Mixed reaction

A book called, Three Graves Full, caught my eye due to its premise. A man has killed someone and buried him in his yard, much like Poe's Tell Tale Heart, the man's conscience eats away at him. Eventually a discovery is made, but it isn't the grave he dug, it is two other graves in his yard!

So, great premise and truthfully a great start to the novel. The middle of the book however, particularly the lead up to the climax wasn't developed well, and it was more than implausible that all of the characters did what they did. The reader knows immediately who Bart is, and questions Reid's wife reasoning throughout. She in fact is, in my opinion, a useless character...there would seemingly have been other ways to develop the denouement than throwing her into the mix.

That being said, the ending was somewhat satisfying, despite the issues that lead up to it.

The author is talented, and I enjoyed some aspects of her writing style, but this book needed some polishing to make its storyline plausible.

This book will be published, Feb 12th, 2013.

Kafka updated

I recently read, The Facility, by Simon Lelic. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and want everyone to read it, especially those that have no issues with our (USA) drone policy, FISA "laws" and the like.

A man named Arthur suddenly finds himself taken and imprisoned. His wife (they are separated) has no knowledge of where or why he has disappeared, and she enlists a journalist to aide her in finding him.

The scenes in The Facility are all to real, if you have ever read The Trial, or any transcripts from the McCarthy era. I found it particularly compelling as well, when the journalist is trying to get his editor to print what he has, and is denied...for reasons that I am sure occur often these days, "national security"

If you don't want to worry where our laws might lead, don't read this book, but if there are niggling thoughts in your head, when you read about warrantless wiretapping or drones being for the good of all, then rush to your bookstore, and buy The Facility.

Compelling Narrative

I just finished, The Tragedy Paper, by Elizabeth LaBan (pub date 1/8/2013).
I found it to be a compelling narrative, reminding me slightly of Thirteen Reasons Why, due to its structure.

Duncan is a senior (high school) at a boarding school; he starts the novel's story as he enters the school's archway. The structure of the beginning and ending are slightly reminiscent of The Outsiders, and in the acknowledgement section, the author states how much that novel (as well as one other novel of Hinton's) changed her. So, Kudos to Ms. LaBan for writing that in the acknowledgements. I recently read a novel called Ten, clearly an homage to Dame Christie, and the author chose not to mention that in her acknowledgement section..something I personally found distasteful.

But, I digress. The room Duncan is given was previously lived in by a senior named Tim (Macbeth, smile now)and as a reader you realize something horrible has happened to Tim. The narration switches back and forth between Duncan and Tim; Tim has provided the new tenant of the room with tapes of his year there, so the story follows these two boys through their respective senior years. At times I did have trouble distinguishing the voices despite one being first person and the other 3rd; my one quibble with the novel is the characters' voices weren't that different.

During the students' senior year, their English teacher, Mr. Simon gives an annual assignment called The Tragedy Paper; I had hoped to learn a bit more about this concept, if only to incorporate something similar with my students...perhaps glimpses of the ones Mr. Simon has found most compelling over the years, but the papers end up being merely a structure to bind the characters' narratives, and storyline.

I am glad I read the novel, and I think it is a worthwhile read for many. Its life-lessons so to speak, are subtle, but all to real. As we question ourselves, and worry about how we are perceived, we might be setting into motion, events that will cause tragic events.

And there is the difference between this novel and Thirteen Reasons Why, it is more subtle, and lends itself to more people thinking deeply about their own self worth, than perhaps Thirteen Reasons did. Thirteen Reasons was wonderful if a person were to really look at bullying and own any of their bullying behavior, but The Tragedy Paper, can potentially make all reading it, look deeply at their own insecurities, and hopefully, "go forth and spread beauty and light," Mr. Simon's version of "Seize the Day"

Exciting ( gory at times)

I just finished reading Rising, a sequel to Department 19. This series deals with vampires in a manner Twilight couldn't come close to..all due to the excellent writing by author Will Hill.

I finished Department 19 almost 2 years ago, (April, 2011) purchasing the book as soon as it was published. I had a bit of difficulty starting this one, as I had to remember a few characters and what had happened to them. Hill doesn't do the traditional recap that many series' authors do, and I am actually glad about that. I just hope the third isn't published a full year and half after this one.

Jamie Carpenter is the main character, and he is thrust into the role of a covert, vampire hunter suddenly in the first book. It was an exciting read, with great characterization, and there was a great deal of fun as Hill lays out that Bram Stoker was detailing actual history in his novel, Dracula.

Dracula is the focus of this second book, The Rising...it is Dracula's rising that the group, Department 19 that Jamie works for, is trying to prevent. Jamie has many friends in the Department, but both books feature traitors, and Jamie's distrust and fear of losing people, are compelling character traits that the author develops very nicely.

The second book, is a tad gorier than the first, so some middle school students might not be ready for it, if they tend to have nightmares.

I highly recommend this series.