The Sky is Everywhere ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"My sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes a part of you, step for step, breath for breath."









The grief in this book instantly pulled me in. That is one of the things that held me to Lennie, Gram, Big, and to Toby. It was grief that hung over each of them. The author takes grief and transforms it into a realistic, and breathtaking story that will end up leaving a mark on your heart. I was instantly attached to each of the characters and mourned with them. The love story that happens to unfold will have you clinging to the book from page to page.

Somehow, the author takes a story of infinite grief and transforms it into a story of living, loving, and remembering. I found that this book was absolutely addicting and unforgettable.

I have no negative thoughts that come to mind with this story and I could not imagine this book in any other way. The Sky is Everywhere is filled with love and loss that will make you laugh, cry, and smile.

I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Pretty Wicked ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"The one everyone fears, but no one suspects."












Ryann is a fifteen year old girl, who wants to commit a murder. Through much thought, Ryann goes through with it. This ultimately starts a  game of cat and mouse between Ryann and her father, a detective, and the rest of his police force. Ryann has spent almost all of her life studying from these great cops and detectives. So of course she knows how to cover her tracks, and she knows how to make it difficult for the police to catch her.

I really enjoyed the plot and its uniqueness, and the story was creative and well written. Ryann was a very believable character, despite her many flaws. I understand why she acted the way she did - I would never in a million years commit a murder, but Ryann did not just wake up one day and say "Hey! Maybe I will commit a murder today!" She is a protagonist, moved far very far away from what society considers "normal". I found myself in more ways than one relating to Ryann.

She has many fatal flaws - and many actions that make her seem immature. Including many deep psychological issues rooted from her childhood. I expected immaturity coming from a fifteen year old, but I did not expect a killer inside of a fifteen year old. I also really enjoyed her group of friends, it was very interesting reading a book from the point of view of a vigilante killer.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the copy.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Book Club -- TESTIMONY

Book Club Discussion Questions

Please answer the questions in the comments section below. Label them with the question number.



1. The story in Testimony is told from many different perspectives. Why do you think Anita Shreve chose this narrative style for the novel? Can you see any connection between this style and some of the novel’s themes?

2. Some characters in Testimony --- for example, the students—narrate from the first person point of view. For other characters, such as Mike and Owen, the author always uses the third person. Rob’s mother, Ellen, speaks in the second person. What do these different points of view tell you about the roles of various characters in the story? Did you find yourself empathizing most with any character in particular?

3. Several characters comment that if the sexual incident at Avery had occurred at a local public school, it would have drawn little or no attention. Do you agree with this assessment? Is it fair that this elite institution be held to a different standard?

4. When Mike initially brings J.Dot into his office and accuses him of taking advantage of the girl in the video, J.Dot replies that “She knew better” (123). Do you think that Sienna knew better? Setting aside the letter of the law, how responsible do you think Sienna is for what happened?

5. When Sienna calls her mother on Wednesday morning (129), she cries hysterically. Her roommate, Laura, implies that Sienna may have been acting. Do you think that Sienna is acting or are her emotions genuine? Is it possible for both to be true at the same time?

6. When Silas first reflects on what he did on the videotape, he repeats the phrase “I wanted” (43) many times. When Anna recounts her affair with Mike, she too uses this refrain, “I wanted” (210). What do Silas and Anna each want? Are these purely sexual wants or are they more complicated? Why do you think mother and son use the same language of desire to condemn themselves? How much do you think desire is to blame for what happened?

7. Discuss the evolution of Anna and Owen’s marriage over the course of the novel. Are you surprised that they do not separate after all that has happened? Do you believe that by the end of the book Owen has forgiven Anna?

8. To describe her relationship with Silas, Noelle often uses the metaphor of walking through doors together. Did you feel this was an apt metaphor? How does the significance of this image change as the novel progresses?

9. Some of the parents of the boys feel a keen sense of responsibility for their sons’ behavior. Ellen in particularly says, “And, of course, you are. You are responsible” (189). Do you believe the parents of J.Dot, Silas, and Rob made decisions that in some way led to this event? How culpable should parents of teenagers feel for the behavior of their children?

10.As Silas writes in his journal, all his entries are addressed to Noelle. How does the tenor of the letters change over the course of the novel? Do you believe Noelle is capable of forgiving him? Should she forgive him?

11. Were you surprised when you learned who filmed the incident? All of the students involved seem to have made an unspoken agreement to protect this person’s identity. Do you agree with their reasons for doing so?  

12. One of the big questions driving Testimony is “Why did these students do what they did?” In his letter to Ms. Barnard, Rob writes that “It was an act without a why” (303). What does Rob mean by this? Do you think the other three would agree with his assessment? If not, how might their answers be different?

13.What do you think will happen to the students in the future? What course can you see their lives taking in the months and years following the close of the novel? How will they be affected by the incident and its aftermath?

14. At the end of the novel, Rob suggests that, in an unexpected way, his life may turn out better because of what happened at Avery (304). Do you agree with his logic? Can you see any redemptive effects the scandal may have for other characters?

Questions provided from http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/testimony/guide

Jane Eyre ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."

 

"Primarily of the Bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the Byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. In its internalization of the action - the focus is on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, and all the events are colored by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry - Jane Eyre revolutionized the art of fiction. Charlotte Bronte has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness' and the literary ancestor of writers like Joyce and Proust. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core." I LOVED this novel. Jane Eyre is a respectable, yet fiery young woman that I wish I could be. It begins with a scary and well written childhood, and within a few chapters I could not put the book down. I have read classics that I have been so disappointed in, but this novel is truly worthy of the title "classic". The love story is so pure, and well worth waiting for. Mr. Rochester seems so unlikable at first, but you just can't help falling in love with him as the novel goes on. I was not crazy about St. John, but his purpose was necessary to give you a good scare. This novel gives great insight to the condition of living as a woman during this time period. Thank goodness that things have changed. I would have been very "strung up" if Reverend Brocklehurst had spoke to me the way he spoke to Jane. After I finished the novel, I wanted more even though the ending was perfect and filling. Beautifully written characters and Charlotte Bronte's style of writing is fantastic.  I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

And The Trees Crept In ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"Most people will tell you that he doesn't exist. Might be a bad feeling, or a trick of the light. Most people will say that he's a scary bedtime story to terrify the little children. They say that he is an urban legend or folktale, or a shadow on the wall."







After the creepy thrill ride that was "Dead House", I knew I had to read Dawn Kurtagich's second horror adventure. "And The Trees Crept In" is a sinister tale that makes your spine shiver and sparks chills that linger after the novel is finished. It is a strange, poetic, unsettling novel. So this will be a strange, poetic, and unsettling review.

It is a chilling English nursery rhyme, a folk story of three sisters and the horror they wrote about. It is also a manor house ghost story, the tale of two sisters escaping their abusive past only to find something much darker haunting their footsteps. It is also a psychological thriller, the story of a girl and her aunt battling a madness that twists the boundaries between delusion and reality, leaving them -- and me-- uncertain about the truth.

Stilla and Nori are memorable characters who caught my heart quickly. Stilla is the older sister, the protector, haunted by memories of her abusive father and strange mother they left behind. Nori is the baby of the family, mute but able to use sign language, vibrant and lively, the only light in the house hidden by the shadows. Aunt Cathy is well but beholden to the nightmares in her head, and Gowan, the strange outsider boy, offers love but also more secrets.

These four souls are trapped in a blood-red manor surrounded by an encroaching forest. The plot is told in narration, flashbacks, rhymes, and Silla's diary (yes, more diary entries). The breaks and fragments have the effect of setting you off balance, preventing you from seeing a clear sense of time and place. Dawn's writing is raw, mixed with grotesque imagery.

This novel is a lot shorter than it seems, so I think there is room for expansion.

In the end, it will knock you over, drag you around, and tease you. If you are looking for a horror book this Halloween season, then welcome to the "blood-manor".

I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars.


 

October Book Club

Some juicy scandal for our second book club meeting of the school year! ~Elizabeth Barnes
Meeting Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 7:45am in the LIBRARY!
Discussion questions will be coming soon!
From Goodreads:



"At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices -- those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal -- that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in Testimony a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions." 

Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

"The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."

Few cases were more aptly named than Loving vs. Virginia, which pitted an interracial couple - seventeen year old Mildred Jeter, who was black, and her childhood sweetheart, a 23 year old white construction worker, Richard Loving against Virginia's laws banning marriage between blacks and whites. After marrying in Washington D.C. and returning to their home state in 1958, the couple was charged with unlawful cohabitation and jailed. According to the judge in the case, Leon M. Brazile, "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents... The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix." Judge Bazile sentenced the Lovings to a year in prison, to be suspended if the couple agreed to leave the state for the next 25 years.

The Lovings left Virginia and went to live with relatives in Washington D.C. When they returned to visit family five years later, they were arrested for traveling together. Inspired by the civil rights movement, Mildred Loving wrote to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy for help. The couple was referred to the ACLU, which represented them in the landmark Supreme Court case, Loving vs. Virginia (1967). The court ruled that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional.

This Documentary Novel was written beautifully. I am not a huge reader or a huge fan of documentary novels, but this novel was the best I have read in a long time. It made me understand the Loving vs. Virginia case and made me feel sympathy for the people who were involved. It also shed light on Civil Rights in the late 1960's. Poetic, and very illustrated with courage and hope.

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the copy.

BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS

Please answer the questions in the comments below. Please indicate which question you are answering in each of your comments. These questions were submitted by Elizabeth Barnes, Library Assistant.

1. What intrigued you the most about the cover of “The Dead House”? Did it give you a feeling of how the book would play out? 

 

2. Dissociative identity disorder is characterized by the presence of two or more personality states. Which girl in your opinion is more real? Carly or Kaitlyn? Explain why. 

 

3. “Black Magic” is referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes. Why would Carly want to practice black magic to get rid of Kaitlyn? 

 

4. What are your thoughts about the communication between Carly and Kaitlyn in the diary, and how they would leave notes for each other, real or fake? 

 

 5. How did you feel about the format of “The Dead House?” Did you enjoy how it was set up in diary form? Including police reports, interviews, and psychiatric reports? Explain. 

 

6. What do you think really happened to Juliet after Nadia’s Halloween party? Did Kaitlyn kill her? 

 

7. What surprised you most about Kaitlyn's love interest, Ari? What surprised you about her “long lost brother” The Viking? 

 

8. What do you believe is so symbolic about “the dead girl” that Kaitlyn kept on seeing throughout the novel? 

 

9. The novel leads up to an incident of the entire school catching fire. Do you believe Kaitlyn set this fire on accident? Or was it an intentional suicide/self-immolation? 

 

10. This novel had many different characters and side characters. Who was your favorite character? Who was your least favorite character? Explain why.

September Book Club

A little horror to start the season off right!
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 28 at 8 am in the Library
Discussion questions coming soon.
From Goodreads:

Three students: dead.
Carly Johnson: vanished without a trace.

Two decades have passed since an inferno swept through Elmbridge High, claiming the lives of three teenagers and causing one student, Carly Johnson, to disappear. The main suspect: Kaitlyn, "the girl of nowhere."

Kaitlyn's diary, discovered in the ruins of Elmbridge High, reveals the thoughts of a disturbed mind. Its charred pages tell a sinister version of events that took place that tragic night, and the girl of nowhere is caught in the center of it all. But many claim Kaitlyn doesn't exist, and in a way, she doesn't - because she is the alter ego of Carly Johnson.

Carly gets the day. Kaitlyn has the night. It's during the night that a mystery surrounding the Dead House unravels and a dark, twisted magic ruins the lives of each student that dares touch it.

Debut author Dawn Kurtagich masterfully weaves together a thrilling and terrifying story using psychiatric reports, witness testimonials, video footage, and the discovered diary - and as the mystery grows, the horrifying truth about what happened that night unfolds.

Olivia Decoded (#2) ~ Reviewed by Elizabeth Barnes

 

 

 

 

"This isn't my Jack, who once looked at me like I was his world. The guy who's occupied the better part of my mind for eight months. This is Z, criminal hacker with a twisted agenda and an arsenal full of anger."

 

Olivia has spent the past year trying to get her life back on track. New school. New Friends. And a brand new attitude. If Olivia cannot break through "Z" and reach old Jack, someone is going to end up getting hurt.... or worse, killed.

 

The good girl meets bad boy is not anything new, however, the way things play out and the many things Olivia gets drawn into are certainly not like anything else I have ever read in any book.

 

Olivia was a lovely heroine. She hasn't had the best life, from her drug addict mother, to her hopping from foster home to foster home. But, she was still a genuinely good person. She had values that she couldn't compromise, which I think made her an admirable character.

 

Z, on the other hand was complicated. He delights in his criminal activities, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with them. To his perspective, it's basically like taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Also, he's manipulated people into the web, then left them to fend for themselves. But, I don't think he was a bad person. At least, not until he met Olivia. She reminded him of a sense of goodness. She made him rethink his life and see it from a different perspective.

 

When I initially requested "Olivia Decoded," I did not realize that it was the second book in the series. I believe that if I had read the first book, I may have enjoyed this book much more. If you have not started the series yet, then make sure you start at the beginning! 

 

Vivi Barnes has a great writing technique, and the characters are interesting. The overall storyline is very well put together. It is a wild ride of hackers, stalkers, secret identities, and romance.

 

Special thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the copy of "Olivia Decoded" by Vivi Barnes.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars.