To Review: "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom

I was pretty surprised when I saw that Blogging for Books was looking for reviewers for Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

Since Tuesdays with Morrie originally was published in 1997, this year there is a 20th anniversary edition.

I'd read Tuesdays with Morrie when I was in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of Mitch Albom's books, I've also read The Five People You Meet in Heaven and For One More Day.

I'm really looking forward to reading it again now. Look for my review coming soon!

Review: "The Little Paris Bookshop" by Nina George

A novel about love, loss, and the power of books, The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a beautifully poetic piece of writing.

Jean Perdu owns a bookstore barge where he relates to his customers in a unique way - by "prescribing" the books they need and even refusing to sell books that he doesn't believe are right for them. Though perhaps a little pretentious, it's also endearing the way he cares for each person that steps in to his floating bookstore. A new resident, Catherine, moves in to his building and discovers an unopened letter in the table Perdu has given her. Catherine  (kindly) coerces Perdu into a promise that he will read the letter from his lost love, unopened for more than 20 years.

After reading the letter, Perdu sets off on a journey of healing long overdue in his bookshop barge. He gains travel companions and forms friendships along the way, including writing to Catherine daily.

The novel is beautifully written and has a lovely way of describing coping, loving, and accepting. The first part of the novel was a very quick read getting introduced to the unique methods of the bookkeeper and then the rush of setting off on a trip. It did get a little long towards the end, but I guess healing happens in the day to day as well. It was important that the passing time was also shown as part of Perdu's journey. It was a little hard to get through, but worth the journey.

Love is messy in The Little Paris Bookshop, but it is honest and believable. It's not a fairy tale, but there's no doubt about how important the characters are to one another.

The book is packed with extra features at the end: recipes (food and the emotions associated with it is also an important theme), a literary pharmacy (recommendations for about 25 books and what they can help you with), reader's guide, author interview, and an excerpt for the author's next novel (out in 2017).

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.  The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.

Review: "The Fold" by Peter Clines

Peter Clines' The Fold is an exciting sci-fi thriller that will keep you fully immersed until the end. Mike Erikson is hired on by a friend in the government to check up on a highly classified scientific research project. All evidence points to the success of the researchers in building a machine that "fold" dimensions as a way of sort of teleporting people, by jumping across dimensions. Yet, with the extra-high levels of security, something just doesn't feel right.

That's why Mike's on the job, uniquely qualified because he doesn't forget anything ever. Every thing he's ever heard, read, or seen is immediately available for him to recall at any moment.

The mystery of what the research team may be hiding builds through the novel as Mike witnesses the machine in action, and some rather odd occurrences. Things get exponentially stranger as the novel progresses and the machine itself undergoes unexpected changes. As the team struggles to keep things under control, Mike stops reporting his findings and starts trying to save the world.

The fantastical side of the story goes from just the right level of incredible but not ridiculous to wildly "out-there" pretty quickly. I wasn't as much of a fan once mutant space bugs entered the scene. There was also quite a bit of unnecessary and repetitive profanity. It just didn't add anything to the story, and made the characters seem less interesting for not having something substantive to contribute to the situations.

I really enjoyed getting to explore the technology through Mike's eyes and experience the incredible accomplishments of the researchers. The grating sense that something is off permeates every page and keeps the mystery alive. I was invested in the outcome and overall enjoyed the book. After reading this, I'd be interested to check out the author's other novels.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.  The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.

Review: "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

When guys in camouflage pants and hunting hats sat around in the Four Aces Diner talking about the fearsome out-of-doors, I would no longer have to feel like such a cupcake. (4)

After returning to the United States after 20 years of living in the UK, author Bill Bryson decided to reconnect with his homelands by hiking the Appalachian Trail, a 2,100 trek that spans from Georgia to Maine. His unlikely companion is Katz, an old college friend, who knows even less about hiking than Bryson. A Walk in the Woods begins with the pair buying gear they know nothing about and set out into the Georgia wilderness on a snowy March day.

Their limited experience makes for an exciting travelogue that feels like it could be you or me out there in the wilds. Though Bryson describes the harshness of the hike, there's still a certain appeal of the trail that he conveys. Bryson's skill at weaving in trail and local history at the beginning of chapters take the memoir outside of his experience to make larger statements about the environmental, political, and social problems that affect the trail. The way he relates the history of the trail is just as captivating as the prose about his personal experiences.

The people they encounter on and around the trail are just as unique as the trail itself. Bryson's characterization reads like a caricature, focusing on a characteristic, but in a way that somehow still makes them makes them distinct, relatable, and, above all, entertaining. Often, the main feature of a person they meet is the particular way in which they annoy Bryson and Katz, whether its by being over enthusiastic while discussing hiking gear, being inconsiderate when sharing a shelter, or taking incessantly.

For the first half of the book, these factual interludes flow nicely with the day-to-day experiences of hiking on the trail, from Katz hilariously throwing gear over a cliff to make his pack lighter to the abundant excitement they express at coming to a town where they can sleep in a real bed and eat something other than noodles. 

The book is very enjoyable, until part two begins. Part one ends with Bryson and Katz getting off the trail and agreeing to meet up later in the summer to hike another part of it. In part two, Bryson details day hikes he does in between and then finishes with his second week-long hike with Katz. the second half of the book the ratio of personal to factual  is quite different, leaving the story line of Bryson's hiking muddled and disjointed. 

As a non-hiker with interest in, but limited knowledge of, hiking trails and wilderness adventures, I enjoyed the book overall. For the first half, I couldn't put the book down without reading one more day of their trek. The second half was nowhere near as compelling, but a suspenseful ending makes it all worthwhile anyway. 

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.  The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.

About the Author:

Bill Bryson’s bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, Notes from a Small Island, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country, A Short History of Nearly Everything (which earned him the 2004 Aventis Prize), The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, At Home, and One Summer. He lives in England with his wife.

Review: "Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse" by A.L. Kennedy

For anyone with even the slightest familiarity with the Doctor Who series, this book will be a comfortable, easy read.

Featuring the Fourth Doctor, this novel takes place in Arbroath where a large number of guests have been mysteriously disappearing from the golf spa hotel. Junior Day Receptionist Byrony finds it odd that so many people leave their luggage in their rooms, but don't return for it. When an odd man in a hat and scarf appears, Byrony's dream of seeing a real-life spaceship becomes a reality as she teams up with the Doctor and Putta, another alien drawn to the golf spa hotel to figure out why a sand trap is eating people. There is also a massive conscious field that all of them can feel -- sometimes through a splitting headache, sometimes through hearing each other's thoughts, and sometimes hearing the thoughts of the very creature they sought -- the legendary Bah-Sokhar.

It is a whirlwind adventure full of dangerous situations and a problem that reached well beyond the perimeter of the hotel. In true Doctor Who fashion, it is up to these three unlikely companions to band together to save the world. With a romance brewing between Byrony and Putta, an angsty teenager who wants to take over the world, two not-so-human children and their grandmother who has been owned the hotel for far longer than should be possible, there is plenty going on in this 360-page novel.

It is a quick, easy read, filled with mostly very short chapters (that are oddly unnumbered). It doesn't explain a whole lot for someone trying to interact with the Doctor Who series for the first time and most of the things that would make a Doctor Who fan smile would be completely missed by a first-timer. For that reason, I'd recommend it only for someone who has already been introduced, whether through the tv show or other books.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.  The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.