The Year of Fog

I'm currently reading The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. This book was actually not recommended to me. I noticed it on the kitchen table at a friend's house several weeks ago, read the inside flap, thought it sounded interesting, and asked her about it. Her roommate had actually checked it out and decided not to read it. So...I'm not sure if I should have assumed that was the opposite of a recommendation or what. I checked it out.

The story is interesting - it's about a woman who loses her fiance's daughter while walking on a beach one foggy day. The little girl walks ahead for a few seconds and disappears.

The book is well-written with lots of good description. Have you read "New Moon", the second book in the Twilight series? If you have, you probably remember the chapters that are each only one page; the pages say OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY. It's an inventive way of showing the passing of time and how unimportant it is to Bella at that time in her life. The author of this book does something similar - she gets into the mind of the woman telling the story and how her days are spent and what trivial things occupy her thoughts during several difficult months.

But in my opinion, she creates a whole bunch of extra stuff that I'm tempted to skim over. To me, the book is slow-moving and I keep waiting for it to get to a specific point mentioned on the inside flap.

One other issue I have with this story - and it's quite minor compared to some of the other books I've read - but still, what's with the sex? It doesn't change the story, it doesn't help the plot move along, it's just extra and I don't want to read about it. I have a hard time recommending a book to friends and family with questionable scenes in them. Honestly.

Now that you know how I really feel - ha ha.

When Crickets Cry

Another fabulous book by Charles Martin! I just can't get enough of this author. And to think I randomly came across him as I glanced through the library shelves. How lucky!

I adore Charles Martin as an author - his writing style, the beautiful description (and I'm the type of reader that typically glosses over description), the touching story, the real characters... everything about his books! Okay, so I've only read two, but I definitely plan on reading the other two he's written that I know of.


Let me tell you right off, it's interesting to me that within a few short weeks of each other, I would read two books about people needing a heart transplant and the donor. Wacky! It's a very serious subject, one that I know far more about now than ever before. To tell you the truth, it makes me a bit nervous...

This book is about a man with a past he's running from and wants kept secret. It's also about a spunky little girl who needs a new heart. I hate it when people ruin books for me by giving too much away, so I don't want to say much more than that. Read it!

The only reason this book got one less heart than Charles Martin's Wrapped in Rain (which got seven Aunt Jemimiahs) is because in comparison of the two, I liked Wrapped in Rain better. Just slightly :)

Walking Through Shadows

I have been so busy traveling and doing some reading in the meantime that I haven't had the chance to keep up on my blogging as I've done in the past. So here goes nothin'.

I finished Walking Through Shadows by Bev Marshall last week. This book was another random find when I perused the shelves at the library.

It's a book about a young woman who is hired out to help on a dairy farm several miles from her home. The farmer and his wife decide to hire her because they hear her father beats her. She has a hump on her back and is small for her age. She falls in love and gets married. The book starts out with her murder. It continues with a variety of characters telling the story. There are several suspects and it was fun trying to play Sherlock and wonder who did it. I assumed I had it all figured out...then I changed my assumption...and originally I had it right!

I loved the way the author had multiple people tell the story from their perspectives, getting into their heads, knowing why they did what they did and what they were thinking at the time. She did an excellent job of meshing the events together, regardless of who told what.

The book was darker than I would have liked - more violent than I was expecting. I had a hard time reading certain parts of it. I did like it though.

My overall rating is cows (as the main scene was a dairy farm).

Orchestra, Real Estate, Football, and One Heart

Thanks to Ma-Na-Na for such a great recommendation! For the record, I didn't really care for the ending either.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the book goes into more detail about the boy who died than I had anticipated. The reader actually gets to know him quite intimately, which was a nice touch.

The author doesn't focus solely on the mom or the dead son - there are other characters who come into play: the girlfriend and the ex-husband for instance. I like the way the reader gets to know the background of the minor characters and why they do the things they do. I find I'm a fan of flashbacks and getting into the mind of the characters.

I'm glad the piano man was a good guy. I do like a happy ending. I mentioned not caring for the ending of this book - not that it wasn't happy, it was just odd.

It's an easy read with short chapters and interesting content. I liked it! Thanks Ma-Na-Na - I'll try to recommend a few more good ones for you :)

Final rating:


After all, he really was a violinist rather than a piano man...

The Piano Man

'Ma-na-na' and I are both avid readers. I think I have a bit more time to do it lately than she does :) She found this book and recommended it to me. It certainly doesn't take much arm-twisting for me to snag a book at the library if one person suggests I read it.

So far so good! The Piano Many by Marcia Preston is about a woman whose teenage son dies and the mother donates his heart. She is deeply depressed and seeing hallucinations three years later and randomly finds a letter from the organ recipient's wife from three years previous. The mother searches for and locates the man with her son's heart. He's a musician but currently a chain-smoker and down on his luck. I assume that makes her pretty disgusted that he would waste her son's heart like that.

I am enjoying this book! It does allow the reader to get to know the son before he dies - that was unexpected and made it harder when he died. But I do love a book that sucks me in and makes the characters and situations believable!

Loving the Rain!

Wrapped in Rain was one of the best books I've read lately. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I know this is a picture of an Aunt Jemima antique, but I always imagined Miss Ella Rain as looking just like her :) So she is how I will rate this book. Seven Aunt Jemimas??

Yes, seven. I liked it that much.

The book was clean, sad, triumphant, and it tugged at my heart-strings. I felt like I really knew each main character. The author didn't spell it out when explaining their personalities and their pain and suffering - it was evident in their actions.

Miss Ella preached the best sermons! I would have liked to record some of what she said and post it on the bulletin board over my desk. She said things extremely profound. She was the reason the characters turned out as well as they did. Love truly does conquer all.

PS. If you click on the picture of me reading the book, you can read the back cover and decide if it sounds like your cup o' tea or not.

Read it! I know you'll love it.

Not a Game

It is done. It is not a game. Read it! For a non-Sci-fi fan, I enjoyed the book immensely!

You'll love Ender. You'll feel sorry for him for so many reasons. He's amazing. It's hard to keep in mind the fact that the characters are only children!

The book has adventure, intellect, and a few unexpected twists. It keeps the reader engaged and interested in how it will end. Personally I was worried that it wouldn't "end" at all...but that I would have to read the next one to know what happened! Thankfully that was not the case. Never fear - it does end.

Word on the streets says the rest in the Ender Saga aren't nearly as good. My new friend 'Acorn' liked one of the other books in particular as it is about a lovable character from Ender's Game. I'll probably read it. I don't have plans to read the rest in the series at present...but probably in the future when my to-read list isn't quite as extensive as it is in the summer :)

All in all, I give Ender's Game five boys-fighting-aliens (also known as buggers). Excellent read!

Wrapped in Rain

I started a new book while traveling last weekend. The book is Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin. Though it's unusual for me lately, this book was not recommended by anyone. I went to the public library to find a particular book that was recommended...and in perusing the shelves, I found four others that sounded good! This is one of them.

I'm not far into the book. I've barely met the main characters: Tuck, Miss Ella, and Mutt. But I can tell you this so far. The book is about two brothers (Tuck and Mutt) who didn't have the best childhood. Miss Ella was their caretaker and the only person to show the boys what love was.

I have another Charles Martin book entitled When Crickets Cry; I'll read it based on my opinion of this book. I'm leaving on another trip today and hope to spend some quality time on this book; so stay tuned for a longer synopsis and what I think of it!