Review: Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Book Info:

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Hardcover: 352 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Press (July 6, 2010)

ISBN-13: 9780312595678

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Source: Publisher for Review

Rating: 3.5/5

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old Realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor of the day pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive of a sadistic psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered spirit back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.




Still Missing first caught my attention when Trish featured it in a Peeing My Pants in Book Anticipation post.  I started seeing it mentioned more and more, and I broke down and read a little about the book, which I don't usually do.  And then I was hooked too.  The format of the book, the story of Annie's abduction as she tells it to her therapist, was perfect right from the start.  Obviously, she got away, but the slow unfolding of the story, right from Annie herself, was fresh and original.

While I loved the way the story was set up, I didn't really love Annie.  Yes, she had been through a terrible ordeal, but I found her unlikable.  I tried to connect with her, but she'd constructed such a wall around herself, that all I really felt was pity.  As the story went on, I felt more sympathy toward her, but I couldn't get over my initial feelings toward her. 

The one downfall of the book for me was the ending.  It wasn't terrible, but I found it a little flat.  I was completely caught up in the story until the last quarter or so of the book.  Then, it seemed as if Stevens just didn't know how to end the book, and it lost momentum. While I didn't connect with Annie, Still Missing was a solid debut, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a gripping mystery. 3.5 stars

Coming Soon: Product Review for CSN Stores

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do a product review for CSN Stores.  They have everything from dining room furniture, to home decor, to kids stuff, to bookcases!  CSN Stores includes over 200 online stores, and you are sure to find exactly what you are looking for there.

I've been scouring their website, and now have to decide if it will be a bookcase for me....

or something for Claire!

Be on the lookout for my review post to see what I decided on!

Review: Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

Book Info:

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books (February 2, 2010) 

ISBN-13: 9780307394972

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Source: Library

Rating: 2.5/5

"There," says Alice Hayward to Reverend Stephen Drew, just after her baptism, and just before going home to the husband who will kill her that evening and then shoot himself. Drew, tortured by the cryptic finality of that short utterance, feels his faith in God slipping away and is saved from despair only by a meeting with Heather Laurent, the author of wildly successful, inspirational books about . . . angels.



I read Bohjalian's Midwives years ago, after Oprah's recommendation.  I really enjoyed the book and always meant to read another of his books, but just never did.  When I was searching for books to load on to my eReader for Claire's surgery this one jumped out at me.  Maybe I needed something a little faster paced, maybe nothing would have worked well for me then, but I could have easily set this one aside without finishing it.

Usually I really like books told from different perspectives, but I didn't like how this one was handled.  Each part of the book was told by a different character.  However, the events didn't really overlap.  So, instead of seeing the same events through four different perspectives, each character told a slightly different part of the story.  This felt disjointed to me and I didn't really ever feel like I got to know any of the characters well.

The other part of the story that didn't work for me was the foreshadowing.  I don't have a problem with an author building up to future events, but the way it was done here was very heavy handed.  There were lots of references like "if only I'd said something then, things could have been different."  I felt like the author thought we wouldn't get the references if they weren't explicitly pointed out.  The ending was predictable too, but by that point, I didn't really care either way.

Secrets of Eden felt like it was capitalizing on the formula of Midwives, and I hope his other books show a bit more diversity. 2.5 stars.

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Book Info:

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Hardcover: 400 pages

Publisher: Scholastic Press (September 1, 2009)

ISBN-13: 9780439023498

Genre: Young Adult

Source: My Shelves

Rating: 5/5

Fresh from their improbable victory in the annual Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta get to enjoy the spoils only briefly before they must partake in a Capitol-sponsored victory tour. But trouble is brewing— -- President Snow tells Katniss directly he won't stand for being outsmarted, and she overhears rumbles of uprisings in Panem's districts. Before long it's time for the next round of games, and because it's the 75th anniversary of the competition, something out of the ordinary is in order...




When everybody initially starting raving about The Hunger Games I stayed away because I didn't think it sounded like my kind of book.  Finally, after almost a year, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to see what everyone was talking about.  Once I started reading I was hooked and I couldn't figure out why I waited so long to read it.  Catching Fire was much the same way.  I knew I wanted to read it.  I bought it as soon as it came out, and it's been sitting around my house for almost a year.  Once again, I didn't know why I put of reading it for so long.

As soon as started reading I was hooked.  The characters, the setting, everything about the book worked so well.  Collins included just enough details from The Hunger Games that it jogged my memory, but not enough to feel repetitive if you'd just finished the first book. Katniss is a great character.  She's strong and brave, someone you want to be like, but not so perfect that you can't relate to her.  Peeta is still as sweet as ever, but I'd hoped to see a bit more of Gale.  I didn't know where the storyline was going since I'd stayed away from reviews, and I was pleasantly surprised. 

This series won't be put on the back burner anymore.  Mockingjay is ordered and as soon as it gets to me, I'd better be left alone until I finish it! 5 stars

Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Book Info:

The Dead-Tossed Waves (Forest of Hands and Teeth, Book 2) by Carrie Ryan

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 9, 2010)

ISBN-13: 9780385736848

Genre: YA

Source: Library, Audio

Rating: 4/5

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She's content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry's mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother's past in order to save herself and the one she loves.




The Dead-Tossed Waves is the second book in a trilogy, following The Forest of Hands and Teeth (review).  These types of books are a bit of a departure for me.  I don't usually read books that involve dead things like zombies, and I listened to the first book based on Beth's rave review.  I enjoyed The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but liked the audio production more than I liked the story itself.  Still, I was interested enough to listen to the second book, and I enjoyed The Dead-Tossed Waves much more.
 
I think the difference between Forest and Waves, for me, was how prominent the Unconsecrated were in the story.  In Forest, they were front and center all the time, and since the walking dead don't appeal much to me I didn't enjoy the story as much.  In Waves, the Unconsecrated are still a very important part of the story, but the setting and other characters allowed them to blend into the background a bit and I found myself much more interested in the story.  I also felt  more of a connection to Gabry's character than to Mary's.  I'm not sure exactly why this was, but it was one more reason Waves worked better for me.
 
A different narrator read The Dead-Tossed Waves, and I don't think it was quite as good as the first book in the trilogy, but it was close.  While I didn't expect to be pulled into this series like I have been, I am now very excited for the last book in the trilogy.  I will be listening to it as soon as it becomes available.  4 stars

Review: Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster

Book Info:

Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? by Jen Lancaster

Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: NAL Trade; (May 1, 2007)

ISBN-13: 9780451221254

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: My Shelves

Rating:4/5

Jen Lancaster hates to burst your happy little bubble, but life in the big city isn't all it's cracked up to be. Contrary to what you see on TV and in the movies, most urbanites aren't party-hopping in slinky dresses and strappy stilettos. But lucky for us, Lancaster knows how to make the life of the lower crust mercilessly funny and infinitely entertaining.




Picking a book right before your baby has open heart surgery is a tough thing.  I didn't want anything too serious, or with too complex a plot.  I also wanted something I could set aside and not lose my place in the story, and really wanted something to lighten my mood.  Jen Lancaster was the perfect choice.

Lancaster has the same sarcastic, biting sense of humor that she did in Bitter is the New Black, and she often had me laughing out loud.  She is not at all politically correct, and while she favors a word I hate, I am a little more forgiving considering it was likely she would use it, and I read the book anyways.  I love that Lancaster is able to laugh at herself, and I she made me wonder why I waited so long to read another one of her books.  4 stars

Unfinished: Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

Book Info:

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez

Paperback: 320 pages

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (December 18, 2007) 

ISBN-13: 9780812976731

Genre: Non-Fiction

Source: My Shelves

Rating: 0/5

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–as doctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born.

With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families’ breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.




Sometimes an unfinished book is the victim of circumstances, and that was the case with this one.  I was about halfway through Kabul Beauty School when Claire was born.  The book up to that point was good, but it wasn't one I was telling every one about. I thought that Rodriguez had a wonderful program that empowered Afghan women, but I had a hard time matching her enthusiasm for hair color and makeup.

Once Claire arrived my reading time dwindled to nothing and I never picked this one back up.  About two months later it was requested on Paperback Swap and I mailed it out without finishing it.  If you've read this one, did I miss out on a wonderful ending, or was reading half the book sufficient?  0 stars