Review: State of Wonder

From Goodreads:Sometimes being on the vanguard of scientific progress thrusts you into the teeth of danger. For Minnesota pharmaceutical researcher Dr. Marina Singh, that means being sent into the remotest region of the Amazon jungle to track down her former mentor. Finding Dr. Annick Swenson promises to be perilous: The last scientist assigned to find her has disappeared too. What follows is the most ambitious novel yet by Bel Canto author Ann Patchett as its adventure story opens into a penetrating study of personalities, loyalties, and ethics.

My Review: I had heard wonderful things about this book so when I saw it at the library I had to get it. I was not disappointed. This was a riveting read. With Anne Prachet’s writing one is drawn into the lush jungles of The Amazon complete with how life is really lived there.

The superficial story is the Marina the main character goes to the Amazon to find out what happens to her co worker who has died. But it goes much deeper than that Marina finds a kind of salvation through her work there. She has been haunted by an accident that she had during medical school and her old professor is the same woman who she goes to meet in the Amazon. First she is terrified but then as the story weaves tales of Amazon way of life and interactions with her old teacher she is in a way relived of the burden.

There is also exploration of ethics that one must choose when confronted with a different non Western way of life. I feel that the author got to the heart of this and through a story beautifully told she also showed that human no matter where they are or where they came from are not fallible and can make what would seem at home a blatant display of wrong ethics seems almost right in a  strange environment.

This is a story that borrows from the book Heart of Darkness but while there are similarities in themes the author makes it her own book. This is a testament to the authors writing. This book comes highly recommended.

Review: A Cousins Promise

 From Goodreads:Willkumm to the Amish country, where a tragic accident and an old beau complicate the lives of two young lovers.

My Review: A friend lent me this book. I normally would not pick up Amish Fiction but I have to say I am glad I did. This book is the first book in a trilogy. It starts with a car accident and goes on to explore what happens when a normally abled bodied person become disabled.

I liked this aspect of the book. It showed a realistic grieving process while at the same time keeping with the faith and lifestyle of the Amish community.

This trilogy was given to me because all three deals with disabilities and in one book there is a Deaf person in the storyline. I haven't gotten to that book yet but if the first book is any indication I am looking forward to the next two books. I feel it is important to portray disabilities in books as they happen. Here the man who lost his leg in the car accident did not all of a sudden come to terms with it. The grieving process was accurately shown. While I wanted to slap the main character Wayne a few times the reader comes to understand that accepting becoming handicapped takes time and even with a person of supposedly deep and unwavering faith you can still make what seems like stupid decisions. In the end though one must accept what has happened and go on to live the best life possible. This is exactly what happens.

BBAW Interview

Today I  have Bailey from Window Seat Reader for an interview.

What made you decide to start book blogging?  I love talking about books, and one day I came across Goodreads when I felt like venting about an upsetting read.  Next thing I know, I'm reading several blogs regularly!  I'd thrown the idea around a few times of starting a blog.  Finally, I just went for it, and it's been lots of fun ever since.

What is your favorite genre? I really enjoy historical fiction especially books with a Gothic setting.  I also like literary fiction and memoirs!

How did you come up with the name of your blog?  As a kid, I always thought it'd be awesome to have a window seat in my room.  I imagined it'd be a great place to relax and read and write.  My dream hasn't come to fruition yet, but I thought it was a fun and unique name for the blog!

You mention on your blog you are a graduate student what do you study?  I'm studying school psychology.  Some parts of the US don't really use school psychologists in their education systems so I'll briefly explain what that role entails.  Basically, I'll be trained to asses students with behavioral and learning deficits; additionally, I'll be able to implement interventions and consult with teachers and parents on effective strategies and solutions to help their children succeed in the classroom and in life.

What is your favorite book of this year?  Favorite audiobook: The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees; Favorite memoir: Little Princes by Conor Grennan; Favorite fiction (print): The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (Sorry, I can't ever choose one!)

What Have I Been Up To?

I know things have been quite on the blog front lately. No I havent forgotten about it, I have been studying all..the.. time for

the GRE. I am hoping to enroll in graduate school to get my Masters of Library Science. I have still been reading during study breaks. Most lately this book:

What are you reading?

Review:Nemesis

This is a historically imagined polio outbreak in Newark in the summer on 1944. Bucky who wishes he was in the military fighting in the pacific is disqualified because of his bad eyesight. Instead he is the playground director for a local school. Apart from his bad eyesight he is the epitome of manliness.  When the chance arises he goes to the Poconos which is polio free. Then the twist occurs which I am not giving away for it is spoilirsh.

I have to be honest I had a hard time getting through this book as it seemed nothing happened. I know usually the first 100 pages is used for scene setting but this book dragged on past that. The book went into detail about the playground. Kids died. It described in excruciating detail about Bucky’s past and how he wanted to join the military. The overall theme of the book was what kind of God would let polio happen? I was getting pissed. I wanted a twist or SOMETHING big to happen in the book. In the end I got what I wanted. I really did not see that twist coming. It is at the end of the book so you will have to suffer through 200 pages to get to it but boy, it it worth it!

To be fair it did give an accurate portrayal of the horrifying conditions and the panic that ensued.I was able to empatize with the characters. While reading this book I felt bad for the people that got polio and suffered it devastating effects before the vaccine was created. What it must have been like for those people not knowing where polio came from or how it was spread.Philip Roth does a brilliant job of creating a historically accurate portrayal of that summer. How the kids on the playground felt when their friends died or was confined to an iron lung. How healthy kids were falling one by one to the disease.

The part that bothered me was the long drawn out descriptions of the summer camp. That I could do without. I am sure most of us have been to summer camp and is aware of what it entails. However it is here that the twist comes up and it makes suffering through the 200 pages prior worth it.

Review: Wolf Mark

This book was sent to me by the publisher

From Goodreads:

Luke King knows a lot of things. Like four different ways to disarm an enemy before the attacker can take a breath. Like every detail of every book he’s ever read. And Luke knows enough—just enough—about what his father does as a black ops infiltrator to know which questions not to ask. Like why does his family move around so much?
Luke just hopes that this time his family is settled for a while. He’ll finally be able to have a normal life. He’ll be able to ask the girl he likes to take a ride with him on his motorcycle. He’ll hang out with his friends. He’ll be invisible—just as he wants.
But when his dad goes missing, Luke realizes that life will always be different for him. Suddenly he must avoid the kidnappers looking to use him as leverage against his father, while at the same time evading the attention of the school’s mysterious elite clique of Russian hipsters, who seem much too interested in Luke’s own personal secret. Faced with multiple challenges and his emerging paranormal identity, Luke must decide who to trust as he creates his own destiny.

My review: I am now a fan of TU a new imprint of Lee and Low Books. I have liked all three of the books they have sent me. I never thought I would like young adult books but boy, was I wrong. I think I am going to seek out the genre a bit more.

Wolf Mark is has sci-fi elements which I love. It also has a little romance thrown in but with a young adult feel to it. It brought back to memory of my own high school days.

The characters all of them are well developed. I found myself rooting for Lucas and he races to save his father. It is hard to find a book whose secondary characters are  as well developed as they are in this book. I could find myself empathizing even what I thought to be the bad guys (even though they weren't) and his best friend.

I also love the lore that was interposed in this book. I love mythology. And there was not short of it here. It explained in such a way that it was assessable to it target audience which is 12 and up. I myself learned quite a few things from this book. Such as what a grue is among other things.

I would recommend this book to any young adult who likes sci-fi and to any adult who likes sci-fi and young adult books.

Book Blogger Hop

                                   

“What is the one ARC you would love to get your hands on right now?”

I would kill to get my hands on “The last Werewolf”

For the rest of the hop click here