Review: Down To A Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese

Book Info:
Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese

Paperback: 148 pages
Publisher: Wheatmark (November 15, 2007)
ISBN-10: 1587367335
Genre: Short Stories

Rating: 2/5

Down to a Sunless Sea plunges the reader into uncomfortable situations and into the minds of troubled characters. Each selection is a different reading experience-poetic, journalistic, nostalgic, wryly humorous, and even macabre. An award-winning essayist and historical novelist, Mathias B. Freese brings the weight of his twenty-five years as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist into play as he demonstrates a vivid understanding of-and compassion toward-the deviant and damaged.

I finished this book quite a while ago and have been letting it roll around in my head before I wrote my review. I thought with some more time, maybe the book would grow on me, but I have come to realize this one just wasn't for me.

There were a couple of stories that I really did like, but the majority didn't appeal to me. My favorite story was I'll Make It, I Think. It is the story of a young man who is physically disabled. You get a glimpse into his life and mind, and what you see isn't always pretty. He is angry and sometimes unhappy, but the story is unflinchingly honest.

I also enjoyed Little Errands a lot. It is a stream of consciousness type story and I really related to it. I occasionally have days when I feel like I am always second guessing myself and feel ragged and run down, like the character in the story.

I didn't really connect to the characters in the other stories though. It wasn't the writing, but more the feeling that I just didn't have anything in common with them. These stories are very short, sometimes only a few pages. I usually like my short stories to be a little longer so that I am able to get a sense of the character before moving on to the next story.

This collection has gotten really good reviews both on Amazon and from other bloggers though, so I will leave you with a couple of those reviews for a different viewpoint.

Literary License

J Kaye's Book Blog

Errant Dreams

Booking Mama

Melody's Reading Corner

This Week in Books...

I usually schedule these posts on Friday as I'm not on the computer much over the weekend, but I forgot. It's snowing like crazy here today so I'm not going away for the weekend like I'd planned, and a little computer time sound like just the thing. So, better a little late than never, my week in books...

Monday:
--The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri from Harper Collins
--The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe from Hyperion. I received 2 copies of this one, so if it looks interesting to you, be sure to check out my giveaway.
--Disquiet by Julia Leigh from BM. I picked this one up based on S. Krishna's great review.

Tuesday:
--The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez from Penguin

--Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch Hachette Books

Thursday:
--Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland for a book tour

I was thrilled to receive a copy of The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez. I have seen a couple of great reviews of it and can't wait to get started on it. Also, the cover is beautiful!

Friday Finds

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading.

I've been a little delinquent in posting my WL additions, but this past week I found some interesting ones in my book store browsing.

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunee. At a South Korean marketplace, three-year-old Kim Sunee's mother deposits her on a bench with a fistful of food and a promise to return. Three days later, a policeman takes the little girl and what is now a fistful of crumbs to a police station, where she learns that her mother isn't coming back. From here, her extraordinary life journey begins.

The Disorder of Longing by Natasha Bauman. When her husband arrives home carrying a crate of colorful orchids, Ada Caswell Pryce thinks he is bringing her a gift, a peace offering during an unhappy time in their marriage; little does she know how much these strange looking flowers are going to change her life.

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
In the debut crime novel from the Booker-winning author, a Dublin pathologist follows the corpse of a mysterious woman into the heart of a conspiracy among the city's high Catholic society. This is the first book in the series.

Review: Illegal by Paul Levine

Book Info:
Illegal by Paul Levine

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Bantam (March 24, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0553806731
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Rating: 4/5

Haunted by a tragedy in his past and wanted by the cops for his latest malfeasance, Jimmy Payne needs to skip town. That’s when he crosses paths with twelve-year-old Tino Perez, newly arrived from Mexico with no money and no papers. The gutsy kid first robs Payne, then pleads for his help. Marisol, the boy’s mother, is missing, after crossing the border with a vicious coyote.



Following a chain of greed, corruption, and betrayal, Payne traces Marisol’s steps from Mexicali to California’s Hellhole Canyon. Before long, the cynical lawyer and the savvy kid are bonding…and battling predators on both sides of the border. It’s the two of them against an army of cops, coyotes, vigilantes, and sex slavers. Most dangerous of all is Simeon Rutledge, a wealthy rancher and the biggest employer of farm workers in California.








I have never had the pleasure of reading a Paul Levine book before, but Illegal and Jimmy Payne have made me a fan!



Jimmy Payne is one of those characters who really isn't all that likeable, and yet, I find myself liking him. He's gone through some rough times, he can be sarcastic and has a smart reply for most situations, but under all that bluster he really is a nice guy.


Tino, the boy that Jimmy is helping, is a funny kid. He's scrappy and street smart, and he curses quite a bit, but it's usually in Spanish. I think I enjoyed this character so much because he reminded me of my brothers at that age.



The other thing I really liked about this book is that it isn't your typical mystery. There aren't bodies piling up with cops looking for the killer. In Illegal, you pretty much know what is going on throughout the book, but that doesn't take away from the suspense at all. The book also centers around a political hot topic and I think that also adds another great element to the story. No matter which side you come in on, you will be able to find a character that shares your views.


Illegal is a great start to a new series and can't wait to see what trouble Jimmy Payne gets himself into next. 4 stars

Order Illegal

Paul Levine's Website

Giveaway: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

I ended up with 2 copies of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, so I am giving one away! This book is an advance copy, so there may be some differences between it and the final version, which is set to be published June 9.

Description:

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Now onto the rules:

--Leave a comment here for one entry

--Blog about the giveaway and link back here for a second entry

--Follow me or add me to your Google Reader for a third entry. Current subscribers are eligible for this too.

--Please leave a separate comment for each entry as I will be using the numbered comments to pick my winner. If you leave more than one entry in a comment, it won't be counted.

Please make sure you have a email address listed in your comment or on your profile. If I can't reach you, your entry won't count.

This contest will run until midnight April 14 and the winner will be chosen by random and posted on April 15.

Booking Through Thursday...Library

Suggested by Barbara:
I saw that National Library week is coming up in April, and that led to some questions. How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Did you go to the library as a child? Do you have any particular memories of the library? Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries?

I have to admit, I've only been in our local library a handful of times. It's a small library and doesn't have many of the newer titles that I'm looking for. My hubby also teases me that I have more books than the library does.

When I was younger I loved going to the library. We lived in a different town and they library was much bigger. Dad would often take us on the weekends and I loved being able to wander through the sections and see what treasure I would stumble upon. Sometimes I was looking for a particular book, but I often wound up with whatever book caught my eye that day.

What is your library like?

Waiting On Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

If you have been reading this blog for very long you are probably aware that Outlander is my favorite book ever. Diana Gabaldon recently announced the publication date for the next book in the series, and September can't come fast enough for me!

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Will be Released September 22, 2009

I haven't been able to locate a description, so I will have to be happy just knowing that it is about Jamie and Claire.