Tiger lil by Jodi Lynn Anderson Review

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am a huge Peter Pan fan, and I try to read and see everything related to the story. I was excited to read this book because it looked like a different take on the well know adventures... and it was. Narrated by Tinker Bell, having a detached yet emotional narrator worked perfectly. Tiger Lily herself was was well drawn out, and it was interesting to see the way she was with Peter. Peter was exactly the way I expcect4ed him to be. I enjoyed all of the main characters in their own way - there is no real "villain" to root for or against. The characters change and gro throughout the book.

This book has many messages and undercurrents, and Anderson does a great job of guiding the characters into the choices they make. Those choices, even small ones that aren't really thought about at first, change everything. The messages aren't preachy or heavy handed. They just happen as Tiger Lily and Peter go about their lives.

I loved this book, and was wondering how it would end, even as I was reading the ending! Endings make or breaks books a lot of the time, and this ending really made the book. It actually makes you think!

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Playing with Matches: A Novel (Review)

Playing with Matches: A Novel by Carolyn Wall

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a very uneven book. I loved all of the characters - smart talking Clea Shine, whose life begins with tragedy, her Auntie and all the relatives surrounding her, even the mystery children Wheezer and Finn. The setting is the rural South, complete with fields, a prison, a Bingo hall, and a river.

What I didn't like was the "mystery" of the book. It is written one way, and what happens that night carries through the rest of Clea's life. When the book flashes forward to her as an adult and she is STILL worried over it, I was surprised. Later on, a character gives a different account and yet even later on there is another account. So it is unclear exactly what happened, and that really makes to book fall apart.

However, the characters really do draw you into their world. I liked being able to see what happened to them and to have some issues resolved. But because of the mystery... this book only gets 3 stars.



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Independence Day by Richard Ford Book Review

Independence Day by Richard Ford

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This book was not good. The core story is decent - Frank Bascombe, man in them middle of a life something tries to sell a house, visits his girlfriend, then drives to CT to pick his trouble making son up to spend the 4th of July weekend going to sports halls of fames. The front cover states that "Frank's Independence Day turns to not as he'd planned." That is what kept me reading the book - Unfortunately, that happens on page 361 of a 451 page book!!!

What goes on in the first 360 pages? Lots and lots of nothingness. Lots and lots of words. Details, many superfluous details, including 27 pages on how Frank went from sportswriter to real estate agent. 27 pages that have NOTHING to do with the story! Frank also doesn't seem to like anyone, especially his girlfriend, and his conversations are so convoluted, full of double meanings and just don't make sense.

And by the time that action comes along on page 361 - you are cheering and happy about what happens! Finally the character gets what is deserved! It helps that every character seems fake and made up. They are totally unrelateble.

The best thing about this book is the chuckle you get of Frank using pay phones to check his answering machine!

But please, don't waste your time reading this drivel.



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