Book Review- The Elegant Gathering of White Snows

I really liked the premise of this book.  The idea of just picking up and leaving with your closest girlfriends and going out to "find yourself, heal yourself".  It started out kind of weak and I had a really hard time figuring out who was who and what was going on since there are eight main characters and no disernable narrator. 

The book is broken up three ways, each chapter has the background story of one of the eight friends and their reasons for walking.  The next after that persons story is told is an article from a newspaper about the the women walkers and the effect it is having on the communities.  The last part before starting a new character is a section called the walker effect and it goes into detail of how the women have inspired someone somewhere to make a change in their life.  Great idea....but

I could have seriously done without the newspaper article sections they were only about one page long and lacked any real depth or detail for me to really care about what was written.  Sadly I agree with one http://www.goodreads.com/ review that said they couldn't really relate to any of the characters or care about them since there wasn't enough substance to go on.  I found myself being more drawn into the small five pages dedicated to the inspired woman sections and wanting to know how it turned out for them than really being drawn into the main story.  The last thing that just made this an "ok" book as opposed to a "good" book was the overwhelming in your face reoccuring instances of Sisterhood, sisterhood, sisterhood, the sickenly sweet mother daughter bonds ALL of the characters had with their daughters, and the rampant use of lesbianism.  Great I'm all for love your friends, love your kids, love whoever you want (man, woman, green person, purple person who cares!)  I just got very tired of it showing up each and every chapter. 

Book Review-Down River

So after my initial struggles to get through The Story of Edgar Sawtelle I was a bit hesitant to pick up another book.  I have been reading a lot of young adult fiction (thanks to my friend Maggie who is a middle school Language Arts teacher).  Not to slight YA fiction but it is extremely easy and so leisurely to read!  So after having read titles such as Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Shiver, and The Mortal Instruments series, I found myself thinking maybe it's me.  Maybe I ruined my reading capabilities by going the easy route with YA fiction.  I am an avid reader you could even say voracious....my favorite (#100 in my 365 project) is often amazed at how quickly I read.  By the way I highly recommend any of those YA quick reads just as a side note.

So having returned all of my checked out library books (since having a deadline to read them doesn't often encourage me to get through them because of the renewing option), I decided to actually pick up one of the many books I have laying around my house.  When I say many, I mean a whole room dedicated to my books.  Seeing as though it also shares space with my scrapbooking supplies and is only about 10x12 it can't really be considered a library.  I call it my reading room or if I'm feeling crafty it becomes my scrapping room.

I decided on Down River by John Hart (never heard of the author or title before) but Maggie lent it to me so seeing as though I can't really renew through her I figured I should read it and return it.  What a great little find this one was!  I found I can enjoy reading, it isn't me, and damn I'm fast.  I started this one around noon on Sunday and finished it up right before bed Sunday night at ten.  Quick read, nice character development, and fun little unexpected twist at the end.  I won't say it left me thinking about it after finishing it (as the book reviews on the jacket said I would) BUT it did it's job.  It entertained, it wasn't labor intensive, and it got me back into my reading mode.  I have such a bad habit of reading like crazy....anything I can get my hands on, a book a day or every other day especially if I'm on vacation and can spare the time...but I also tend to fall out of it and not pick up a book for months on end.  I tend to find myself doing this with food, alcohol, and hobbies as well.  Hrmmm I'm sensing a personality trait here. 

Book Review-The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

I wanted to like this...I really truly did and I kind of do, sort of.  Let me explain.  The back story:  I came across this book the way I usually find new books to read through The Book Page, a literary magazine my library gives away for free.  Every time I pick up a copy of that magazine it seems I have four or five more "to reads" on my goodreads.com list.  Ask Melissa she often takes cues from what I've added (although I can't explain that since she's the librarian and it should be me taking cues from her "to read" list)....but I digress.  So needless to say I found this book through Book Page and it sounded interesting (nevermind that it found it's way onto Oprah's book club list).  I should have known once I saw on the book cover who recommended it.....Maya Angelou aside every book I've bothered to read (or should I say waste time reading) that Oprah has recommended-SUCKED.

I check it out..I read some of it.  I find the story interesting, the writer's style incredibly laborious.  It was work to read through the first 50 pages.  That's all I got through after having it for a month and renewing it once.  Returned!  But it stayed with me, so like a glutton I checked it out again.  And again I found myself dreading wanting to work to read it.  I enjoyed the story, the characters (it was about dogs for one and a boy with special needs for another).  But the work I had to put into it-EGADS!  I managed to get to page 270 after once again having it for a month and renewing it again.  Returned!

I have yet to decide if checking it out a third time would even be worth the effort it would take to finish it seeing as though even at page 270 I'm still only half way through it!  Thoughts?  Anyone read this all the way through and liked it?  I hate to go off of the goodreads.com star rating since I find I often disagree with people's reviews or star ratings.