Book 132: The Chocolate Thief

The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand

 

There have been a few reviews of this over at the CBR V, and it sounded cute.  Additionally, I was trying to find a title with a variation of "brown" in the title, so this was exactly what I was looking for.  I'm not sure if this falls more into the "chick lit" or romance category of books but it certainly seems to work for both.

 

Cade Corey has always been the good daughter - her sister is off doing protests, while she plays her part as the Corey heir.  Corey chocolates is basically a stand in for Hershey's, and Corey wants to expand into the European market.  Cade also has a wish to start having a branch of the factory that sells gourmet chocolate, and in pursuit of this plan, travels to Paris to talk to worldfamous chocolatiers and see if any of them will give their name to her venture.  Her first choice is Sylvain Marquis but he practically chases her out of his kitchen.  While more polite, the rest of the chocolatiers also give her firm no's.  Cade is flummoxed by these reactions, and doesn't understand why none of them are willing to partner with her.

 

While Marquis has no interest in the Corey empire, he is fascinated by Cade.  He quickly discovers that someone is breaking into his kitchen and stealing his chocolates.  Naturally it is Cade because she is so irritated and attracted to him.  I was glad when the chocolate thiefing was over because it seemed so ridiculous, but it was an entertaining story.  One thing that I really appreciated about this novel is that Florand did not throw in some stupid story line to keep the couple apart once they were together or to break them up.  That isn't to say that everything is perfect once they are together as there are clearly still some issues as neither knows quite how much to trust the other's interest, and they still have work related conflicts but nothing is blown up so much that the two can't talk it through.

 

Between the fact that Florand doesn't throw in pointless contrivances just to expand the plot, and all the chocolate, this was definitely a fun breezy read, and I will pick up the next one in the series.  Unfortunately, I've never had the same infatuation with Paris and France that many have so the setting really didn't do much for me beyond the generic "I'd love to be back in Europe" feeling.  Personally, I would always choose London or Rome over Paris.  Or Brussels if we're talking chocolate - I do love Godiva.

Book 131: The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

 

This novel!  Oh my gosh.  This is one of those novels I've been looking at and putting back down for at least a year, but I finally decided to take it home and read it and it was so good.  Based on the description, it sounds like a novel that could easily turn into a cliche and be a very predictable Lifetime movie style tear jerker, but it was so much better than that.

 

Victoria grew up in the foster care system, and despite several placements, she never made it out of the system.  There was only one time that she was close but even that one failed.  Now she is 18, and she is on her own.  After an initial few weeks at a halfway house of sorts, she is homeless and jobless.  She is cynical, skeptical and doesn't trust anyone but she loves flowers, and the Victorian language of flowers.  Her gift with flowers helps her get a part time job at a local florist, and her life seems to be coming back together.

 

Her work with flowers reintroduces her to a person from her past, the nephew of Elizabeth.  Elizabeth is the woman that almost adopted Victoria, and was her last chance at a home, and she is also the one that taught her the language of flowers.  The novel tells the story of Victoria's adjustment to life on her own, while also telling of her life with Elizabeth.  As Victoria begins to figure out some things in her life, she also becomes overwhelmed by a secret from her past, and the relationships she is developing with the people around her, causing her to withdraw.  As the reader, it is easy to both root for her, and be frustrtated with her decisions.

 

The author has worked with the foster system and youth in it, and has a son who was in the system so I think that definitely provides an air of authencity and depth to this narrative that could have easily become melodrama in less capable hands.

Book 130: I Am the Messenger

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

 

I appear to be in the minority in this considering that this book has over a 4 star rating on both Amazon and Goodreads, but I really didn't like this one very much.  The first chapter is great and immediately caught my interest and attention, but as the novel progresses, I found myself caring less and less.

 

After Ed inadvertently helps stop a bank robbery, he begins to receive messages, written on playing cards.  It takes him forever to actually being exploring the first card, which has three addresses written on it, but once he investigates the addresses he realizes that they are tasks for him to do.  Some are easier done than others, but they involve helping the people on the cards with something big or small - one address leads to an old lonely woman whom Ed simply decides to spend time with while another leads to a woman and daughter terrorized by an abusive alcoholic husband and father.

 

The concept seems interesting enough - somehow given his previous good deed, Ed has been chosen to continue to act on behalf of his community.  Ed is a self described loser, 19 years old, mediocre at sex, slacker, cab driver that lives with his ancient dog, the Doorman.  He hangs out with his three friends, one of whom he is in love with.  The thing is that after those first few chapters, Ed didn't quite do it for me as a character - he was so indecisive.  I realize that was the point.  Also, I was waiting on the big reveal but when it finally came it just seemed like such a cheap copout and pissed me off more than anything else.  Seriously, that was the big ending?  What the hell?

 

There was one other thing that bugged me so much about the novel and it has to do with Ed and his "dream girl."  For the most part, they are friends, she knows he is in love with him, he knows she isn't ready for commitment due to her past, and as a result, chooses meaningless relationships and sex with guys that she won't get attached to.  However, there is just enough of Ed acting like a "Nice Guy" to annoy me.  For example, I can't remember how many times he sees his best friend, and says that she smelled of sex.  If you're not going to make a move, stop pointing out that she's having sex with other guys.  I don't like that phrase much to begin with (unless it's in a '90s song from Marcy's Playground), but for a guy to constantly be talking about how the girl he wants to be sleeping with smells of sex with other guys, is creepy and irritating.  Anyone else agree with me on that one?  That may be even one of the main reasons I didn't warm up to Ed - yes, he's a nice guy, but he's also a "Nice Guy."

 

Anyway, The Book Thief is amazing and magical, and while this one certainly had a lot of things that could have worked, overall it didn't click for me, and the ending really just ruined it.

Book 129: Songs of Willow Frost

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

 

While this didn't move me quite as much as his previous novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this was still a very well written novel that takes place in Depression-era Seattle.  The novel begins with William Eng's twelfth birthday.  Of course, it isn't actually his birthday but the nuns have decided it is easier to have all the boys share a birthday, and as usual they go on an outing to celebrate.  Since it is the Depression, many of the orphans aren't actually orphans - their parents could no longer support or feed them and saw no other choice but to give them up.  As the only Chinese boy (the other one ran away) at the orphanage, William feels very estranged from everyone but he has two friends, Sonny, the only Indian boy (Native American, it took me a chapter to catch on to that) who is possibly even lower on the food chain than William, and Charlotte, a blind girl, whose father is in jail, and may have to leave the orphanage soon to go to a special workhouse due to her age and disability.

 

As part of the outing, the boys get to see a movie, and on one of the pre-movie clips, William recognizes one of the performers, Willow Frost, as his mother.  He believed that his mother was dead, and even remembers seeing her in a bathtub, filled with bloody water, but this shakes up his entire world.  As it turns out, she is scheduled to perform in the area soon, and William is determined to see her.  Surprisingly, Ford doesn't prolong the narrative with any speculation about whether Willow is his mother or throw further obstacles in his course.  Despite everything, William manages to be at the theater opening night, and he makes contact with Willow.

 

It is from here that the story shifts its focus to Willow, or Liu Song.  Ford does a great job of portraying how slim the support system was for immigrants in Seattle, especially if they didn't have an extended family.  After her father dies, her mother remarries to support the two of them, and her step-father is absolutely horrible and controlling.  Liu has no way to protect herself though she befriends a former student of her father's.  As the Depression begins, her options become even more limited as she loses her job and way to support herself.  Liu faces various prejudices because of her race, her gender and her job.  Rather than help, the social worker is clearly set against her, and the novel portrays misunderstandings, and an intolerant system that leaves Liu with little opportunity and options.

 

The utter failure of the system can also be seen at the orphanage as there are parents that truly shouldn't be parents, and yet their children have no say in whether or not they shall return home.  While there is a bit of a love story for Willow, the main focus is on her and her relationship with her son.  Everything else comes second to her which is obvious once the story turns to Willow's perspective.  As a result, I was quite involved to see how the story would develop and how it would explain William's placement in the Catholic orphanage.  While it didn't resonate in the same way as Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, it still had quite an emotional impact (I can't decide if one of the moments in the novel is emotionally manipulative or not - it made sense in the novel but that doesn't mean it can't still be manipulative), and I really enjoyed reading Willow's part of the story, which also discussed the 1920's movie industry and Hollywood.

Book 128: The Seven Daughters of Eve

The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry by Bryan Sykes

 

I first heard about this one from one of my mom's best friends, and thought it sounded fascinating.  I'm not sure why this then sat in my to read pile for as long as it did.  I assumed I had started reading it and lost interest but none of the first pages seemed familiar so I guess I just never got around to it.

 

Sykes basically explains the way that mitochondial DNA passed down from the mother can be used to trace the migration patterns of humans and how it can show how far back common ancestry goes based on mutation rates.  Once he explains everything it's a very simple concept, and it is rather fascinating.  His first use of this theory involves the Polynesian Islands which basically proves what the majority of anthropologists and others were already saying: they were settled from West to East.  There were some opposing views that argued that the islands were colonized by explorers from South America (in fact, a Norwegian made this trip on a boat to prove that theory, and I could have seen that boat at a museum in Oslo this summer if I hadn't been distracted by the other museums - if I had read this book prior to the visit, I probably would have had a greater interest).

 

After this success, he tries to do the same for Europe, and basically narrows European descent down to seven different women.  The part that made his theory controversial is that it showed that a good portion of European DNA is from Europe itself - before this, a predominant theory had been that the original settlers of Europe had been driven out as farmers from Mesopotamia displaced them.  Sykes's argument and proof caused quite the controversy since it went against prior common conceptions.  I guess my only question would be whether the two are truly mutually exclusive - after all, if his method only tests for maternal DNA, it ignores paternal influences.  If someone is spreading and invading, isn't it much more likely for the conquered's maternal DNA to survive since the women would more likely be raped or incorporated by the incoming men?  Turns out that later tests by a different group of scientists focusing on paternal DNA support Sykes as well, but that was kind of the one thing that came into my mind while reading this.

 

After explaining the science, and the debates it caused, Sykes concludes his book with seven chapters, which are kind of fake mini bios of the seven women whose DNA is found throughout Europe.  Obviously, he is just guessing as far as their personalities are concerned, but he does place them into a time and context based on what is known of civilizations at different times and locations (the number of mutations determine how far ago the last common ancestor was - all of these women had at least two daughters since they needed two of them to be considered the last common ancestor).

 

In the afterword, Sykes explains that further research has been done with this method, extending out to the entirety of the world, creating over 30 "daughters" of Eve or women are distinct lineages of DNA.  I definitely thought this was fascinating and it was very easy to digest and understand, even for a non-science person.

Book 127: Turn Right at Machu Picchu

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams

 

Every time I read a book like this or Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, I feel like I could totally go hiking for several days and almost feel inspired to do it except for the pesky sleeping outside and carrying a tent on my back part of it.  Give me Hawaii - spend the day hiking, and then return to a nice hotel with a shower and dinner in the evening, and hike somewhere else the next day.

 

Anyway, Mark Adams has worked for travel adventure magazines for a good portion of his life though he has never actually had a travel adventure.  His wife is from Peru and he has visited numerous times, but he hasn't been to the big tourist attraction or ancient ruins of Machu Picchu.  However, he feels inspired to do something and with the 100 year anniversary of the "discovery" of Machu Picchu looming, he decides to hike in Peru and document the trip (this book is a few years old since this discovery was in 1911).

 

The book is a nice mix of the known history of the Incans, especially around the time of the invasion, mixed with the history of the exploration of its forests and jungles as explorers became more interested.  In some cases the sites these exploreres "discovered" actually had people living on them so they had never been lost per se, but consciousness and interest was raised once the spot light was turned on them.  He also sheds light on Hiram Bingham III, the son of a family of missionaries who wants to make a mark on the world.  He has become a rather controversial figure, and Adams does a relatively good job of balancing the man with the legend, and showing why he has fallen out of favor while also highlighting some of the good he accomplished.

 

Overall, I thought it was a very informative book and while it doesn't seem anyone is quite agreed yet on what Machu Picchu represents (different theories at different times have included the last city of the Incas that they retreated to, a summer estate, the end of pilgrimage), he does present and make a case for some the more plausible theories.  He also does a good job with deprecating humor as he is clearly out of his depth compared to his guide that has hiked this trails so many times.  As I said, it does make me want to explore at least parts of the trail and see it for myself but I just don't think I have the living out of a backpack thing in me, at least when it's for vacation and pleasure.

Book 126: The Prisoner of Heaven

The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

 

I loved The Shadow of the Wind, and I thought The Angel's Game was interesting but it didn't quite go as I expected so I'm not entirely sure how I felt about the conclusion.  In comparison, The Prisoner of Heaven is a very simple story.  Some of it is just as engaging and magical as The Shadow of the Wind, and I think it helped explain aspects of The Angel's Game that would make it more enjoyable as a re-read, but I also think this is the weakest of the three novels in this series so far.

 

This novel explores more of Fermin's background since he is about to get married but worries about the fact that technically, he doesn't exist.  Fermin had to choose a new identity as a result of political issues and civil war, but what Daniel Sempere, the narrator, did not know is that Fermin has actually been declared dead in his second identity as well.  After some buildup, Fermin reveals his story to Daniel, and his time in an infamous prison.  David Martin, the narrator of The Angel's Game, is a fellow inmate, and this reveals a bit more about The Angel's Game, how it came to be written and Martin's mental state.  There is also a bit that is either a cute homage to Alexander Dumas and The Count of Monte Cristo or a blatant rip off.

 

This was the fun part of the novel as it provided background, intrigue and adventure.  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the parts that took place in the novel's present day, or the 1950s.  I don't really enjoy the character that Daniel has become and this novel sets him up for a dark turn based on newly acquired information.  I liked the kid that wanted answers and wanted to solve mysteries.  I'm not sure how I feel about the guy that is suspicious of his wife, withholds information from her, and may be on a quest for vengeance.

 

As a result, I'm very curious to see what the fourth and final volume of this brings because that will be the determining factor in whether I think this was a great series, or whether I recommend The Shadow of the Wind as a brilliant stand alone novel.  Technically, the books can be read out of order (at least that's part of the marketing campaign), and I certainly think reading The Angel's Game after this would provide a different and new perspective. I can't decide how I feel about reading The Prisoner of Heaven before The Shadow of the Wind, though.  After all, it follows many of the same characters but a few years later, so to me, it seems more like a regular sequel; however, maybe I would feel less disappointed in Daniel the man if I hadn't met Daniel the boy first.