The Twilight Saga

I read the much buzzed about YA Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. I was transported to the little town of Forks, Washington where a teenage love triangle has just sprung into bloom. This is not a typical love triangle, however, (nor is it entirely teen-aged!) consisting of a human girl named Bella, a vampire, Edward, and the werewolf, Jacob. They’re pretty indulgent books, with entire paragraphs dedicated to Edward’s hard marble-like skin and deep, endless ocher colored eyes, (not to mention Jacob’s inhumanly warm, russet colored skin) but I was fascinated by the story, to be honest!
One of the more interesting plot lines is the existence of the ancient coven of vampires in Italy known as the Volturi. They are a collection of especially talented vamps that make sure their entire race stays under the human radar. One vampire myth is also squashed with the revelation that the sun does not burn them. They avoid it because if they ARE caught in the sunlight, it would attract lots of unwanted attention from humans for their skin sparkles like thousands of diamonds, and casts tiny little rainbows everywhere.
There are three books so far. Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, with the next book, Breaking Dawn, tentatively set to be released Fall of ’08. Meyer leaves lots of burning questions unanswered, including The Big One. How will Bella give up her humanity and forsake her parents to become immortal for Edward?

African American Fiction

This month I chose to read some African American fiction titles.

1. I just finished listening to Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I don't think I can say that I enjoyed it, the story is not a pleasant one, but I certainly felt the power of it. Set in 1941, eleven-year-old Pecola, viewed as ugly by everyone in town, wishes for blue eyes. The abusive situations as well as her self hatred/hatred of her racial identity are all very disturbing issues. And they are issues that we don't want to have to deal with. The layout of the book was a little problematic for me. The story was told in several different voices and it wasn't always clear to me who was narrating and when chapters had ended. I think listening to the story may have compounded this problem because I could not see the switches take place. This version was superbly narrated by Lynne Thigpen. I also contained an afterword written by Morrision in which she, among other things, discusses her dissatisfaction (30 years after writing the novel) with the way she structured it. As I said above, I did not particularly enjoy The Bluest Eye, but I think that it was a necessary read for me by one of the most important and celebrated authors of this era.


2. I also read Dirty Game by Shannon Holmes, one of the most recognized urban fiction authors. I will start by saying that I wanted to read B-more Careful, Holmes' first novel which is set in Baltimore, but all of the copies were unavailable. So I picked up this one off the new books shelf. This is the story of Destiny Greene, daughter of two street cons. Destiny is raised by her father Ken-Ken after her mother is shot and killed while still pregnant with the child. Ken-Ken vows to go straight and raise his daughter right. Which he does, for the most part, until he is paralyzed and Destiny takes to the streets to support them. The story is fast paced and easy to follow. I read it in only a few sittings. The biggest problem is that Holmes didn't seem to know how to end it. And even though all the right people get their just desserts, I didn't feel like the loose ends were quite wrapped up the way I wanted.

FBI Thrillers

I just finished reading the latest Savich and Sherlock FBI thriller, Double Take by Catherine Coulter. This, as usual added new agents to the mix, but was basically a sequel to Point Blank (2005). It wraps up the story of Sheriff Dixon Noble's missing wife, Christy. I found it a little bit contrived (just how many identical looking women are really out there), but it basically kept my interest until the end (just to see exactly how it was going to end). I like this series of books for a couple of reasons. I like that Savich and Sherlock often drive the action, but are not always the central characters. And there's just enough romance to be believable for the most part and not totally shoved down your throat. People following the series should be satisfied. I'd also recommend the series to those who enjoy Iris Johansen's Eve Duncan books.

The Gresham Chronicles

It's ironic that lisa chose to read some inspirational fiction this past month, as that was my choice as well! Great minds think alike, eh?

I read Lawana Blackwell's trilogy The Gresham Chronicles: The Widow of Larkspur Inn, The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter, and the Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark. These books could also be classified as historical fiction, as they are set in the late 1800's. In the first book, you are introduced to Julia Hollis. A young widow from London, who by financial hardships, was forced to move herself and her three children to the quaint little village of Gresham. It chronicles her quest to build a new life for herself, and in the process, find new love.

The second book tells the tale of the town vicar's daughter, Elizabeth Phelps, and her own quest for love, which she finds in the arms of one she (and her father) fought so hard to forget. The third book leaves you with Lydia Clark, who thought she was content with being a school mistress AND spinsterhood, but finds she wants more when her desire for true love is awakened by a man whose affections lie with a different woman.

Pretty much all of these characters, along with a slew of less prominent ones, exist in the background of all the books in the series with interesting sub plots that constantly shift from one loveable character to the next. The writing was descriptive, but not overly flowery. The stories stick to the doctrine of faith that if you put your trust in God, He will show you the best path in life to walk (which isn't always the one we think it should be). Blackwell is not preachy, but she gets her message across. It seems to me that there is something in these stories for a wide range of age groups. Possibly YA and up. My favorite character was probably the owner of Gresham's general store, Mr. Trumble, who spews malapropisms constantly. I'm glad I gave this genre a chance, I really enjoyed the series!