Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans

By  M.L. Stedman

3 1/2 Stars

Mixed emotions make me hesitate to write about The Light Between Oceans.  I liked it.  I really did.  But I also disliked it.   Someone who reviewed this book commented it was a “high concept” book.  In that area, I disagree.  As I read the book I felt I had read it before which insists the storyline is not unique.

However, the characters drew me into the story--A good man, a good woman gone slightly mad, and a woman whose child disappears.  Yet eventually I thought to myself.  Really?  The characters began to wear on my nerves.  The story became  far-fetched.   I found my credulity stretched to the point I didn’t care much for any of them.  (I always want to like a least one character in a book.)

Overall,  The Light Between Oceans is an enjoyable read.  It focuses on human nature and what a person will do for someone they love dearly.   It’s a good book to think about and then ask yourself, “What would I have done?”

Read Light Between Oceans if you like:

·      Character driven stories

·      Historical fiction        

·      Mild Suspense

Favorite Quote:  “Your family’s never in your past. You carry it around with you everywhere.”   By M. L. Stedman

Content Rating:   None

Happy Reading,

                Susanne

Heft

Heft

By Liz Moore

Rating:   3 3/4  Stars

Loneliness and friendship.  Abandoned and treasured.  These themes weave throughout Heft in a way that propels the reader forward. I fell in love with the characters in this book. Although, their problems were different from mine I resonated with the morbidly obese Arthur Opp and the ragtag adolescent Kel Keller. The story portrays humanity with its weaknesses and strengths.  It allows for hope in broken relationships.

I enjoyed I this book until the very last pages, but then the ending disappointed me. I expected so much more closure, but felt that I was left dangling. I cannot figure out why Liz Moore would write such a touching story and then leave the ending as she did. Maybe a sequel?   Who knows?

Another problem within the book was the use of ampersands (&) instead of using the word “and”.  It’s used frequently on almost every page. I actually thought that perhaps Heft was self-published because of this flaw.  I found the use of the ampersand distracting.

I liked this book and I would have rated this book 4 stars or higher, but can’t justify it due to the ending and the ampersands. I do think it is a worthwhile read, but be prepared for a disappointing ending.

Read HEFT if you like:

·      Character driven fiction         

·      Quirky characters

·      Human interest stories

Favorite Quote:

“All my life I have heard it said that you can’t choose your family, and all my life I have lamented this fact as true & unfair. But I think it is possible to look at things differently.  I believe we can choose to surround ourselves with a circle of people we love and admire & they can become your adopted family.” By Liz Moore

Content Rating:  None

  

Happy Reading,

     Susanne

Welcome to a Reader's Reverie

Welcome to A Reader’s Reverie

So glad you stopped by to visit A Reader’s Reverie. This blog was created with the intent of giving readers insight into books. To give a prospective reader an idea if they want to spend their hard earned money or precious time. As book aficionados know, some books are hits and some are misses. So as you reflect on each book review, remember that book reviews are very subjective to the individual reader.

 I currently belong to a book club that carefully considerers the reviews for each book we select. Our book club, The Las Vegas Bookies, choose one book a month to read and discuss. Our selections vary from classics, to popular fiction, to non-fiction, to literary, and even includes a bit of chick-lit. I am going to post a review on each book we have read. We have been together for 5 years, so that’s a lot of books to review. However, my plans are to review one of our book club selections on every other post until I have caught up on The Las Vegas Bookies picks.

                                                                                                                        

I am a voracious reader, (frenetic might be a better word), and I will write about the current book that I have finished or chose not to finish. I'm going to be honest about what's good or not so good within the pages.   

The power of the story constitutes life. The popular phrase, “Everyone has one good book in them” is true. Someone might not be able to write it down and get it published, but everyone has a memorable life story. We share in the community of this frazzled world by hearing stories. And what better way to escape the hassles and doldrums of our daily lives than by reading someone else’s tale—fiction or non-fiction.

                                                                                                                                      

Finally, I am going to place a content rating much like they do for the movies. I read ALL types of books, but I understand the hesitancy for some to read books that contain language, violence or sexual content. I would like to provide this as a service to help those who choose not to read certain types of books.    

I hope this blog inspires you to read books that you might not have ever considered. Now go cozy up with a book and enter into a world that will be different, yet alike, from your own.

Happy Reading,

Susanne

Sutton

Sutton

By J. R. Moehringer

Sutton came highly recommended by Pauline Hubert from Book Movement.  I had never heard of the author, J.R. Moehringer before this. I researched him and found that two of his other books had high reviews. So, I purchased Sutton and read through it quickly.  

It’s written as a fictionalized biography of the famous bank robber Willie Sutton. Although famous, (or should I say infamous), I had no idea who he was prior to reading this book. (He predated me by a few decades.)  This book enlightened me on bank robberies, prisons and escapees in American history.

This book contains a story within a story. It’s easy to follow the different story lines because of the font difference. I definitely enjoyed the history told by Willie Sutton over the proposed “current” storyline. And I must say that the ending of Sutton made me scratch my head a bit—a little confusing.  Overall, I liked it—liked it enough that I purchased A Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer.  

Rating:   3 1/2 Star

Read Sutton if you like:

·      Fictional biographies    

·      Crime fiction

·      1920-1940’s books

Favorite Quote:

“A book is the only real escape from this fallen world. Aside from death.”

Content Rating:  None

Happy Reading,

     Susanne

Las Vegas Bookies Selections for 2012

The end of 2012 is just around the corner and so ends another fun year with The Las Vegas Bookies.  As I reviewed the list from this year, I thought we didn't choose the best books.  We tried to please everyone with each month's selection and ended up with many so-so books as far as discussions went.

We had several chats about choosing books for 2013 and I think that our choices will be better.  We want to read books that have a moral angst to them.  A "what would you do?" type of book.   Fun, fluffy books are just not good for book club discussions we've discovered.

Plus, we're going to add 2 or 3 more Bookies.  We think that it will help during the times when a few of us are out-of-town. Hopefully, it will add some juice to discussions too!

So for now take a browse through our 2012 selections.  Also, let me know if there is a must read for 2013.  So far we have Gone Girl and The Dovekeepers.  Our intentions are to choose six months of books in advance.

The picture is of the Las Vegas Bookies in their "ugly Christmas vests."

Anyway, here's the 2012 list and verdicts.

Las Vegas Bookies Book Selections 2012

Title                                        Author                                                           Verdict

Art of Racing in the Rain        Garth Stein                                                      Good

March                                     Geraldine Brooks                                            Great

Next to Love                           Ellen Feldman                                                 Ugh

We Were the Mulvaney’s       Joyce Carol Oates                                           Good

Sarah’s Key                            Tatiana de Rosnay                                          Great

Before I go to Sleep                S.J. Watson                                                     Good

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn     Betty Smith                                                    Great

Peace Like a River                   Lei Enger                                                         Great

In the Company of the Courtesan      Sarah Dunant                                      Good

Off the Grid                            P.J. Tracy                                                       So-so

Philanthropist’s Danse           Paul Wornham                                                Great

The Red Book                         Deborah Kogan                                               Ugh

Happy Reading in 2013,

Susanne