Keeping up with the Babysitter...

My babysitter was horrified when I admitted that I hadn't read Twighlight by Stephenie Meyers. I was assured that it was an "awesome" book and that I had to read it.

As a result, I read the first then the following two books, New Moon and Eclipse. Ah, what a love story. What teenage angst! The mental anguish: Edward or Jacob?!?

"The story begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat.

As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward's sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. "

The sensitivity of Meyer's writing lifts this novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. Although the book is recommended for young adults, aged 12 and older, I think this is more of a teenager novel, and I would suggest 14 years and older.

Four Queens

Drat, I missed last week's book discussion.

As requested, here is publisher's blurb about the Four Queens for those of you who missed the meeting:

"Four Queens" is a rich pageant of glamour, intrigue, and feminine power at a time when women were thought to have played limited roles. In thirteenth-century Europe, four sisters from a single family-Marguerite, Eleanor, Sanchia, and Beatrice of Provence-rose from obscurity to become the queens of, respectively, France, England, Germany, and Sicily. All four were beautiful, cultured, and ambitious, and their stories offer a window into the era of chivalry, crusades, poetry, knights, and monarchs that will appeal to fans of Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser.

Happy New Year

Book Review Refugees met Jan. 15 to discuss an interesting array of titles. Individuals reviewed the following:

1. Four Queens : the Provencal Sisters who ruled Europe, by Nancy Goldstone
2. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (MS)
3. Run, by Ann Patchett (JK)
4. Life on the Refrigerator Door, by Alice Kuipers
5. Raisin Wine : a boy hood in a different Muskoka (LM)
6. 44 Scotland Street, by Alexander McCall-Smith (KP)
7. Late Nights on Air, by Elizabeth Hay (ME)
8. Pontoon : a Lake Wobegon novel, by Garrison Keillor (SK)

We meet again on February 19.

We didn't discuss books in December. Instead JK and IK made us a lovley dinner!

The November titles were:
November 6 , 2007

1. The Almost Moon, by Alice Sebold (MS)
2. October, by Richard B. Wright (JK)
3. Girls of Riyadh, by Rajaa Alsema (LM)
4. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler (KP)
5. Austenland, by Shannon Hale (KP)

The Virgin Blue

Has anyone one of you read, The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier? I'm struggling with it. It just doesn't intrigue me like her other works.

Maybe my cold is taking its tole...

The Dressmaker

Since I can't join the fun tomorrow, here is my review. I believe it has been discussed before, but I think it deserved another plug:

This debut novel, The Dressmaker by Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck, tells the tale of Claude Reynaud: an old-fashioned dressmaker working in a cluttered studio outside of Paris. Every spring, brides descended upon his studio, where he measures them, and listens to their design requests. It becomes evident, that one of his greatest strengths is colour. He can identify a bride’s ideal colour and the corresponding fabric using a litany of creative descriptors. His simple life is shattered one day when a young woman arrives who consigns him to design her a wedding dress. This charming, beautiful, lady of society, gives Reynaud complete freedom in the dresses design. He was inspired by her lithe figure, a long, graceful neck, and simple, elegant style. The forty-six years old tailor, who was deserted by his wife eight years earlier, finds himself infatuated. His life is redirected his creative energies to his new muse and joins a Paris design house. He quickly goes from being a small town tailor with a growing client base to a celebrated “couturier.”

This was an enjoyable and whimsical read. Oberbeck’s description of colour and fabric is entrancing as the reader experiences the creative process of fashion design. This could be considered a companion piece to “The Devil Wears Prada” where the designer side of the fashion business is explored.

December

Instead of reviewing different books, we reviewed the different dishes of Chinese food. It was an evening of light banter, casual discussion and catching up. The festive season was taking its toll on everyone -- fewer books were read than normal.

One participant had already eaten -- a ruse so that she could control the conversation. She talked about Bloodletting and Other Miraculous Cures, and gave it good reviews.

I can't wait to see what everyone is going to review for January 16. I expect a number of us had time to read over the holidays.

I have to end here. Moral Disorder is beckoning.

An overview from October 17

Missed October's get together? Here are the titles that were discussed. It was a small but intimate group.

From October 17 , 2006

1. Burden of Memory, Vicki Delany (an Oakville author) (LM)

2. The Greek for Love, James Chatto (an Evergreen choice) (JK)

3. The Dressmaker, Elizabeth Berke Oberbeck (SK)

4. Dear Zoo, Rod Campbell (a special favourite of Liam) (ME)