47. Book Review: A Sudden Light (2014)

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

Synopsis

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. 

 But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.

Review

I picked this book up on a whim from the library recently without having previously heard anything about this book or even having read this authors very popular previous book.  Which is pretty rare for me these days, usually I read on a recommendation.  I love it when I  randomly choose a book and then  absolutely fall in love with it. It is like winning the reading lottery.

This book was beautiful and eloquent and a definite page turner.  To say it is merely a "ghost story" doesn't do it any justice, but is in fact a ghost story in the best way possible. Ghosts, old dilapidated mansions, abandoned cottages, secret passageways and difficult family dynamics are a few of things that make this book irresistible.  I loved, loved, loved this book!  

In addition to an amazing story the author writes so candidly and tenderly about family and family obligations.  This book was an A+ in my book. I highly recommend it.  It's the perfect snuggle up and read by the fire book.  This would be a really great book club read as well… there are so many great opportunities for discussion.

Other books you may like (that are kind of "ghosty" in the best possible way)…

Her Fearful Symmetry

Thirteenth Tale

Bellman & Black 

25. Book Review: The Museum of Extraordinary Things (2014)

The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel by Alice Hoffman

Synopsis

Mesmerizing and illuminating, Alice Hoffman’s The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the story of an electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century. 

 Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the sinister impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk freak show that thrills the masses. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man taking pictures of moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River. 

 The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor’s apprentice. When Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie. 

 With its colorful crowds of bootleggers, heiresses, thugs, and idealists, New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her trademark magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Alice Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

Review

This is the half way point! 25 more books to go!

The synopsis of this book totally hooked me… and I was really excited to dig into this book.  Right away the book drew me in but by about mid-way through this book totally fell flat for me. The tough thing about challenging yourself to read 50 books in a year and then reviewing them is that sometimes the book isn't as good as you wanted it to be and then you have to write about it. It's so hard for me to say even remotely negative things about a book.  I will say that the characters were great, I just loved Eddie, Coralie and Maureen… but the story line felt so terribly slow at some parts and break neck fast at others.  I am glad I read this book as it really was a fascinating story but I wish the story line flowed a little better. I can't ever give a book a "bad" review but I will say that if you read this, prepare yourself for a few slow spots and then hold on tight when the story finally "starts" about 50 pages until the end.

Other books you may like…

The Night Circus

The Swan Gondola: A Novel

11. Book Review: The Swan Gondola (2014)

The Swan Gondola: A Novel by Timothy Schaffert

Synopsis

A lush and thrilling romantic fable about two lovers set against the scandalous burlesques, midnight séances, and aerial ballets of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair. 

 On the eve of the 1898 Omaha World’s Fair, Ferret Skerritt, ventriloquist by trade, con man by birth, isn’t quite sure how it will change him or his city. Omaha still has the marks of a filthy Wild West town, even as it attempts to achieve the grandeur and respectability of nearby Chicago. But when he crosses paths with the beautiful and enigmatic Cecily, his whole purpose shifts and the fair becomes the backdrop to their love affair. One of a traveling troupe of actors that has descended on the city, Cecily works in the Midway’s Chamber of Horrors, where she loses her head hourly on a guillotine playing Marie Antoinette. And after closing, she rushes off, clinging protectively to a mysterious carpetbag, never giving Ferret a second glance. But a moonlit ride on the swan gondola, a boat on the lagoon of the New White City, changes everything, and the fair’s magic begins to take its effect. 

 From the critically acclaimed author of The Coffins of Little Hope, The Swan Gondola is a transporting read, reminiscent of Water for Elephants or The Night Circus. 

 Review 

This was the selection for my book club recently.  I absolutely loved this book (however I will say not everyone agreed at our recent book club meeting). This was just up my alley… with nods to Water for Elephants, Wizard of Oz, The Night Circus, The Devil in the White City and The Great Gatsby - all books which I really enjoyed. The book is part love story and part history lesson on the 1898 World's Fair. It had it's quirky parts (the Emerald Cathedral didn't seem to make a lot of sense - but was definitely a Wizard of Oz reference) and some may say too tidy of an ending. However, the cast of characters was superb, I find myself missing Ferret, Cecily, Dox, August and even Mrs. Margaret. I really enjoyed the adventure the book took the reader on and that makes this a book that I heartily recommend.

Other books you may like…

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

Water for Elephants: A Novel

The Night Circus