BookWeazle
Archive for April 2008
Snow Flower & the Secret Fan ****
Book description: See’s engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or “old sames”) Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women and their betrayal by pride and love. While granting immediacy to Lily’s voice, See (Flower Net) adroitly transmits historical background in graceful prose. Her in-depth research into women’s ceremonies and duties in China’s rural interior brings fascinating revelations about arranged marriages, women’s inferior status in both their natal and married homes, and the Confucian proverbs and myriad superstitions that informed daily life. Beginning with a detailed and heartbreaking description of Lily and her sisters’ foot binding (”Only through pain will you have beauty. Only through suffering will you have peace”), the story widens to a vivid portrait of family and village life. Most impressive is See’s incorporation of nu shu, a secret written phonetic code among women—here between Lily and Snow Flower—that dates back 1,000 years in the southwestern Hunan province (”My writing is soaked with the tears of my heart,/ An invisible rebellion that no man can see”). As both a suspenseful and poignant story and an absorbing historical chronicle, this novel has bestseller potential and should become a reading group favorite as well.
My review: A beautifully poignant book about friendship, love, sisterhood and saving face. Some readers may be put off by the foot binding that takes place. It must be understood that in those times, this was an acceptable act of beautification done only by the upper classes in China. Much like plastic surgery, body piercing and tattoos are today. This book is one of my favorites and one I will be sure to re-read in the future.
Book Mark it-> del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkListRogue- Rachel Vincent ****
Okay, so cats don t always land on their feet. I know that better than most. Since rejoining the Pride, I ve made big decisions and even bigger mistakes: the kind paid for with innocent lives. As the first and only female enforcer, I have plenty to prove to my father, the Pride, and myself. And with murdered toms turning up in our territory, I m working harder than ever, though I always find the energy for a little after-hours recreation with Marc, my partner both on- and off-duty.But not all of my mistakes are behind me. We re beginning to suspect that the dead are connected to a rash of missing human women and that they can all be laid at my feet–two or four, take your pick. And one horrible indiscretion may yet cost me more than I can bear…
A very good follow up to the first book.
Book Mark it-> del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkListStray- Rachel Vincent ****
Book Mark it-> del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkListVincent’s debut, an urban werecat fantasy, is a good story that suffers from about 200 pages of bloat. Faythe Sanders is a Texas grad student with a secret: she’s a shape-shifting werecat. After she’s attacked by a Stray—a werecat without ties to any pride—Faythe’s father, the Pride Alpha, orders her to return to the family compound. As it turns out, two other werecat tabbies have gone missing, indicating an organized effort by the formerly go-it-alone Strays. The author’s world building is intriguing but overly narrow, reducing the range of jungle feline behavior to a keen territorial instinct. Secondary characters abound, including Faythe’s intended, formerly human werecat Marc; five years earlier, she escaped the pride on what was supposed to be the eve of their wedding. Unfortunately, they both have frustrating character tics that are only exacerbated by the novel’s length: Faythe is more often too-stubborn-to-live than kick-ass, and all the tears Marc wells up over Faythe don’t forgive his insufferable jealousy. A polished tale may hide within this one, but Vincent needs to rein herself in a bit if she wants to build a readership.
Bad Blood-L. A. Banks {Book 1} 4 stars
Sasha Trudeau knows all about working beneath the shadows, back-alley deals, and things that go bump in the night. She also knows that the world is unaware of the existence of the paranormal—and that the government would like to keep it that way. As a highly trained Special Ops soldier, Sasha and her team are an elite group of individuals who are survivors of werewolf attacks, now trained to be loyal to only to each other and their government. But when she returns from a solo mission, she finds that her team has mysteriously gone missing. Shocking government conspiracies, double-dealing vampires, and a host of stunning revelations about who—and what—she really is are only just the beginning…
L. A. Banks has yet to fail me in one of her books. This book is no exception. Fast paced with a new and intriguing spin on the werewolf myths. As always, Ms. Banks provides good detail and descriptions for her characters. You feel as if you know them and root for them to win. If you haven’t read her before, this is a good place to start. Also check out her Vampire Huntress Legend series. Phenomenal writing!
Book Mark it-> del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkListThe Last Empress - Anchee Min
At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by humiliating foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid.
Moving from the intimacy of the concubine quarters into the spotlight of the world stage, Orchid makes a dramatic metamorphasis from a strong-willed woman to a wise political leader, who must not only face the perilous condition of her fading empire but also a series of devastating personal losses. Yearing to step aside yet growing constantly into her role, only she can hold the nation’s rival factions together.
In this sequal to the bestselling novel Empress Orchid, Anchee Min brings to life one of the most important figures in Chinese history, a very human leader who assumes power reluctantly, and who sarifices all she has to protect both those she loves and her doomed empire.
When I first read this book, I couldn’t put it down. I had read the previous book about Orchid with pleasure, as I find Min’s writing style both easy to read and also vivid in the pictures it paints. I found the book interesting, as like a lot of what I read it’s historical fiction, but unlike a lot of Western Monarchs portrayed in fiction there is a different edge to Orchid. Anchee Min has dramatised the Last Empress’s life in a sympathetic and positive way, making me want to know more about this woman who ruled such a huge nation.
I would recommend both books as a interesting story that draws you in, with plenty of varied characters to keep you hooked.
Review submitted by Hattie
Book Mark it-> del.icio.us | Reddit | Slashdot | Digg | Facebook | Technorati | Google | StumbleUpon | Window Live | Tailrank | Furl | Netscape | Yahoo | BlinkListHeart Shaped box-Joe Hill 3 stars
Stoker-winner Hill features a particularly merciless ghost in his powerful first novel. Middle-aged rock star Judas Coyne collects morbid curios for fun, so doesn’t think twice about buying a suit advertised at an online auction site as haunted by its dead owner’s ghost. Only after it arrives does Judas discover that the suit belonged to Craddock McDermott, the stepfather of one of Coyne’s discarded groupies, and that the old man’s ghost is a malignant spirit determined to kill Judas in revenge for his stepdaughter’s suicide. Judas isn’t quite the cad or Craddock the avenging angel this scenario makes them at first, but their true motivations reveal themselves only gradually in a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations. Hill (20th Century Ghosts) gives his characters believably complex emotional lives that help to anchor the supernatural in psychological reality and prove that (as one character observes) “horror was rooted in sympathy.” His subtle and skillful treatment of horrors that could easily have exploded over the top and out of control helps make this a truly memorable debut.
I waited a while to get this book purely for the reason that I know who his father is, but I am glad I waited no longer. His style, while similar to that of dad’s earlier writings, is quite good in it’s own right. A new generation of writers of the creepy is emerging, and I for one, can’t wait to see what Mr. Hill summons up next.
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