Review: Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

In Island Beneath the Sea, we are introduced to Zarite, a young slave, and her new master, Toulouse Valmorain.  The story starts when Zarite, called Tete, is a young girl in Haiti.  Though a house slave, Tete comes to have a unique bond with her master Valmorain.  She cares for his ill wife and his children.  When civil war strikes the colony, it is Tete who helps Valmorain and his children escape without harm.  Once they settle in New Orleans and Tete is given her freedom, she realizes that the bond she shares with Valmorain is not easily broken.

I really loved this book.  I love reading about Haiti, especially the days when it was still a French colony.  And Allende paints such a vivid description of life on the island.  I adored her writing.  It seemed to melt off the pages as I read. 

Tete was such a strong willed character, and immediately likeable.  She has been through so much, but still she is adamant to eventually gain her freedom.  I loved the transition in her character from a young girl to a young woman in Haiti, to eventually becoming the brave woman that she becomes once settled in New Orleans.  There were so many characters in the book that I really loved, but Tete was definitely my favorite.

My only complaint with the book is where it sort of went towards the end.  I was turned off by what was going on, but not enough for it to really sway my opinion of the book.  I don't want to explain exactly what I didn't like though, in case anyone wants to read this one.  If you have read this book, then I'm sure you know what exactly I'm talking about ;)

The resounding thought in my head while reading this book and afterwards, was how even after so much pain and heartache, people can still carry on and live their lives to the best of their ability.  And that is definitely something I like.  I can't wait to read more by Isabel Allende!


Title: Island Beneath the Sea
Author: Isabel Allende
Date of Publication: 2010
Number of Pages: 457
Genre: Fiction
Source: Personal Copy

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Wanted to Throw at Walls

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.  Don't forget to visit their blog!

This week's topic is a freebie.  So I chose to do: Books I've wanted to throw at walls.

Because you know you've read books and gotten so aggravated that you really did want to throw them, or maybe actually did throw them!

Here is my list.

1. The Metamorphosis by Kafka.  I just hated this book.  But I had to read it for my German lit class.  I hated Georg and I just thought the whole thing was dumb.  I understand why it's a classic, and I've actually recommended it to Boyfriend, but it's just not my cup of tea.

2. The Moment by Douglas Kennedy.  Don't get me wrong, I really liked this book, but there were long stretches that were really boring and unnecessary (in my opinion) and I almost did throw this one at the wall.

3. Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre.  The ending had me fuming for days.  I remember distinctly throwing this one down on the ground after I finished it.

4. L'assommoir by Emile Zola.  Don't get me wrong, I love Zola and I really liked this book, but sometimes Gervaise made the stupidist decisions and I could see her life spirally out of control in front of my eyes and I felt bad for her because she could have stopped it from happening.

5. Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimoore Cooper.  I mean come on.  I don't need 80 pages describing a bush.  And do you really think that the Native Americans aren't going to notice that you are human dressed up as a giant badger?????? 

6. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.  I really thought I'd like this one, but I just couldn't get over how he was on this deserted island and decided to build a table and chairs.  Really??  I was supposed to read this for an English lit class and got not even half way through and just had to stop.  I know a lot of people who love it, but I am not one of them. 

7. Le rouge et le noir by Stendhal.  I've slowly been working away at this one for what, maybe 2 years now??  I want to read it so badly, but it is ridiculous.  Julien is a whiny little child and his love interest the mayor's wife (whose name I can't even remember right now..) is madly in love with him and I don't get it!  He's like the original emo kid who cries at the drop of a hat and she thinks it's cute.  I should probably just sit down and finish it once and for all, but the book would probably fall apart from all the times I'm about to rip it up.

And I'm going to stop my list at 7.  I know there's more I could add, but I think these guys really sum up the strongest feelings.

What about you?  What books have you ever wanted to throw at a wall?

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers of Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish!

This week's topic: Favorite book covers of books I've read

I don't really pay much attention to book covers, but I'm going to go over to my bookshelf and pick out some favorites (I can't just think of them from memory...)

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  It captures the story so well and makes it seem creepy and mysterious, much like the main character must have felt when he first saw the photos.

2. The Alienist by Caleb Carr. Once again, it just feels like it captures the feeling of the book really well.

3. Also for that same reason, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

4. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

5. What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman

6. All three books in the Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke, because you feel like you're looking straight into the Inkworld!

7. And while we're doing Cornelia Funke, let's also add Dragon Rider, Reckless, and The Thief Lord because all the covers feel like they take me away to whatever magical world Funke is writing about.

8. 13, rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro

9. Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler, because it totally makes me feel like I'm back in France

10. Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson, because it reminds me of my favorite movies from the 40s.

So as it turns out I really do love book covers, I just never really thought about them....and it was hard narrowing it down for this list!

What are some of your favorite book covers??  Do you like pretty ones, or do you prefer covers that convey something about the story?

Review: Amity and Sorry by Peggy Riley

What to say about Amity and Sorrow??  I am having the worst time trying to write my summary (I've tried and deleted a few times already....it's just one of those days!) so I am going to copy and the paste the one from Barnes and Noble's website:
A mother and her daughters drive for days without sleep until they crash their car in rural Oklahoma. The mother, Amaranth, is desperate to get away from someone she's convinced will follow them wherever they go—her husband. The girls, Amity and Sorrow, can't imagine what the world holds outside their father's polygamous compound. Rescue comes in the unlikely form of Bradley, a farmer grieving the loss of his wife. At first unwelcoming to these strange, prayerful women, Bradley's abiding tolerance gets the best of him, and they become a new kind of family.

 

Amity and Sorrow was not the type of book I thought I'd like. I've never been very interested in cults. Then I read two amazing reviews of the book and decided to give it a shot. I was blown away. Amaranth, Amity, and Sorrow are so easy to relate to, which is interesting considering the two daughters have never known life outside of their homestead, with 50 mothers, 1 father, and multiple half siblings. It was gutwrenching to feel how much Amaranth blamed herself for all that had happened. She was so caught up trying to believe in the good of her adopted family that she didn't realize, or didn't acknowledge, that very bad things were happening in front of her.

Her children were my favorite characters to read about. Amity is just young enough to be able to take hold of her new life, of new ideas. Sorrow, on the other hand, has been taken advantage of and really thinks that the way of her father and his religion is the only way to life.

I enjoyed every second of this book, from Amaranth and her children slowly trying to become "normal" at Bradley's farm, to the flashbacks about the cult, and how Amaranth and her sister wives truly believed in what they were doing, and how a belief that seemed so pure and happy could slowly turn into something you don't recognize. I am going to be recommending this book a lot.

Title: Amity and Sorrow
Author: Peggy Riley
Date of Publication: April 2013
Number of Pages: 320
Genre: Fiction
Source: Netgalley

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Books When You Need Something Light and Fun

Thank you to The Broke and the Bookish for hosting Top Ten Tuesday!


This week's topic is: Top Ten Books Books when you need something light and fun.

I'm not going to lie, I love a good light, fun book.  Sometimes my brain and my emotions need a break.  Sometimes I go quite a stretch when I only read light and fun books.  I think that usually happens in summer.  So this topic is perfect because it's getting close :)

1. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

2. Paris in Love by Eloisa James

3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, because who doesn't want to improve their state of happiness when it is warm and sunny out??

4. Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler

5. Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer, because fun mysteries are always a good choice!

6. A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware

7. Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik

8. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

9. The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

10. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier-k, this one's not exactly light, but it is my go to read.  And it is my comfort read!

What's on your list?

Review: The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe

In The House of Velvet and Glass, we meet Sibyl, who is still grieving from the death of her mother and younger sister on the Titanic a few years earlier.  Sibyl finds comfort going to seances and thinks that she finally has a sign from her mother that everything is okay.  Then Sibyl's younger brother suddenly arrives home from school, and with a lot of secrets.  Through his love interest, Sibyl discovers that she has some clairevoyant power of her own, and she and her old flame, Benton Derby, must work together to solve a puzzle and save Sibyl.

I really loved Katherine Howe's last book, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, so I was hoping not to be disappointed with this one.  I think I actually liked this one more.  Mainly because of the setting and characters.  I loved the setting in 1915 Boston.  I loved the opium dens and seances that Sibyl visits.  And Sibyl herself was such a great character.  I was annoyed with her at times, but only because she seemed like just your average good girl, who was not always making the right decisions. 

Sibyl's character drew me in because you could still feel how much she was grieving for her mother and sister, and you could feel her desperation for some sort of sign from beyond, to know that they were okay and that it was time to move foward with life.  Anyone who's ever lost someone close to them knows this feeling, and Howe did a wonderful job of making Sibyl feel this way too.

One of my favorite things about Howe's books is where they inevitably lead-to some sort of magic.  She does it so well that it fits in with the story like and doesn't seem weird at all.  Everything is so ordinary in the story and then the magic works its way in, and I'm like "okay, I can totally see this." 

I think one of the reasons Sibyl was so relatable in this book is because she has a weakness, a big one, and ends up needing an intervention from her family and friends.  That makes her seem more real and less like just a character in a book that takes place in 1915.

If you like a bit of "supernatural" in your books, or you were a fan of Howe's previous book, then I definitely recommend this one to you.  I know it's not for everyone.  You have to be able to suspend belief at parts, but if you're willing to do that, I hope you love it as much as I did!


Title: The House of Velvet and Glass
Author: Katherine Howe
Date of Publication: 2012
Number of Pages: 413
Genre: Fiction
Source: Personal Copy