Book #19 Week #17, Blind Sight: A Novel by Meg Howrey

Blind Sight: A Novel by Meg Howrey. This was a new one for me, I don't believe I've ever read a book with a teenage male narrator until now. Blind Sight follows seventeen year old Luke. I like Luke, like me he loves science and needs evidence before he will believe in anything, but Luke has a very interesting home life. He lives in Delaware with his New Age, hippy, bohemian mother, his religious grandmother, and two older half sisters Aurora and Pearl.


It is the summer before his senior year in high school and Luke is spending it with the father he never knew in California. When Luke was born (the result of a fling) his father was young and carried on with his life, moved away, changed his name and become a big TV star. His mother Sara (not a fan of TV) didn't even realize this until Mark contacted her in hopes of finally meeting his son. 


Even though this book was on my reading list for some time I found myself passing up in the library over and over. I really wasn't sure if I could connect with a book about a teenage boy but I was wrong! I enjoyed Luke's maturity and the quirky people all around him. I've read complaints about how the narrative changes from first person (Luke) to third person (Luke writing college essays) but I liked it. I think the essays gave insight into Luke's personal life and relationships that would have been lost otherwise. In the end, after spending most of the book together, Luke and Mark bond really well and Luke returns home to the funny women in his life and a twist I didn't see coming! If anyone else has read Blind Sight I'd LOVE to hear your take on that.


Quote:
“Without evidence, you just have hope, which is nice, but not reliable.”

Book #18 Week #16, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

In State of Wonder we follow the tale of 42 year old Dr. Marina Singh. Marina is a research scientist working for a pharmaceutical company in Minnesota, a far cry from her earlier ambitions to be an OB/GYN. The story starts off with C.E.O. (and lover to Dr. Singh) Mr. Fox coming to show Marina a simple letter sent from Marina's former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, telling of the death of her research partner, Dr. Anders Eckman, who has died of a fever in a remote part of Brazil.

The news floors Marina and she along with Mr. Fox must deliver the news to Anders' wife.  Not surprisingly Mrs. Eckman does not take the news well, she worries about their three boys and is not happy that her husband's body has been buried in some remote jungle without her. Soon she begs Marina to travel to Brazil and attempt to bring his body home however she starts to doubt if he is really even dead. Next thing you know Mr. Fox is on the same page and also wants to send Marina to Brazil. However his motives are a bit different, he wants Marina to make contact with Dr. Swenson and see how her research is going. Despite being funded by Mr. Fox's company for years, Dr. Swenson is secretive, refuses to carrying a satellite phone or check in in anyway. 

The story flies from there! The mystery surrounding Anders' death. What is really going on with Dr. Swenson's research? Research on a new fertility drug that will allow women to have babies very late in life. Living in the middle of the jungle with an indigenous tribe and exactly how dangerous is the nearby tribe of supposed cannibals?

I really liked State of Wonder. I've read some review where people have said the story moves too slowly but I didn't think so at all.  And some quotes:

“Hope is a horrible thing, you know. I don't know who decided to package hope as a virtue because it's not. It's a plague. Hope is like walking around with a fishhook in your mouth and somebody just keeps pulling it and pulling it.”

“It is said the siesta is one of the only gifts the Europeans brought to South America, but I imagine the Brazilians could have figured out how to sleep in the afternoon without having to endure centuries of murder and enslavement.”

Book #17 Week #15, Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore

My latest read was Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore. This book has only been out for two weeks and I couldn't wait to read it. In Sacré Bleu we follow the tale of Lucien, a young baker/painter, and his best friend the painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. At first the pair are working to try to solve the mystery behind the supposed suicide of Vincent van Gogh but there is a lot more mystery to be uncovered than just what is behind the death of one artist.

Christopher Moore takes us through history (although not entirely accurate : ) while we go deep into the Impressionist era. What I really loved about this book is it is printed in blue and has pictures of the works of art of painters we are introduced to along our journey. These painters all seems to have something in common in Sacré Bleu, a vibrant ultramarine color in their paintings, a loss of time and mind among the painters and often a mysterious woman and a strange man lurking in the shadows. You will ask yourself how does this all tie in with Lucien and Juliette, the stunning woman who broke his heart, and the death of van Gogh? But it all comes together in the end. As they say great art takes great sacrifice.

I love Christopher Moore and while Sacré Bleu is a "comedy d'art" I didn't particularly find it too funny. It had its moments don't get me wrong but I found Fluke, Fool, Blood Sucking Fiends and Dirty Job funnier. However I did really enjoy this book, I thought the story line was well written and engrossing and surprisingly a lot of little details were historically accurate.

If you are into art, particularly the French Masters, you might enjoy this satirical look into their personal lives. Give it a go, you just might like it!

Book #16 Week #14, The City & The City By China Mieville

The City & The City by China Miéville. After finishing this book I read some reviews online and people seem to believe if you haven't read anything by China Miéville before, this is the worst book to start with. Unfortunately this was my first book from this author : /

Here is the synopsis from the dust jacket itself:
"When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.

Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives."

It took me about 14 chapters in to get interested in this book. Even though I wanted to walk away in the beginning I was determined to finish. The story was good but it was very confusing at first and quite slow as well. There was a lot of set up on how the two cities function and the differences between them.  However by the end the story got good, there is obviously a murder and I can honestly say "whodunit" remained a mystery until the end. I thought that was nice. I hate when you figure out who the murderer is seemly right away and spend the rest of the story waiting for the characters to catch up with you, that is a very hard story line to pull off well.


So I can't really say I recommend The City & The City but I might be open to checking out something else from the works of China Miéville.

Quote:
“Books are always obviously having conversations with other books, and some times they're amiable and sometimes not.”

Book #15 Week #13, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a work of fiction but is written in a very autobiographical style. Our narrator is ninety year old, or is it ninety-three year old, Jacob Jankowski. After breaking a hip Jacob is sent to live in an old folks home. He is miserable but determined to walk on his own again and prove he does not need to be there.

Jacob notices a gaggle of old women huddled around a big window and goes to investigate. Not much happens in their day to day lives so the happenings on the other side of the window sometimes provide entertainment for the residents. However today is no ordinary day, a circus setting up is what is going on outside. Instantly Jacob is reminded of a life he left behind so many, many years ago.

Sara Gruen does a wonderful job transitioning back an forth between present day Jacob and the Jacob of the past, a twenty-three year old aspiring veterinarian. It is finals week in his senior year at Cornell University when a terrible tragedy occurs. Unable to cope Jacob finds himself wandering without a purpose until night falls and he decides to jump aboard a passing train. Little did he know it was not any old train but the train of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

Water for Elephants is really interesting. I enjoyed it a lot although it wasn't a book I couldn't put down (maybe just having finished The Hunger Games had something to do with that or maybe not). I was surprised at how much I liked reading and learning about circus life. I have to say it was impressive the amount of research that went into this book.

In the end what I really took away from this book is that even if you have your life all planned out, often a wrench is thrown in that derails the whole plan and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

"I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin. I lie motionless, savoring the feeling of her body against mine. I'm afraid to breathe in case I break the spell.”