The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve

Anita Shreve has a wonderful way of ending her novels. Once you finish the last paragraphs you usually find yourself dumbfounded and sort of feel like you do the first time you saw the Sixth Sense. I will not give away the ending but I admit that I did have to go back and reread parts of the book.

The story in a nut shell is a love story. I usually don't read love stories but I read the Pilots Wife and I did enjoy that book. The story is about Linda and Thomas who are old lovers and rekindle their relationship sometime in the future. Their story begins in the end (or so you think) and then goes back in time to when they were in Africa and both cheated on their spouses. After the story about Africa (which includes more interesting plots) the story goes even further back in time to when they first met in high school. You learn about how their love started and how a car crash changed their lives forever.

In the midst of the story Thomas is a writer and wrote a book about his relationship with a woman whose life story is based on Linda. This is a somewhat meaningless fact but makes a lot more sense in the end of the novel.

The first couple of pages were sort of slow. I wasn't sure about this book but I kept on going and it got a lot more exciting. Shreve describes Kenya beautifully and you can almost picture yourself there. The story of how they met is the typical high school Romeo and Juliet situation where they come from different worlds. In the last couple of paragraphs you learn the true story and like I said it really is a profound ending.

I really enjoyed this book and it is one that I will definitely remember and probably read again. I give it an 8 out of 10.

I just downloaded my new book to my Nook the only clue I am giving is it is by one of my favorite authors (and I met her mother-in-law.... long story).

London by Edward Rutherfurd

I truly believe that if you are a reader then you are able to learn just about anything. Although I was a fairly good student and took honor classes, certain things never interested me in school. I do love history, and I certainly know a lot of American History and in school they touched on World History but it wasn’t highly in depth. Since this whole Royal Wedding excitement is happening I thought it would be great to learn about the History of England (well more specifically London). Edward Rutherfurd is a wonderful historical fiction writer and I read one of his books New York a couple months ago. Rutherfurd likes to build a tapestry of a fictional family tree(s) while writing about the history of the time. About two weeks ago I bought London and started reading it.

As expected the book has over 1,000 pages. I knew it was going to take me a couple weeks to finish it, especially because of the historical aspects. The first pages of the book contain three maps starting from the Roman times of London, Shakespeare’s’ London, to the current map of London. There is also a very detailed family tree, explaining the major families in the story; Duckets, Doggerts, Silversleeves, Barnikle, Penny and Carpenter to name a few. Rutherfurd is very talented in creating these characters and often helps you identify who is related to whom by some similar characteristic (for instance the Duckets have a silver streak in their hair and have webbed fingers, as do the Doggets). The families ranging from the very wealthy to the very poor show us the different ways that people lived during that time.

London begins with the formation on the River Thames and the introduction of a fishing family who settled in pre-Roman London (then called Londinium). This family interacts with several interesting characters like the Norman conquerors, the Anglo’s and the Saxons and creates their own history. Shortly after other families are introduced and all their lives are intertwined within the backdrop of the relevant histories that took place in London.

I certainly learned a lot about London and the English culture. For instance that high tea is a new thing that was brought to London from Asia. I loved learning about the building and formation of the Globe Theatre. I especially loved the tragic yet thrilling separation of Catholicism and Protestant religion during Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

I do admit there were some really boring parts as well. I was also confused a lot by the family tree and was always looking back at the tree. I felt a little cheated because with about fifty characters you can’t really form a really emotional and strong relationship with the characters.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes to read about history but not in a history book and recommend that you have a lot of patience as it is over 1,100 pages. I didn’t really enjoy the ending and I feel that Rutherfurd ran out of things to say and didn’t exactly tie in the loose ends.

I give it a 7 out of 10.

For all those wondering my next book will be a lot lighter, with just over 400 pages

In the Begining

I recently came accross a challenge where one has to read one book a week. For the most part I do read about a book a week (depending on the actual length of the book) and feel this is the perfect challenge for me.
Since I am not discriminating in my book choice and read everthing from Chaucer to even Nicholas Sparks (don't judge), I decided to write down my experiences and how I feel about the book.
Books excite me and my favorite thing is to do is to go to a book store and find a book that will inspire me and change my life. A couple times a year I find those books and it is always a little depressing when I finish those books, however usually a couple years later I reread them. Each time you read a book, you are in a different place in your life and the book means something different to you. For instance in high school I read To Kill a Mockingbird and although I enjoyed it thorougly it now means something different that I have more life experience and of course that Ms. Harper Lee and I are sisters ;)
People are always asking me for book choices and ideas and I will try to help because nothing feels better than helping a person experience that love for reading.

I hope you enjoy this blog and don't hate me for my opinions :)