The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

So J.K. Rowling's writing was pretty good as far as I judge it.  I enjoyed the way she bounced between scenes and kept the story steady with an understated but constant crescendo regarding the climax of the book.  It was thought-provoking in that I became acutely aware of how I treat other people and how I think about them.  I am resolute to be kinder to everyone I come in contact with after reading this novel.

It was very dark and the language was very sad.  I found it unbelievable in the lack of joy the characters had in their lives.  Even their religions seemed empty and meaningless in their portrayals.  I liked and agreed with how Rowling made Krystal, who was portrayed as one of society's most undesirable people into one of the most innocent and the most vile creature, Krystal's mother Terri, was actually just dealing with the life she had and could have used help in order to survive.  I enjoyed the way that Rowling described these characters and once we understood the descriptions made our decisions regarding them as, perhaps, one of the citizens in the town would have.  As the novel unfolds, we understand that things are not what they may have seemed and perceptions very likely have changed in most readers' minds regarding the characters we were getting to know.  Maybe some readers or all do not feel Krystal and Terri were innocent victims to the circumstances they faced in life, and I do not mean to say I think they should not be responsible for their actions and that they had no other options but the choices they made; I think the characters could have made far better choices, but the ones that were made were totally understandable to me considering their backgrounds.

Basically, I was made to realize that meanness to fellow humans is not usually the right choice to make regardless of who you are.  I think that is good.

The swearing is very bad.  I can't believe most people talk like this.  It seemed disingenuous for the characters to speak with such improper grammar so constantly and use such copious amounts of vulgarity and profanity.  The drudgery that was life seemed overdone in that there was no happiness that any of these characters experienced.  Too unbelievable to me.  I don't know if I'm just that off in my own reality and happy for no reason or if my perception is like most peoples'.  I've had super horrible things happen in my life, but in the center of it, I am happy and experience many joyful events.  These people are portrayed (all of them) as miserable entities of wretched existence, including the teenagers.

I also find certain aspects of British culture very unenjoyable and Rowlings captured the essence of whatever it is (I don't know what it is I don't like) in this novel.  I felt like I was watching an episode of Downtown Abby or Doc Martin, both of which I can't stand.

I would give this book a 5/10 and I would be cautious about reading another of J.K. Rowlings' adult books.  I am sure this book is good for other people though.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

I thought this book was very good in terms of learning about the history of China and America and the relations the two countries had.  It is shameful the awful way in which people treat each other and hopefully from this novel we can be more aware of it and more respectful of differences.

This book is about two female sisters and their lives together from childhood to adult.  Two sisters lived in Shanghai to a moderately wealthy family and then all was lost.  When war broke out the sisters ended up living in the United States.  What life was like in China in the 1930s and what life was like in the United States for Chinese people in the 1940s and 50s in California is described.  How a Chinese person may have felt is recorded as well as a glimpse of Chinese and Chinese/American culture.

I enjoyed the book.  The story was very sad.  I would give this book a 7/10.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

This was the best novel of the Divergent series for me.  There are unpredictable circumstances that occur that I enjoyed and Four and Tris' relationship changed the most in this third and final book in the series.  I think most of the relationships changed in this book actually.  This series is different than The Hunger Games as the subjects have overall more control than the subjects in Hunger Games ever do.  This book gets an 8/10.

The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe

I decided to read this book because I read that Mary Alice Monroe was awarded a Booker Prize which is apparently quite prestigious.  After reading the book, I would say (this book anyway) is not an award-winning achievement.  It was good, like an 8/10 good, or maybe 7/10, but it wasn't great and I wouldn't tell people to read it because I enjoyed it so much.

A woman in her 40s returns to a beach house (I think it is South Carolina) her mother resides at and reconciles with her and her family history after being absent since the age of 18.  Turtles and conservation of turtles are a topic throughout.  That's pretty much all I have to say.  I suppose the romance part was somewhat unrealistic and predictable, but I did enjoy that part the most.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Excellent book.  I enjoyed this book about a boy with Autism (Aspberger's) immensely.  It was very interesting delving inside the mind of a person with Aspberger's Syndrom and having the opportunity to observe the thought-process and coping mechanisms of 18-year-old Jacob.  The affect Jacob's Aspberger's has on his brother Theo and mother Emma are also explored in detail.

Jacob is on trial for murder throughout most of the book and the toll this takes on his family is portrayed.  This book is a 10/10.

Deception Point by Dan Brown

Not usually my style of book, but I did enjoy this one.  Corruption in the government leads to death and an unbelievable survival story surrounding Rachel Sexton who works for a top secret area of the government.  Her father is Republican and obviously the author is liberal because all the dishonesty flows from the Republican side, so that was skewed, but the saint-like liberal current President seems to have the country and Rachel's best interest at heart.  Corruption abounds, however, when other parties become involved, because a liberal President, according to this author, would never do anything dishonest or misleading.  People under this saint of a president clamor for money and glory when a ground-breaking and earth-shattering discovery is made up north in a remote and dark section of the Arctic.

I was entertained reading this book and found the story engaging.  The characters were not developed enough for me, however, they were appropriate for the type of novel it was and any more character development for some could be viewed as annoying.  This isn't usually my style of novel, but I did enjoy the story. I would give this a 7/10.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This was not a book I would normally read as I stay away from WWII issues and the like, especially Hitler and his sick and twisted situation, but I did read this book and I thought it was magnificently done.  I understood the threat without too much detailed description of the violence that took place.  The beauty of humanity was described in a poignant and inspiring way through the relationships of a family protecting a Jew during Hitler's reign. I enjoyed the characters and the description of the relationships between Liesel Meminger, a young girl, and her foster family and friends.  I would give this book a 10/10.

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

Too raw for me.  I think it's important to read about these circumstances in detail so as to prevent history from repeating itself and to respect what others have gone through, however, I now know about it, so there's no need to dwell on something so vulgar and negative.

The slaves in Jamaica (I'm sure the accounts were based on some kind of truth) sure went through a nightmare of a time. I believe the accounts written about in this book took place in some way or another in real life given the propensity for men/women to abuse power once they have it.  The language is very offensive and if this were a movie it would probably be rated XXX.

The heroine, Lilith, suffers horribly throughout the novel and it is a miracle that at the end she is still alive. That such atrocities took place at the hand of fellow human beings is disgusting and shameful.

The characters were somewhat too distant for me.  I would have liked to know them better.  Most of the novel surrounds itself with the atrocities which took place, which is fine, however, I enjoy more insight into the characters.

Just because this novel is not my taste and too violent for me, I would give it a 4/10, however, I'm sure some decent reviewer would score this higher.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

This was a book written for young adults.  The people in this setting lived in a segregated society based on what "faction" or personality traits they choose when they were sixteen on Choosing Day.  By dividing up areas of personality Veronica was able to explore the strengths of different personalities and the weaknesses.  One faction was Abnegation (selfless), where the Heroine Beatrice Prior "Tris" originated from, another was Candor (honest), then Dauntless (brave), then Amity (peaceful), and finally, Erudite (intelligent).  The Factionless contained people without a Faction because they couldn't make the other factions or they failed at the one they choose.  The people who were Divergent seemed throughout the novel to be a bad thing to choose, as they were people with abilities that crossed over into other factions.  

There is some romance to spice things up between Beatrice and her trainer Four.  There are also relationships between her and some friends she makes.  There are family dynamics and relationships that keep the reading from being boring.  

For me, the novel was on the verge of tedious at times when it came to Beatrice constantly trying to prove herself, and the violence was a lot, but overall the novel was very good and entertaining to read.  I think it was lacking a bit in depth and substance, but it was great for a young adult and I as an adult regard it highly for entertainment.  I would give this book a 81/2 out of ten.  I feel the same about Insurgent and I have the last book of this trilogy on order.

The Wave by Susan Casey

This book was pretty good.  It was written somewhat like a scientific report combined with a novel.  This book is true and based on research.  It was very very interesting.  I don't understand how the author got enough money to do the research going to Hawaii and around the world examining waves.  I now completely understand who Lloyd Hamilton is.  He is one of the greatest surfers ever, going after surfing 40 foot waves... what a crazy man.  He's married to some famous ex-basketball player or something like that.  I found out a great deal of things concerning waves and I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite my preconceived notions that the book would be very dry.  I'm kind of scared about the size of waves in the ocean now, which I gather from the book they are getting larger as time goes by.  I'm still not entirely sure if the research means waves are necessarily becoming larger, maybe people never studied them to the depth they are being studied today.

I would give this book an 8/10.

Summer Shift by Lynn Kiele Bonasia

This book was OK.  I could definitely put it down without a problem, but it was enough to keep me reading.  A woman around 44 years old who owns a seafood restaurant near the ocean feels responsible when one of her employees dies in a car accident.  She puts on a fund raiser for the daughter the waitress left behind.  She struggles to overcome bitterness toward an old flame who she met after her husband died in a car accident.  They were headed toward divorce when the husband died.

I'd give this book a 5/10.

Journey's End by Josephine Cox

I wasn't really reading this novel for grammatical errors or problems with sentence structure or anything of the sort, however, I recall being slightly repelled because of these issues.  It wasn't too prevalent and I can't think of any at the moment, but I remember encountering some situations of it.  I'm sure I'd have the same issues, although much much worse if I tried to write a novel, which I fully intend to do... some day.  It's so easy to sit back and critique something, but doing the work is another matter.

I was overall not impressed with this book.  The reason I forced myself to keep reading it was that I was isolated in a different country (Canada... four hour trip from my home... heh heh) and while my daughter was in ballet school at Royal Winnipeg all day, I wanted to have some options in my free time, despite the fact that free time was limited as I was watching my 6-year-old as well.

The beginning of the book had chapters that didn't gel together in any way for me.  The accent was annoying and I thought, somewhat fake, however I am not so attuned to Scottish accents.  I found the occasional dialect of European words to be somewhat fake and the storyline was unbelievable to me, however, about half-way through the book I did become engaged in the story somewhat and I actually began to enjoy it.

An elderly woman reminisces about her life and ends up taking a trip from America to Europe (I think it was Scotland) to bring to a head all the secrets and past life experiences for herself and her friend.  In the process, her life is threatened and people become upset.

I guess this book would be a 4/10

Calico Joe by John Grisham

This book was very boring as I can't stand baseball.  Watching it is bad enough, but trying to force myself to read it is super duper bad.  The writing is quite good though and did keep me engaged.  I enjoyed the underlying story about the tension between the father and son.  The writing was good enough to incite feelings of me wanting to read another John Grisham novel, which was Restitution, which was brilliantly written.  I was sorely dissappointed that the characters were not real in either of the books because I became so engaged in them.  John Grisham is very good at pointing out what is true and fiction his novels.  There are a lot of real characters in the Calico Joe novel, just not the MAIN ones!

The Racketeer by John Grisham

The Racketeer by John Grisham was very good.  I was beginning to get lost in the mess of the twists, but in a good way.  I wanted to feel like the main character of the novel was a hero, and I didn't quite get that satisfaction at the end of the novel, however, I was satisfied.  The pace and action was enough for me to be engaged while reading, yet not so fast that I was annoyed.  The brilliancy of the plans were enough to make me wonder about the author.  I thought it was helpful adding at the end in the Author's Note that everything was fictional.  I was beginning to become upset at the government in the back of my mind for their corruption.

The main character suffering through a horrible deal and coming out on top made this novel great for me.  I didn't like the last John Grisham novel I read as I can't stand baseball (Calico Joe), so I didn't expect much from Restitution, but it was excellent!  I felt like cheering for the main character in the end yet I was still horrified at his ability to be corrupted.

City of Women by David R. Gillham

This is a book about the Second World War in the city of Berlin.  I found it very interesting since I visited the City of Berlin when I was 18 years old in 1986.  The wall was up.  We went through Check Point Charlie and stayed in a hotel in Berlin and saw the bombed out city before there was much repair done to it.

This was definitely not a cheerful book to read and I wouldn't have normally read it had I realized how sad it was and how horror-filled.  I think the situations described are entirely possible.  Having seen the city in 1986, I think it is possible life was really as it was described in the book.  Sigrid does seem unrealistically lucky and abnormally intelligent and able to conduct herself under terribly horrible circumstances.

There were bright spots, such as when Sigrid's husband lends her a hand towards the end of the novel and when Sigrid helps her friend.  I would hate to live as described in the novel and I hope I never have to.  Although, sometimes office politics reminds me of the atmosphere in this novel.  This book would be rated R if it were a movie.  I don't want to read about horrible things like this.  I would give this book a 6/10.

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

This was a teen book.  It was OK and bizarre, not boring. The story line was interesting and I was surprised by it.  These super-human teenagers are raised by super-human parents.  The parents end up dead in their bedroom and Tandoora is accused of murdering them along with her siblings.  The story is told from Tandoora's point of view.

The bizarre part of the book for me was the way the children acted and their circumstances.  Tandoora has no emotions apparently and her older brother won the Heisman trophy for football and her other brother was a child prodigy who played piano like Mozart or better.

I would give this book a 6/10.

Heaven by Alexandra Adornetto

This is the last book in the Halo Series.  Bethany and Xavier are chased by Sevens that are like Heaven's rebel renegade army.  That was unbelievable to me, even in fantasy since if they were renegade, they wouldn't be in Heaven or working for Heaven.

Eve, Bethany's psychologist in Heaven was also an unbelievable character since someone so repulsive in their militant soul-crushing state probably wouldn't be in Heaven either.  I suppose it is difficult to argue since it is fantasy though.  I just don't really feel comfortable fantasizing about something like that along with the author.

During this novel Bethany and Xavier are under cover hiding from the Sevens that seek to apply justice to Bethany for marrying a mortal (Beth and Xavier are married at the beginning of the first chapter or somewhere around there).

Beth and Xavier hide undercover at Ole Miss University so they get to experience University life.  Eventually the Sevens realize that Xavier is a 1/2 human, 1/2 angel and they want him more than Bethany.  Ivy is Xavier's creator who got Xavier's mother to have a child.

Bethany eventually is captured toward the end of the novel and taken to Heaven prison where she gets a psychologist, Eve to help her become an angel again and forget her mortal life.  You have to read the book to see how it turns out :).  I would give this novel a 7/10.  Better than the rest, but still somewhat not settling well with me.

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

I question if it's ok to go delve into these topics when I'm reading it as I am worried that someone reading it may think this is what Heaven or Hell is really like, even though I don't know what it's like, I don't feel comfortable reading someone's version of it, but I guess I feel comfortable enough to go ahead and read anyway.

So I know it's a story, but I am not sure Lucifer would be so restrained considering all the suffering in the world. The book makes it seem as if Jake, the Demon is capable of loving someone, even though he is a corrupt being right to the end, I would have thought he would be a lot meaner than what he is portrayed as in the book.

Bethany goes to hell in this book and is rescued out of it by her Brother Gabriel the Archangel and Ivy a Seraphim and Xavior, her mortal boyfriend.  The novel describes hell while Bethany is down there.

The beginning was somewhat tedious, but it got going somewhere around the first part of the middle.  The reason the beginning was somewhat tedious was that it got old listening to how in love Xavior and Bethany were.  I am older though, and this book was made for teens.  I would give this book a 6/10, but my teenage children would probably give it a 9/10.

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

I read some reviews on this book and the reviews were very harsh.  This was definitely a book for teenagers.  The reviewers were all angry that the people in the book were white or caucasion and there were no other colors.  They were also very angry that it was written from a religiou,s and to them, close-minded, point of view.  I thought it was a great book.  If you don't like it, don't read it.  I thought it was fine.  Although, for me, a tad boring.  I am 45 years old though, and the people in the book are teenagers.  I think there is nothing wrong with all the characters being religious and white and that it is ignorant to fault the author for that.  If the characters were all black and non-religious would white religious people get all mad?  People should respect each other.

As for the book, It was about angels who come to earth to help out the humans and the cause for good.  An angel falls in love with a human boy and they end up being girlfriend/boyfriend.  My teens really enjoyed this book.  They bought all three in the trilogy.  I thought it was OK.  I would give it a 6/10.

An Accidental Light by Elizabeth Diamond

I was surprised that I liked this book.  I thought I wasn't going to at first because of the cover (making a heart sign with your hands and light coming from your hands and the rest of the cover dark).  It was good though.  I liked how the author wrote the book from different view points.

A police officer (I think he was off-duty) hit a child with his car and killed her.  She died in his arms.  The book centers on how this affected the police officer, his family, the mother and father of the child who died, and basically everyone in the book.

I thought it was entertaining to read.  It wasn't a book where I can't put it down, but I did enjoy reading it.  I know someone who died young though, and it made me cry thinking of the feelings these people were going through.

I would give this book a 7/10.

The Good Sister by Diana Diamond

I found myself respecting the author 3/4 of the way through this book regarding the plot of this story.  I don't think I could have written a mystery story so well.  I thought the language was rude and I wish she would have omitted it.  Most of her books have a crudeness that I would rather not allow into my life, not that I'm any better, but I don't want to invite what I recognize as undesirable since I have enough character I would like to work on in myself already. 

Once again, people who are ridiculously wealthy are the main characters in the book.  The exception to this book was that EVERYONE was ridiculously wealthy or had been at one point in their lives. Padraig was poor, but he was never really struggling like most people do in "real" life.

Two competitive twins fight over Padraig, a famous and, at first, thought to be wealthy actor.  Eventually they find out Padraig is on the verge of poverty (probably living like a real person) and he marries one of the sisters (Jennifer) who is thought to be the less attractive and the more brainy of the two.  Christine, the outgoing voluptuous siren ends up sleeping with Jennifer's husband and several attempts at murder eventually end in death. 

I really enjoyed this novel.  The violence and swearing was too much. The murder is so creepy the way the author gets right into the logistics of killing someone.  She almost makes it seem like it's a good idea to murder someone, or the thought process is rational.  It's very unsettling.  The story, though, is quite intriguing and holds my attention.  I find the story entertaining.

I would give this book an 8/10.

The Daughter-In Law by Diana Diamond

Again, someone ridiculously wealthy is in the picture as the main characters and the underdog less financially successful person is victimized by the wealthy person's brutality and selfishness.  This story theme will not change my desire to become ridiculously wealthy, although I am sure I never will, I would still not pass up the opportunity if it arrived and I could live within my morals.  This novel was different enough from the other novels by this author to merit reading.  It was still interesting.  I did not enjoy the brutality of the characters, even the heroine seemed to lack virtue to a large degree.  I suppose the characters could be categorized as generally leaning to more good than bad or generally leaning to more bad than good depending on the character.  Most of the characters were no just all bad or good, except Jimmy Farr.  I think he was portrayed as only bad.  I felt so glad he got his in the end.  I wish real life were like that! I would give this book a 6/10.

The Babysitter by Diana Diamond

This was a pretty good book.  It was the best out of the series I've read by Diana Diamond so far.  I don't know how to write about it without giving away the story, but I can say that it was interesting and entertaining.  The only part that I didn't like was the violence, as with all her books.  This book was quite well thought-out in my opinion and I was impressed with the author's skills. Again, someone ridiculously wealthy was in the picture.  There were no tedious parts for me in the book, probably because courts were not involved, or the judicial system.  Someone Spanish was in the story, so that made it interesting, because most of the characters seem to be Caucasian; I guess I enjoyed other points of view and some semblance of reality, but again, it's a fantasy novel and that is part of what I enjoy.  I thought having a babysitter live in your home and watch your children so closely while you attend to other things interested me the most.  The dynamics of that situation seem like something I would not be comfortable living with, yet at the same time want for myself.  I give this book an 8/10.

The Stepmother by Diana Diamond

I thought that this book was OK.  I'm not sure if I would have read it knowing there was a court case in the book as I find those extremely tedious and I don't want to spend my leisure time stressing about it or even thinking about it.  This was, again, an extremely unlikely situation.  But those situations are appropriate in a novel I guess.  It's fiction, so why not enjoy it.  I wish the characters were a little more involved.  I would have liked to have been more attached to them and cared about them.  The book was entertaining though.  I read The First Wife and I found it very similar to The Stepmother in the various fantastic attempts on the heroin's life. Like the first book though, it was entertaining enough to keep reading. It wasn't as good as The First Wife though because, probably, of my dislike of court cases in novels.  That's so boring. I wish the characters were developed more and were more engaging. Instead of constantly relying on physical attempts of death on the person, I would like to see more moral angst. "Angst, often confused with anxiety, is a transcendent emotion in that it combines the unbearable anguish of life with the hopes of overcoming this seemingly impossible situation. Without the important element of hope, then the emotion is anxiety, not angst. Angst denotes the constant struggle one has with the burdens of life that weighs on the dispossessed and not knowing when the salvation will appear." Urban Dictionary online. (I know I'm not using proper anything in my blog, but no one reads it anyway!)
I would give this book a 7/10.

The First Wife by Diana Diamond

This was a surprisingly good book.  It could have been better in that it was somewhat predictable and tacky in the story line.  The pursued woman who just happens to marry a ridiculously good-looking, charming and unbelievably wealthy man while she has no real flaws as most humans.  Their sex life is perfect and they almost instantly fall in love and get married in (didn't check the timeline) a couple of months if that.  The couple also ends up perfectly happy in the end.  I suppose there were the unruly teenage step-children, but that didn't seem to affect the relationship as it would in real life.

The good part, and the part that I find surprising, is that the book held my attention. It was interesting in a lot of areas (to me anyway). I suppose it was the suspense (another thing though, that was unrealistic). It was interesting that Jane had an ex-husband who still tried to hang out at her house and it was nice to fantasize that prince charming would come along and rescue Jane at any time.  Jane was also portrayed as intelligent, independent, brave and resourceful. The unrealistic suspense situation involved multiple attempts on Jane's life in which any normal human being would have contacted the police and the surrounding human beings would have completely believed Jane when she tried to tell them her life was in danger.  In the book, no one believed her.  Her husband didn't believe her when Jane told him about a nurse, who wasn't really a nurse, tried to kill her in the hospital room.  She was also locked in a sauna in a temperature over 200 degrees.  Any person would have been alarmed by that, but no one in the novel seemed to be.

I did enjoy the book nevertheless.  I plan on reading all her other novels.  Fantasy is nice sometimes. I would give this book a 7/10