christianreader | July & August books (Reply)

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen- When Auden decides to spend a summer with her father and his new wife, she also gets a second chance to experience childhood. Ahhh, this is the Sarah Dessen I love. An engrossing novel that had me wrapped up in Auden's summer experience, a novel that makes you think about first impressions and just how wrong they can turn out.

Camilla by Madeleine L'Engle- Camilla Dickenson comes of age in a winter spent realizing the defects of her parents' marriage, and spent talking with her best friend's older brother. I didn't really enjoy this one. Maybe it was the slow-moving (lack of) plot, or the somewhat odd version of faith spouted by the main characters, or the bad ending, or all of the above. I've never been able to get into L'Engle's "Chronos" (Austin family) series, either, so it could just be me. I prefer the "Kairos" series (A Wrinkle in Time, etc.)

The King's Rose by Alisa Libby- Historical fiction about Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife. This book interested me because you usually only see historical fic about Henry VIII's first two wives (Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn), and not about any of the other four. I was captivated by the story. But, when I later looked up Catherine Howard online, I realized that the author had changed some things to make Catherine come off as more sympathetic. Even in her historical note, she left out some fairly vital (I think) info. So, it's a good read, as long as you're not expecting to get the full picture of Catherine Howard & Henry.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine- From the author of Ella Enchanted comes a twist on another favorite fairytale- Snow White- set in a land where music is of utmost importance. Levine gives an interesting, fresh take on an old story. One of the intriguing themes of the book is appearance and how much importance we give to it. To me, this book isn't quite as good as some of Levine's other work, but it's still pretty good.

Shelf Life: Stories by the Book edited by Gary Paulsen- Collection of stories by various YA authors to benefit Pro-Literacy Worldwide, all including a book in their plot. These stories didn't really do anything for me. Maybe because they were so darn short, I would *just* really get into the story, start wondering what would happen next and-- it ended.

Quaking by Kathryn Erskine- What happens when hardened 14-year-old foster kid Matt (Matilda) is taken in by Quaker guardians, and simultaneously has to face bullying at school for her own anti-war positions? I liked the story, and the theme, but the editing could have used a little more work. The author very rarely (hardly ever) uses contractions, which is pretty weird when you're writing dialog coming from 14-year-olds. The other thing is the overuse of the word "quaking", like, okay, I get it already: "quaking", "Quaker"- they sound alike! Nevertheless, this is a good story about standing true to your convictions and learning to trust others.

The Invisible by Mats Wahl, trans. by Katrina Tucker- When teenager Hilmer wakes up to find himself invisible, his only hope may be the police officer investigating his disappearance. This book had kind of a neat concept, but then it was really disappointing. Part of the problem is that either the original writing, or the translation into English (or both) was stilted and didn't flow well, which made it hard to engage with the story. And the narrator seems quite removed from the action of the story, looking on with a sort of stoic/passive perspective, where the story could have used a little empathy. If you like true crime type shows, you might like this book, though.

Through Thick and Thin by Alison Pace- Middle-aged sisters Meredith and Stephanie Isley deal with major life changes and issues. This book wasn't particularly good, and it wasn't particularly bad. It kept me reading, but then it didn't have a terribly satisfying ending, leaving both the sister's plots unresolved. The story was engaging, but I don't like how the author resolved the sisters' malaise (especially Meredith). I kept thinking that both these sisters desperately needed Jesus, but this isn't that sort of book.

Fatal Deduction by Gayle Roper- Libby Keating finds herself entrapped in a mystery after moving into her great-aunt's house in a historical district of Philadelphia with her estranged identical twin. Another book that wasn't super-good or super-bad, it was just kind of... there. A Christian Mystery/Romance, Fatal Deduction is pretty by-the-numbers. If you've ever read a Christian Romance, you can figure out pretty quickly what will happen with that part of the story. There were a couple of points in the story that didn't seem terribly Christian to me, and I don't like that one of the Not-so-Good people in the story is bipolar. But, the book did keep me reading, and I liked the story of Libby's childhood & conversion to Christ, and I liked some of the quirky elements to the story, like the crossword puzzles the murderer leaves behind.