Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Tuesday, March 27, 2018 0 comments
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman



The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Publisher: William Morrow Books
Publication Date: 06-18-2013
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past come flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie - magical, comforting, wise beyond her years - promised to protect  him, no matter what. {Goodreads}

I've been working on putting this review together for the better part of a month. Possibly because the book is just that good and anything I saw would be inadequate. It's possible I could just put NEIL GAIMAN and be done. However, I feel I should at least make some effort at telling you why it's awesome. So today's post will be a bullet review. I can get my thoughts out without the added pressure of complete paragraphs.

  • Definitely a modern fairy tale a la the Brothers Grimm. Fantastical and out there and not at all sunshine and rainbows. With no guarantee that everything will turn out okay in the end. 
  • Excellent suspense - I was actually holding my breath at one point. I found it was more intense than The Graveyard Book and absolutely aimed at an older crowd. 
  • Neil Gaiman write the most beautiful prose and this as some of the best I've read. 
  • I didn't realize this until the end but the main character telling the story is never named, nor are any of his family members. They aren't given much physical description, either. I found this lets you become more involved in other details and even with the characters, because they could truly be anyone existing in any time. 
  • The story-line is one that leaves you marveling at the author's creativity. Gaiman states that this is a story that has been brewing in his mind for years, which I find amazing. It's unique in its concepts and plays with how we remember events and the role it plays in our future. The act of remembering can be just as powerful, if not more so, than the experience itself, but do we always need to hang on to them all? Are we still changed by it in the end, regardless? 

Review: Fatherland by Robert Harris

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 0 comments
cover art fatherland by robert harris
Fatherland by Robert Harris
Published: 05/26/1992
Publisher: Hartorch
Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller
Source: Personal Library
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What would the world look like if the victors of history were different? For instance, what would the world be like if Germany had won World War II? If all the revelations that took place after Russia and the US liberated the concentration and extermination camps had never come to light? This is the question Robert Harris posits in Fatherland, and the answer is spine-chilling.

I love a good historical fiction novel, especially one about World War II and/or post-war Nazism. Probably because the mindset is so bizarre and foreign from my own. Fatherland dives head-first into the Nazi mindset to create a world where Adolf Hitler never died and Germany won WWII over other world powers.

Set in 1964, Berlin is preparing to celebrate Hitler's 75th birthday, a time of revelry and celebration that goes on for days. In addition, President Joseph Kennedy has decided to come to Germany following the celebrations on a peacemaking visit. Berlin Detective Xavier March is called out in the early morning hours to investigate the drowning of a former Nazi leader. Within hours the Gestapo declares they have taken over the investigation and orders March off the case. Detective March doesn't listen very well, though, and continues to investigate not only the drowning, but other deaths that took place in the days leading up to the celebrations. Teaming up with an American journalist Charlie Macguire, March risks his own life to finally ask the hard questions and uncover the truth behind the Nazi regime.

Most of the characters in Harris' book are real historical figures - party leaders and high-level Nazi - who either died in the war, were executed  after the Nuremburg trials, or escaped capture. The research undertaken to write the novel is unbelievable. Harris uses journals, correspondence, and official documents to create his story. The most chilling part of the book is the realization that these were the actual thoughts and beliefs of the Nazi regime. The Gestapo and police structure of Nazism remains in place. Laws regarding ethnicity are still in place. People can be arrested if a Gestapo member thinks they might one day turn against the regime. It's really quite horrifying.

This was a fantastic and gripping read. It puts you in the mind of a German citizen realizing the atrocities committed by their government for the first time. It's emotional and heavy, but brilliantly written. I'm looking forward to exploring more of Robert Harris's writing.

Literary Vows

Saturday, March 10, 2018 2 comments
When it comes to books and movies, I'm something of a purist. For example, I pretend the third Anne of Green Gables movie doesn't exist and am positive L. M. Montgomery rolled over in her grave the moment it hit the airwaves. Jar Jar Binks was a Stars Wars travesty. I'm always traumatized by a Doctor regeneration. And who on earth came up with the idea to set the Burrow on fire when it did not happen that way in the book?!

One of my biggest oppositions has always been the myriad of books that continue the story of the main Jane Austen characters. Why would you mess with perfection?! Sure, I'm curious as to what family life would have been like in the Knightly household, but if Jane Austen had wanted us to have that information she would have written it.

You guys...I strayed. I broke my long-standing literary vows.

I read Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James...and liked it.

Maybe it was because P. D. James is such an acclaimed mystery writer. Maybe my curiosity got the better of me. I'm still not sure what exactly made me decide to give the booka try, but I'm quite glad I did. James did such a good job of mimicking the style of Jane Austen. The characters felt like coming home again and it was delightful. I also disliked Lydia just as much as I did in Pride and Prejudice.

Death Comes to Pemberley (Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble) revisits the Darcys, Bennetts, and Bingleys several years after the end of Pride and Prejudice. The normal family life at Pemberley is interrupted by the arrival of a wildly driven carriage and a hysterical Lydia Wickham, screaming that her husband has been shot in the Pemberley woods. The book then begins to investigate the murder of George Wickham. The unfolding mystery shows the skill of P. D. James's long career and has a very satisfying ending.

I'm not sure I'll completely take leave of my senses and dive headfirst into the wide array of books continuing the stories of Jane Austen, but I'm glad I gave this one a shot. It definitely made me want to check out more of P. D. James's writing! Her virtues are repeatedly extolled by my beloved Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, which is really all the recommendation one needs. Having now read some of her writing, I can say Jessica is right - P. D. James is wonderful.

Review: The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James

Thursday, March 8, 2018 0 comments
Cover art for The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Published: 03/06/2012
Publisher: New American Library
Genre: Mystery / Romance
Goodreads ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon

Sarah Piper is a young woman living in in post-World War I London. Outside of the jobs she gets through a temp agency, Sarah doesn't get out much. When a job offer appears, she heads out to the interview oblivious to the life-changing experience that awaits her. Sarah accepts a job as an assistant for Alistair Gellis, a ghost hunter heading out to investigate reports of a rather disruptive ghost in the British countryside. They are later joined by his usual (and quite moody) assistant Matthew Ryder. The three must figure out what is holding the spirit of Maddy Clare to the barn where she took her own life in an effort to stop the torment of Maddy's former employer. Things turn dangerous as the investigation proceeds and it is eventually up to Sarah and Matthew to bring about resolution to the mystery and haunting of Maddy Clare.

After finishing The Broken Girls, I launched into a week-long Simone St. James reading binge. It made for a really fun week, I highly recommend it.

The atmosphere of the story was incredibly creepy. I will probably think twice before walking into a barn for awhile. Ms. St. James knows how to integrate the paranormal into the story line while making it believable and giving the reader chills. The story of Maddy Clare was intriguing and tragic, and the reader is able to find empathy with the character even though she's doing her best to torment others.

Even though I'm not generally drawn to romance novels, The Haunting of Maddy Clare was pretty good. I didn't find myself getting overly frustrated with the progress of the romance. It helped that the characters were very well developed independently of the love story.

For more about Simone St. James, check out her website.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Quotes

Tuesday, March 6, 2018 2 comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to The Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

I was so excited to see this week's topic! I love collecting quotes and started when I was in high school. I have them written everywhere - in notebooks or on post-its and napkins. The challenge comes in just picking ten! I could probably go on and on all day with quotes, but I decided to choose some from some of my favorite authors and books. So, here they are. My Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes.

"'One must always be careful of books,' said Tessa, 'and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.'" ~ Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare


"Of course it is happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"                               ~ Dumbledore,  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling



"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic." ~ Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature." ~Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen


Reading or watching, this part  makes me happy

"I don't want sunbursts or marble halls, I just want you." ~ Anne Shirley, Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery





"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain!" ~ Arthur Weasley, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes." ~ Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (This quote perfectly captures the drama of Anne Shirley - it's one of my favorites. I say it over in times of trial to comfort myself. See what I did there?)

"Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure." ~ Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling


"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feeling will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." ~ Fitzwilliam Darcy, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen


"'After all,' Anne had said to Marilla once, 'I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.'" ~ Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery

And now for a bonus quote! It's not from a book per se, but from Jane Austen's letters:

"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal."

Jane Austen is my spirit animal.  
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