The Age of Will

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Alice Steinbach manages to do the things we all want to do: She travels to different places to learn new things. She goes to cooking school in France, tours Jane Austin’s England, and learns a bit about being a geisha in Japan. She does many other things as well.
I loved reading this book; even when Alice learns something I have no interest in, she makes it interesting. The locations, the learning, and the lessons were wonderful to read about.
One warning: make your bookmark something you can write on, and write down all the books that she mentions that sound interesting. I had to go back through page by page and write them down. I love books that talk about other books.
A very satisfying read. Fun, entertaining, and, yes, educational at the same time. I wish there were more books like this; I’d read them all!
[bookdetail]: http://clubreadingbooks.com/bookdetail/949/

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Reviewer: Bardsandsages
Author Bernadette Y. Connor spins a thought-provoking tale of abuse, survival, redemption, and the need for forgiveness in her novel [Damaged!][bookdetail] The novel centers around the relationship of teenager Adrena Reynolds and her psychiatrist Vivian Matthews. As a child, Adrena was raped and beaten by her violent father while her drug addicted mother sat by and watched. After being rescued from her abusive home, the girl is assigned to Dr. Matthews for treatment and placed in foster care. But Dr. Matthews’ inexperience in her position is evident, as she allows herself to become overly attached emotionally to her young charge, and Adrena’s own sociopathic tendencies readily become evident as she manipulates her relationship with Matthews like some emotional vampire.
Connor has a wonderful eye for detail and a gift for providing the reader with a strong sense of place. Her descriptions of sessions between Matthews and Adrena almost leave the reader feeling as if she as broken some doctor-patient privilege, the detail is so clear. And the heart-wrenching scene involving the actual assault on Adrena was so intense I had to put the book down and collect my thoughts before continuing.
The true power of this novel is hampered, however, by the authors tendency to overly explain to the reader what they should be feeling. She often makes statements of the obvious that take away from the story. There are times when I almost felt as if the writer was making excuses for Dr. Matthew’s inability to handle her patient. There is also a tendency to dictate events, as opposed to allowing them to blossom on their own. This is particularly true at the beginning of the novel, when we are given a laudry list of crimes committed by Adrena against her foster parents, including two arsons, and attempts to poison her foster family members.
Because of this, Adrena comes across more as a sociopath than a sympathetic character. Instead of slowly descending into a madness that culminates in a final act of aggression, Adrena’s pattern of behavior makes the ending almost anticlimactic. After seeing the troubled youth commit so many atrocities, the ending doesn’t carry the punch it otherwise could.
Overall, however, the book is well worth the read. Connor writes with an exciting energy that delivers a moving psychological drama that is sure to captivate the reader.
[bookdetail]: http://clubreadingbooks.com/bookdetail/1212/

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Bernie Rhodenbarr just wants a quiet weekend in the country. But who to take…the woman he has been dating is getting married Thursday. So he ends up taking his best friend Carolyn. But he does have other reasons for wanting to get away. There is a book that needs stealing.

But nothing is ever that simple. Trapped by a snowstorm in an old English style home turned hotel, Bernie is forced to solve several interesting murders.

A good Bernie Rhodenbarr book. Fun read. Recommended.

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[Maquire][author] has done it again; he’s taken us into Oz, but not Baum’s Oz, a new, different Oz.

This book begins just after the Wicked Witch of the West has her meltdown. Liir, a boy who was raised by (as he thinks of her) “the Witch,” has to go out on his own. He returns to the Emerald City with Dorothy, but then is left on his own. His adventures are absorbing, and the issue of whether is the son of the Witch is left in mystery until the very end.

Another wonderful adventure in a fantasy land. The only unfortunate part is that the ending is obviously begging for another book; I guess we will have to wait to see if [Maquire][author] is going to make this a trilogy.