The Word Exchange is the debut novel by Alena Graedon. Graedon writes of a time in the very near future where we are all addicted to our handheld devices called Memes.They can intuit what we want, order groceries for us, pay for a cab, make a call, etc and no one can remember how to live without them. In fact, people start forgetting how to use language itself, and need to purchase words and definitions on The Word Exchange.
It is also the time of death of the printed word. Ana and her Dad work for NADEL, North American Dictionary of the English Language that is about to go to its final printing. When Ana's Dad disappears, the real mystery begins, and like Alice falling down a rabbit hole, Ana sets off to try to find him.
This is an amazing debut from a young new writer that couldn't be more timely. Graedon philosophizes about what it means for us to loose words, and thus our capacity for thought, memory, history, understanding who we are, how we relate to others and ourselves. I found it fascinating and not just a little scary in light of our current addiction to technology and where we are going with it.
I highly recommend you put down your iPhone, shut off your laptop and read this book.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
The Book Of Life
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness is the final book in the All Souls Trilogy.
Witch scholar Diana Bishop and her Vampire scientist husband Matthew Clairmont, travel back to the present time as they continue their search to find the missing pages of Ashmole 782, an alchemical manuscript said to hold the secrets of the origins of all Witches, Vampires and Daemons.
If you enjoyed the first two books in the series, you will find more of the same here, although this was my least favorite of the three. It is less historical fiction than her earlier books, and way too heavy on Vampire politics for my taste. It is good to finally have a conclusion to the story, but this book didn't capture my imagination as much as the previous novels did.
Witch scholar Diana Bishop and her Vampire scientist husband Matthew Clairmont, travel back to the present time as they continue their search to find the missing pages of Ashmole 782, an alchemical manuscript said to hold the secrets of the origins of all Witches, Vampires and Daemons.
If you enjoyed the first two books in the series, you will find more of the same here, although this was my least favorite of the three. It is less historical fiction than her earlier books, and way too heavy on Vampire politics for my taste. It is good to finally have a conclusion to the story, but this book didn't capture my imagination as much as the previous novels did.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Moloka'i
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert is historical fiction based on the lives of people living in Kalaupapa, the leper colony on Moloka'i. The book follows Rachel Kalama, who at seven years old is taken away from her family in Honolulu to live the rest of her life in Kalaupapa.
This is a beautifully written book full of the untold tales of Kalaupapas residents daily lives, from the time of King Kalakaua through WWII and into the the 1970's.
Brennert writes with such compassion, I was moved to tears by this book.
Highly recommended.
This is a beautifully written book full of the untold tales of Kalaupapas residents daily lives, from the time of King Kalakaua through WWII and into the the 1970's.
Brennert writes with such compassion, I was moved to tears by this book.
Highly recommended.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Thirty Girls
Thirty Girls by Susan Minot brings to light the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda for the past 30 years, where thousands of children have been abducted and forced to become child soldiers. The girls are taken as sex slaves and servants, many as young as ten years old.
In Thirty Girls, Minot highlights a group of girls taken from a Catholic boarding school in the middle of the night and made famous worldwide by their mothers and a few reporters who told their story. The book alternates between Esther's story, one of the abducted girls, and Jane's story, a journalist in her late thirties drifting through Africa to escape her past and having an affair with a younger man.
Minot does a convincing job capturing both voices, however, it becomes increasingly hard to listen to Jane whine about her problems in the midst of the tragedies all around her. I would still recommend this book, as I think it helps shed light a story that needs to be told.
In Thirty Girls, Minot highlights a group of girls taken from a Catholic boarding school in the middle of the night and made famous worldwide by their mothers and a few reporters who told their story. The book alternates between Esther's story, one of the abducted girls, and Jane's story, a journalist in her late thirties drifting through Africa to escape her past and having an affair with a younger man.
Minot does a convincing job capturing both voices, however, it becomes increasingly hard to listen to Jane whine about her problems in the midst of the tragedies all around her. I would still recommend this book, as I think it helps shed light a story that needs to be told.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
What I Had Before I Had You
What I Had Before I Had You is the debut novel by Sarah Cornwell. I read this book in a day, I just couldn't put it down.
It is the story of Olivia Reed, now a mother in her 30's divorced and returning to her hometown of Ocean View on the Jersey shore. When her 9 year old bi-polar son goes missing, she revisits the summer she was 15, when her life changed forever, and she recalls memories of the mother she left behind.
Moving from past to present, Cornwell weaves this tale seamlessly, exploring the turbulent time of adolescence as well as capturing the nature of mental illness. It is written with such gut wrenching honesty, I felt transported to another place, not one I always wanted to be, yet I couldn't look away.
A brilliant debut.
It is the story of Olivia Reed, now a mother in her 30's divorced and returning to her hometown of Ocean View on the Jersey shore. When her 9 year old bi-polar son goes missing, she revisits the summer she was 15, when her life changed forever, and she recalls memories of the mother she left behind.
Moving from past to present, Cornwell weaves this tale seamlessly, exploring the turbulent time of adolescence as well as capturing the nature of mental illness. It is written with such gut wrenching honesty, I felt transported to another place, not one I always wanted to be, yet I couldn't look away.
A brilliant debut.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Shadow of Night
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness is part two of the All Souls Trilogy. It picks up where A Discovery of Witches left off, with Oxford scholar and witch Diana Bishop and Vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont traveling back in time to Elizabethan England, where they encounter Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespear and a number of other famous people of the time.
They are searching for the alchemical manuscript that Diana came across in the first book, and Diana meets a coven of witches who help her better understand her powers.
Harkness' love of history shines through the pages. I didn't like this one as well as the first book, but I hung in there, and I'm sure I'll read the final book in the trilogy to find out what happens, as this one leaves us hanging as well.
They are searching for the alchemical manuscript that Diana came across in the first book, and Diana meets a coven of witches who help her better understand her powers.
Harkness' love of history shines through the pages. I didn't like this one as well as the first book, but I hung in there, and I'm sure I'll read the final book in the trilogy to find out what happens, as this one leaves us hanging as well.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Gilead
I was in the mood for some really beautiful writing, so I thought I would revisit one of my favorite books, Gilead by Mailynne Robinson. Set in the small town of Gilead, Iowa in the 50's and told through the voice of a Congregational preacher, Gilead is full of many gems, and rare honesty and grace.
Reverend John Ames is at the end of his life, and the book is written as a long letter to his young son that he wont get to see grow up. The writing is sparse, lyrical, and beautiful, as Ames reflects back on his life.
When Ames tells his son, "There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient," this simple truth just took my breath away.
Beautifully written, highly recommended.
Reverend John Ames is at the end of his life, and the book is written as a long letter to his young son that he wont get to see grow up. The writing is sparse, lyrical, and beautiful, as Ames reflects back on his life.
When Ames tells his son, "There are a thousand thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them sufficient," this simple truth just took my breath away.
Beautifully written, highly recommended.
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