Amodini's Book Reviews

Book Reviews and Recommendations

Book Review : Somebody to love

Written By: amodini - Oct• 25•12

[amazon_link id=”0373776586″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Somebody To Love (Hqn)[/amazon_link]Title : Somebody to love
Author : Kristan Higgins
Genre : Romance
Publisher : Harlequin
Pages : 432
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5

My one guilty pleasure : romance. I don’t read or review them often enough because one is very much like the other – the hero is the swashbuckling knight on the white horse, and the female is a swooning dame; there are a few romances that offer anything new. I’m glad then to have read “Somebody to love”. Yes, it is a very lovey-dovey title, but for all that is quite an interesting romance featuring an independent-minded heroine (with a great sense of humor, what a plus!) and a nice guy hero.

Poor little rich girl Parker Harrington Welles lives in a big home with the apple of her eye, her preschooler Nicky. A single mom and a Harvard graduate, she is also the author of a very successful children’s book series, donating the proceeds of that to charity. Parker’s rich dad Harry Welles is an aloof parent, and they are barely on talking terms. She has no real need to work, but circumstances change when Harry loses his fortune and the trust-funds which were supposed to keep Parker and Nicky in affluence, in a financial scandal. Harry goes to jail and Parker loses her beautiful home and her source of income.

Parker’s only option now to give Nicky and herself some financial stability, is to repair and sell the little shack on the coast of Maine that was willed to her by some distant relative. She discovers that it is a dump and she will require assistance – loads of it. Well, assistance comes, unasked for, in the form of James Cahill, her father’s assistant, or as Parker rudely calls him dad’s minion “Thing One”. James announces his intention of camping out in the shack and helping Parker, to repay the debt he owes Harry. As the summer progresses and Parker and James work on the home together, Parker realizes that James isn’t quite the repulsive lackey she thought he was.

This is a romance novel, so inspite of financial ruin, I’m not expecting clouds of gloom and doom to descend on Parker. That settled, we can concentrate on looking at this primarily from the romantic side. In this I think Higgins comes out shining. The romance is sweet. Parker might have scads of money (or did) but personally she has had a tumultous life. James hasn’t had it easy himself but is a nice, considerate sort of a guy. The characters are believable (barring below problems), although I find the Ethan-Lucy-Parker-Nicky family a bit odd.

I liked Parker’s character – a good person and a great mom, but did see a few logical problems. I would have wished more smarts on her. She’s a Harvard grad and all, but is quite content to leave the reins of her financial future in the hands of a father she doesn’t have a high regard for ? Repulsive “Thing One” comes walking by and announces his intention of moving in with her – she’s living in the shack she wants to renovate – and she just agrees ? So yeah, some issues, but minor in context of the greater goodness of this book.

The book is not heavy event-wise, so it is basically Parker and James, and then more Parker and James. You’d think that things would get repetitive, but they don’t, courtesy Higgins’s witty style of writing. She keeps things quirky and interesting; humor and snark come into play, something I don’t often see in romance genre novels.

If you’re looking for a pure romance novel, I’d highly recommend picking this one up; it is a pleasant, feel-good beach read.

Posted in 3.5_star_rating, arc, books, chick-lit, harlequin, recommended, review, romance | Comments Off on Book Review : Somebody to love

Book Review : In a Fix

Written By: amodini - Oct• 18•12

[amazon_link id=”0765331802″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]In a Fix[/amazon_link]Title : In a Fix (Ciel Hannigan Series)
Author : Linda Grimes
Genre : Fantasy
Publisher : Tor
Pages : 336
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5

Ciel Halligan is an “aura adaptor”, a person with the very special ability to morph into someone else. She uses this to run a business offering her “adaptor” services for hire. As a facilitator, she can smoothen life’s rough edges by morphing into you and getting the job done, whatever the job maybe. Currently it is snagging a marriage proposal for beautiful and wealthy client Mina Worthington. The job isn’t going too well what with the potential groom being kidnapped and their villa (where Ciel and Mina’s fiance Trey are vacationing) being blown to smithereens.

Ciel is determined to get Trey back, but gets some push-back from two of her over-protective adaptor friends Mark and Billy. They’d rather she stay away from trouble leaving the sleuthing to them but Ciel has a mind of her own and uses to get in and out of sticky situations . . .

I’d elected to read this book because of the interesting “aura adaptor” premise. While that is interesting, this book works because of it’s intrepid heroine Ciel She’s a little impetuous and immature at times, but her sparkly, vivacious personality works in this setting. Ciel is in love with CIA agent Mark (he is the older, abler stereotypical hero type) who looks upon her almost as a younger sibling under his charge. Billy, on the other hand, is the wise-cracking almost-peer who, underneath his joking persona, also has feelings for Ciel. Ciels’s elder brother also features in the book and the three of them monitor Ciel like some errant child. She is understandably rebellious.

So this is a romance all bundled together with a mystery, and there’s a fantasy element thrown in. What was different about Ciel’s love story was that after she got cozy with both Mark and later, Billy, she couldn’t actually decide who she preferred. Of course Mark and Billy are no saints either; Billy is a womanizer and Mark has scads of women swooning in his wake. This is quite different from most of the romantic angles that play out in popular books, because generally the woman is devoted to a single man, never mind how many handsome hunks are in pursuit of her, or the fact that her chosen one doesn’t know she exists. Of course this is only book one of the Ciel Hannigan series, so presumably we shall see further romantic development in one direction.

I found the plot of the book a little weak, and the Nordic villains goofy; their plan to take over the world needed some serious retooling, me thinks. Inspite of Ciel getting into various scrapes it didn’t seem like she was going to come to any major harm, so the book played out like some kind of borderline-dangerous romp. It doesn’t set her up as being a serious sleuthing agent but the shit-spewing stunts might work well in a movie.

Still this was a fun book and a quick, easy read. Characters are consistent enough, and Ciel is plucky and likeable and has a sense of humor to boot. I would read another of Ciel’s adventures because of who she is.

Posted in 2012, 3.5_star_rating, arc, books, fantasy, netgalley, new books, review, tor | Comments Off on Book Review : In a Fix

Book Review : Ironskin

Written By: amodini - Oct• 11•12

[amazon_link id=”0765330598″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Ironskin[/amazon_link]Title : Ironskin
Author : Tina Connolly
Genre : Fantasy
Publisher : Tor
Pages : 304
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3/5

Ironskin is of the Victorian-steampunk genre, so it is situated in a time where motor-cars and cameras do exist, but are referenced to as though they were very recent inventions. Into this quasi-modern world, the author introduces the “fey” or magic element.

It has been 5 years since the Great War between the humans and the fey. The fey are apparently only ribbons of light, assuming human-ish forms only for communicating with or killing humans. Jane was injured in that war, trying to save her brother and now protects herself from the resulting curse by shielding part of her face with an ironskin – a mask of moulded iron thought to stop the ill-effects of a fey curse. She obtains a position of governess in the manor of Mr. Rochart, her job being to educate and minister to his fey-struck child Dorie. While there Jane notices that many wealthy, but ugly women come to Rochart, and leave with faces of beauty. He denies his sculpting abilities to Jane, but as Jane finds out more she is faced with a truth which might be the death of them all . . .

Post-read I realize that this was a sort of retelling of Jane Eyre. There are a few similarities, but not so many that it is immediately obvious – I only realized it because of the names of the protagonists. The author gives us a good bird’s eye view of the setting; I could quite visualize the manor and the woods surrounding it. Little touches like the “bluepacks” (fey sources of power) was interesting. The book also has a superb cover – quite arresting and mysterious.

The book developed as a love story initially with great swathes devoted to Jane’s handling of Dorie’s magical powers. The romance angle is threadbare though; Jane and Rochart meet precious few times, and there didn’t seem any palpable chemistry between them. I liked Jane, but Rochart seemed a tad cowardly. For all his talk and worry about Dorie he seemed to spend little time with her; his character was sketched a little thin. Dorie was the character I had the most sympathy for.

The characters could have used more development and the plot had some logical loopholes. I like the premise of the “fey” intermingled with the real world, but it needed more details; it was like I’d missed the memo on “fey” culture. In books which refer to a different culture or world, the “rules” of that world are generally shown to us before or while events take place. Here, and I consider this the book’s greatest problem, we are thrust into an unseen war between the humans and the fey, but fey-ish details are flimsy and thus lack heft.

I read this at a brisk pace. Inspite of the above problems, the first half did keep me interested. It was only in the later half of the book that things unraveled, with Jane dashing hither and thither without sound reasoning. I normally do not read fantasy but this book’s premise drew in. While it was not all I’d hoped for , it might be a good pick for lovers of the fantasy genre.

Posted in 2012, 3_star_rating, arc, books, fantasy, netgalley, new books, review, steampunk, tor | 1 Comment »

Wordless Wednesdays #12

Written By: amodini - Oct• 03•12

Banff, Canada

Posted in 2012, images, usa, wordless_wednesdays | Comments Off on Wordless Wednesdays #12

Book Review : Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Written By: amodini - Sep• 25•12

[amazon_link id=”0307959945″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Dog Stars[/amazon_link]Title : Dog Stars
Author : Peter Heller
Genre : Dystopian
Publisher : Knopf
Pages : 336
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 4.5/5

It’s a dystopian world out there. And there are few survivors, most of the world’s population and wildlife having succumbed to a fatal flu. Those that remain, remain only because they are hardy and resourceful, or because they have “the blood” and nobody can come near them for risk of infection. Our hero is Big Hig, who has lost wife and unborn child to the flu. He survives because he has combined forces with terse neighbor Bruce Bangley, to keep the predators at bay. Bangley brings with him his large arsenal of guns and ammunition and Hig has the “Beast” – his 80 year old four seater Cessna. They enforce a perimeter, and patrol it via land and air, and make short shrift of trespassers. Hig survives year after year with only Bangley, dog Jasper and painful memories for company. Their only other (harmless) human neighbors are a band of people – the Menonites – who have “the blood”, and live within flying distance.

Hig’s plane’s radio is silent, because there is no one around, but he calls out anyway, hoping for a reply. In all these 9 years only once has his call been answered. Repeat mayday calls have not brought about a repeat response. He has almost given hope of finding that lost radio caller, until one day, after one more unexpected loss, Hig, in desperation, decides to fly out beyond the Point of No Return – the point at which he would not have enough fuel to get back – to find other survivors . . .

I elected to read this via NetGalley because of the interesting premise: what happens after the apocalypse? And those that do survive, how do they do it ? Heller paints a vivid picture, via Hig’s words – clipped thought they maybe. Initially there are only two characters, and a dog, and there isn’t much going on except survival, but the book is un-put-down-able. Heller has a way with words, short sentences, casually said, but resonating with feeling :

Sometimes back then, fishing with Jasper up the Sulphur, I hit my limit. I mean it felt my heart might just burst. Bursting is different than breaking. Like there is no way to contain how beautiful. Not it either, not just beauty. Something about how I fit. This little bend of smooth stones, the leaning cliffs. The smell of spruce. The small cutthroat making quiet rings in the black water of a pool. And no need to thank even. Just be. Just fish. Just walk up the creek, get dark, get cold, it is all a piece. Of me somehow.

Hig as the main protagonist, is at once strong and weak. Smart enough to cope with changing circumstances, he is not quite the ruthless survivalist Bangley is; Bangley has to get him out of more than one life-threatening situations. He longs for companionship, unlike trigger-happy Bangley, who is fine with solitude, and not in favor of Hig flying off of on a wild goose chase. But vulnerable as Hig is, Heller builds him up beautifully; you root for him, you cry in his sorrow and laugh in his joy.

Hig’s story, because that is what “Dog Stars” is, boils down to one main idea – that of hope. Even after devastating loss, in dire desolation and faced with lonely reality, hope survives. Hig must chance the one thing left to him – his life – to justify that emotion.

This is a magnificent novel and an uplifting read. Highly recommended.

Posted in 2012, 4.5_star_rating, arc, books, dystopian, knopf, must read, random_house, recommended, review | 3 Comments »

DAYA’s Free Seminar on Anger Management

Written By: amodini - Sep• 11•12

[amazon_link id=”1886298041″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Anger Busting 101: The New ABC's for Angry Men & the Women Who Love Them[/amazon_link]For folks in Houston here is a free seminar on Anger Management this Saturday, courtesy DAYA:

Don’t Cry Foul, Learn to Dodge Life’s Curve Balls

A seminar to help men and women play fair in the face of anger

Saturday, September 15, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location:
Hilton Southwest, 6780 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77074-2102

 

Featured Speakers:
Newton Hightower, LCSW, LPC, LMFT, CART
Founder/Director, Center for Anger Resolution
Author, Anger Busting 101: New ABCs for Angry Men and the Women who Love Them
A prolific speaker and trainer with 35 years experience in counseling, Newton is a sought- after expert on anger management. His acclaimed book Anger Busting 101 won the 2002 best self-help book award by the Independent Book Publishers Association. http://www.angerbusters.com

Anjali Pinjala, Ph.D.
Senior Director of Psychotherapy, Legacy Community Health Services
Adjunct Faculty, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Founder of Texas Child and Family Institute in 2000, Anjali counsels
adults and is a specialist in bullying prevention, crisis incident stress debriefing and conflict resolution. She is a state-level presenter on these topics.

To register, go here.

About DAYA : DAYA promotes healthy family relationships in the South-Asian community by providing services that include counseling, referrals, legal advocacy, and financial support to women and children affected by family violence and sexual assault. Daya also promotes awareness on topics relevant to the welfare of South Asian families through educational seminars, publications, and outreach events.

Posted in 2012, culture and society, women | Comments Off on DAYA’s Free Seminar on Anger Management

Wordless Wednesdays #11

Written By: amodini - Sep• 05•12

Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver

Posted in 2012, images, usa, wordless_wednesdays | Comments Off on Wordless Wednesdays #11

Book Giveaway : Tana French’s Broken Harbor

Written By: amodini - Aug• 28•12

[amazon_link id=”0670023655″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Broken Harbor: A Novel[/amazon_link]I’ve been looking forward to reading Tana French’s “Broken Harbor”, so am pretty excited to be able to offer this book as a giveaway to my readers (courtesy publisher Viking Books)! French is a master of atmospheric mystery and suspense, and author of books like Faithful Place and The Likeness. Here is a little about her new book :

BROKEN HARBOR opens with Scorcher and his newly assigned rookie partner, Richie Curran, being called to a gruesome triple homicide of the Spain family in Brianstown, a seaside town outside of Dublin , locally known as Broken Harbor .

At the crime scene the father, Pat, is found fatally stabbed, the mother, Jenny, is barely alive, and the two young children, Emma and Jack, have been smothered to death. Early investigation points directly to the suspect and voyeur, Conor Brennan, who is obsessed with Jenny and has been stalking her. As is always true in Tana French novels, the most obvious suspect isn’t necessarily the culprit.

Tana French is a master of intricate relationships and has a true gift in making unlikeable characters, like Scorcher— an over-confident, unimaginative, and by-the-book detective—appear sympathetic. She integrates Scorcher’s own broken past and present turmoil into the narrative. His attempts to come to grips with his mother’s suicide, save his mentally unstable younger sister as she spirals out of control, and face his childhood memories of Broken Harbor form a window into his flawed humanity.. However, it’s Scorcher’s own past, prejudices and family that influence how he investigates the Spain murders and reveals the culprit.

BROKEN HARBOR is story of how the dreams of a better life can collapse, of how a modern family can fall prey to the most modern of curses, and how one man – the ideal detective – can fall to pieces.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tana French is the author of three bestselling novels, including the award-winning In the Woods. She has won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for Best First Novel and the IVCA Clarion Award for Best Fiction, and has twice been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award for Best Mystery/Thriller. She lives in Dublin with her husband and daughter.

If you’d like to win this book, please do one of these three things :

1. Leave me a comment with contact info (email, blog etc.). I will read these comments but they will not be published, so you don’t have to worry about your personal information becoming public.

2. Email me your contact information (here’s my email).

3. Follow me on twitter (@amodini) and tweet me your interest in winning this book.

You must have a US address (non P.O. box address) to be eligible to win this book. The giveaway will run till the end of September 2012, after which a random winner will be chosen and notified. Enter now!

Posted in 2012, arc, books, giveaway, mystery, penguin_books, viking_books | 3 Comments »

Truth alone triumphs . . .

Written By: amodini - Aug• 22•12

I’ve been watching Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate regularly since it started. Public figures and Bollywood stars often shy away from telling it like it is so I can’t appreciate him enough for stepping up and speaking up about various ills so ingrained in Indian society. He has so far done shows on various issues like female foeticide, dowry, child sexual abuse, sensitivity towards the disabled/differently abled, state of healthcare, honor killings/harassment. If you don’t have access to this show on television, do go watch the episodes on Youtube – each episode is available in it’s entirety (about an hour per show) here.

Here is a bit of the show on domestic violence where Kamala Bhasin talks of the effects of patriarchy on men and women :

Posted in 2012, culture and society, india, recommended, tv, women | 3 Comments »

Book Review : The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection

Written By: amodini - Aug• 15•12

[amazon_link id=”0307378403″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (13)[/amazon_link]Title : The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
Author : Alexander McCall Smith
Genre : Contemporary
Publisher : Pantheon
Pages : 257
Source : Library
Rating : 4/5

The 13th book in the series, The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection has Mma Ramotswe caught up again in a bunch of mysteries. The first one involves Mma Potokwane who, after her opposition to some of the board’s decisions, has unceremoniously been removed as the head of the orphan farm. Meanwhile Mma Makutsi and her husband Phuti Radiphuti are building their new home. However their builder, who touts his building standards as being of the highest quality, is reluctant to have them come onsite to inspect the building work and rebuffs all Mma Makutsi’s overtures to find out about the construction. Mma Makutsi is sure that there is something fishy going on.Then there is the incident where Fanwell, the hard-working mechanic in Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni’s garage is arrested by the police for his connection to a stolen car.

All these chaotic happenings, one coming after the other leave the sleuths of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency quite spent. And to top it all, Mma Ramotswe has been having dreams of a tall, white stranger, who, amazingly, soon lands up at their doorstep. He is the famous Clovis Anderson, the author of Mma Ramotswe’s bible “Principles of Private Detection”. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are quite awestruck seeing the great detective in their midst; he has come all the way from Indiana, America to Africa. When Mma Ramotswe looks forward to his suggestions on her cases, he himself has some problems that she can help with.

Mma Ramotswe goes about resolving the mysteries with her equanimity and good sense. Her words, pertinent and sound reflect the values of her home country of Botswana, and the great love she (and others) feel for it. With Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Detective series, one comes to expect a certain sort of a book. Interesting, questioning and beautiful. This one is no less.Highly recommended.

But they were all human, just as she was, and the real issue was whether they were doing their best. Mma Ramotswe felt that as long as you did your best, then it was not too important if you below the standards that others might expect of you. What mattered was doing your best and then, if your best turned out to be not very good, at least admitting it and trying a bit harder next time.

Posted in 2012, 4_star_rating, books, favorites, must read, pantheon_books, random_house, recommended, review, women | Comments Off on Book Review : The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
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