August # a big book (400+ pages)
Firefly Summer
Author: Maeve Binchy
Genre: fiction
Page number: 645
First published: 1987
Setting: small town Ireland
Time: 1960’s
Rating: 5 stars
First sentence: The sun came in at a slant and hit all the rings and marks on the
bar counter.
One sentence comment: It is a page turner, but you only want to turn every page slowly
enough to taste the flavor long lost in the modern world.
I
used to be misled by the title, Firefly Summer, which has received a great
acclaim among internet book clubs. I thought to myself, even if the title was
eye catching, what Binchy could write if it was about children playing with
fireflies in the summer. Then I found out that I was completely wrong. Besides,
it can be any nostalgic story, but told by Binchy, it trnsforms into a marvel.
Like her previous books I have read, it urges me to read on as if I am reading
a thriller. But far from it, her book reads like a heart-warming romance. How
could a romance in this day still takes me for surprise, or even though I tried
to predict it, there was still magic to lead me on, to make me bury my head in
her brick-shaped thick volume.
The
book begins with an introduction of a wise and strong woman, Kate, common to
other Binchy novels, then suddenly into the quiet town comes Patrick, a
felt-like Jean Valjean character from Les Miserables, but he was from a
different prison, materialistic America, to return to Ireland to give justice,
as he thought, to his home town people. But Kate is warned, and we wonder, will
Patrick soon inflict damage to the whole town?
Binchy
had a strong sense of community and land. She explored different values, about
those between cities and towns, not to mention aspects of christian belief.
Through a single young solicitor, Fergus, we see his love, larger than life,
for the livelihood of all the people in this town. Binchy also gave insights
into things I had never thought about, such as how Pretestant vicar live among
the Catholic community. She wrote stories of characters like kaleidoscope. They
cater for diverse appetites of readers of different experiences and
personalities. Many times I like to listen to debates about topics or advice
that one character gives to another. There are also a circle of teenagers. They
make troubles and adventures. Readers get what they need from
multiple-character books by Binchy.
Last
year since I discovered Binchy’s first novel, Light a Penny Candle, I have
decided to read all her novels in order of publication. This is the third book
and it takes a grimmer turn than its predecessors. It further puts me into the
boots of the protagonists’ crisis and ponder about life. There is always so
much in her story that moves me so I think and feel about, either fate,
decisions, or faith. Whenever I read her book, I was thinking that there was no
way the next book she had written could be better than this one. But this is the
third book of hers and I am still think in the same way and will be eager to check
out the answer from her next book.
August # A bargain book (half price from
the bookstore website.)
The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon #12)
Author: Daniel Silva
Genre: spy mystery
Page number: 448
First published: 2012
Setting: Vatican, Israel and other
countries
Time: 21 century
Rating: 3 stars
First sentence: It was Niccolo moretti, care taker of St. Peter’s Basilica, who
made the discovery that started it all.
One sentence comment: Mingled with history of art and religion, this book takes a modern
reader to Vatican and Israel, their past and present.
I
usually read a book series following its published order. Months after I read
the first book of the series and decided not to follow it, The Fallen Angel
came up as a half-price sale on the bookshop website I usually surf. A sudden
impulse gave me one more chance to read the series again.
This time I have
been amazed by its exotic settings, various places of Vatican, and its
historical telling about the lost civilization of old Italy. The same as when
writing the plot in Israel, the author can brief through the Roman Emperor’s
massacre in the 70AD to the Six-Day War effortlessly without tiring readers. Of
course we also get a glimpse of the present tension of the archeologist war
between the Jews and the Palestinians.
When I read to
the middle of the book, I became bored. Part of the reason is I was not
familiar enough with nowaday terrorism and details of Nazi history to
appreciate tours of different locations . However, I think the major reason is
the way the book was written. It didn’t tell people’s life stories like Ruta
Sepetys did in her two books about Stalin and the fascist dictatorship Franco.
Silva only intended his book to be a series of dangerous operations, a thriller
and nothing more.
Aug # a book with a black or blue bookcover
Why
Mermaids Sing ( Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery #3)
Author: C. S. Harris
Genre: historical mystery
Page number: 329
First published: 2007
Setting: London
Time: 1811
Rating: 5 stars
First sentence: Fear twisted Dominic Stanton’s stomach, compressed his chest until
his breath came shallow and quick.
One sentence comment: This book prolongs my enjoyment of reading Harris’ language art.
I
adore this historical mystery series for the lovable characters and amusing
conversations. Since the first book of the series, I have been reading with
excitement, admiring the author’s way of dealing with plots. The series is full
of lovable characters that fill me with curiosity – what will happen to them? While
people follow a series for the like of the detective, I’m not particularly
taken with the protagonist, a lovesick wayward aristocrat, Sebastian, whose
relationship with a beautiful actress, Kat, is way too cliché. Even so,
whenever he brings up people’s disapproval or even fright, I couldn’t help
burst into laughter. Harris has created a man particular romantic, reckless, intuitive
and resourceful, a mixture of virility. I don’t like his characteristics but
grow to like reading about him.
This
particular book, the third of the series, is mainly about a series of murders
inspired by a poem written by John Donne, a sixteenth-century poet. My favorite
character, Sir Henry, who is a compassionate local magistrate, asks Sebastian
to help crack the case. As a continuing story, Kat’s spy work for the French is
on the verge of revelation. Another of my favorite characters, Lord Jarvis, a
ruthless man and faithful servant to the Prince, threatens to destroy Kat. What
a great combination! What’s more delightful is my favorite heroine, Hero,
Jarvis’ daughter, makes appearance in this book after the first book of the
series. I have read somewhere that she is going to replace Kat later. I’m
looking forwards to keeping reading this series.
August # A book with the letter B occurring
twice on the front cover
Simply Unforgettable ( Simply Quartet #1)
Author: Mary Balogh
Genre: historical romance
Page number: 422
First published: 2005
Setting: London and Bath
Time: Regency era
Rating: 3 stars
First sentence: It never snowed for
Christmas.
One sentence comment: A romance through
psychological depth and realistic reminiscence is the only way to win my heart.
I was quite fascinated by the beginning of
the book, where two young people begin what they thought a one-night liaison.
Perhaps just because I’ve never read a romance so I found novelty in their
psychology and conversation. Besides, as a regency romance, it gave me
curiosity to check out the things mentioned in the book, such as the song the
protagonist sang, Handel’s I Know That My Redeemer Liveth. It was actually a
melody I often heard.
I like some of the discussion between
characters, such as when two women were talking about the possibility of
whether a woman can live in Independence. However, it is disappointing that the
ending seems to distort a progressing course of women’s mind. I agree that the
author has a great technique to depict diferent characters in depth; however,
she couldn’t go beyond the tropes that a romance genre can offer.
