The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Wow! I used to hate anything related to time travel as I got way too confused trying to make it all make sense! I only became a little confused in one part of this book and a friend straightened me out! This story is phenomenal and really has you thinking "What if...".


 


The essence of this book is that Henry DeTamble has a rare genetic disorder which is ultimately named Chron-Displacement. Henry jumps through time to places he has or will have been, in time. Clare Abshire is destined to meet, and fall in love with, Henry.

Can you imagine being married to a man who  is there one moment, and quite literally, gone the next? Miss Niffenegger will make you imagine it and she'll have you practically believing it by the end of the book. Her vivid imagery pulled me in. I finished reading the book in November 2004. In August 2005 I listened to it on audio cd. I also convinced my husband to listen to it. I convinced my best friend to read it. Both of my brothers read it on my recommendation. I told everyone about the book. I even REread the book, which is a big deal for me. I missed recording the date that I reread it but it was while we were living in England and before the film version was released so it was in 2008 or 2009.


The book looks at all aspects of life, therefore there are a few scenes that depict sexual activity. Some are pretty integral to the story. There was one scene and the particularly heavy use of one word in particular that my brother, Scott, and I both felt could have been left out without any detriment to the story. Overall, I feel it is worth it to either press on and read those portions of the book or to try to ignore them and skip over them if you feel you can't read such things. The book is definitely not okay for children to read. I would allow our teens to read it but I do think that parents should make that decision themselves.


I have, since, seen the movie that was adapted from the book. I know that most book lovers do not like movie adaptations. This was a tough book to pack into a film. I have to say, though, that the producers did a wonderful job. Much of the film ended up being very much the way I envisioned it. Our kids very much enjoyed the movie too, especially our ten year old son.

As a book lover I love the fact that Henry works for the Newberry Library in Chicago. I want to tour it! Here is some information on the library:  http://www.newberry.org/collections/timetravelers.html  


Believe it or not, I know I will read this book again.
And I will watch the film with my hubby soon too; he hasn't seen it yet.


Henry and Clare...

One Day by David Nicholls

The premise of this book is to follow one couple, looking at a particular day of the year for them, every year for 20 years. Touted as the 'best weird love story since The Time Traveler's Wife' by a reviewer, I would heartily agree. It holds the same special place for me somehow. 


Dex and Em, Em and Dex. 


 


They belonged together. 


Heartbreaking, really. But so true to life. Read it.


The book begins on July 15, 1988. Some descriptions of the day are simple and short while in other years the day is practially momentous. 


Em is sweet and funny and full of wit. Dexter, ah, Dexter. He is charming and witty and gorgeous and rather full of himself. Around Em, though, he is sometimes able to pull his act together. She is certainly a motivator for him at times. As a reader you find yourself pulling for the two of them as a couple. The story was completely enveloping for me. I found myself absolutely wrapped up in the story line of "The Time Traveler's Wife" and found the same to be true for "One Day".

I have to warn you that I hated the very ending of the story but the author/editor was a genius and didn't really end the book there. He ventured back in time to the earlier parts of the book and brought us deeper into the earlier happenings. That redeemed it for me. My brother, Duffy, told me to expect to hate it because of the 'ending'. I am so glad I ended up loving it.

I Loved this book.

~~~

My casting call... 
(This is where I list the people I envisioned as the characters in the book as I read it.)

I pictured Em as a dear friend of mine from England. She has dark, shoulder length hair and the slender body of a dancer.

I pictured Dex as Kurt Russell.


~~~


For news of the expected release of the film, 
click here> One Day to be released as a FILM

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

I haven't read many mysteries...but this one has to be my hands-down favourite.

Set in England, I could truly picture the happenings. Flavia de Luce is the cheeky, chemistry-loving deducer of the identity of the murderer of the man she found dying, and then dead, in the garden of her family's estate. Doesn't take long to fall under her spell. A reader's delight. You won't want to put it down if you pick it up! I dare you!


One of my favourite quotes from this book:

'I detected instantly that she didn't like me. It's a fact of

life that a girl can tell in a flash if another girl likes her. Feely says that there is a broken telephone connection between men and women, and we can never know which of us rang off. With a boy you never know whether he's smitten or gagging, but with a girl you can tell in the first three seconds. Between girls there is a silent and unending flow of invisible signals, like the high-frequency wireless messages between the shore and the ships at sea, and this secret flow of dots and dashes was signaling that Mary detested me.'

Another:

'What kind of poison could work that quickly? I ran through the most likely possibilities. Cyanide worked in minutes: after turning blue in the face, the victime was asphyxiated almots immediately. It left behind a smell of bitter almonds But no, the case against cyanide was that, had it been used, the victime would have been dead before I found him. (Although I have to admit that I have a soft spot for cyanide-when it comes to speek, it is right up there with the best of them. If poisons were ponies, I'd put my money on cyanide.)'
 
This book is followed up by "The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag."
 
The third book in the series has been eagerly awaited and was set to make its debut on 8 February 2011: "A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Mystery."

It will be one of the next ebooks I purchase.