The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

Apparently Patrick Ness is a pretty popular author. I had no idea who he was until I picked up this book. The Crane Wife is based on a Japanese Folklore story and has quite a bit of imagery.

George is a nice guy. Really nice. So much so that he can't sustain a relationship because women don't want to become a bully towards him. So he runs his print shop and is there for his daughter and grandson. Until the day a crane, hurt by an arrow, flies into his yard and he helps it. After it flies away, he has no idea what is to come. One day, a woman named Kumiko stops in his shop and together they learn that when they combine their arts (her feather tiles and his paper cuttings) they make something beautiful. And there is something in Kumiko he yearns for, although she remains mysterious to everyone.

Kumiko is mysterious. You get a little bit of dialogue from her, but not much, and she remains as mysterious to the reader as she does to the other characters in the book. Of course the whole time you know who she is so that makes you look at her in a different light as well. George I liked. I'm not sure what's wrong with the women in this book not wanting such a nice guy. I would think that would be every woman's dream to find. He has a very gentle way about him. I still can't figure out why the daughter played such a huge role in this book. She kind of distracted from George and Kumiko's story I thought. She's a well written character, but I wanted more of the focus on George and Kumiko.

I've never read the original story so I'm blindly putting faith in the fact that this book is pretty true to it. At least in the parts that's actually telling the myth rather than the story about George and Kumiko. And I loved the writing style of Ness. Almost poetry at times and he has an interesting way of looking at the world. Even the words the child said were slightly profound. But when I got to the end, not the "end" end, but the last couple of pages, I couldn't stand how he decided to use George's character. It almost ruined the book for me as I felt it kind of cheapened everything else. I'm sure it's just a matter of personal preference but without spoiling it for everyone, I can't really describe it here. Most will probably like the ending far better than I did.

It's still a well written book and definitely worth reading. My biggest take away is that I'd love to see some of the art in the book actually reproduced in real life.



**This book is part of the Amazon Vine program**

The Crane Wife
Copyright 2013
310 pages

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

I've quickly grown to adore just about all of Sarah Addison Allen's books. And this one, while it took me a little while to sink in, is no different. It has that same charm and warmth of characters that I've grown to expect from her works.

Once a trickster, Willa has come back to the town of Walls of Water and settled as the owner of a sporting clothes store. There she tries to live a calm life, completely unlike what she used to be. But the visit of Colin, brother of the socialite Paxton, breaks up the monotony of her life and causes her to have some of those old sparks of mischief again. Meanwhile, Paxton is planning an anniversary party for the local ladies' social club and is putting the finishing touches on an old home that is being restored when a body is found buried beneath the peach tree in the yard. This opens a whole series of questions that will bring Paxton and Willa together.

I liked both Willa and Paxton. They were wildly different from each other but both were good people in their own right. They tried to be accommodating to everyone and neglected themselves in the process, as good people often do. But they both had a spark to them. And their love interests, Colin and Sebastian were quite charming as well. Everything you'd want in a real guy, it's just a matter of finding the right one. There were a few side characters, but they played small roles in the story, and honestly, they probably weren't needed.

The plot was predictable, but still charming. I always enjoy the little bits of magic that Allen inserts in her works. Although they weren't quite as prevalent in this one. She just has a way of making the ordinary special and makes you want to believe that that kind of magic is quite possible. And she had a few good quotable lines in this book too. "Happiness means taking risks" and other such inspiring things. Her writing is just so comfortable that you can sink in with a book and not emerge until you're done with it.

A very good book and I eagerly await the next one she will write. She's definitely becoming one of my favorite writers.

The Peach Keeper
Copyright 2011
273 pages

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

This was an odd book.  Not bad really, but definitely strange.  It used magical realism, kind of in the same tone as Sarah Addison Allen's books, but with more of a sad underbelly.

Rose is a normal girl, that is until her ninth birthday, where upon taking a bite of the chocolate lemon cake her mom has baked for her, she can feel all of her mom's emotions.  As she struggles through eating anything her mom makes, she discovers that this power is not only limited to her mom's cooking, but every food she eats.  Over the years she becomes precise enough to know where the ingredients came from and even how the person picking the vegetables or fruit was feeling.  And her brother, well he has a secret all his own that Rose has to cope with.

Poor Rose was the only normal one in the family, if you can call her "normal" with her abilities.  I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck with such a dreadful curse as she had, nothing was a secret and some of it was very tough for her to cope with.  Her mother was loving but selfish and seemed to be very flighty.  Her brother was distant and strange, and her father just seemed to tune out of everything.  Rose didn't really have anyone she could turn to except her brother's friend George, who was much older and not around much.  It just seemed like a very lonely life for her, even further compounded by having to taste emotions every time she ate.  But even despite that I just didn't feel that connected to her as a character, or any of the characters for that matter.

The plot was strange.  I enjoyed the concept of Rose's ability and her brother's secret even though I didn't understand the point of it like I did Rose's.  The book read at a good pace and although several years passed in it, I didn't feel rushed.  What I didn't enjoy so much was the lack of punctuation when it came to the characters speaking.  There are no quotation marks anywhere and it makes it difficult to determine when someone is speaking versus when they are just thinking.  I know it's probably supposed to be edgy or something, but I just found it annoying.  Otherwise the writing was descriptive and it did evoke emotion, but it was a chore to actually sift through to get that.

I can't say that Bender is as good as Allen when it comes to magical realism, but she does have some unique ideas.  And if you like funky, this book definitely fits under that category.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Copyright 2010
292 pages

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

I like Allen's books. They always seem to have whimsical aspects to them that I just can't get enough of. And this one is no different, despite some troubles with the book, I enjoyed it overall and thought it had that same sense about it that her other books have.

After the death of her mother, Emily makes the trip to Mullaby, NC to stay with her grandfather, who to her surprise, turns out to be a giant. But that wasn't the only secret her mother kept from her, as she goes about town meeting people, she discovers that her mother appeared to be running from her past, and that some people blame Emily for her mother's faults. But one boy, who has cause to not like her family, is drawn to her, and Win Coffey has secrets all his own. Meanwhile, Julia has returned to set things in order after father's death and it seems that part of that is taking over his business until she can settle the debts and sell it for a profit. But that plan nearly backfires on her when she encounters someone from her past whom she has had painful memories of all her adult life. But she has other goals in mind, and as she runs the restaurant, she also bakes cakes non-stop, in the hopes that something good will happen from it.

Emily is such a nice girl and a pleasant surprise to read about. Often teenagers are described as bratty non-listening whiny individuals and while I'm not arguing that's true for some, there really are some delightful teenagers out there too. So I'm glad Emily got to be representative of that. Win on the other hand I didn't like. Too mysterious and his motives too weird, he just didn't make sense in the novel, even if you do allow for the magical aspects of it. Julia also was a very good character and while my childhood was nothing like hers growing up, I really felt like I could identify with her. She also had a good match in Sawyer, even if he did stir up feelings in her that she didn't want to think about. Emily's grandfather I thought was vastly under-used in the novel. He had the capacity to be such a bigger part of the story and I was disappointed to not see him appear more.

The plot was somewhat predictable, but that's ok. It was smooth reading and enjoyable and I loved all the magical elements that Allen included. She has a way of working them in seamlessly that makes it seem like something that could actually happen. And her descriptions of food, although not overly wordy, are delicious and part of what I look forward to in her books. So is her description of small town South and the kind people who can inhabit such a place. Part of that use of description though does include a sex scene, so reader, you have been forewarned if that's not to your taste. I was a little disappointed that the ending cut off so short. I can only hope that maybe there's a sequel in the works, but somehow I doubt it. I just didn't want the book to end there.

Another delightful read by Allen. I'll read her books anytime I can get my hands on them.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon
Copyright 2010
269 pages