Troubled Waters

Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love Sharon Shinn's books! She has this amazing ability to create whole new worlds and make you wish you lived there with her characters. I don't know whether this will be a stand-alone novel or the start of a new series, but I'd love for Shinn to write more of them.

Shinn's newest book begins just after Zoe's father has died. A few days later, a wealthy stranger arrives and announces that he is there to bring Zoe to the capital to become the king's fifth wife. A grief-stricken Zoe numbly acquiesces, but when they actually arrive in Chialto, she suddenly realizes she doesn't want to marry the king and makes her escape. Over the next few "quintiles" (a quintile is 72 days), she learns who she is, what she can do, and what she wants.

The story begins a little bit slowly, which is appropriate for someone in the fog of grief, but gets going as Zoe reawakens to life. It's not quite as gripping as her Twelve Houses series (my favorite!), but it's an excellent tale told well. (Darien Serlast reminds me a bit of Tayse, of Mystic and Rider fame.)

For readers' advisors: character and setting doorways, primarily, although story picks up in the second half. It's also a good crossover book (i.e. adult book for teens).



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The Good Daughters

The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ruth and Dana were born on the same day in the same town but into two very different families. Ruth's family has farmed the same piece of property for generations. Dana's family flits from one place to another, always chasing the next big idea, none of which ever seem to pan out. And yet their lives intertwine, thanks to a Big Secret they don't discover until the end of the book (but which I figured out almost at the beginning). The book is really a story of the lives of the two women struggling to figure out who they are and how they fit in to their worlds.

For readers' advisors: character doorway, and be aware that there is a fair amount of sexual content, although nothing explicit



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200 Tips for De-cluttering

200 Tips for De-cluttering by Daniela Santos Quartino

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Update: I would give this book negative 5 stars if I could. Ugly ugly ugly! Impractical. Hard. Cold. Sharp. Sterile. Soul-killing. I found TWO photos that look like someone might actually live in the space--pg 247 and pg 352. The worst sections of the book were on kitchens and bathrooms. A bathroom in a see-through metal mesh cage?! Really?! A sink down inside a glass box?! Really?!

It is quite obvious that these "living spaces" were designed by a bachelor. And the only person I can imagine living in them is the character Adrian Monk from the TV show "Monk." Ironically, the only photos that weren't as painful to look at were some of the pages in the children's room section. At least those usually had color to them. And many of the colors were actually pleasant to look at, unlike the majority of the book. This book takes "clean lines" and "contemporary design" to extremes. What makes that especially disappointing to me is that the cover of the book looks so homey and welcoming--floor-to-ceiling wooden bookshelves, sunlight, and an iMac on the desk. Too bad the contents didn't live up to the cover.

For the few out there who might actually like these designs, never fear--the author includes hundreds of photos labeled with designer names to facilitate ordering. The book feels like a thinly veiled Ikea catalog, only heavier.

Also, the book advertises "Eco Tips" in the title, but I haven't found anything resembling eco tips anywhere, and there is no chapter on that. More false advertising! :(

Original review:

I'm not impressed so far. What little there is in the way of text is OK (a bit cheesy), but mostly it's all photos of these dreadful uber-modern "homes" that I'm pretty sure no one has ever or will ever live in. Particularly not anyone with children. I mean, seriously, a kitchen that is 100% white and has nothing at all on the countertops or walls or windows or anything?! These photos all feel cold and sharp and very very unwelcoming. Ugh. It's like Ikea meets ascetic monk. Thankfully, a friend recommended the book "The Not So Big House" instead. Phew!!

I will continue to glance through the rest of this gigantic book, however, just to see if there are any decent (i.e. practical, useful) tips in later chapters. But then I'm returning it and thanking my lucky stars I didn't shell out any money for it.


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Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron

Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron by Stephanie Barron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jane Austen is back to sleuthing in Stephanie Barron's latest mystery. This time Jane's sister-in-law Eliza has just died of what seems to be breast cancer, so Jane accompanies her brother Henry to Brighton to flee the overwhelming melancholy of his house in London. En route to Brighton, the duo rescue a teenage girl tied up in a carriage. She's been abducted by Lord Byron, the famous poet who has become obsessed with her. Jane and Henry return her to her father, General Twining, and go on about their business. But Miss Twining is a magnet for trouble, and soon Jane is immersed with trying to figure out who did what to whom, why, when, and how.

I love how Barron creates these novels that fit within the timeline and documented events of Jane Austen's life. Did Jane ever go to Brighton? Did she ever meet Lord Byron? No one knows, but she could have done so, according to the gaps in her chronology.

I also love Barron's portrayal of Jane's secret delight as people praise Pride and Prejudice in front of her, unaware of the author's identity. :)

For readers' advisors: story doorway mostly, but also setting and a bit of character



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An Echo in the Bone

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


814 pages, and still everything is left hanging by the end?! Ack! Diana Gabaldon had better be working furiously to finish the next book asap, that's all I can say. There are too many cliffhangers to count in this one.

Volume seven in the Outlander series takes place during the Revolutionary War (Jamie & Claire's time) and 1980 (Brianna & Roger's time). Gabaldon skips around between storylines and narrators quite frequently, which keeps things interesting and also can be frustrating. There is a LOT going on in this episode. I read very quickly, and even I couldn't read fast enough to satisfy my urgent need to find out what the heck happened!

I really wished I had a computer by my side (or an Apple iPad/Touch/Phone) while reading this book because I kept wanting to look up names, battles, places, and timelines to remind myself of historical details I'd forgotten. The book really brings the Revolutionary War to life.

For readers' advisors: story, character, and setting are all strong doorways, but the length and occasional sexual content might scare off some readers.



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Earth: A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race

Earth: A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race by Jon Stewart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My second foray into the world of audiobooks on CD was delightfully funny! Jon Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, and pretty much the entire cast of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" narrate the book, so if you like "The Daily Show," you'll probably like Earth: the audiobook. It's a tongue-in-cheek history of our planet & the human race told for the benefit of future alien visitors to Earth who arrive after we've killed ourselves off.

I thought they did an excellent job of adding sound effects and verbalizing the sidebars and other inserts, although nothing replaces a photo or diagram, so someday I will find a hard copy of the book and look through to see what visual items I missed.

My only real quibble with the audiobook was that occasionally Jon Stewart or one of the others spoke sotto vocce, and no matter how much I cranked up the volume on my car stereo (admittedly not as loud as boys with subwoofers who drive around annoying people), I could not always make out what they said. Ah well, the other 99.5% was hilarious!

For readers' advisors: "nonfiction" that reads like fiction??



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Put the Seat Down and Other Brilliant Insights for an Awesome First Year of Marriage

Put the Seat down and Other Brilliant Insights for an Awesome First Year of Marriage by Jess Maccallum

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A friend picked this up at closing time because the title caught her eye, and I decided to check it out for kicks (because it looked funny & was really short). Yes, I realize it's written for men. I did not let that stop me.

MacCallum has some really great advice for new husbands; I just wish he hadn't limited his audience by including so many Bible verses as justification for what he was saying. I didn't even disagree with the verses he chose, per se, although some of them were really a stretch, but the Evangelical Christian tone will likely deter many men from reading what would otherwise be excellent and straightforward advice. (With one exception: I do not think it damaged my marriage to have slept with my husband before our wedding. I think it strengthened our relationship and certainly made our wedding night MUCH less stressful.)

My advice: read all the excellent lists of tips & skip or skim most of the explanatory material & verses.



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