The Last of Her Kind by Sigrid Nunez

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Ann Drayton and Georgette George meet as freshmen roommates at Barnard College in 1968. Ann, who comes from a wealthy New England family, is brilliant and idealistic. Georgette, who comes from a bleak town in upstate New York, is mystified by Ann's romanticization of the underprivileged class, which Georgette herself is hoping college will enable her to escape. An intense and difficult friendship is born.

Years after a fight ends their friendship, Ann is convicted of a violent crime. As Georgette struggles to understand what has happened, she is led back to their shared history and to an examination of the revolutionary era in which the two women came of age. Only now does she discover how much her early encounter with this extraordinary, complicated woman has determined her own path in life, and why, after all this time, as she tells us, "I have never stopped thinking about her." -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The Last of Her Kind is a beautiful, unforgettable story. It follows two women, Ann and George, through three decades starting in 1968. Those were some turbulent times and this book captures that feeling wonderfully. Sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, war, riots, racism. We see all of this through the eyes of Anne and George. And when Anne gets a life sentence in prison we get a pretty clear picture of prison life in the '70's and '80's.

I never lived through the '60 and I had some glorified ideas on what it would have been like. For example, I was always jealous of people who were there at Woodstock. After reading this book, I have a much clearer picture of what it was really like. No food or water, extremely unsanitary conditions, no bathrooms to speak of. Nunez really brings the '60's to life.

The spotlight of this novel is on the relationship between George and Ann who come from completely different backgrounds and are completely different people. What goes on around these women has major effects on what goes on between them. The Last of Her Kind is an enticing story with stunning prose. Historic and memorable.

The Devil of Nanking by Mo Hayder

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Grey is a solitary Englishwoman who comes to Japan looking for a piece of rare film footage shot during the 1937 Nanking Masssacre - a clip that documents an enormity beyond the reach of history books. Her quest leads her to Shi Chongming, a reclusive scholar who is one of the massacre's few survivors; to a crippled gangster who clings to life with the help of a mysterious elixer; and to a handsome American whose interest in her may be more sinister than romantic. Moving from decadent hostess clubs and yakuza mansions to the killing fields of the past, The Devil of Nanking is a pitch-perfect spine-chilling tour de force. - taken from book

My thoughts:
Creepy. Disturbing. Horrifying. Unsettling. Brilliant. The Devil of Nanking is one book I will never forget. It it profoundy disturbing and raw but it's a book you just can't put down. What happened during The Rape of Nanking in 1937 is inhuman and hard to read about and Mo Hayder doesn't sugar coat her writing. The story goes back and forth between 1937 and modern day Japan with Grey looking for the elusive rare video footage of The Masssacre. She knows who has it but he asks her to find something for him in return. And that's where it gets really creepy. The Devil of Nanking has an atmosphere of pure grit and concrete. It's a great mystery and a terrifying thriller but it's more than just that. It's a book that explores the difference between ignorance and evil. It's a shocker that will keep you on edge right up until the end.

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institu­tion. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions. This wise, plainspoken, beautiful book enacts the truth Abigail discovered in the five years since the acci­dent: You might not find meaning in disaster, but you might, with effort, make something useful of it. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
A Three Dog Life is a beautiful memoir. Abigail Thomas writes of tragedy with an honesty and grace that's admirable. Her story never comes off as depressing and she never seems bitter. She's a take life as it comes sort of lady. Thomas proves that life after tragedy can still be full and hold pleasure, especially with dogs.

*Australian Aborigines slept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three dog night." - Wikipedia

Jack Knife by Virginia Baker

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Whitechapel, London, 1888.

For Inspector Jonas Robb, each night brings new terror. But this night is different. It's brought two strangers-David and Sara-who have arrived in London seemingly with no past. What they do have is incredible knowledge about the Whitechapel fiend known as Jack the Ripper. Because David and Sara do have a past. It just happens to be in the future.

Sent back in time, they're in pursuit of a 21st-century madman whose purpose is to change history. As the body count rises, Sara and David realize that their quarry and Robb's have become linked in a way that threatens not only Victorian London, but the very fabric of time.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Jack Knife is a great time travel mystery. Virginia Baker did a wonderful job at portraying Victorian London through the eyes of both it's citizens at the time as well as Sara and David who travel back there from the 21st century. I loved the whole Jack the Ripper aspect and the mystery surrounding it. I agree with Orson Scott Card when he said this book is "A great first novel". I really hope to see more from Virginia Baker.

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Inch by inch, day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Once an unremarkable husband and father, Scott finds himself shrinking with no end in sight. His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, the family cat becomes a predatory menace, and Scott must struggle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more perilous--until he faces the ultimate limits of fear and existence. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
This was an amazing read! It was chilling and frightening and yet at the same time it was very emotional and sad. Matheson did a fantastic job at showing different aspects of how shrinking affected the main character, Scott. There was the very terrifying prospect of being smaller than a spider for example, as well as the grief and loneliness of basically losing everybody he loves. It was exciting reading about Scott's everyday trials as he shrunk, from losing his authority over his daughter to moving into a doll house. The Incredible Shrinking Man is an incredible story not to be missed!

The last half of this book consists of short stories by Richard Matheson. They are wonderful and horrifying! One of my favorites is Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. It's about a man in an airplane on a night flight. Imagine looking out the window to see a man-like being crouched on the wing grinning viciously at you. Creepy! Matheson really knows how to humanize and dramatize horror. He writes a good horror story, not just mindless blood-and-guts gore.

Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Anne is the mother of five, with never a dull moment in her lively home. And now, with a new baby on the way and insufferable Mary Maria visiting--and wearing out her welcome--Anne's life is full to bursting.

Still, Mrs. Doctor can't think of any place she'd rather be than her own beloved Ingleside. Until the day she begins to worry that her adored Gilbert doesn't love her anymore. How could that be? She may be a little older, but she's still the same irrepressible, irreplaceable rehead--the wonderful Anne of Green Gables, all grown up. She's ready to make her cherished husband fall in love with her all over again! -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Anne of Ingleside is book 6 in the Anne of Green Gables series. Anne and Gilbert have 6 children now and this book is mostly about them with their little trials and tribulations. I love this book with each of it's chapters a new adventure. Life with Anne is never dull.

Frost on my Moustache by Tim Moore

Rating: 4.5

What it's about:
Guided by the fastidious journals of an eminent Victorian adventurer by the name of Lord Dufferin, Time Moore sets off to prove his mettle in the most stunningly inhospitable place on Earth-the Arctic. Armed only with his searing wit, wicked humor, and seasickness pills, our pale suburbanite-wracked by second thoughts of tactical retreat-confronts mind-numbing cold, blood-thirsty polar bears, a convoy of born-again Vikings, and, perhaps most chilling of all, herring porridge. When he is not humiliating himself through displays of ignorance and incompetence, Moore casts a sharp eye on the local flora and fauna, immersing readers in the splendors and wonders of this treacherously beautiful region.

A deliciously and inexhaustibly funny book, Frost on My Moustache deserves to be placed alongside those by Evelyn Waugh, Eric Newby, and Bill Bryson. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Frost on my Moustache is laugh-out-loud funny. Tim Moore spends two months traveling in the Arctic, and lives to write about it, with results that are often hilarious. Whether he's battling sea sickness or committing some faux paus, Moore really knows how to laugh at himself. This book is entertaining, funny and even a little bit educational. Moore certainly knows how to write a lively travelogue.

The Lake House by James Patterson

Rating: 3.0

What it's about:
The flying children from When the Wind Blows are back at last for a thriller that tests the limits of the imagination-a suspense story that really soars. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
I thought The Lake House, sequel to When the Wind Blows, was a mediocre book. The plot was kind of interesting but not all that different from When the Wind Blows. The kids, along with Frannie and Kit, are being chased again. This time, instead of being chased by people from The School, they are being chased by people from The Hospital. The thing that annoyed me most about this book, and a little with the first book as well, was the use of such corny dialogue from the kids. Overall, this wasn't a bad book, it just didn't keep my interest like When the Wind Blows.

The Sea by John Banville

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:
The voice we hear is that of Max, a middle-aged Englishman, a writer and self-described dilettante who has been supported by his wife's money. Now, after his wife's recent death, Max has gone back to the seaside town where he lived as a child--a retreat from the grief, anger, and numbness of his new life without her, and a return to the place where he encountered the strange suddenness of both love and death for the first time. In a narrative that moves seamlessly back and forth in time, Max relives the childhood summer he met the Graces, a well-healed vacationing family who took him in and unwittingly introduced him to a world of feeling he'd never experienced before. The seductive mother, the imperious father, the twins Chloe and Myles--in whose mysterious connection Max became profoundly entangled--each of them played a part in what Max still remembers as the "barely bearable raw immediacy of childhood." Interwoven with this story are his memories of his past with his wife--and of her long decline into illness--and with moments, both significant and mundane, of his present life: with his grown daughter Claire who wants to pull him from his grief, and with the other boarders at the house where he is staying and where the past beats inside him "like a second heart." What he comes to understand about that past and the way it has shaped his state of heart and mind now is at the center of this emotionally powerful tale. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The Sea is a beautifully written novel centered around grief and loss. The writer seamlessly and effortlessly travels between the significant events in Max's life; namely love and death. I found I really didn't care about the characters, I had no feelings for any of them. For me, Banville's gracefully corporeal writing is the highlight of The Sea.