in my little synopses about the books since I don't want to give anything away.

The book was entertaining and it didn't take me long to get through it. I thought that the ending was really well done. I actually said "A-ha!" at the end. I don't know whether I recommend this book or not. If you like historical fiction, you'll probably enjoy it.

Death of the Paperback?

I've been mulling this over for quite some time and have often wondered with all the new technology whether good old paperbacks are going to become a thing of the past.

On the train a few months ago, I saw a fellow commuter with one of Amazon's reader things. We can't get them here in Canada, and apparently someone she knows in the US got it for her. I asked her if I could have a look at it.

It's a bit bigger than your average paperback and sits in a little case so it almost looks as if you are holding a book. It has buttons on the bottom for scrolling, etc. Over Christmas, Sony came out with a Digital Reader for about $250, which I thought was too expensive.

Plus, there's something I like about the feel of the book in my hands, turning the pages, and being able to look back at all those pages I read with a sense of accomplishment.

On CBC's Letter from London, posted on May 13th, they ran THIS STORY about the Espresso Book Machine, named as such because of it's ability to print books quickly to order. The story questions whether this will revolutionize publishing, and whether this will help the traditional bookshops to stay open, since it is so hard for them to compete with global online sellers such as amazon.com. It's a pretty interesting story.

What's on the shelf? Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin

I loved, loved LOVED this book.

I felt like Michael Tollover was sitting in my reading room telling me the story and as ordinary a story as it was, I still didn't want to put him down and was pretty sad when we came to the end. I'll have to find out if there is a sequel.

Michael Tolliver has AIDS, but he is getting along okay with the new drugs. He's seen many of his friends die. He's managed to find love online in a younger man and he's married and living in San Francisco. In the book he has to deal with the death of his mother.

We learn a lot about Michael and the people he's met, and I just love the writing style. I'll definately go and look up Maupin's other books to see if I like them just as much. I really recommend this one.

What's on the shelf? The Seance

The Seance - John Harwood

To tell you the truth, I really didn't enjoy this book. I thought the title was misleading and that it wasn't really that exciting. I borrowed it from the library and am really glad I didn't shell out the money to buy it. I got the recommendation for this one from one of the NextReads newsletters that I get from the library.

The story is told from multiple points of view and once you finally get down to the nuts and bolts of it, it is about a woman (Nell or Eleanor) who goes off to live with a friend where she meets Edward Ravencroft and they decide that they want to marry. Nell goes home to tell her mother about the betrothal, and the mother casts her out from the family because the match is unfavourable.

Edward is captivated by an old house with a shaky reputation, and ends up falling to his death when climbing up the side to get a better look at one of the features of the house. Are you bored yet? She ends up marrying the mysterious Magnus Wraxford. Now Magnus is dead and Nell has disappeared with her child and the people left over have to figure out what really happened.

Honestly, this is a snore, and wasn't worth this many pages.

What's on the shelf? Through a Glass Darkly.

I picked up this little gem of a book because Amazon.ca recommended that I read it. Gotta love Amazon!

Through a Glass Darkly - Karleen Koen

Through a Glass Darkly is a historical fiction novel that follows the life of Barbara Alderley. We meet Barbara, or "Bab" as she's often called as a young girl of 15 living with her grandmother at Tamworth, the family home. Her father Kit, has run away in disgrace after the fall of the Stuart cause. Her mother Diana, is disinterested in the lives of her six children and is out in society petitioning for a divorce using any means neccessary to persuade the men of the upper classes to support her petition.

Diana has a bargaining chip in Barbara. With Barbara comes a package of land as a dowry. She decides that she is going to try and get the count, Roger Devane to marry Barbara. After a lot of drama and finagling, Barbara does marry Roger, and comes to learn a deep, dark secret that he has been harbouring for a long time.

This book is long, and it took a while for me to get into it, but once I did I was pretty glad that I read it. There are two other books in the series, a prequel and a sequel, which I am planning on reading in the near future.

What's on the shelf? Sookie Stackhouse!

For the last few weeks, I've been reading The Southern Vampires series by Charlaine Harris. It was recommended to me by a friend from another blog when I put out a desperate request for somebody to recommend a new series for me to start.

I wandered over to my local Chapters (Danger! Danger!) and bought the shiney new box set that came out in April. It comes with the first 7 books:

• Dead Until Dark
• Living Dead in Dallas
• Club Dead
• Dead to the World
• Dead as a Doornail
• Definately Dead
• Altogether Dead

These books are appetizer size, at about 292 pages each, so they are quick reads, but don't pick them up if you are looking for intellectual reading material. They're pretty fluffy.

The series follows Sookie Stackhouse living in a time when vampires have come into the mainstream world. Synthetic blood has been invented by the Japanese so that the vampires do not have to hunt humans to live. Sookie is a telepath, who lost her parents when she was young in a flash flood. She lives with her grandmother in Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Sookie's life changes when one night at Merlotte's (this is the pub she works at) a vampire comes in. From then on, she finds herself wrapped in situations filled with things that she doesn't understand. Turns out that vampires aren't the only supernatural beings out there...

Seriously though, I have enjoyed the series even for all it's fluffiness, and it's been made into the television show, True Blood, which is airing on HBO Canada and stars Anna Pacquin. I bought season 1 of True Blood, since I don't get HBO Canada, and it's not exactly sticking to the books, but meh, who cares?! It's pretty entertaining. Just take it at face level for what it is.

Welcome to Hey, what's on the shelf?

Those of you that know me, know that I love to read.

Those of you that don't know me, now you know I love to read.

So many times I find people asking what I'm reading, and I used to do a book review site a long time ago so if people want to catch up with me and see what I'm reading they could check it out there.

So here I am doing it again.

I try to read 50 books a year, so obviously considering that it is June, I won't be starting from the beginning with the book reviews, and I'll just do them as I go. Hopefully somebody reads this blog other than me! LOL.