Author: Andrew Clements
Title: Things hoped for
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Rating: 4
Summary: I have to admit I’ve been putting off reading this book for almost two years. This is a sequel to Andrew Clements’ book, Things Not Seen, which I really liked. I was excited when this one came out but once I’d read the back cover I had a sneaking feeling I’d be disappointed, because it sounded like it lacked that "zing" that made the first one so interesting.
Happily I was wrong. A plot summary can’t do this plot justice without giving away too much. Read Things Not Seen first, though. This book should appeal to sixth graders and perhaps those a bit older or younger.
Author: Stephen Turnbull
Title: The Walls of Constantinople: AD 324-1453
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Rating: 3
Summary: This is an extremely specialized book about the construction and defense of the walls around Istanbul (Constantinople) from the time the first walls were built in 324 AD until the Turks conquered Constantinople, bringing the Byzantine Empire to a close. The book offers a lot of diagrams, photos, and descriptions of the state preservation and restoration of the walls.
Author: Jason Goodwin
Title: The Snake Stone
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Rating: 4
Summary: Yashim the eunuch is back in this sequel to the Janissary Tree. Like the Janissary Tree, this novel is set in 19th century Istanbul. Yashim stumbles onto a mystery when a man appears at his doorstep pleading for help to escape the city. Yashim assists the man and books his passage on a ship out of the city, only to discover that he was the last person to see the man alive before he was brutally murdered. Recognizing that he will be the prime suspect, Yashim rushes to find the man’s killers, knowing that his own protector, the sultan, is on his deathbed. The story winds through and below the streets of Istanbul exploring the relations between the Greeks and the Turks and the secret societies that hold the city together. Like the Janissary Tree, this is a fascinating glimpse into Ottoman society and is recommended for anyone who enjoys exploring new environments and other times.
Author: John M. Hull
Title: Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness
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Rating: 5
Summary: Astonishing. Really.
Author: Jenny White
Title: The Abyssinian Proof
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Rating: 4
Summary: I have very mixed feelings about this one. It begins as a fascinating mystery set in late 19th century Istanbul. A local magistrate, Kamil Pasha, is charged with breaking up a ring of antiquities smuggling. Thefts of antiquities are causing tension between religious groups, and Kamil is drawn into the thick of it when one of his close friends becomes a target.
Author: Jodi Picoult
Title: Harvesting the Heart
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Rating: 4
Summary: This is one of Picoult’s early books, and I think some readers of her later books may find that her characteristic style and edge is not thoroughly developed yet in this book. Nevertheless, the story is enjoyable and a worthwhile read.
Paige O’Toole and her father were abandoned by her mother when Paige was 5. This legacy hangs over Paige and shortly after the birth of her first child, it prompts her to take a journey away from home herself to find her lost mother and discover how she can be a mother herself.
Author: Jason Goodwin
Title: The Janissary Tree
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Rating: 5
Summary: This fascinating mystery is based in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire in 1836. Yashim, a eunuch in the Sultan’s court, is charged with solving a series of murders that threaten the stability of the Empire. The Janissaries, an elite fighting force that became a liability to the Empire, had been crushed 10 years before, but there is evidence that they are still around and may be rising again. Meanwhile the Russians are stirring, and a death in the harem suggests the possibility of a plot brewing there as well.
The book features a peculiar cast of characters, including a transvestite dancer and the ambassador of Poland, who is still enjoying the hospitality of the sultan, despite the invasion and occupation of his country and dissolution of the rest of his government.
The author, Goodwin is a historian of Byzantine and Ottoman history, and vividly paints the period and places of 19th century Constantinople. I’m sure this book appealed to me particularly because of my familiarity with many of the places mentioned, but I think most readers would find it to be a fascinating glimpse into a different time and way of life.
Author: Stephanie S. Tolan
Title: Surviving the Applewhites
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Rating: 4
Summary: This is a fun read about Jake Semple, a juvenile delinquent who has been kicked out of more schools than he can count, and plans to get himself kicked out of any school he has the misfortune to encounter in the future. When he is sent to live with his grandfather in North Carolina, Jake Semple runs into a school that is every bit his match. The Applewhite clan, an eccentric free-wheeling family homeschooling their kids in their own unstructured "Creative Academy," is unruffled and unimpressed by Jake’s "rebel" persona, and he finds himself both disgusted and intrigued by their way of life.
When Randolf Applewhite, directing a local multicultural production of the Sound of Music, is barred from the local theater, the family pitches in to stage the production in their barn. In the process, Jake learns a few things about himself and begins to find himself accepted in the family.
Author: Anne Lamott
Title: Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
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Rating: 4
Summary: I appreciate Anne Lamott’s humor and her willingness to reveal her own experiences struggling with faith. Probably many readers would find her frequent frequent mention of her fear, anger, and hatred toward George Bush tedious, although it’s clear she is struggling to find a way to love someone she finds unlovable and frightening, and this is a long process. Overall I find her discussions on the life of faith reassuring, because in many ways they feel more like my own journey than do the pious reflections of those who seem infinitely more certain and confident of everything than I am.
Author: J.K. Rowling
Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: Definitely entertaining. I particularly like the scenes with Dudley ;-)
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Title: The Year of Secret Assignments
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Rating: 4
Summary: This is a light and fun read about a pen-pal project between two high schools. The students are guaranteed confidentiality but when one student assumes a fake name and starts threatening another, concerns rise. Eventually the conflict escalates and the school administrators decide to take matters into their own hands to protect the students.
Author: Terry Pratchett
Title: The Truth
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Rating: 5
Author: Deb Caletti
Title: Wild Roses
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Rating: 4
Summary: Dino Cavalli, virtuoso violinist and the step-father of Cassie Morgan, is descending into mental illness. Cassie and her mother try to protect Dino's reputation while attempting to survive his increasingly odd behavior. For Cassie, this becomes increasingly difficult when Ian Waters shows up for lessons from Dino. Ian is guarding his own secrets. As Cassie and Ian's relationship deepens, Cassie is forced to choose between her loyalty to Dino and her affection for Ian. The story comes to a striking conclusion as Dino's paranoia reaches its peak.
The depiction of a family living with mental illness in this novel is fairly accurate and striking. I appreciated Cassie's struggles over her loyalties and questions about her mother's loyalty to her. These are some of the types of conflicts faced daily by families with mental illness.
Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
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Rating: 5
Summary: The Mysterious Benedict Society, the prequel to this novel, was one of my favorites from last year, so I was thrilled to discover this one.]
In the first book four orphans are recruited through newspaper ads to take on a mysterious task. Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance (now 3 years old) reunite in this book for a celebration with their mentor, Mr. Benedict. The celebration rapidly becomes a desperate search for Mr. Benedict, who has been kidnapped by his nemesis and twin brother, Mr. Curtain.
In this adventure the four must use their wits and discover their hidden talents to outsmart the nefarious Mr. Curtain and his "Ten Men" (evil executives bearing deadly briefcases, ties, and pencils). Following the clues left behind by Mr. Benedict, the four cross the seas to Portugal, Holland, and Scotland in search of a mysterious and rare plant. This is a captivating read and quite entertaining.
This isn’t a "movie book" but ought to be. Keep your eyes and ears open for a trailer.
Author: Meg Cabot
Title: Size 12 Is Not Fat
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Rating: 4
Summary: This is definitely Chick Lit, and those who disdain such fare might as well stop reading here. I must confess, though, that by the end of an academic year my brain is ready for some fluff.
Heather Wells, a former teen pop star, is in desperate financial straits after her mother runs off to Argentina with her money and her manager. She ends up taking a position as an assistant director of a dorm (er ... excuse me, "residence hall") in NYC. When freshman girls start dying in odd ways Rachel feels bound to investigate.
Heather Wells, a former teen pop star, is in desperate financial straits after her mother runs off to Argentina with her money and her manager. She ends up taking a position as an assistant director of a dorm (er ... excuse me, "residence hall") in NYC. When freshman girls start dying in odd ways Rachel feels bound to investigate.
One of the enjoyable aspects of this book for me was the setting on a college campus, and all the oddities that go along with higher education. The college president (who always wears a college tank top or t-shirt so he can "relate" to the students) gets a lot of press for choosing to live in one of the residence halls alongside the students. What the media doesn't reveal, though, is that he and his wife have a top floor penthouse and have insisted on an elevator override key so they don't have to share the elevator with students. The president's wife appears drunk in the lobby at all hours of the day, a fact which the residence hall staff is honor bound to cover up.
It's not great literature, but it's fun and light summer reading, and is just right to decompress from the academic year.