Nook Book: Casual Vacancy

Casual Vacancy

by J.K. Rowling

Length: 426 pages

Format: Nook book
Price: $17.99 (I know...but I really wanted to read it!)
Author Website: http://www.jkrowling.com/en_US/ (photo credit)

Basic Premise: When council member Barry Fairbrother drops dead of an anurism, his vacant council seat becomes an object of contention amongst the citizens of Pagford, a small, picturesque English town - well at least, it would be picturesque, if it weren't for "the Fields."  An impoverished and unkempt neighborhood, the Fields finds itself the center of a heated controversy. But, as the story unfolds, whether to continue to support the Fields and the impoverished who live there becomes much more than an issue of mere politics.

My Take: 2 out of 10 (scale here)
I did not like this book.  I knew it was not going to be like Harry Potter, but I did not expect it to be so...adult.  No, adult is the wrong word, because the novel, in large part, focused on teenagers.  I did not expect it to be so dark and vulgar.  The language is filthy.  I had to look up many of the words because much of it is British slang, but that did not help to improve the filth.  The worst part, though, was the characters.  JKR is a stunning master of character development - I truly believe it is one of her greatest strengths as a writer.  The problem with these characters is that they were atrocious human beings.  They were like what I imagine would be the Dirsley's inner circle. There was not a single character in the story with whom I would want to be friends.  

Short rabbit trail that will (I think) communicate what I mean without giving away any of the story: A few semesters ago my husband had several classes with the same guy and girl.  As a result, they studied and hung out together quite a bit on campus.  Rick told me about a conversation this guy had with this girl as they were eating one day.  He (who is very attractive) told her (who is also attractive) he would not be friends with her if she were fat.  And Rick vouched for the truth of the statement - he was that kind of guy.  This story bothered me for many reasons, but I found myself in disbelief that someone would actually be that shallow.  Now take that kind of mentality and project it on to each character in this ensemble cast.  Every last one of them seemed so shallow, self-seeking, and dirty.  I hope people don't actually think like this.  Perhaps I am naive.

I know there is an underlying message of social injustice and the massive unfairness of poverty and those who are clinging to the fringes of society, and I believe I caught it.  Even though I am quite far removed from these harsh realities, I know there are people who exist like this, parents who raise their kids like this, children who think it's okay to live like this - but for me, this was a slimy excursion into the darkness of lives lived in the pursuit of the instant, the here, the now.  I suppose that in and of itself could be some good gleaned from this book - reinforcement that earthly gain will never be enough to satisfy.

That said, this is not a book I recommend.  Perhaps I am being too hard on it...?  I don't know - I tend to guard my precious reading time carefully, so wasting it on something like this is quite irritating...

Nook Book: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Length: 280 pages

Format: Nook Book
Price: $.99
Author Website: doesn't appear to be one...

Basic Premise: Dorothy has accidentally landed herself in Oz - a land of Munchkins, Winkies, witches, and flying monkeys.  Her dearest desire is to return home, but it proves to be more difficult than she at first thought.

My Take: 3.5 out of 10 (scale here)
I, like every other child of my generation, grew up watching this film.  When my book club chose this book, I was excited to read it.  However, I was quite disappointed with this book.  It was highly episodic (a story structure I truly loathe) and predictable, even though the book and film bear very little resemblance to one another.  The cyclone occurs within the first few pages of the book, Glenda the Good Witch shows up in only the last few pages of the book, and the Wicked Witch of the West plays only a small role in the middle of the story.  Some other interesting differences include Dorothy's age (she is a young child in the book), the silver, not ruby, slippers, and fact that the flying monkeys, after doing the bidding of the Wicked Witch of the West, serve Dorothy and prove themselves to be loyal and even loveable creatures.  The many, many, many liberties taken by the film makers were good decisions, in my view.  As it turns out, there are several more books in the series, but I won't be reading them.

Nook Book 9: Daughter of Joy

Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan

Length: 261 pages

Format: Nook Book
Price: $6.49 currently, though I think I paid $.99...must have been on a sale
Author Website: http://www.kathleenmorgan.com/index.html (photo credit)

Basic Premise: In search for an escape from the past that took her husband and son, Abigail Stanton takes on a job as the housekeeper of embittered and angry ranch owner Conor McKay, an man whose past is nearly as dark as her own.

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)
This is a historical fiction piece set in Colorado in the late 1800s.  I like that, and I like that the heroine is a woman of faith who believes, despite the terrible difficulties she faces in losing her family, that God's will is still being accomplished.  Conor, who gave up on God a long time ago, finds Abby's fierce allegiance to God both annoying and unsettling, but he can't help being drawn to her.  I was a fan of the writing style - it flowed easily and challenged me with some new vocabulary - but I felt the author left a bit too much to the imagination in some areas.  I also felt the plot structure was very up and down.  I understand some authors use this tack to keep the reader interested, but I personally felt it was a distraction from the development of the story.  All these combine for my 6 rating.  There are subsequent books, but I don't think I'll be reading them.

Nook Book 8: Alias Grace

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Length: 335 (Nook) pages

Format: Nook Book
Price: Free using epub
Author Website: (this isn't actually the author website, but only because there wasn't anything about the book on the author's site) http://www.luminarium.org/contemporary/atwood/aliasgrace.htm (photo credit)

Basic Premise: The master and housekeeper of the house have been murdered and Grace is suspected.  She is locked up in prison for the crime, which she may or may not have committed...she can't remember.

My Take: 6 out of 10 (scale here)
This book is an account of the actual murders of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery in Canada in the mid-1800s.  It follows Grace, the suspected murderess who has been imprisoned for the crime, and Simon Jordan, a doctor hired to try to retrieve the memories Grace claimed to have lost. I read this book because it was chosen by our teacher book club at school - otherwise, I know I would have never picked a book like this up.  It was well-written and interesting enough, though this type of content isn't really my cup of tea. The tone is quite dark and aside from Grace herself, who was quite likeable, I found the characters quite shallow - particularly the men.  By the time the story ended, I wasn't really sure of the point.  I enjoyed the historical aspect, but the story itself was a bit of a let-down.

Nook Book 7: Someone Named Eva

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

Length: 127 pages

Format: Nook Book
Price: $5.87
Author Website: http://www.joanmwolf.com/Joan_M_Wolf/Home.html (photo credit)

Basic Premise: Eva is a young girl from Czechoslovakia with perfect blue eyes and blonde hair who is torn from her family and forced into a different life - a German life.

My Take: 9 out of 10 (scale here)
 This is such a great book. Set during the reign of Nazi Germany, this book follows a young girl who fits Hitler's Aryan profile, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and the perfect nose. She is ripped from her family and forced to turn her back on the life she once knew.  She is taught German customs and language, and the more she learns, the more she starts to forget about her former life.  It is a fictional story, but it's based on actual events.  I first read this book on the recommendation of a YAL expert whose conference I attended.  I was intrigued by the premise and picked it up immediately.  I just finished rereading it with my Breakfast Club kids at school, and it's just as great now as it was before.  It's lendable, so if you have a Nook and want to borrow I'd be happy to lend it to you!

Nook Book #6: The Wary Widow

The Wary Widow by Jerrica Knight-Catatonia

 

Length: 215 pages

Format: Nook Book
Price: FREE
Author Website: http://www.jerricasplace.com/ (photo credit) 
WARNING: THIS BOOK DOES NOT HAVE AN ALL AGES RATING!

Basic Premise:  Recently widowed Chloe Hawthorne journeys to London to play chaperone to her soon-to-be-married cousin.  But when she meets her cousin's betrothed, she finds herself in love with a man she can never have.


My Take: 3 out of 10 (scale here)

Ugh.  I need to do a better job of screening books before I read them.  This book is set in Victorian England - a time period I absolutely adore and love to read about.  It follows Chloe Hawthorne, a young widow, and Lord Andrew Wetherby, a pompous, arrogant twit who doesn't have an honorable bone in his body.  The two strike up an affair behind the back of Elizabeth, Chloe's cousin and Andrew's betrothed.  NOT cool.  I was surprised at all the...dirtiness in this book. I am still a novice to the world of adult literature, but I guess I just assumed that a story set back in the day would not include this type of content.  There were several scenes that made me blush.  My main problem with such scenes, aside from the inherent wrongness of what they were doing, is how the attraction between these two people is so fundamentally based on the physical.  There seemed to be very little connection between these two characters otherwise.  That irks me and is not something in which I want to invest my precious reading time.

Nook Book #5: The Vow

The Vow by Kim & Krickitt Carpenter

Length: 107 pages

Format: Borrowed Nook Book
Price: $7.65
Author Website: I found this link on their facebook fan page:
http://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/books/products.asp?p=9781433675799 (photo credit)

Basic Premise:  A newlyweds Kim and Krickitt Carpenter embark on their storybook life together only to find themselves in a horrific car accident.  They suffer many painful injuries, but the most devastating is the loss of Krickitt's memory - she has no recollection of her husband at all.


My Take: 7.5 out of 10 (scale here)

This book was fabulous.  It is a true story of one couple's struggle in overcoming unbeatable odds.  There were several things I loved about this book.  The first was the authenticity of the authors.  They were real and honest.  There were times they were ugly and they laid it all out, and I appreciated that.  The second was their resounding faith.  There is no question these people are followers to the hilt of Jesus Christ.  My favorite faith moment from the book was when Krickitt was recovering from her accident and nothing about her mind was intact except her faith.  Her brother explained that the reason her faith was still so clear to her was that it was part of her soul.  The body can be maimed and mutilated, but the soul cannot be harmed by anything in our physical world.  I love love love that.  The thing I didn't love about this book, and the reason I didn't rate it significantly higher than I did, was the writing style.  It was short, choppy, and at times difficult to follow.  There were details I wanted as a reader that were not addressed.  Things like Krickitt's recovery process were glossed over instead of explained.  There was more than one occasion where I found myself flipping back to see if I'd missed something.  Normally this kind of experience would disenchant me with a book altogether, but the story was so strong I found I didn't mind the missing details all that much after all.

Nook Book #4: War Horse

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Length: 120 pages

Format: Nook Book
Price: $4.99
Author Website: http://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/ (photo credit)

Basic Premise:  Set in Europe during World War I, this story is the eyes of Joey, a well-bred and beautiful farm horse who finds himself torn from his family and thrown into the trenches of the war in France.


My Take: 8 out of 10 (scale here)

Our student reading group at school selected this book as an example of historical fiction.  I really enjoyed War Horse.  It was fresh and very heart-warming.  The writing style was sophisticated and consistent, and it was easy to picture the rolling hills and hear the cannon fire in the distance.  I liked that it was set during World War I, as I don't know much about that period of history, and I liked that it was from the perspective of the horse.  It reminded me of The Call of the Wild by Jack London in that regard.  It was a fast and simple read and it made me want to ride a horse!  It's also lendable, so let me know if you want to borrow!

Nook Book #3: Lovely

Lovely by Allison Liddelle

Length: 136 pages
Format: Nook Book
Price: FREE
Author Website: There doesn't appear to be one, so here's the B&N description (photo credit)

Basic Premise: Young and severely depressed Alice dreams about killing herself constantly.  She somehow gets the chance, time after time, to kill herself in various ways before she realizes that maybe there is something to life that is indeed worth living.


My Take: 2 out of 10
This title is grossly misleading.  I read this book because 1) it was free and 2) the tagline sounded NOTHING like what I wrote above.  By the time I figured out what was really going on, I was 30 or so pages in and figured, "What the heck? It's only another 100 pages.  I might as well read it - maybe it will expand my horizons."  Well, I guess it sort of did.  The tone was DARK DARK DARK (I don't generally do dark) and this girl is seriously depressed.  I think it probably is impossible for people who aren't depressed to understand what it's like to be depressed, but I guess I still find it odd that this girl is constantly dreaming - no, fantasizing - about different ways to end her life.  It's creepy.  It reminded me a little of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, except that I really enjoyed that one. The book is also riddled with profanities and typeos, so much so that I started automatically correcting in my head, much the way I do with my students' writing at school.  Come to find out after I read it, it is a self-published book.  May not have read it if I had realized that to start.

Nook Book #2: Stuck in the Middle

 Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith

Length: 245 pages
Format: Nook Book
Price: FREE!
Author Website: http://www.virginiasmith.org/contempromance.html (photo credit)

Basic Premise: Joan Sanderson is stuck in the middle of dealing with her recent break-up, her sister drama, her lame, boring job, and her ever-increasing feeling that there simply has to be more to life.  When an attractive young doctor moves in next door, Joan is swept off her feet by his good looks and charm, but his deep commitment to his faith causes her more than a moment's pause about her own.


My Take: 7.5 out of 10
This is my second Nook book, but I picked it because, well, it was free. It was the first book on the list that looked interesting to me, so I downloaded it, having no idea (and being pleasantly surprised) that it was a faith-based book.  I liked the simple writing style and the loveable little community of Danville, Kentucky.  I also loved the friendly banter between Joan, her two sisters, her mother, and her OCD grandmother.  Joan's struggles and questions about faith were approached in an honest, realistic manner and God was aptly portrayed as a near and personal God.  I felt a little like the book glossed over the significance of Jesus, but overall I was pleasantly surprised with this free read!

Nook Book #1: Blank Slate Kate

I finished my first book on the Nook!  Here are some of my thoughts on:

Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell

Length: 560 pages
Format: Nook Book
Price: $.99
Author Website: http://www.heatherwardell.com/blank-slate-kate.shtml (photo credit)

Basic Premise: Kate Anderson goes to bed as a 17-year-old and wakes up 15 years later with a strange man in a strange city.  In trying to recover from her drastic memory loss, she finds herself caught up in a love-triangle with the man who found her and the man from a past she doesn't remember.  An internal conflict ensues, beginning a journey of self-discovery and reinvention, hence the title.


My Take: 7 out of 10
I read this book because our newly-formed teacher book club at school selected it. I don't normally read adult fiction (is that what I call it? That sounds...dirty) but I was surprised to find I really enjoyed this book. Part of it was the magic of my new Nook, but most of it was the originality of the story. I found myself really wanting to know what happened to Kate's last 15 years. There was a little more adult content than I am used to (I read young adult literature almost exclusively), but nothing excessive.  My main complaint about the book is its slow start.  After the initial description of her immediate circumstance when she wakes, the book drags its feet for almost 200 pages before picking up.  But once it did, it was very good.  If you have a Nook, let me know and I'll lend it to you!

MY NEW NOOK!

My husband is the best.  Ever.  I have always known this, but today, he gave me yet another piece of evidence to add to my ever-growing list of reasons why.  I have been wanting a Nook for, well, ever.  But we are so cheap that I knew the only way I would get one would be to ask for it as a gift for my birthday, which is still a few months off.  I don't feel bad about wanting one, either.  I am a reader.  If I were someone who only read books occasionally, I would probably not be able to justify owning one.

So today at school, everyone was talking about their Nooks, and I was feeling particularly left out.  I mentioned it to my husband, who immediately offered to buy me one with some bonus money he had received for his hard work last semester.  Is that not the most selfless thing ever?  And he didn't get the cheapest one, either.  He got me the Nook Color!  I can't wait to try this new thing out tonight after Charlie goes to bed!