The House at Riverton

This is the second book by Kate Morton that I have read this year, after picking up The Forgotten Garden a couple of months ago.

I got this book from the CBC reads booksale, a pretty great used book sale held in the spring each year. It is about a very elderly lady revisiting her early life as a maid at a manor house during WWI and the 1920s, arguably the period in which we saw the changeover into the modern era.

After reading Kate Morton's other book earlier this year, I was excited to get to this one. It didn't disappoint - it had the same atmospheric locations, well written characters and an intriguing plot that unraveled so well that I hadn't guessed the ending at all (not that I am Sherlock, but still).

I can't help but think her books would make great period dramas, similar to something like Gosford Park.

Anyway, this gets 4.5 shell-shocked infantrymen out of 5.

Swim the Fly

A pretty adorable tale of three 15-year old boys, who's summer goal is to see a "real live naked girl".

This was written in pretty much the way that (I think) 15 year old boys think, with a huge portion of their time devoted to girls or various subjects surrounding. At times, the book was pretty misogynistic and a couple of scenes bordered into the inappropriately creepy. That said, it is likely that 15 year old boys (and girls) are often inappropriate and creepy, so I guess you could consider it true-to-life.

the good: great dialogue and well formed characters. I liked meeting the three boys' families, the little details made their personalities more realistic. Also, Grandpa Arlo was awesome.

the bad: a bit misogynistic and creepy, as stated before. I can see how it is completely relatable to kids that age, though. I know I had some very inappropriate moments when I was 15 (or 26, let's be honest).

3.5 awkward boners out of 5.

The Purity Myth

Alright, back to adult books...

I heard about this book some time ago and was pretty excited when it came in amongst my holds at the library. can we just take a minute to talk about how fantastic the Calgary Public Library is? I rarely have issues with them, they make it pretty damn easy to do everything online, and whenever I haven't been able to find a book through them I have had access to the TAL system and have gotten it via the CPL through Interlibrary Loans. I heart the library. I am going to go out on a limb and say it is possibly one of the best inventions of the industrial revolution. Yay for Libraries!

So, back to this book. I loved the concept, regarding the commodification and obsession with virginity, with a focus on the American neo-con movement. It certainly delivered what it advertised, which was a very critical look at not only the neo-con movement but our ideas of virginity in general.

I thought Valenti made some really interesting points throughout the book, although at first I did find her writing style a bit bizarre. She both uses end notes and a form of footnotes, but her footnotes were primarily just her commentary on the subject matter. While I would have a difficult time taking this as someone using it for an academic source, as a general reader I was pretty entertained.

That said, Valenti's organization was a bit lacking, and I found she both repeated herself in her subject matter and contradicted herself as well. Specifically, her chapter on porn was a bit confusing - is she for or against?

All in all, it was an interesting book that I enjoyed, on subject matter that I feel passionate about. That said, I would have enjoyed some more detailed info on the subjects she was accosting, such as the Purity Balls. It's an interesting topic that is spoken of, but not delved into in any great depth. Perhaps I was just looking for more of a journalistic approach to the information and not such a feminist discourse style, but it is what it is.

3.5 misunderstood concepts of virginity out of 5.

The Uninvited

I was lent The Uninvited by a friend after I picked it up off her coffee table and read the back.

This is one of those books that could be classified as older YA, but could also stand as just general fiction as well (though likely with a young readership). It was a great story about a family of siblings that finds each other in Eastern Ontario, and the drama that surrounds their lives and the lives of their parents.

The good: great atmosphere, good story, great characters and dialogue and generally just the right amount of creepiness for YA.

The bad: I think this would have made a great adult novel. It could be expanded on, made a bit creepier and more sinister. Overall though, fun, very well written book.

4 Mini Coopers out of 5.

Boot Camp

The first two chapters came to me in my email inbox, and after ignoring it for a few days, I got pretty into it. By the end of the week (and series of emails), I was a bit bummed and therefore put it on hold at the library.

A few weeks later when I picked it up, I fully expected to dump it back at the library when it was due back, not having read it. For a YA book, it was pretty good about dealing with an issue without over-dramatizing it or pandering to the reader.

Anyway, it's the story of a teen who has an affair with his high school teacher and is sent off to a military school for his "disobedience" to his parents. What makes it work is that the narrator is an abnormally well-spoken teen, who is obviously more mature than most. His parents are presented as the typical upper-middle class WASP types, more concerned with their image than their child's welfare. While these are pretty stereotypical characters, the author does a good job in not pandering to the type - the parents are shown as misdirecting their care and concern along with being willfully blind. The kid, while mature, was still in a sexual relationship with an adult - technically illegal at best, with the teacher as a sexual predator at worst.

He goes through some absolutely abhorrent abuse at the military school, which is documented in a very matter-of-fact way. He is beaten, forced to do humiliating and dangerous tasks, and emotionally abused the entire way through. The idea is to brainwash the kids and then reprogram them.

Interestingly, sexual abuse is never even broached. Possibly it would be too much for a YA book, but you have to imagine this takes place along with the other forms of abuse - especially when the abuse is about power.

Possibly the best part of the book, and something you don't often see in YA is the afterword - the author speaks plainly and pointedly about the actual camps that exist in the US (and to a lesser degree in Canada), and how they have been responsible for a large number of deaths in the last 30 years.

I was interested enough in this to google "US youth boot camps" the next day, and it's true - it's a pretty terrible system that has parents giving permission for these places to abuse their children in the name of "saving them". Now, I am completely sure that there are a large number of kids out there who need a (metaphorical) kick in the ass to turn their lives around. This system seems antiquated and wrong, however. Especially when, after doing the research, it turns out that statistically they make no difference whatsoever - the repeat rates for these kids in the criminal system is identical to the kids that don't go through boot camps. Finally, often the people running these camps have no actual credentials to support themselves - they do not keep psychiatrists, appropriate medical staff, teaching staff, etc.

All in all, worthwhile read and good issue-type book for YA. 3.5 steel-toed boots to the face out of 5.

Black Sheep

I bought this book from chapters.ca so that I could get the free shipping. Who doesn't enjoy a good mystery now and then? I've had a penchant for Irish mysteries lately, after reading Tana French's books in 2008.

I'm not really sure what I expected, but I did get your formulaic mystery novel - two seemingly-unrelated murders, a bunch of cover up, a tense partnership between investigators, bad guys, etc.

The good: Well written characters, and a surprisingly moving subplot around one of the detective's aging mothers decline into dementia.

The bad: ended a bit lamely, with the usual tie ups. It ran a bit long, and the bad guys were your cookie cutter bad shits.

I'd be interested in a good solid Irish mystery with "The Troubles" as a backdrop, as opposed to the usual Irish gossips/rural settings/gritty gangsters. Anyone know of any (directed to the three people who read this)?

two and a half burned out Ford Fiestas out of five.

Sharp Objects

In a complete departure from Austenland, I next picked up this book and promptly tore through it in less than 24 hours. A considerably dark tale about a journalist from Chicago who is sent back to her small Missouri hometown to cover the serial murders of little girls.

As the book unfolds, it becomes both very disturbed and bizarre, delving into the relationships of the women in the town, and within the protagonist's own family. The mother, Adora, is a repressed sociopathic WASPy type, and the youngest daughter, Amma is a bipolar bully who takes great joy in witnessing pain and violence. These two alone would make for a great story, but when told through the eyes of a very disturbed reporter who, as a cutter, has carved words all over her skin, made it so I couldn't go anywhere or do anything until i finished the book.

Interestingly, when I finished the book I read the author bio, and it turns out Gillian Flynn is the television critic for Entertainment Weekly. Weird - you would think she would write something more along the lines of "The Hills", but I guess people do surprise you for the better occasionally.

Anyway, it was a gripping and very interesting read, and I give it 4 Kansas City cops out of 5, and I look forward to reading Gillian Flynn's recently released new novel, as soon as the library gets it to me.

Screedles

Austenland

I picked this book up from the library this week, thinking it would be a fun little diversion (from what? I don't exactly read Doystoyevsky on a regular basis). A slim little volume from an author who primarily writes YA fiction, it told the tale of a thirty-something single woman, unlucky in love, who receives a vacation as a parting gift from a dead relative to attend "Pembrook Park", a spot where lonely Austenites can live out their fantasies.

You can understand why this would appeal to me - what fan of historical fiction in general and lover of Austen specifically wouldn't want to do exactly that? In theory, I would love to dress up in a corset and parade around in a manor house for three weeks. What this book does deliver on is in fact remedy from this fantasy. In your imagination, it sounds like fun. In reality (as the protagonist learns), it's just lame and sad.

Overall, this story is pretty thin on plot, and more than a little cheesy in character. It does deliver some pretty witty writing, and I did find myself giggling a few times out loud. In the end, however, it became the same tired chick-lit climax (tee hee) in which two equally handsome but completely different mannequins fight for the hand of the fair lady. Boring. It had such potential too - earlier in the book I found myself contemplating the nature of fantasy and the lengths people go to fulfill them, and at what point it becomes unhealthy. I guess I over thought it.

Finally, I want to question some of the plot points - why would this character get such a gift left in a will? This seemed bizarre and unnecessary. Also, why was it so insistent that it be known that the main character was not the usual sort of patron to grace Pembrook House, financially? Why was the owner such a bitch? And lastly, what kind of vacation place demands financial statements from it's guests? So bizarre, and frankly a bit hacky. In places, it kind of read like an amateur erotic novel, minus the fun stuff. Maybe it was trying to do the whole P&P "different classes" thing in a really heavy-handed way? Fail.

Anyway, I give it 2.5 Mr. Darcys out of 5, but if you're wanting something ridiculous and fun and mildly guilty (like a foot fetish), read it.