Category: Book Reviews

Squee for Book Three!

I have always thought The 39 Clues was a brilliant marketing coup on the part of Scholastic, but as I closed the cover on my copy of the third installment in the series (I was reading it for an article for Manila Bulletin, which comes out on Saturday), The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis (Book #40 for 2009), I think the it would be safe to say that it has gotten into its groove. 

I’m not sure which factors in more, if it’s Lerangis’ writing that makes the difference (he did ghost-write for my favorite mystery series, The Three Investigators) or if the mechanisms set in place by the first two books were simply put in motion, but I honestly loved The Sword Thief more than I did the first two books (I rated them both 4/5 stars, and not so much for the story but for the reading experience).

For the first two books, as action-packed as they were, I felt a certain detachment towards the text, like I was an impartial witness to the action unfolding throughout the pages. Book 3 fits in with the rest of the series (with no less than Nick and Norah author David Levithan directing the editorial team), with the trademark 39 Clues twisty chase (suspension of disbelief is a given, think National Treasure or Da Vinci Code) but to my surprise, The Sword Thief captured what I felt was lacking in the series: an added depth to the characters, and interesting dynamics between the Cahill relatives, which comes in at an opportune moment, because the cat-and-mouse, left-and-right sabotage can get pretty old after a while.

I guess Lerangis’ writing does deserve to be singled out, as he manages to add more introspection to the characters and keep up with the line of action — 20 pages under the last book, at that — and I feel that this book captured the spirit of 39 Clues most succintly.

I think it can only get better from here on, and I can’t wait for Book 4, Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson, which is out in June. Should be good, set in classic treasure hunt wonderland: Egypt!

That reminds me, I should input the cards onto my account soon and get a move on with the clues in the online game… Arrgh, the problem is the game site is sooo addictive and I can’t limit myself to an hour playing…. And I also need to get an expansion card pack soon before the new set (for the next books) is released. Ohhh, to be a kid again!

P.S. If there are any other Cahills out there, I’m a Lucian.

***
My copy: hardcover (the series is in hardcover)

My rating: 5/5 stars

Remember Me? (At last!)

Sophie Kinsella is one of my favorite chick lit authors, and God knows how many times I’ve stared at this book longingly at the bookstores, bemoaning the price tag on a brand new hardcover. When the mass market paperback came out recently, I refused to buy a copy, knowing I’d only end up “doing a Blooey” — in the Flips Flipping Pages /Bookmoochers Pilipinas lexicon, that phrase is equivalent to an irrational compulsion of mine — upgrading paperback copies into hardcovers.

I found it on BookMooch a couple of times, but both times I mooched it were unsuccessful and I resigned myself to getting a full-priced copy when I got the cash until one fateful day I stumbled upon a new listing posted by my good friends at Bookay Ukay (way to go guys!) and almost fell off my seat when I read that they had a hardcover copy, selling for less than half the bookstore price. Within seconds, I had reserved the book (*evil laugh*) and in a few days I finally had a copy (Squee!).
Remember Me is the story of Lexi Smart, who wakes up in a hospital room one day and finds out her life isn’t how she remembers it to be. Her once frizzy, mousy hair is now sleek and shiny; her “snaggletooth” smile is pearly white and perfectly aligned; and her frumpy figure and scaggy clothes are replaced by a lean, carb-free, and perfectly toned bod in La Perla underwear and designer clothes.
Apparently, she has been in a car crash and can’t remember the past three years of her life; and she has gone from corporate drudge to power executive leading a glamorous life and the perfect… marriage?!?

Lexi struggles to find her bearings and reconstruct the three-year memory gap, rediscovering the path her life has taken and reevaluating the choices she has made along the way.

Lexi’s bewilderment translates quite palpably throughout the text, as for most of the book, the reader joins Lexi in trying to piece together the missing chunks of her life, and it can get very confusing. The plot gets unwieldy at times, calling on a suspension of disbelief, but Kinsella keeps the connection with a skill she has mastered in her previous books: characters that come alive on the page. Whether it’s the protagonist, the love interest, the annoying “other guy”, the quirky mum, or even bit parts like the salesgirl from last Christmas, Kinsella knows how to write them and make them memorable and just wildly funny.

Readers can also look forward to Kinsella’s trademark comical situations (her heroines just can’t help getting into the craziest circumstances!): office hijinks, bedroom comedy, and other laugh-out-loud episodes only a Sophie Kinsella character can get into. The awww… moments are there too, especially when you discover the significance of the sunflower on the cover!

Remember Me? is more about self-discovery than romance, tackling themes such as the meaning of success, careerism, friendship, and family. It reminds me 0f the movie 13 going on 30 in some ways (the Mont Blanc scene = umbrella scene), although there is no time element in this book. It’s a quick and engaging read, but still manages to establish that a perfect life isn’t necessarily a happy one.

The Undomestic Goddess is still my favorite, by far.

***

My copy: hardcover with dustjacket, from Bookay Ukay

My rating: 3/5 stars

Book #39 for 2009

Four months’ worth of Bathroom Reading

At the first BookMoochers Pilipinas party last Halloween, I couldn’t resist mooching this book from Triccie: Uncle John’s Giant 10th Anniversary Bathroom Reader, because I am such a sucker for useless bits of information.
It took me four months to finish this massive compendium of trivia, not necessarily in the bathroom, and mostly in bed before reading. That makes it Book #38 for 2009, rounding off February with 21 books, as opposed to January’s 17. I need to read around 20 books a month for the next ten months if I want to reach my goal for the year.

Like other Bathroom Readers, the Giant 10th Anniversary volume I have is a fount of useless but interesting trivia about anything and everything under the sun.

For instance, did you know that:

  • “love” is the most used word in a film title, while “Paris” is the 2nd?
  • the “blue moon” from “once in a blue moon” pertains to a full moon that occurs twice in one month, occuring approximately once in every 32 months?
  • Joseph Stalin was so afraid of farting in public, that he kept a set of glasses and a water pitcher on his desk so he could clink them together to mask the sound of his fart.
  • the officials of the Leaning Tower of Pisa get an average of two letters a week with suggestions on how to keep it upright? The weirdest suggestions include building an identical tower to lean against the firstcDon one; building a huge statue of a man who looks like he’s holding the tower up; tying helium balloons to the roof; and anchoring the top of the tower to a hillside several miles away with a steel cable.
  • in the microwave, food cooks better in a round container than in a square one?
  • for every cockroach you see in your house, there are not just 10 that you can’t see — the ratio is actually closer to 1000:1? (*yuck!*)
  • Carolyn Keene is not a real person? (Ahh, the subject of many FFP discussions — there are three pages devoted to this topic in the book)
  • The ratio of adult bookstores to McDonald’s outlets in the US is 3:1?
  • The yo-yo, a prehistoric Filipino weapon, was introduced to the US by a Filipino named Pedro Flores? Donald Duncan partnered with Flores in the Flores Yo-yo Corporation, bought him out for $25,000 and renamed it as the Duncan Yo-yo Company, which created the biggest yo-yo craze in history in the 1960s?
You just never know when these little factoids will come in handy, hehe… (Riiight, I’m imagining being held at gunpoint and being quizzed on the history of the fortune cookie)

I recently saw a stack of Bathroom Readers at Fully Booked, at around P700-900 each, and I was glad I was able to mooch this one. Will be hunting down other volumes at Book Sale and BookMooch :)

***

My copy: trade paperback, mooched from Triccie

My rating: 5/5 stars

An exercise in self-control


“The well-known food of Provence is summer food — the melons and peaches and asparagus, the courgettes and aubergines, the peppers and tomatoes, the aioli and bouillabaisse and monumental salads of olives and anchovies and tuna and hardboiled eggs and sliced, earthy potatoes on beds of multicolored lettuce glistening with oil, the fresh goat’s cheeses…

It had never occurred to us that there was a winter menu, totally different but equally delicious. The cold-weather cuisine of Provence is peasant food. It is made to stick to your ribs, keep you warm, and send you off to bed with a full belly…

It was a meal that we shall never forget; more accurately, it was several meals that we shall never forget, because it went beyond the gastronomic frontiers of anything we had ever experienced, both in quantity and length. It started with homemade pizza — not one, but three: anchovy, mushroom, and cheese, and it was obligatory to have a slice of each. Plates were then wiped with pieces torn from the two-foot loaves in the middle of the table, and the next course came out. There were pates of rabbit, boar, and thrush. There were saucissons spotted with peppercorns. There were tiny sweet onions marinated in a fresh tomato sauce. Plates were wiped once more and duck was brought in… We had entire breasts, entire legs, covered in dark, savory gravy and surrounded by wild mushrooms.

We sat back, thankful that we had been able to finish, and watched with something close to panic as plates were wiped yet again, and a huge, steaming casserole was placed on the table. This was the specialty of Madame our hostess — a rabbit civet of the richest, deepest brown — and our feeble requests for small portions were smilingly ignored. We ate it. We ate the green salad with knuckles of bread fried in garlic and olive oil, we ate the plump round crottins of goat’s cheese, we ate the almond and cream gateau that the daughter of the house had prepared. That night, we ate for England.”

When you read about food being described like that, you’ll be sorely tempted to eat the pages off the book!

The passage is from Book #37 for 2009: A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, who is one of the best food and travel writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It’s also my book 6 in the Diversity Challenge (memoir).

This book wittily chronicles adventures in the French countryside as Peter Mayle and his wife move into a 200-year old stone farmhouse and live as the locals do, and it takes you right there with them.

The chapters are divided into months of the year, and each chapter regales you with engaging stories of settling into life in Provence: getting to know their neighbors, their first winter, renovating the house, farming, truffle-hunting, Provencal real estate, mailbox burglary, local markets, cycling, entertaining guests, ritual kissing, goat racing, and other comic anecdotes.

The highlight of the book is easily the cuisine: whether they’re in their own kitchen, out in the garden, at the neighbor’s house, in a cafe packed with tourists, or at a little-known haunt several hours’ drive away, the food is always glorious, glorious food described so vividly you can almost taste it.

The Mayles’ farmhouse (from www.petermayle.com)

If only I could pack my bags and move in with them, I’d do it in a heartbeat!

Googling the book, I found out on IMDB that it was adapted into a BBC series… Now that would be interesting to watch. I still have several Peter Mayle books in my TBR — I think I’ve got A Good Year, Toujours Provence, Anything Considered, A Dog’s Life and Hotel Pastis in there; I look forward to reading those this year.

***
My copy: trade paperback, mooched locally

My rating: 5/5 stars

The One with the Dramatic Reading

Book #36 for 2009
Love you Forever by Robert Munsch

Friends fans will remember an episode (Season 10- TOW Emma’s cake) where Joey does a dramatic reading of a famous children’s book as a present for Emma’s birthday.

Scroll forward to around 7 min:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDynkzIE1tw]

Joey is reading Love You Forever, a timeless story about a mother’s love for her child, and how the child grows up to pass on this love to his own child.

I finally have a copy because it turns out I got one as an exchange gift from the INK Christmas party (thanks Nic!) and I squealed in delight when I found out. I’ve been wanting a copy of this book ever since the Friends episode, and I’m glad I didn’t have to buy it at full price.

Haha, now I can’t seem to be able to read it without the Joey accent!

***
my copy: paperback, from exchange gift

my rating: 5/5 stars