Loverboy by Victoria Reed

As I read the first few pages of this novel I came across instances where I was disturbed by the storyline.  The disturbing instances continued to get worse until the end of the novel where it was the worst. 

A child who was neglected emotionally grew up and her goal was to have a child who would love her and be loved.  The relationship between the mother and child is weird.  The child seems healthy, but the mother doesn't. 

The way the story is written is somewhat interesting.  There are flashbacks and the story is told in jumbled patches which isn't discernable until the end of the novel.

I would give this book a 5/10.

I enjoyed Daughter's Keeper by Ayelet Waldman.  I would rate it a 5/10.  It was good.  A woman named Elaine never really had a great relationship with her daughter Olivia, but she was a proficient mother.  Elaine provided for her daughter, but cut herself off emotionally.  She would not hug her and was disgusted by her when the daughter went to her for affection or help from the time she was a baby.  Olivia was a good child and grew into a good person (in my perception anyway). 

Olivia met a man named Jorge on a trip to Mexico and had a wild love affair with him.  Jorge showed up on Olivia's doorstep one day and they started living together because Olivia didn't have the heart to tell him she wanted nothing further than their relationship in Mexico where after their first intimate encounter she realized she didn't really love him. 

Jorge eventually became involved with drugs and Olivia ended up having to go to jail for four years.  She discovered she was pregnant before the trial began, gave birth to the baby and acted as it's mother for a couple of months before she had to begin serving her sentence. 

The book was sad and a random pick from the library. I just wanted a light book for entertainment and this book was good for that and not boring.  If it were a movie it would be rated R for sexual content and language.

Although it was well-written (to me at least) and not boring, it just didn't grab my heart strings as something that I became completely emotionally swept up in, but this is just my taste.  A different person may just really enjoy this book.  It's just a matter of taste.  There was something morally not far-reaching enough for me.  I don't have the words to describe it nor do I fully understand what it is myself... just my taste is all I can think of.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith was an entertaining book reminding me of Jane Austin's novels.  The Heroine wrote the entire novel as a diary entry, which normally I find tedious, however, in this novel I found that I couldn't wait to see what she would write next.  The novel was published in 1948, two years before my mom was born, but I think the setting was actually around 1930 or so.  The book also reminded me of D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love but wasn't as slow moving.  I didn't feel quite the pitch of excitement as Jane Austin's novels when reading I Capture the Castle, but it was still very engaging in a more modern way.  I can see why one review stated that I Capture the Castle was the segway into writings such as are published by James Joyce, although I find James Joyce much more complicated and less enjoyable.  I was disappointed at the ending of the book, but explaining why may ruin it for other readers.  Ok, I'll ruin it.  If you read further, you own it, not me.  Cassandra doesn't end up with Simon!  Grrrrr.  After all that.  The possibility is open, but I don't like possibilities, I want the satisfaction of seeing it come to fruition.  I would rate this book an A.

The Great Bean Adventure

http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-0107195017/The-Great-Bean-Adventure.aspx

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.