Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
One of the most widely praised and rapturously entertaining first novels in recent years begins with a little girl falling down an abandoned mineshaft in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Her name is Ursula Wong, she's part Chinese, part Finnish, only two years old, and soon the dangerous effort to rescue her has an entire country glued to the TV. As it follows that effort, Ursula, Under re-creates the chain of ancestors, across two thousand years, whose lives culminate in the fragile miracle of a little girl underground: a Chinese alchemist in the third century bc, the orphaned playmate to a seventeenth- century Swedish queen, Ursula's great-great-grandfather who was the casualty of a mining accident that eerily foreshadows Ursula's dilemma, and many more. A work of symphonic richness and profound empathy, Ursula, Under dramatically demonstrates that no one is truly alone. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Ursula, Under is a beautiful story of a little girl and all the people throughout the centuries that went in to creating this little girl. The main story is set around 2 year old Ursula who has fallen down a mine shaft. The book though, is actually many short stories about Ursula's ancestors starting in the third century B.C. and working it's way up through Ursula's parents. Sprinkled between these shorter stories is the story of Ursula and the rescue efforts going on in Michigan's Upper Penninsula. The characters in Ursula, Under are many and varied. The environment, whether it be Michigan, Finland or China, is lush and beautiful. After I turned the last page I wanted to flip back to the beginning and start again immediatley. Ingrid Hill is very knowlegeable about history and culture and I can tell a lot of research went into creating this novel. The end result is an impressive debut novel.

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:
Fledgling, Octavia Butler's first new novel in seven years, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly unhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted-and still wants-to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human.

My thoughts:
Fledgling is a somewhat original, modern day vampire story. Octavia Butler takes a vampire and adds in the element of genetic engineering. Her hybrid vampire, Shori, is able to be awake in the daytime and live a more "human" life. Some of the other older vampires see this as a threat and try to destroy Shori and her family. Unfortunately this story sounds better than it actually is. I just couldn't immerse myself in it. I'm not sure if it was the characters or the story itself but I felt it was lacking something. It just didn't grip me. That's not to say that I didn't like the book. It had some compelling aspects, especially the genetically modified vampire, and I enjoyed it overall but it's not my favorite vampire story.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:
In a remote Hertfordshire village, far off the good coach roads of George III's England, a country squire of no great means must marry off his five vivacious daughters. At the heart of this all-consuming enterprise are his headstrong second daughter Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Fitzwilliam Darcy—two lovers whose pride must be humbled and prejudice dissolved before the novel can come to its splendid conclusion.

A tour de force of wit and sparkling dialogue, Pride and Prejudice is also a sumptuously detailed picture of contemporary society, which, in its exploration of manner and motives, has a great deal to say about the society of today. Austen's best-loved novel is a memorable story about the power of reason, and above all about the strange dynamics of human relationships and emotions.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. It was on the slow side, it wasn't anything that kept me up late reading, but I was entertained. I especially appreciated the many different personalities in the Bennet family. Mr. Bennet in particular was a hoot! I'm certainly glad I read the book but I do think I enjoyed the movie (with Keira Knightly) more.

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
An unsparing and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town. - taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
I love Bill Bryson. He's slightly cynical and quick to voice his (many) disappointments but he's funny. In The Lost Continent Bill travels around America from town to town and details for us readers all his hardships and the occasional bit of pleasure. Bill seems to find something to dislike in many of the towns he travels through but he never loses hope that his next destination will live up to all his expectations. And it sometimes does! I thoroughly enjoyed chuckling my way this travelogue.

The Uncanny by Andrew Klavan

Rating: 5.0

What it's about:
Richard Storm is passionate, hot-blooded, and running out of time. Sophia Endering is cool, beautiful, and haunted by a centuries-old mystery. Now the Hollywood filmmaker and the troubled young woman have come together in a race against the unbelievable, the unthinkable, and. . . The Uncanny.

Richard Storm reached the top of his profession producing horror films based on classic English ghost stories. Now, with his life beginning to unravel, Richard is searching for something to believe in. Fleeing Hollywood for London, he embarks on a desperate quest: to find evidence that the great old stories bear some truth, that the human spirit lives on after death.

What he finds is Sophia, a woman caught in a nightmare more chilling than any of his film horrors. Propelled by a furious love, haunted by a terror he can barely confess to himself, Storm pursues Sophia through the labyrinth of her family's madness and their involvement in Nazi art thefts, down a trail formed by the classic ghost stories themselves--into the very heart of the uncanny. . . . -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The Uncanny is a unique and original mystery/suspense novel.

I was pretty much in awe of the characters throughout the whole book. Andrew Klavan gave them such depth and complexity. Every one of them had a distinct personality full of little idiosyncrasies.

The story itself is exciting, full of twists and turns. The plot has so many different elements, but they are interwoven together so nicely that it never feels excessive.

I can't say enough about the writing in The Uncanny. When I was reading, it almost seemed like I was watching a movie of what I was reading. Klavan really knows how to draw the reader into the story. With it's lush atmosphere, foggy gloom and seeming constant drizzle this modern day tale seemed itself out of an old English ghost story. The mood is set perfectly.

The ending wasn't really what I was hoping for but I can handle that. I'll still say this is a fantastic book that I highly recommend!

Iceberg by Clive Cussler

Rating: 4.0

What it's about:
Frozen inside a million-ton mass of ice--the charred remains of a long-missing luxury yacht, vanished en route to a secret White House rendezvous. The only clue to the ship's priceless--and missing--cargo: nine ornately carved rings and the horribly burned bodies of its crew.
-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
Another fun Dirk Pitt novel. Clive Cussler writes action packed adventures that never fail to entertain. This one takes place mostly in Iceland but with a finale that takes place in Disneyland. Kind of a strange twist of events but you'll have to read the book to find out why.

The Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis

Rating: 3.5

What it's about:

In April 1982, ethnobotanist Wade Davis arrived in Haiti to investigate two documented cases of zombis — people who had reappeared in Haitian society years after they had been officially declared dead and had been buried. Drawn into a netherworld of rituals and celebrations, Davis penetrated the vodoun mystique deeply enough to place zombification in its proper context within vodoun culture. In the course of his investigation, Davis came to realize that the story of vodoun is the history of Haiti — from the African origins of its people to the successful Haitian independence movement, down to the present day, where vodoun culture is, in effect, the government of Haiti's countryside.

The Serpent and the Rainbow combines anthropological investigation with a remarkable personal adventure to illuminate and finally explain a phenomenon that has long fascinated Americans. -taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:
The Serpent and the Rainbow is a somewhat slow first-hand account of the search for the truth behind zombis. Wade Davis weaves together mysticism, ethnobotony, anthropology and history. Overall, it was a pretty interesting tale Wade wove. I especially enjoyed learning some of the history of Haiti and her African roots. There were parts though that bored me. The movie is much more exciting, but if you're interested in the real story written by the man himself you should read the book.