Don't Close Your Eyes by Betsy Brannon Green copyright 2003
First, I chose this author due to many friends and acquaintances convincing me that I would enjoy them. I did, but with qualifications. This murder mystery has some really great plot twists and intelligent likeable characters. The suspense was well moderated and it certainly fits within "modern prude" guidelines. Second, it isn't much over 200 pages. With my timeframe these days, that is a plus.
My only problem with the whole thing, and yes, I guess I am a snob, is the LDS angle. I generally have a problem with LDS fiction simply because the references to religion seem contrived and arbitrary. The storyline itself generally doesn't depend upon them. I guess I wonder why Mormon fiction authors seem so determined to make the readers feel warm and fuzzy over (usually) one of the main characters joining the church and falling in love with another main character of same religious preferences. Isn't that handy how in stories life ends up so conveniently wrapped up in a nice religiously moral way? Drives me nuts. Anyway, if that sort of thing doesn't annoy you, and you enjoy a mystery with a very tame love angle you'll read this book with pleasure.
Friday, March 13, 2009
An apology
I need to apologize for my ignoring this blog for so long. Sadly, I have had very limited amounts of recreational reading time since the first of the year. What time I have had I have spent reading The Charlie Bone series of books with my son. They are a lot of fun, and I recommend them to fantasy lover young and old.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Midnight Comes for Charlie Bone
Midnight Comes for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo copyright 2002
For those who enjoyed the magical/suspense adventures of Harry Potter, this might just be a series you can escape into to get those same feelings of excitement. I just finished reading this first book in the Charlie Bone series with my nine year old son. He loved it! We were recommended this book by my 11 year old son who is now working on the fourth book in the series. Now the fact that both of my older boys enjoy this book makes it awesome. The first is an avid reader and the second a reluctant one. The protagonist, Charlie Bone, is 10 or 11 (I can't remember which). He discovers he has a special power to the great delight of his father's family, and to his own consternation. The story revolves around the battle of good and evil, but intriguingly the battle lines are drawn within families, and the reader often questions whether a character is truly good or bad. First impression don't always let us know the truth, as Charlie has to discover. The themes of loyalty, friendship, doing what is right, sacrificing for others and bravery in the face of danger are all present. Overall, a delightful read. It is children's fiction, but I think reader's of all ages can enjoy this one. I look forward to reading Book Two!
For those who enjoyed the magical/suspense adventures of Harry Potter, this might just be a series you can escape into to get those same feelings of excitement. I just finished reading this first book in the Charlie Bone series with my nine year old son. He loved it! We were recommended this book by my 11 year old son who is now working on the fourth book in the series. Now the fact that both of my older boys enjoy this book makes it awesome. The first is an avid reader and the second a reluctant one. The protagonist, Charlie Bone, is 10 or 11 (I can't remember which). He discovers he has a special power to the great delight of his father's family, and to his own consternation. The story revolves around the battle of good and evil, but intriguingly the battle lines are drawn within families, and the reader often questions whether a character is truly good or bad. First impression don't always let us know the truth, as Charlie has to discover. The themes of loyalty, friendship, doing what is right, sacrificing for others and bravery in the face of danger are all present. Overall, a delightful read. It is children's fiction, but I think reader's of all ages can enjoy this one. I look forward to reading Book Two!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Camilla
Camilla: A Biography of Camilla Eyring Kimball by Caroline Eyring Miner and Edward Kimball copyright 1980
This book was in a stack of a few that I inherited from my grandmother a number of years ago. I read it back in 2005 and really enjoyed it. I love biographies anyway, but I'd always heard what lovely, talented, intelligent woman Camilla Kimbal was and was interested to learn for myself of her goodness.
A lot about Camilla surprised me. She was a very resourceful, gracious woman. I found her early history of living in the Mexican LDS colonies and her family's "sneaking out" of the country fascinating. She devoted herself to her family always. I know many may find this way of thinking old-fashioned, but she truly was always concerned about her family first. She was the ultimate frugal homemaker making the most of everything she had. Certainly lived by the "waste not, want not" principle.
I think that I had hoped she would be a "superwoman" kind of gal, but really, she was just as human and normal as the rest of us. In fact the last sentence of the cover blurb sums it up very well. "The woman who emerges is shy but warm, bighly intelligent, refreshingly candid, deeply faithful, independent to a fault, unswervingly loyal, and reassuringly human."
This book might be out of print, but I'm sure that Utah local libraries will have a copy in their collections. Worth the read.
This book was in a stack of a few that I inherited from my grandmother a number of years ago. I read it back in 2005 and really enjoyed it. I love biographies anyway, but I'd always heard what lovely, talented, intelligent woman Camilla Kimbal was and was interested to learn for myself of her goodness.
A lot about Camilla surprised me. She was a very resourceful, gracious woman. I found her early history of living in the Mexican LDS colonies and her family's "sneaking out" of the country fascinating. She devoted herself to her family always. I know many may find this way of thinking old-fashioned, but she truly was always concerned about her family first. She was the ultimate frugal homemaker making the most of everything she had. Certainly lived by the "waste not, want not" principle.
I think that I had hoped she would be a "superwoman" kind of gal, but really, she was just as human and normal as the rest of us. In fact the last sentence of the cover blurb sums it up very well. "The woman who emerges is shy but warm, bighly intelligent, refreshingly candid, deeply faithful, independent to a fault, unswervingly loyal, and reassuringly human."
This book might be out of print, but I'm sure that Utah local libraries will have a copy in their collections. Worth the read.
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