Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
Here are the books I picked up this week:
Splendor: A Luxe Novel (The Luxe)
Liar
Sweethearts
War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story
Have you supported your local library this week? If so, what did you get?
Publisher’s Summary:
In southern Greece in 2004, a close-knit group of archaeologists searches for the buried traces of a formidable ancient power. A student running from a failed marriage and family, Ben Mercer is a latecomer to their ranks, drawn to the charisma of the group’s members—to the double-edged friendship of Jason, the unsettling beauty of Natsuko and Eleschen, and the menace of Max and Eberhard. But Ben is far too eager to join the excavation project, and there is more to the group’s dangerous games and dynamic than he understands. And there are things that should always remain hidden.
A novel of astonishing grace and power from award-winning author Tobias Hill, The Hidden brilliantly explores the secrets we keep, the ties that bind us, and the true cost of fulfilling our desires.
My review:
I really REALLY wanted to enjoy this book. Really, I did. But it just didn’t happen for me. It’s categorized as a thriller, one of my favorite genres, but I hardly found it to meet the criteria. Perhaps it should have been advertised as historic literary fiction instead?
I have to compliment the author on the amount of research that must have gone in to writing this. Throughout the book, there are numerous “flashbacks” to Sparta and Ancient Greece. Although, I couldn’t quite pinpoint how these “flashbacks” related to the rest of the story.
The formatting of the book was also difficult. The chapters are quite lengthy and other than a slight indent, the paragraphs aren’t broken up at all. Conversations are indicated by a hyphen (-) instead of quotes so it makes the entire book a bit difficult to read. This disjointedness prevented me from really connecting with the characters.
Ultimately, I determined that quite possibly I’m not the intended reader for this book. It is quite literary, and you really have to dig down through the surface to truly get the meat of the story. I am a fan of literary fiction and do read a great deal of it. Perhaps I didn’t dig deep enough? It’s possible. But how much effort must one put into a book to find the core of the story? How much effort should a reader put into a book before giving up? I read the book cover-to-cover. I put in a tremendous amount of effort to enjoying this book. Unfortunately, it just didn’t happen. 
Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to review this book.
Just a reminder that Nicole from Linus’s Blanket will be will be interviewing me tonight on her Blog Talk Radio show, That’s How I Blog!, at 8:30 pm Eastern Time. You can listen live or to the archived version later on. If you listen live you can join the conversation in chat room, which is usually just as lively as the show! If you have any questions or comments, you can send them to Nicole at: nicole AT linussblanket DOT com before the show, ask in the chat room or call 646-381-4606 to ask yourself. At the end of the show, stick around for the Twenty Minute Book Club. If you’ve read the book or don’t mind spoilers, we will be discussing Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane.
Anna O’Shea has just returned from a trip to London, a getaway after going through a divorce five months before. The divorce was a painful one; after years of miscarriages, her husband told Anna that he was leaving her for someone else. His mistress was able to give him something Anna was unable–a child.
Immediately upon her return, she learns her brother, Patrick, has been in a severe automobile accident.
Before she is able to unpack from her Ireland trip, Anna makes her way to the hospital to see her brother. Her mother, Alice, was already there. Patrick sustained severe head injuries and his fate is undetermined. Anna’s brother then drops another bomb: Patrick was on the way to pick up his teenage son, Joseph, from jail when he got into the accident. Joseph was arrested after stealing a car with a friend.
Anna is asked to pick up her nephew, who is in a jail approximately five hours away. She does so, grudgingly. She’d rather stay by her brother’s side until he regains consciousness.
Anna picks up Joseph and returns to her home to get some rest. She’s exhausted, so she quickly succumbs to sleep. She’s awoken to the sound of the zipper on her suitcase. She finds Joseph holding an object in his hand. She grabs on to the item, and the both of them are sucked into what Anna believes is a tornado or some other catastrophic event.
Anna awakes on a beach, her body riddled with injures from the sea, including a long gash that extends from her knee to her ankle. She hovers in and out of consciousness. She is soon rescued and is taken to a small village to recover. Anna soon realizes that something is amiss. Her rescuers use primitive methods (leeches!) for healing her leg injury. When she asks the date her suspicions are confirmed: It is September 1844. Joseph is no where in sight.
Joseph awakes on a bed made of corn husks. His rescuers have brought him to a local manor. He heals relatively quickly and soon begins exploring the manor in which he currently resides. His memories of his father’s accident are faint and fading quickly.
And so begins Anna’s desperate search for Joseph. While on her search, she soon realizes that her leap through time is her destiny. Her family’s fate is dependent upon her…
Sheehan has done an outstanding job of combining rich,multifaceted characters and a compelling storyline. Fans of historical fiction, particularly Irish history, will be fascinated by this book. Sheehan’s writing is incredibly descriptive; you can’t help but be pulled in. The underlying issues of infertility and family issues add depth to the storyline. My only complaint would be the references to the dog. The paperback has an image of a dog clearly displayed on the cover, and the line “A magical tale of hope, second chances…and a not-so-little dog.” At first glance, it appears the book is about this dog. While the dog does play a fairly key role in the novel, I think it’s a little misleading to readers to give that much attention to a seemingly minor character. But this is really the only complaint I have with this book! If you can see past this, as I could ultimately, then I highly recommend that you read this book!
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to review this book. 
Check out the other stops on this tour:
Tuesday, December 1st: The Tome Traveller
Wednesday, December 2nd: Bloggin’ ’bout Books
Want to hear more about Jacqueline Sheehan? Be sure to listen to her interview with Book Club Girl!
Now on to the giveaway! The publisher has provided me with five copies of the book to give away. To enter, please follow this link and submit the form. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 7th. US and Canadian residents only. Books will be sent directly from the publisher.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading This Week? This is a weekly event to list the books completed last week, the books currently being reading, and the books to be finish this week. It was created by J.Kaye’s Book Blog, so stop by and join in!
While I Live (The Ellie Chronicles)
The Divorce Party
Now & Then
Shutter Island
Currently Reading
by Tobias Hill
by Lee Child (audio)Books to Complete This Week The Calling
The Water Giver: The Story of a Mother, a Son, and Their Second Chance
What are you reading this week?
It’s now nearing the end of the first (annual!?) Thankfully Reading Weekend. I had an incredibly relaxing weekend! Not only did I read, but I spent quality time with my boys decorating for Christmas. We also had our Christmas pictures taken and the boys got to see Santa. A very rewarding and thankful weekend, overall!
I finished two of the three books I’d planned to read. I think I would have finished the third had I not spent most of the day today catching up on the “V” series with my husband! I did manage to finish Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (still can’t stop thinking about this one!) and Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan. Check for my review of Now & Then tomorrow (Monday) and my review of Shutter Island later on this week!
I hope everyone enjoyed Thankfully Reading Weekend! Be sure to link your wrap up posts here.
I had a very productive day yesterday! We put up the tree and all the trimmings by ten AM. Then I set down to read. I completed Shutter Island
Today I’m reading Now & Then
I hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing weekend. If you are reading, please share what you are reading about!
I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday! I’m still recovering from all the eating I did yesterday!
I’m pretty excited to spend the weekend reading! I’m not one of those crazy people that wake up at the crack of dawn to go shopping. Instead, I’ll curl up with a book or two instead.
So, here is a list of books I plan on reading this weekend.
Ok! It’s time I get back to reading! If you are participating in Thankfully Reading Weekend, please be sure to link your posts to the Mr. Linky here.
*Update: It’s 4 pm on Thankfully Reading Weekend Day One! I’m almost finished with Shutter Island. Wow! The boys and I spent a good portion of the morning putting up our Christmas tree and decorating for Christmas. This is the first year I’ve decorated this early! It’s chilly and windy outside, and the sky has the look of winter. What a perfect day to curl up with a book!
The people of El Camino Street enjoy the peace and quiet. They don’t like kids, people with big families, or pets. They enjoy spending their time enjoying the peaceful things in life. A new family moves in, a new family with three kids and a pet fish. Still, their peace and quiet seems to go on uninterrupted.
Then suddenly, a giant camper pulls up in front of the new family’s home, a camper that took up half the block. People start streaming out. It started with three teenage cousins. The neighbors shook their heads in astonishment and say “Too many visitors for one little house!” But family members continue to come out of the camper and each time they do, the neighbors respond with the same comment. All together, fourteen people (and a wandering stray dog!) arrive and enter the new family’s home. The neighbors are in an uproar! They don’t appreciate all the noise that comes along with this many house guests!
But on their way to filing a complaint with the city’s complaint department, they are greeted by the Mom, holding a plate of Nanny’s apple strudel! They are invited into the family’s home and instantly remark: “There are never too many visitors for one little house!”
My boys LOVED this book! The illustrations, done by Veronica Walsh, were very colorful and vivid. They enjoyed the repetitive text “There are too many people for one little house” and enjoyed repeating it each time a new group of visitors entered the house. My four year old son, Justin, liked counting the guests as they arrived. My oldest son, John, thought Grandma, with her prune juice, and Grandpa, with his rolls of toilet paper and plunger, were downright hilarious! So, kids of varying ages each take away something different from this hilarious tale!
About the Author: Susan Chodakiewitz is a writer, composer and producer. She is the founder of Booksicals Children’s Books- Encouraging the love of reading through the arts. Through her company Booksicals she has created the Booksicals on Stage literacy program which is currently presenting musical performances of the picture book Too Many Visitors for One Little House at schools, libraries, and special events.
Susan lives in Los Angeles in a lively household filled with music, three sons, a husband, a Dalmatian and lots of visitors. Susan loves picture books and when she wrote a musical based on one of her favorites, she realized it was time to start writing her own picture books. Too Many Visitors for One Little House is Susan’s debut book. You can visit her website at www.booksicals.com.
