Du Maurier knows Suspense!

Daphne du Maurier is the Grand Dame (literally) of British mystery writers. Rebecca is the first of her novels that I've read and it kept me guessing until the very end. This is a dark, psychological tale that starts out a little slow, but by the time the pieces start to fall into place you'll be hooked

The narrator of the book (we never learn her name) meets a dashing older man in Monte Carlo. They fall in love and marry quickly. When they return home to England, this very young, very shy woman has trouble adapting to life at Manderly (their estate). Everything is compounded by the fact that his first wife, Rebecca, was a larger than life figure. The narrator feels crushed by the weight of the comparison.

I must admit that I don't have a lot of sympathy for shy characters. I spent part of the book wishing that she's stand up for herself. Du Maurier is such a skillful writer. The sense of sympathy we feel for the narrator grows as we slowly begin to realize that Rebecca was not the paragon everybody thought she was. When the narrator finally stands up for herself I cheered.

I don't want to give too much away. The plot twists and turns until you're not sure which way is up. A reviewer on another site mentioned that Dan Brown should take lessons from Dame Du Maurier. I couldn't agree more.

A Howling Good Read

I'm always a little leery of paranormal fiction. If done well, it can be some of the best fiction out there because there is a lot of room for creative license. But, there's also a lot of potential for dreariness.

I'm ashamed to admit that I was reluctant to read the Mercy Thompson series by Patrica Briggs. Based solely on the cover art, I was sure that these books were going to be dreary to the extreme. But I couldn't have been more wrong. The fourth book in the series, Bone Crossed, just reinforces the adage that you can't judge a book by its cover.

The fourth installment of the series picks up where the third, Iron Kissed, left off and takes off fast. Mercy (a coyote shapeshifter/VW mechanic) can't seem to get rid of those damned vampires. If they're not using her as a pawn, they're trying to kill her. Or possibly do both at the same time. Someone has vandalized her business, and and old college frenemy wants her to go to Spokane to ghostbust a house (nevermind that Mercy isn't a ghostbuster). On top of this, she's entering a new phase of her relationship with her alpha werewolf significant other, Adam.

I highly recommend reading the first three books in the series before opening this one. The universe is somewhat complex and there are many characters and settings not fully explained to new readers. Also, Mercy has had some traumatic life experiences in the past and her way of dealing with them might seem strange to those unfamiliar with her personality.

On the whole, Bone Crossed, is a super fun read.

Cranford

I was inspired to read Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell after watching the PBS/BBC miniseries last year. The town of Cranford is dominated by women. There are relatively few men, at least in the social circle of the characters in this book. The main characters are all single, either spinsters or widows, and they fiercely guard their way of life.

The book, originally published serially in 1853 in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words, is a series of vignettes of the daily life of Miss Mathilda Jenkyns. This book is definitely character driven and starts off slow. Nothing truly exciting ever happens in Cranford and you have to get to know the characters before you understand how small disruptions can make huge waves in their lives. Gaskell manages to convey how important small events are to these characters. You get the sense that if anything big ever happened they'd die from the shock. The narrator, Mary Smith, a frequent (and slightly more worldly) visitor to the town tries to keep molehills from turning into mountains and for the most part is successful. But, sometimes even she gets sucked into the daily drama.

Fans of the miniseries might be disappointed with the book. Many of the funniest storylines from the series are added. But, the loyalty and friendship the characters display towards each other should endear this book to all but the most jaded reader.

Goal For 2009—75 Books

January

(1) Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (reread)
(2) To Sir Phillip with Love - Julia Quinn (reread)
(3) Bleak House - Charles Dickens
(4) Running Hot - Jayne Ann Krentz

February

(5) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (reread)
(6) Plum Spooky - Janet Evanovich
(7) Crossfire - Joann Ross
(8) The Pregnancy Test - Erin McCarthy
(9) Bone crossed - Patricia Briggs

(10) Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell

Currently reading:

The thin place : a novel - Kathryn Davis
Shattered - Joann Ross

To Be Read:

The Mill On the Floss- George Eliot
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Emma - Jane Austen (reread)
Adam Bede - George Eliot
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Fire and ice - Julie Garwood
THE TREASURE KEEPER - Shana Abe
AT HIS MERCY - Linda Howard
The perfect poison - Amanda Quick
GHOULS JUST HAUNT TO HAVE FUN - Victoria Laurie
Black Hills - Nora Roberts
Knockout - Catherine Coulter
BURN : A Novel - Linda Howard
Temptation and surrender : a Cynster novel - Stephanie Laurens
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Piano Teacher - Janice Y.K. Lee
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
Romola - George Eliot
Flat-Out Sexy - Erin McCarthy
Hard and Fast - Erin McCarthy
Tap and Gown (releases 5/19/09) - Diana Peterfreund
Rampant (August 09) - Diana Peterfreund
King Solomon’s Mines - H. Rider Haggard
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris

Setting an Intention

I'm not known the world over as an early adopter. Our's was the last family in town to get a microwave. And, because of an aunt's disasterous foray into betamax, we were the last family we knew to get a VCR. So it shouldn't surprise anyone I know that I'm just now getting into blogging.

So what do I hope to accomplish?

This blog is really for me to keep track of my thoughts regarding reading and knitting. So, I'm setting an intention. I don't want to use this space to bitch about my friends, enemies, family, co-workers, employees, bad drivers or general fuckwits. I plan to review the books I read (my goal is 75 books this year) and document my knitting projects. I'll link this to Ravelry when I get the chance.

So, I guess that's it for now. It's a beginning.