Books, books, books. Reviews by request
Jul. 29th, 2006 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melwilBook 94: Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic by Ann M. Martin
I've never been a real fan of the Baby-Sitters Mysteries, or even the various mysteries that popped up during the regular series. This book, however, doesn't deal with 'ghosts' or long forgotten secrets of Stoneybrook that don't really matter. This one deals with a secret that's been kept from Mary Anne - after her mother died, her father sent her to stay with her maternal grandparents.
Maybe this book would have had more impact if I had read it when it first came out, rather than gathering all the knowledge about Mary Anne and her grandmother from later books. But because I read it so much later, it felt a little like it was just filling in some minor gaps - it didn't have the emotional impact it might have had.
Still, I'm glad I did read it finally.
Book 97: Claudia and the Terrible Truth by Ann M. Martin
When you consider how long the Baby-Sitters Club series ran, it's suprising that the topic of child abuse hasn't come up earlier. This book, of course, deals with a new family where the father has everyone terrified. He's all peaches and cream with the baby-sitters, but he has strict rules for the children (touching the outside of a briefcase is enough to send him cranky), and the children have some suspicious marks on them. Claudia realises that things just aren't adding up like they should, finally turning to her mother to help her.
I read the book a little while ago, and it's not completely memorable now. But one thing that did stick out was how much I liked Claudia's mother in this book. Claudia's point of view usually makes her mother out as the big meanie, but here we see a much more adult approach as her mother takes control and helps 'save the day'.
Book 108: Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery
This was one of my large haul of books from the Life Line Book Fest. It tells the story of a well-to-do college graduate who decides to help a friend by teaching at a small rural school. Once there, he discovers Kilmeny, the beautiful but silent girl. He, of course, falls in love, but she won't allow it while she remains silent. And I won't give away the ending.
This is basically a really sweet love story. Our hero (whose name I cannot remember) is a really nice guy; Kilmeny is completely likeable. I would have liked to hear more about the teaching from a male point of view - the only male teacher I remember hearing from before in L. M. Montgomery's world is Gilbert Blythe - but the details are few and sketchy. The ending is a little predictable, but still rather likeable.
Book 114: Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
This was a great book. I began reading it almost as soon as I got it - and it was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. It tells the story of Kiki Strike, the unusual but brilliant girls who gathers an eclectic set of girls with various skills around her in order to explore a series of secret tunnels under New York City.
I cannot explain how much I loved this book. It is really rich with details, and it feels really real. The characters were so real to me, that I actually had to put the book down for a couple of weeks, because I was afraid that something bad was going to happen to them, and I just couldn't deal with that. And one particularly nice touch was the little 'advice columns' at the end of each chapter.
My recommendation would be to read this, but try not to get as invested as I did, because it regretted putting it down when I reached the end.
Book 140: Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery
Jane is an oddball, living at Number 60 Gay Street in Toronto with her flighty mother and her overbearing and controlling grandmother (along with a grim aunt and some servants). One day her father writes and asks that Jane be sent to Prince Edward Island for the summer. Jane discovers that her father is what Anne would call 'a kindred spirit', helps him find a house, and sets about housekeeping for the first time in her life. Here she grows into a person of her own, outside of the shadow of her grandmother.
This was a nice book, and I really liked Jane. She becomes a bright and interesting character, and I found her really likeable. It felt a little short at times - sometimes too concerned about nature and the setting, and not giving enough action or emotion. But it was a nice children's book, and more modern than a lot of L. M. Montgomery's.
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innle asked how the two L. M. Montgomery books compared to the Emily books. The obvious comparison is of the main characters and both Jane and Kilmeny suffer because these are shorter books covering fairly short periods of times in their life. Emily is much more fleshed out than these two, and far more spirited. Kilmeny reads pretty much as a straight romance, whereas Emily's Quest has a lot more depth. Same with 'Jane' which tends to be a straight story slipping between 'the fun of housekeeping' and 'the romance between Jane's mother and father' - again it just doesn't have the emotional depth of the Emily books.
Check out the post before this one for a list of books if you want me to review one of the books I've read. Now, time for more beer . . .
I've never been a real fan of the Baby-Sitters Mysteries, or even the various mysteries that popped up during the regular series. This book, however, doesn't deal with 'ghosts' or long forgotten secrets of Stoneybrook that don't really matter. This one deals with a secret that's been kept from Mary Anne - after her mother died, her father sent her to stay with her maternal grandparents.
Maybe this book would have had more impact if I had read it when it first came out, rather than gathering all the knowledge about Mary Anne and her grandmother from later books. But because I read it so much later, it felt a little like it was just filling in some minor gaps - it didn't have the emotional impact it might have had.
Still, I'm glad I did read it finally.
Book 97: Claudia and the Terrible Truth by Ann M. Martin
When you consider how long the Baby-Sitters Club series ran, it's suprising that the topic of child abuse hasn't come up earlier. This book, of course, deals with a new family where the father has everyone terrified. He's all peaches and cream with the baby-sitters, but he has strict rules for the children (touching the outside of a briefcase is enough to send him cranky), and the children have some suspicious marks on them. Claudia realises that things just aren't adding up like they should, finally turning to her mother to help her.
I read the book a little while ago, and it's not completely memorable now. But one thing that did stick out was how much I liked Claudia's mother in this book. Claudia's point of view usually makes her mother out as the big meanie, but here we see a much more adult approach as her mother takes control and helps 'save the day'.
Book 108: Kilmeny of the Orchard by L. M. Montgomery
This was one of my large haul of books from the Life Line Book Fest. It tells the story of a well-to-do college graduate who decides to help a friend by teaching at a small rural school. Once there, he discovers Kilmeny, the beautiful but silent girl. He, of course, falls in love, but she won't allow it while she remains silent. And I won't give away the ending.
This is basically a really sweet love story. Our hero (whose name I cannot remember) is a really nice guy; Kilmeny is completely likeable. I would have liked to hear more about the teaching from a male point of view - the only male teacher I remember hearing from before in L. M. Montgomery's world is Gilbert Blythe - but the details are few and sketchy. The ending is a little predictable, but still rather likeable.
Book 114: Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
This was a great book. I began reading it almost as soon as I got it - and it was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. It tells the story of Kiki Strike, the unusual but brilliant girls who gathers an eclectic set of girls with various skills around her in order to explore a series of secret tunnels under New York City.
I cannot explain how much I loved this book. It is really rich with details, and it feels really real. The characters were so real to me, that I actually had to put the book down for a couple of weeks, because I was afraid that something bad was going to happen to them, and I just couldn't deal with that. And one particularly nice touch was the little 'advice columns' at the end of each chapter.
My recommendation would be to read this, but try not to get as invested as I did, because it regretted putting it down when I reached the end.
Book 140: Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery
Jane is an oddball, living at Number 60 Gay Street in Toronto with her flighty mother and her overbearing and controlling grandmother (along with a grim aunt and some servants). One day her father writes and asks that Jane be sent to Prince Edward Island for the summer. Jane discovers that her father is what Anne would call 'a kindred spirit', helps him find a house, and sets about housekeeping for the first time in her life. Here she grows into a person of her own, outside of the shadow of her grandmother.
This was a nice book, and I really liked Jane. She becomes a bright and interesting character, and I found her really likeable. It felt a little short at times - sometimes too concerned about nature and the setting, and not giving enough action or emotion. But it was a nice children's book, and more modern than a lot of L. M. Montgomery's.
innle asked how the two L. M. Montgomery books compared to the Emily books. The obvious comparison is of the main characters and both Jane and Kilmeny suffer because these are shorter books covering fairly short periods of times in their life. Emily is much more fleshed out than these two, and far more spirited. Kilmeny reads pretty much as a straight romance, whereas Emily's Quest has a lot more depth. Same with 'Jane' which tends to be a straight story slipping between 'the fun of housekeeping' and 'the romance between Jane's mother and father' - again it just doesn't have the emotional depth of the Emily books.Check out the post before this one for a list of books if you want me to review one of the books I've read. Now, time for more beer . . .
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on 2006-07-29 10:59 am (UTC). . . Actually, I HAVE read Kilmeny of the Orchard. Huh. Maybe it was the quietness that made it less memorable than, say, The Blue Orchard (which is my equal-favourite Montgomery with Rilla of Ingleside, sob). There were some things about Emily that really, really annoyed me, and I never got my hands on the first Emily book, so the single-novel aspect of Jane of Lantern Hill probably won't worry me at all. I am not making any sense now so I will stop talking. Yes. Thank you for the reviews!