The Great Bean Adventure

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The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

This book was very dense although I enjoyed it. It was not a fast read for me. I read a bunch of other novels in between. There were a lot of twists in this book and surprises. The location was Canada and Toronto was often mentioned. References to Greek and Roman mythology and exerpts in French is probably some of the reason why this book was on the reading list for a first year English class at University of Winnipeg in 2001. The time frame of the book took place during the First and Second World Wars. I suppose the novel brought a flavor of Candian life at that time, however, everyone's flavor would have been differently experienced, so I am not so sure that description is accurate. Also, the heroine was rediculously wealthy, however, towards the end of the novel she wasn't. It was quite sad and depressing overall, but I still enjoyed it. I would give this book an 8/10.

Esperanza by Trish J. MacGregor

At first I thought this book might be a trashy cheap romance novel. It was not like that. It was more like the James Patterson books. There was a lot of action and some romance. The story was about brujos who were some South American ghost that took posession of peoples' bodies which most often killed the one who was posessed in a horrible and painful way. The back of the book indicates that this is a very scary novel. Usually when a book says that I am scared, but in this book I was not scared, just entertained and interrested. There was over-the-top swearing which turned me off, but the rest of the book was very good. There was time-travel which I find usually doesn't work well when I am reading a book, but in this novel it was great. Aparently this book was the basis for a hit TV show Dexter, but I've never heard of it. The end of the book leaves ideas open for sequels to this novel.

Pilate's Wife by Antoinette May

I thought this book was GREAT! I really enjoyed reading it. It was a lot like Cleopatra which I read about a year ago (I don't remember who the author was). I found it very interesting to read about how the author portrayed Pilate's Wife's life (her name was Claudia). I wonder how accurate the portrayal was as I have not studied Roman history outside of very briefly in school. We touched on it at University at times, but not in depth at all.

A description of Claudia as a little girl, her relationship with her parents and siblings and extended family, her courtship and marriage to Pilate and her affair were all described in this novel. Claudia's religious beliefs and those of others were shared as well.

I did not feel comfortable with the depiction of Jesus at all, or his disciples towards the ending, but I considered that the author did what she could with her knowledge. The author's adding a relationship with Miriam was something that I would have felt better if it was left out of the novel.

There was a lot of horrific violence and love affairs, which, for the Romans and the people living in this time, I am guessing was what probably did occur for at least some people. We see this today, so it is not that huge of a jump to believe. I tend to think of Pilot as nothing but a sub-human brute, but this book depicted him as a very human man with feelings. It was very believable that he could have been this way. I did like that Pilot did not really want to convict Jesus. I thought this when I read that section of the bible as well.

It was fascinating reading about what life may have been like for Pilot and for people living at that time. I enjoyed this book so much that I had a hard time doing other things. I would give this book a 9/10.

Caleb and Kate by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma

This was a cute little teenage romance book. I wish my experience with a boyfriend was like this! Quite a perfect little romance. It wasn't as exciting as Twilight, but it was sweet. This was a Christian novel. The story was quick and simple. I really enjoyed reading it. I read it in my spare time in two days. The girl was gloriously wealthy and the boy was thought to have been very poor at first and ended up being secretly wealthy as well. It would have been great if this book would have been a little bit more intrigue in it, but I did enjoy it for what it was. I would give this book a 6/10.

The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner

This book was somewhat depressing. It was good though. This wasn't the kind of book that I just couldn't put down and there wasn't very much romance. There was some lust maybe, but that's about it. The book was about a sixteen-year-old boy who lives with his alcoholic father and who has barely any contact with his estranged mother. He's really lonely and obviously, steels cars. The boy ended up in a juvenile detention center for a period of time and throughout the rest of the book he couldn't break past the stereotype accorded him through that experience. The book ended on a somewhat positive note considering the rest of the story. What was tragic was the fact that this boy could have had an outstanding life had he had any encouragement from his family as he showed talent in academics and athletics. All the family he had though, was his father. I would give this book a 7/10.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

A little bit too much evil going on in this book to make me feel comfortable reading it. This book talks about Satan and his followers. That's a little much for me. I did read the whole thing though and will probably try to read the other two books at some point (City of Angels and City of Glass), but if you won't let your child read Harry Potter because you think it's too evil, this book should be completely off-limits. As I was reading through this book it took me a while to figure out what was going on. I did like that part and the book hasn't totally made sense yet, but enough for me to get the picture or understand what is going on. It has been about three or four months since I've read it, but from what I remember, some people pass as angels and have powers that humans don't have (which actually seems that way sometimes with normal people who actually don't have powers) which would fit right in to real life, so there is an element of being able to believe it could be true. I think the world is going to be destroyed by the evil angels and the good angels are trying to protect the earth and it's people. This is a book for teenagers. I have two teenagers, which is why I am into these teen books! I find I am really enjoying some of them. This book would be about a 61/2 out of 10.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

This book is about a little boy who became extrememly ill when he was three-years-old because of a burst appendix. The doctors thought he was going to die and offered the parents no encouragement when they brought him in as they didn't want to have them think for a minute he would live when they were so sure he would die. The child ended up living and over the course of months which followed the father and family figured out that the child had experiences with Heavenly beings.

Personally I find this book very easy to believe and I have no doubt whatsoever that this kind of experience could happen. I even think that this kind of think happens often enough. I am not entirely sure the child wasn't coached somewhat by his father (who was/is a preacher) or family, but I did enjoy the book and I would never say that this didn't happen for the boy. I also believe that the boy had experiences with Heavenly Beings. I would give this book a 6/10.

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

Good book. A touch of Harry Potteresqueness in it. Against all odds two children, Wisteria Allgood (witch), 15 years old, and her brother, Witford Allgood (Wizard), 17, with supernatural powers, who don't realize they have these powers and slowly discover them out of violent neccessity, end up saving the world from destruction. The setting is when there are DVDs, players. I would give it a 6/10. Maybe if I was a teenager the rating would be higher.

Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters

Couldn't read it. Way too boring. Weird and bizarre book. I did read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (I guess I should review it but it's been a while) but this one was unreadable for me. Maybe I'll try again at some point in my life.

Jemima J by Jane Green

This book would be rated R if it was a movie. Wow, LOTS of sex scenes. Language was not ok. I wouldn't encourage my daughter to read this book. I would actually stop her from reading it with all my effort. I did though. I don't know how many people really lose over 100 pounds in a couple of months, look like a super-model and then marry the most gorgeous man ever known who happened to also love her when she was severely overweight and who ends up with him in the end. It's possible though. I liked how the book told what it feels like to be severely overweight. The description of some of the very ugly people who were beautiful on the outside was good to read as well. I would give this book a 6/10.

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

I enjoyed this book and found it interresting. This was a teen book. I enjoyed the twists in the story and I enjoyed slowly finding out what was going on. Although Vera was the main character, some of the story was told from the point of view of Vera's friend/boyfriend and her father. Time also jumped around. In one chapter Vera would tell the story from when she was 14, in another chapter when she was 17, and in another chapter she would tell it from the present. I liked the ending and how the father and daughter reconciled by Vera deciding to tell the police that Charlie wasn't responsible for the pet shop burning down. Vera asked her father to go with her. She trusted him and turned to him for help. She understood how to help her father after the father's sad neglect from his mother by letting her father know that she loved him and needed and appreciated him. Outside of the profound amount of swearing, this book was really good. I also was grossed out by the perverted guy in the car that Charlie sold his underwear to. Gag. The wife beating thing was hard to read about as well, but these two circumstances didn't get so overwhealming that I regretted reading it and things like this happen, that still doesn't mean I want to read about it though. I would give this book an eight out of ten.

Wind Dancer by Jamie Carie

This book was OK. It was an entertaining and mildly interesting Christian historical romance which reminded me of a Harlequin Romance book. The story took place in the early 1800s in America when it was being settled describing how it may have been for the Europeans when dealing with the Native American people and how it felt trying to settle the land. The story was not told at all from the Native American point of view. Had this book been a movie I would guess it would be rated R since a graphic scene took place where a man was burned at the stake while the heroine watched. The ending was pleasant and everything worked out very well for most of the characters. I don't know about the accuracy of the history as described, but overall I enjoyed the book. I would give it about a 5 out of 10.