Music & Silence

Music & Silence by Rose Tremain
Winner of the 1999 Whitebread Award for Novel
Genre: Adult Fiction

Summary from flap of book:

Winner of the Whitebread Novel of the Year Award, Music & Silence is the story of a young English lutenist named Peter Claire who in 1629 arrives at the Danish Court to join King Christian IV's Royal Orchestra. From the moment he realizes that the musicians have to perform in a freezing cellar underneath the royal apartments, he understands that he's come to a place where the opposing states of light and dark, good and evil, are waging war to the death. Designated the King's "Angel" because of his good looks, he finds himself falling in love with the young women who is the companion of the King's adulterous and estranged wife, Kirsten. With his loyalties fatally divided, how will Peter Claire find the path that will realize his hopes and save his soul?

I do not think that this summary is very adequate for this book, in that it is giving you the false idea that this book is mainly about Peter Claire, when it is in truth about a wide array of characters. This is a novel, of many stories about lovers and love, about good and evil. There are many villainous characters in this story, many of which happen to be women, one of the main villains happens to be the almost-Queen, Kirsten. Although she isn't so much a villain as she is a selfish brat who expects people to be 100% devoted to her and let no one or thing share in that and who's only concern is herself 110% of the time. The book is an unwinding of and revelations of many characters who are all connected in some way, and in the end you feel satisfied that everyone got exactly what they wanted and quite possibly what they deserved. The characters that you will love are, indeed Peter Clare and his love, Emilia. Below is my favorite excerpt of this book, and actually does reveal Rose Tremains beautiful writing style:

"Then they stand just apart and stare at each other, and wonder whether they feel as Adam felt and as Eve felt when they contemplated themselves in paradise, and knew that, of all the wonders God had created, the man and the woman were the most extraordinary. They do not feel the shiver of autumn in the air. They are only distantly aware of the luminous sky and the white doves. One of the golden pheasants lets out a loud, irritable squawk (as though it thought that it, with all its superior finery, should be the object of their rapture) but they pay it no attention. They are face to face with all that they have longed for through the summer and they let it hold them perfectly still, as though caught in a trance, as though they might stand that way for ever."

I cannot say that I loved this book, but I did like it. I think the part that bothered me was how the book would jump from one person's point-of-view to the next at very short intervals, it almost felt soap opera-ish in that aspect. I don't mind seeing the story, or in this case, many stories unfold in a single book under different points-of-view, but this felt much to choppy and my attention for the book would start to wane. When asked by my husband if I liked this book, my response was, "well the fact that it took so long for me to read should partially answer this question." But the fact that I indeed did finish the books indicates that the book was worth of reading. And of course you don't need me to tell you that, it IS an award winner. While I may have had a hard time with the books jumpiness, and I definitely would not rate this book among my favorites, this book is surely worth your time!

Brief update...

I'm here. I'm alive. I'm currently reading Music and Silence. I read a review on another blog about this book and decided I wanted to give it a try. I like it okay so far.....but I'm not going to go into that right now. :) I've just got a lot of stuff going on that is preventing me from getting some reading done. Good news is, I believe I have a job! I say "believe" because it's pending a reference/background check. I have confidence I'll make it through that well enough.

Can't can't wait for November 21st. Twilight, here we come! I was in Wal-Mart today and was stopped right in my tracks when I saw a poster of "Edward" and another of "Edward & Bella." Hello - 28 year old mother wanting to scream like a school-girl here. Crazy, I know.

SO that's, that. I'm going to get reading so I can get back to reviewing. Don't forget about my "Water for Elephants" giveaway!

Book Survey

Ok Readers,

I challenge you all to answer a few questions for me. I know you’re out there, so join the party. Link to your blog, and invite your readers to come here and share their answers. And I'll make it a contest! You fill this out and leave a comment I'll randomly select one person to receive a copy of Water for Elephants.
1. What’s your favorite genre?
2. What books won’t you touch?
3. Did you read series books as a child/YA? If so, what was your favorite?
4. Do you have a favorite book blog? Why do you like it? (give us a link, please)
5. Is there a favorite character that you identify with or would love to meet? Do tell!

Here are my answers

1. What’s your favorite genre?
Hmm...is there a "drama" genre? I'd say I lean towards Romance more often than not, but I'm not overly particular as long as its good.

2. What books won’t you touch?
Horror, Murder Mysteries, True crimes, anything that involves extreme violence or crimes against children.

3. Did you read series books as a child/YA? If so, what was your favorite?
I loved ALL Judy Blume books. I also liked Anne of Green Gables Books, and the Mandie Mystery books. But my "favorite" book was The Secret Garden.

4. Do you have a favorite book blog? Why do you like it? (give us a link, please)
Since you are already at MY blog, I'll direct you to a couple of places I tend to "hang out" - Book Blogs and Here Be Reviews

5. Is there a favorite character that you identify with or would love to meet? Do tell!
Bella Swan. Just because as of right now I'm still a die hard Twilighter. Clare and Henry DeTamble from The Time Traveler's Wife...because I just LOVE them. :)

Tithe - A Modern Faerie Tale

Tithe by Holly Black
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

(from book flap)
Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces the sixteen-year-old back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms-a struggle that could very well mean her death.

I read a review of this book on another blog and picked it up to fulfill what I can only explain to be my "Twilight" hole with some new fantasy characters. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out so well. I think the difference between the Twilight "young adult" and this "young adult" fiction is that Stephenie Meyer didn't actually indent to write for young adults. She had herself in mind while she was writing, while I'm almost100% sure that Holly Black was definitely writing something she felt would relate to young adults. I don't have a problem with a goth or emo type feel, in fact, I didn't really have a problem with the book at all. It just was not quite as entertaining as I had hoped for.

For me the characters were good, but not as complete as I like. I mean, you get a general idea of who Kaye is, but not really at the same time. What I mean is, you know that she's a "bad" girl who dropped out of school, who shop lifts, smokes and travels around with her mom's band from city to city essentially taking care of her mom on the way. But really, IS that who she is? How does she feel about this? You don't really get to delve into the realm of Kaye. Her thoughts are locked away from the pages of the book. She was almost real to me, but not quite. Then the whole faerie thing. All of the sudden you reach a point in the book when she finds out she's actually a faerie, and she doesn't even take a moment to question it. She doesn't really get mad, or happy or anything. In fact, outside of a little bit of gushing over Roiben, Kaye doesn't seem to posses much emotion at all about anything. I also had a hard time envisioning Kaye as a faerie. I mean, green? Not just green, but GRASS green? I couldn't do it. I could do the blond Japanese look, but not that giant (I'm assuming she was around 5'4"ish) green human, (did she still have blond hair, I don't even know) with wings?? Maybe at 28 I'm just old enough not to get the glamor of it. I couldn't think of it and still have her as a beautiful girl of the story, especially next to the handsome Roiben. It wasn't happening for me.

Outside of character development, the story was pretty good. Enough to keep you going, not enough to make your heart beat and your brow break out in sweat in excitement. So, if you like fantisy, and young adult books, go ahead and try it. If you're just out there looking for characters who remind you of Edward and Bella...this isn't the stop you should make!

Sweet Love

Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer
Genre: Adult Romance

(From flap of book)

Like other well-meaning mothers, Julie Mueller's believed she did the right thing when she secretly ended her teenage daughter's crush on Michael Slayton, a wild older neighborhood heartthrob with a penchant for Shakespeare and the pedigree of trailer trash. Twenty years later, Betty Mueller has come to realize that was a big mistake. Her daughter Julie-divorced and raising a teenage daughter alone-is a workaholic obsessed with her career. And Michael, the one man who could make her happy, is the one man to whom she won't speak a word. Now near the end of her life and determined to make amends, Betty stages her last great feat of motherhood by reuniting the couple in a dessert class where she hopes the sweetness of a chocolate almond Torta Caprese will erase the bitterness of a wretched misunderstanding.

This type of book tends to be like "candy" to me. It's good cute, extremely sweet, but not much else. The character and story development was not great. The story line itself was sub-par, but it was exactly what I set out to read. A nice good story were I don't have to think too much while I'm reading it and does not make my adreniline run, but it does leave me warm and fuzzy. So as far as fulfilling it's purpose, it gets 4 stars, as far as a "good book" goes...I'd give it more like 2.5 to 3 stars.