Fallout

Fallout by Sadie Jones is a novel set in London in the 70's. Jones captures the feeling of London's theater scene at the time, focusing on four young people in their 20's as they come together as actors, writers, producers, and stage managers, falling in and out of love and friendship.

I loved Luke, the main character, but had such a hard time liking or believing in Nina, his love interest, at times the novel seemed contrived to me. However, Jones' characters are well developed and she draws us into their inner landscape as they navigate their way through the creative process and their own struggles with love and loyalty.

Probably not one I'll remember long, however, I couldn't put it down until I was done reading the whole thing. Jones is, without a doubt, a talented writer.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

The Museum of Extraordinary Things is the new novel by Alice Hoffman. The novel is set in New York City in 1911. At the center of the book is Coralie, daughter of a cruel man who runs The Museum of Extraordinary Things in Coney Island. The museum is full of every kind of freak of nature he can find or create, including his own daughter, turning her into a human mermaid.

When Coralie comes upon a young photographer one night in the woods, her whole life changes, and she begins to imagine her freedom.

This novel is historical fiction at its best, depicting the labor struggles of the time as well as two very real fires that devastated the city. Hoffman imagines the lives of those who might have lived at the time, and turn of the century NY comes alive. She is a wonderful storyteller; the book is filled with magic, and her characters practically leap off the page.

The Glass Ocean

The Glass Ocean by Lori Baker had the potential to be a fascinating story, but instead I found it tedious and almost impossible to get through.

Baker tells the story of Leo Dell'Orro and Clotilde Girard who meet aboard the Narcissus, a boat on expedition in the 1840's. Leo is hired to draw pictures of all the specimens collected from the ocean, and later, after Clotilde's father mysteriously disappears, they get married and live in England where Leo finds work as a glassmaker.

The descriptions of glass making are wonderful and Baker is a talented writer, but not such a great storyteller. I didn't care at all about the characters, Clotilde particularly was so unpleasant it was hard to even read about her. The story got lost in all the details and I was so tired by the end I just wanted to be done with it.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker is a very entertaining novel, if you can get past the silly title. Barker has written a Harry Potter type fairy tale for adults.

Nora, the protagonist, gets lost hiking on a mountain and wanders into another realm full of wizards and magicians, both good and bad. Here she meets the magician Aruendiel, who begins to teach her real magic so she can survive, and try to make her way back to her own world.

This was a wonderful world to escape into and I was fully drawn in, I didn't want it to end. Barker will have to write a sequel, as the ending leaves the reader wanting more. A fun and entertaining escape.

The Other Story

The Other Story is a novel by Tatiana de Rosnay. It is the story of Nicholas Kolt, a French author who doesn't handle his rise to fame well.

When his one and only book becomes a bestseller, then an Oscar winning movie, he starts leading the high life and becomes addicted to following himself on Facebook, Twitter and all internet and social networking sites.

The main character is so unlikable, that it is hard to care about anything in this book. I found it tiring. There is a mystery at the heart of the novel concerning his missing Father, but that never fully plays out, and it is too little to save this very disappointing book.

Skip this one and try Sarah's Key by the same author.

Teatime for the Firefly

Teatime for the Firefly is the debut novel by Shona Patel. It is set in the Assam Tea Gardens in India during the 1940's, just before India's independence. This is a wonderful novel that transported me to Assam the entire time. (It helps to drink a good cup of Assam tea while reading)!

Patel's parents were Assam tea planters, and although this is not their story, she drew on personal experience to evoke the rich atmosphere of colonial society and the tea plantations at the time. I could almost feel the jungle buzzing around me.

Patel's writing is wonderful, lyrical, evocative; her characters are well drawn and I was pulled into their story from the first page. This is a great book, full of history, culture and tea. Highly recommended.