August BOTM Review: Circling the Sun - Paula McLain

Review by Coll
3 Stars

So I am a little late with this post, but it is summer so I am allowed to be a lazy. This review is on my August selection from the Book of the Month Club, Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. This historical fiction book chronicles the life of a woman named Beryl, who was born in England and moved to Kenya with her mother and father at a young age.  Her mother leaves to go back to England when she decides she cannot handle the new lifestyle and abandons Beryl to be raised by her father and the native Kipsigis tribe, who share the estate. The story follows Beryl as she grows, and struggles to retain her wild nature and unconventional lifestyle in the face of heartbreak, adversity, and being pressured to be a “proper” woman.

Circling the Sun pulled me in right from the very beginning and I really enjoyed it. The writing is done in such a vivid way that you can really picture Kenya in your head as you are reading, as well as all the people. McLain has this knack for giving such expressive accounts of the weather that you could almost imagine you were there, through the harsh droughts, and downpours of rain in the wet months. The character development was also wonderful. Beryl is such a strong woman with a wonderfully capricious nature, who you cannot help but love and root for the entire time. Whenever she was wronged in the book I found myself wanting to hurt whichever character it was that had ill-treated her. Even the supporting characters are portrayed well and you feel an emotional attachment to almost everyone in the book.

I often found myself struggling to deal with, and understand, all the rich people who had settled in Kenya and seemed so oblivious to much of the culture, nature, and hardships going on around them. They seemed to be in their own little world and I really felt enraged with them at some points. However, this is also something that you notice Beryl herself struggles with throughout the book. She does not always feel like she belongs in the same circle as the affluent people, and is quite often out of her element. So maybe the book was written in such a way to make the reader feel similarly to the main character, giving more of a connection. I just wish there was more about the native inhabitants of Kenya, because I feel it really would have added to a more authentic story.

One thing I ran into an issue with was the jumping over of periods of time, and leaving certain plotlines open and/or forgotten. I do not want to give away any spoilers so I will stick with vague examples. A character would be introduced into the story in a way that made it seem like they’d have a major role, or be the part of some emotional or important plot element. Then after a chapter they would be all but forgotten and remain in the story as only a vague background piece. Instances like that did not make much sense to me and it happened more than once. I found myself wondering “well whatever happened with that?” and I wish the book would have developed those points better or left them out completely. In regards to jumping over periods of time, a chapter would end and then the next one would start up days, weeks, or months later. It just made the story feel a little broken up to me.

When I give a book three stars I don’t see it as a bad rating, it is a quite good rating actually and means I enjoyed my reading experience a lot, but that there were a few issues that bothered me. I may have some grievances with Circling the Sun, but I must say that never once did I want to stop reading it or wish I had chosen another book. It was completely immersive, interesting, exciting, and very well written. I also found myself thinking about it whenever I put it down and was always excited to start reading it again. A small part of me wishes there had been more about Beryl’s ambition to fly planes and her success in that, but this book was focused more on her growing as a person and her horse training. Overall I think this is a great book to read if you are a fan of historical fiction (and even if you are not) and it will keep you engaged until the very end.

“People interest me so much. They’re such wonderful puzzles. Think of it. Half the time we’ve no idea what we’re doing, but we live anyway.”

Interested in Circling the Sun? Check it out on Goodreads.

Wrong Question, Right Answer

Here is a quick reviewella (coined by Coll, inspired by the word novella) in honour of the novel's release date.

*I received this novel via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion*

Wrong Question, Right Answer by Elle Casey is a third in a series of standalone romance novels that centre around a private security firm, Bourbon Street Boys. This installment features Toni, a no-nonsense badass of a lady with a not-so-typical dark past. Since these are romances, there is an obvious love interest, Lucky. Plus, naturally, the other boys and their respective others that were introduced in the previous two novels: see here for the review.

On the surface level, the novels exhibit a known trope from older romance novels, however, I won’t mention which to keep this place spoiler-free. I didn’t know what to think of it, actually. It came off as slightly unbelievable in this day and age, and things seemed to progress and move really fast. On a deeper level the novel also deals with personal issues such as remorse and the inability to forgive oneself.  Both protagonists grappled with unfounded guilt over losing someone. They were blaming themselves and letting these emotions interfere in their lives, not allowing them to be happy.

This book was a perfect three star read for me. The kind where you really enjoy the reading experience, the characters, and cameos from previous novels, but there are a few (pacing) problems. The writing was decent, but felt slightly hurried at times. I risk sounding like a broken record, but the novel could have really benefitted from better textual editing. For instance, there were plotlines that were mentioned in the beginning, and then talked about later as newly found information.

All in all, the book had slight issues, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole series, and the characters’ gumption will stay with me for a long time. It is a fun trilogy (at the moment, not sure if there are more books coming out) that is definitely worth a read, even though this instalment wasn’t exactly as breezy yet tightly written as the previous two. As previously stated, I gave the novel three stars, because I liked it, and would recommend it to others.


"I'm just going to have to take the pain of my headache and bad choices like a woman. I'd take them like a man, but then I'd have to whine all day."

#FridayReads - August 12, 2016

Tiina

Well, well, well, long time no see. Read. We missed a couple of Fridays due to our busy schedules and summer holidays. We are back now to regular scheduling of a couple Friday Reads a month. I have a rather free weekend this time, and I am planning on doing a fair amount of reading. My main reads will be a book for my library book club, which is Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. It’s translated from Korean and features a women who decides to become a vegetarian, which is a controversial move considering the supposedly meat-centric South-Korean cuisine. I haven’t started as of yet, but it did win the Man Booker International prize, so hopefully it’ll be enjoyable. My second read is another buddyread with Coll. Woohoo! I do love my favourite buddy read partner. This time we’re working on David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks. It started off oddly. There was a fun WTF-moment on page eight, and people? I am scared! It also gave me a semi-nightmare about having to pack for an apocalypse/escape from home so there’s that. That does not bode well. Then again my organised mind DID love the packing aspect. What am I even talking about now? Back to books. If I can, I also want to pick up Heather Demetrios’ I’ll Meet You There. It is a YA contemporary, but seems to deal with heavier themes than the usual YA fare, and focus less on the romance aspect. I don’t exactly know what I feel like reading so apart from the set book club choice and buddy read, my plans are wide open :). Can’t wait!

Coll

Similar to Tiina, I should have plenty of free time this weekend to read. The weather here is acting pretty drunk and the weekend will be a little over 100F (40C) so I will spend plenty of time indoors reading with the AC on. (What the hell did people even DO before AC?) My first book I am working on is Bone Clocks, the buddyread Tiina mentioned. David Mitchell is one of my favorite authors so I am incredibly happy to finally be reading this book. In typical Mitchell fashion, it is odd, creepy, intriguing, and beautifully written. Tiina finds it nightmare-inducing at points, I find it spellbinding. ;-) Needless to say I am really enjoying it. I am also reading Circling the Sun by Paula McLain, which is my Book of the Month Club choice for August. It is historical fiction about a young girl, Beryl, who was born in England but then moved to Africa with her parents at a very young age. Once there she is abandoned by her mother, who cannot take the new lifestyle and goes back to England. She is raised by her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share the estate, learning more how to be free and wild than like a “lady”. The story follows Beryl though her unconventional childhood, her difficulties in growing up and being pushed to be a proper lady, and her desire to make her own way and fight to do the things that make her happy. I am actually really loving this book so far and find myself always looking forward to picking it up again. Then, finally, I am working on Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey, the third book in the Expanse space opera that has completely consumed me. It continues to be a wonderful mix of sci-fi drama, action, horror, and politics that I get totally immersed in. So yeah, those are my main focuses for this weekend. It should be more than enough to keep me occupied, I think. ;-)

So there you have it, our plans for this weekend. We would love to know what your reading plans are! :-)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Stephen King

Review by Coll
4 Stars

Okay, so The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is not exactly a new book (1999) but after reading it a second time I really wanted to review it. I first read it when it came out 17 years ago. My mom has always been obsessed with Stephen King so she had me reading his books since I was a kid and I, in turn, fell in love with his writing. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is not what some people would think of as your “typical” King book. It is about a young girl, Trisha, who gets lost in the woods along a branch of the Appalachian Trail while hiking with her mother and brother. Her attempt to backtrack and find the trail again only takes her further into the woods, miles away from civilization. The one thing that stops her from completely losing it, is that she has her Walkman (like I said, 1999) with her and she is able to listen to the Red Sox games where her hero, Tom Gordon is the relief pitcher. Her fantasies of him saving her help her to cope with the worst of what nature has to throw at her, but can it also help her with the evil that is tracking her from deep within the woods?

Back when I was 19 and first read this I was a huge Yankees fan (still am!) and at first was unsure if I could read it since the hero was a Red Sox Player (any East Coaster will understand). But immediately after starting the book that tiny little fact meant nothing to me because I was so drawn into the story. This is not straight-up horror, like a lot of King’s books are, so don’t go into it expecting that. It is the survival story of a young girl, with some creepy elements thrown into it. I say this because I think many people went into this book expecting King horror, and that is not what they got. So I feel knowing what to expect early on will not cloud your judgement going into reading the book.

I think King did a great job at portraying a child’s mind and actions. Trisha often ponders what her best friend would say in situations, what her parents would say or do, sings boy band songs, and obsesses over her hero/crush Tom Gordon. I also found it easily believable that a sports figure could be so important and savior-esque to her. Anyone who was a huge sports fan as a child had that one player they completely looked up to that seemed invincible. So I found nothing out of the ordinary about her using the Red Sox games as a grounding method and Gordon as an imaginary friend to help her through the woods. She also utilizes her survival skills that she learned from her mother, who is very into hiking, to find food and water while lost. However, she also does some incredibly stupid things that cause her more trouble. So basically she was being a typical child. ;-)

Now, of course, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon had to be more than just a survival story (this IS King after all) and there is definitely something creepy going on throughout the majority of the book. I don’t want to go too much into it and spoil anything, but Trisha knows she is being stalked by something when she hears twigs snapping, seeing movement out of the corner or her eye, feels like she is being watched, and comes across some grisly scenes that she knows no human or forest animal could have done. To me, this was one of my favorite facets of the story. To read a story about a little girl in the woods but still get chills up your spine from something evil and unknown is just such a great feeling, in my twisted opinion. ;-)

As far as the writing goes, it is good but definitely not King’s best. It seems a little rushed at moments and just not always as spectacular as his writing normally is. This is not saying it is bad though by any means. The story has that easy style of writing that King has mastered, where he immediately pulls you in, immerses you in it, and makes you feel creeped out and on guard the entire time. I feel like The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon would be really good for people who want to read King but are not huge horror fans (I am looking at you Tiina) because it balances survival, thriller, and horror quite well without being terrifying. It is interesting, quick-paced, creepy, and at times heart-wrenching and I definitely recommend it, especially as a summer read.

“The world is a worst case scenario and I'm afraid that all you sense is true”

Interested in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon? Check it out on Goodreads.

Carry On

A quick note before we start. Today is Book Lovers Day! As a happy accident, this ties into my review very well, if not in initially obvious ways. Firstly, the novel I am about to discuss is a companion novel to one about a fangirl, a girl who writes fan fiction about her favourite series. Furthermore, the author itself was highly influenced by several well-known fantasy stories, so I think it's safe to say that the love for the book and reading definitely shines through here. Now, on to the actual review. I hope you enjoy!

First of all, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is one of my all-time favourite YA contemporaries. It’s sweet, it’s well-written, and tackles important issues that a lot of people can relate to. The main character in that book writes fan-fiction about a Harry Potter-esque series of fantasy books featuring Simon Snow – the Chosen One – and his sidekicks. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is the fictional last book in that series. So like the Deathly Hallows. Unless Carry On is followed by a play...

The reason why I am mentioning Harry Potter in this instance is because the book really invited the comparisons. The author has also claimed she read a lot of fantasy novels featuring the “Chosen One” trope, and the book is actively reflecting that. There is a magic sword that appears when a character needs it, a “sorting” system in the first year, a headmaster the protagonist looks up to, initially a Draco Malfoy-ish enemy, etc. A lot of people have called this Harry Potter fan-fiction and have been thus turned off the whole experience. I started the book knowing all this. Sure, the beginning of the novel definitely offers several déjà vu moments from other boy wizard novels. It was a little grating, but somehow – and this surprised me – it really worked. I was on board. Spoiler alert: I gave this book four stars. Unfortunately, the ending was way too abrupt and slightly unsatisfying to warrant a higher rating. However, now that is out of the way, back to the review.

I liked the traditional storyline of a kid who thought he was ordinary turning out to be extraordinary. He goes to a magical school, finds friends and enemies (more like frenemies), crushes, and idols. Add a pinch of twists and turns and you get this novel. My favourite part of the novel was the inclusiveness of it all. Everyone was welcome, or at least tolerated, in the school, whether they be pixies or from a normal background. Furthermore, the novel features LGBTQ themes that Rainbow Rowell handled with her own special brand of sweet magic. Excuse the pun.

I think the main issue people have with this book is that it is very, very reminiscent of Harry Potter, in particular. I mean, I can’t claim that it isn’t, but the author definitely added her own spin to it. There is another little thing that bothered me, but this may be just me own fault. What I didn’t understand was whether this book is meant to be the actual canon in the Simon Snow world OR is this the book Cath was writing as fan-fiction in Fangirl? I’m guessing actual canon? I don’t know and haven’t been able to find out. Tangent over.

All in all, I realised that I could get over the glaring derivations from other well-known magical fantasy stories because there was a lot of originality in the magic system. I loved how it all rested on the magician knowing a language and its uses. I enjoyed the female characters who were self-assured and smart and confident. The tale itself was gripping, and despite all the quips I had about the ending, I really enjoyed the reading experience as such. It made me nostalgic for a proper fantasy series so I might pick up something else in that vein. As I said before, it’s a solid four stars. I’d recommend it to people who loved Fangirl, or who are just completists, as this is a companion novel to the aforementioned. It could also work for people wishing to temporarily fill a hole that Harry Potter left: just be ready for a lot of allusions.

Words are very powerful… And they become more powerful the more that they’re said and read and written, in specific, consistent combinations. The key to casting a spell is tapping into that power. Not just saying the words, but summoning their meaning… Which means you have to have a good vocabulary to do magic. And you have to be able to think on your feet. And be brave enough to speak up. And have an ear for a solid turn of phrase.


NB! I initially received this novel via Netgalley as a free read in exchange for my honest review, but I ended up purchasing my own copy and reading that. I am not sure whether that warrants a disclaimer, but still - only full disclosure here!