Wolves of the Calla (Dark Tower #6) by Stephen King (Read 5/29-6/15)

Well I know that I finished this book in June, and things have been crazy, I now have at east 8 other books to write about too.  But I will start with the oldest and just try and catch up.  This whole parenting thing takes up a lot of my time.
This is the next in my BOTM club reads.  This is where I start to dislike the series.   Kings writing really takes a turn for the worst in my opinion. This book picks up after Wind Through the Keyhole our Ka-Tet has come to a small farming community, Calla, that has a major problem.  Every so often, riders called Wolves because of the masks they wear, comes and steals half their children.  Most of the children in Calla are born as twins, the Wolves steal one half of the pair and send it back years later "roont", which means they are now mentally disabled, unusually large, and die at a very young age.  As usual, the Gunslingers are asked to solve the problem, but it is never as clear as just getting rid of some bad people, the Wolves are agents of the Crimson King, and there is the added complication of Susannah being pregnant, and it isn't a wanted pregnancy.
King pulls in a lot of info from his other books and even writes himself into the story line.  That is really annoys me.  It is very egotistical and makes me boil.  King also steals ideas from from other series, in fact one of the weapons is called a Sneetch, Harry Potter Edition.  That upsets me a ton too, King is an established writer, and has fame all his own, does he really need to steal ideas from other writers?  It feels false to me, like King couldn't think up a name for his weapon so he just stole J.K Rowlings idea, but gave a shout out to make it ok.  It just feels sneaky and dirty.  The Star Wars references don't bother me as mush, because Star was has become some a icon and been pillaged and plundered by so many.  So anyways again not a favorite book, and really, if the series had ended with this one, I would have been just fine.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (read 5\25-5\28)

This was for my book club on meetup.  Husband writes letter to wife to be opened after death - his deepest darkest secret.  For about a week or so we follow the life of three women whose lives intersect and intertwine over this secret.  His wife Cecilia Fitzpatrick reads letter while husband is still alive.  Tess, her husband and cousin (felicity) have an affair.  Felicity is more like Tess's sister, making the betrayal even worse.
Rachel is the grandmother of Jacob (4 yrs).  Jacob's family is moving to NY, destroying her.  Rachel's daughter Janie died at 17 she had shut down emotionally until Jacob is born. His leaving makes her fear she will go back to the place she was in her life after Janie's death and before Jacob's birth.
I loved the writing style, I couldn't wait to see how their lives intertwine.  It makes me want to know what will happen.  I think women's lives were intertwined mildly before, but now will be more so, because of Cecilia's husbands secret.  Although he seems so unimportant to the greater story that I can't remember his name.
The end was a bit of a let down, seemed too little.  Like the story didn't end neatly, I guess that is more realistic, but I wanted more.

One Last Thing before I Go by Jonathan Tropper(Read 5/19-5/23)

This was a book from my other book club that I missed, so when I finished The Wind Through the Keyhole so quickly I decided to pick it up and have a go.  This is the story of Drew Silver, a loser.  He was in a band with a hit song, the the band broke up.  He was in a marriage, then the marriage broke up.  Now he lives a lonely depressing life, and to top it off he finds out he is dying and his daughter is pregnant.  Silver must struggle with the relationships in his life and try to mend some of his mistakes, while deciding if he wants to fight for his life, or just accept his death.

Surprisingly, this was a page turner, there were times when I couldn’t put it down.  I really thought in the first chapter of so when I was reading about the disaster that was Silver’s life that this would be depressing and an awful read.  But the writing was wonderful, there was an easy flow to the storytelling, nothing fancy, just a good story well written.  I think the fact that all the characters in the book are so flawed and broken, makes them relatable and loveable.

There was a great rhythm in both the writing and the storyline.  There were no super fast or thrilling sections of the book, but neither were there slow sections.  You just rolled along at a happy place, and often I found that I was rolling so well that I couldn’t find a place to stop.    I’m not afraid to say that this book made me cry at some parts, they were just so well written and touching.  I didn’t have any laugh out loud moments, but those are much harder for a book to get from me.  I did quietly chuckle once or twice though.

The Wind through the Keyhole (Dark Tower #5) by Stephen King (Read 5/11-5/19)

Next up in the BOTM series, Stephen Kings The Wind through the Keyhole.  This was a new read for me, since it was published after I read the series the last time.   It was refreshing to read something new.  It was when I mentioned that in my book club that I realized this book was published after he series had been completed.

This story picks up after Roland and the crew leave the tower in wizard and glass.  They encounter this crazy storm called a starkbast, it is a deadly ice storm, but worse.  While they wait the storm out, Roland tells another story of his youth, in which he chases a “skin-man.”  While on the hunt for the “skin-man” Roland and his companion Jaime find a young survivor Bill Streeter.  Bill is scared and Roland tells him a story from his childhood, the story of Tim Stoutheart.

This was a super quick read, which was a very nice change after Wizard and Glass, my book club split the reading up over two weeks half one week half the next.  In actuality though, I read this whole thing in two days. 

It was fun and light for a tower book, and we got to hear a fun fairy tale for Gilead.  Which left me wanting to hear the rest of the Tim Stoutheart tales.  king’s writing wasn’t as heavy as in Wizard and Glass, and this is a nice bridge between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of Calla.

Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower #4) by Stephen King (Read 4/22/14 to 5/11/14)

BOTM continues with the Tower series, the fourth installment is Wizard and Glass.  This is one of my least favorite in the tower series.  It is slow and I just can’t seem to get into the storyline. 

This is the story of Roland’s first mission as a gunslinger and his first love.  Roland and the others have found a strange glass tower in the Stand’s Topeka, before they enter the tower, Roland tells a story.  As a reader I found myself caught up in the a story that Roland is telling his Ka-Tet.  I love hear about Roland as a youth, but for some reason King’s writing just makes it drag.  So I flip flop between loving and hating the storyline.

Roland and two of his friends, Alain and Cuthbert are sent to the Outer Barony of Mejis.  On his first night, Roland meets Susan, his first love and I think is only true love.  And that chance meeting sets off a whole series of events that change and shape Roland into the Gunslinger he is.  We are able to see the coldness and talent, tampered some by youth.  And Roland makes mistakes, not many, but sadly the ones he makes cost him dearly. 

Like I said before I like to hear about Roland’s youth, it gives Roland a human side.  But both the first time I read this book and again this time, I just found the writing dull.  I love the characters and the insight, but it takes me forever to read and feels like a chore.  And I’m not sure why.  It is a must read for the series, but I wish King had written it better.

The House Girl by Tara Conklin (Read 5/6-5/7)

This is a beautiful story following the lives of two woman linked through art, history, and personal mysteries.   The story moves between antebellum Virginia and a modern-day New York.  The truth of one, with lead to the truth of the other.  It is full of heartbreak and loss, but don’t be discouraged, the truth leads to justice.

Josephine Bell is a slave on a failing tobacco farm in 1852’s Virginia, she is a house girl and nurse to her Mistress Lu Anne Bell, an artist.  Josephine is also an artist, and our story begins on the day she has decided to run.  Her chapters follow her through her day as she prepares to run, and the information her Mistress finally tells her after 4 years of secrecy.

Carolina “Lina” Sparrow is a first-year associate at an elite law firm in 2004’s New York.  She is ambitious and talented and on the “Partnership tract.”  She is given an assignment to find a “perfect plaintiff” in a historic lawsuit regarding reparations for the descendants of American Slaves.  It is while on this search, that Lina discovers Josephine.  Currently all of her artwork is attributed to Lu Anne, but there is some suspicion in the art world that Josephine was the true artist.  Lina’s chapters follow her through her search for the descendants of Josephine and the truth of who was the real artist of the Bell Paintings.

This was a short book, about 370 page in paper back, but electronically only about 150 (font size does make a difference I think).  I read this book in two evenings, I could not put this book down and the writing was so easy to read.  I loved Conklin’s style, it was smooth and idiomatic.  Conklin did a wonderful job of describing both Virginia and New York, with just enough details to guide my imagination, but not so many the I had no creative freedom.  The story line flows, and like I said I kept coming back and couldn’t put down.  I really liked Lina, I was able to relate to her and her drive and need to know the truth, not just for her job, but for her own peace of mind.  The need for the truth, whether good or bad, the need is what drives Lina. 

I didn’t like the ending, I don’t want to go into too many details because of spoilers, but  really wanted things to turn out differently for Josephine, although I was pretty happy about how things went for Lina.  The fact that things turned out the way they did, contributed to the realism of the novel.  Things are not always unicorns and rainbows, and not every story can have a happy ending, although I can still wish for it.

I would definitely recommend this book as a light read, maybe for a weekend trip something light to keep you entertained and interested, but not so long that you couldn’t finish it on your days off.

The Lineage of Tellus Book1: Memories & Murder by Lauren J. Hasbrouck (Read 4/5-4/21)

This was a book I received from LibraryThing.com’s Early Reviewers.  I guess I should have read the description better before I said I would read it, I read the part about the fantasy quest to avenge Ashei’s Mothers death.  I missed the disclaimer that this was a high fantasy series for fans of adventure, dry wit, and broad sexuality.

In fact the “broad sexuality” threw me for a loop at first, it was just so in my face.   That it really distracted me from the story line.  I mean I don’t mind reading about sex, and I made it through Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty Series, and this has nothing on that series, but because I missed the disclaimer I was a bit unprepared for it and like I said distracted trying to figure out what I had gotten myself into checking the box for this book.  After awhile all the gay jokes became offensive, just because there were SOOO many of them.  I think sex and sexuality can add a lot to a story, this book just wasn’t written well enough to do that, so instead the sex and sexuality was a boring and upset me because I really wanted to get to the heart of the storyline and I couldn’t get through the fluff.

Laying all of that aside, this book is obviously a first attempt at a novel.  There was too much background in the first few pages, I felt a bit hammered over the head.  And Lauren’s writing style is a bit difficult to read, it is very choppy.  The storyline seems like a great concept if Lauren’s writing skills didn’t distract form it so much.  I think she felt she needed to add to much to the story to fill it out, when she had a great underlying base that could have really flourished if she had just let it be a little less fluffed.

The characters are a bit stereotypical, the barmaid with the courage of a warrior, the harlot with a heart of gold, the effeminate elf, the strong man who’s downfall is love, the evil wizard….I’m sure you get the idea.  Tellus is a strange mix of modern and medieval landscape.  I like it, and I think it is a great background, I just wish the characters were as deep.   The entire book felt a bit teenage cliché to me.  Why in the world would the characters act the way they did, and yes I know the obvious reason is because they had to in order to move the story in the direction Lauren wanted it to go.  Why was Ashei so sure her mom was murdered and part of some big conspiracy?  I mean from what I could tell until she died, Ashei thought she was perfectly normal. 

Why do Tris and Anne agree to go on the “quest”?  How do they even know where to start looking and why to start looking there?  And Finn…why the heck would he ever say yes.  The entire first part of the book I was was asking myself these sorts of questions, because the actions just seemed so random.  I think part of the problem was that Lauren was so focused on setting up the sexual tension scenario’s that she forgot to actually write about the characters. 

This is the 1st in a series and by Chapter 6 I knew Finn was a dragon and the son of the evil wizard.  I also knew the whole book was going to ramble and be one pointless adventure after another that really didn’t help move the core storyline along.  They could have if only they had been written better.  I am sorry to say, but I have no desire at all to read anymore of this series, I usually don’t say that but this was just awful…the writing was crude and the sexuality became tedious and offense after a while.  I applaud Lauren for following her dreams, but I’m sorry that this book was not a dream come true for me.