GDR Book Club: The Vampire Lestat

This was a gift given to me by a friend. I haven't had a chance to read it until about January.

Anne Rice has a way with imagery and characterisation that makes me melt. Since The Vampire Lestat is a first-person account, it's incredibly intimate. That works to the book's credit as it's very easy to get immersed. I was thrown into Lestat's life right along side him. I shook my head; I disapproved. I was emotionally swayed, and most of all, I was taken away by Lestat's way of speech. My good friends, I have fallen in love with Lestat de Lioncourt. (Even while writing this, I realised that my full name would sound amazing with 'de Lioncourt' at the very end, hoho!)

GDR Book Club. Prophecy of the Sisters

Prophecy of the Sisters is about the twin sisters Lia and Alice who have just become orphans. Their mother died when they were young, and with the recent passing of their father, they've also become enemies. Locked in a prophecy, the sisters must fill their roles and unlocked the tangled mysteries.

Every now and again, I buy a book that looks interesting and doesn't quite fit the bill. Prophecy of the Sisters is definitely one of those books. Unlike when I read the other books, I keep picking this up, reading a few chapters, and putting it down with a sense of disappointment. Prophecy of the Sisters isn't written in a way where it's constantly captivating. It's one of the few first person books that I've read, and for some reason, that only drags the book down further.

The way that the book is written puts me off. The common "elegance" of 19th century America seems very flaky and lacks sustenance. While reading it, I can envision the characters as amateur actors without a real understanding of characterisation or emotions. Harsh as it is, I believe this to be the truth. The characters all seem bland and stiff. Their elegance chalky, leaving a bad taste behind with every scene they're in. So much so that even understandable emotions of surprise, fear, or anger just seem false and leave me feeling unimpressed.

I understand characters being confused and saying things in their confusion that seem a bit... obvious, but there's something about Lia's naïveté that comes across as frustratingly juvenile. It's almost as though she's completely unaware of herself and her surroundings. Lia comes across as more than just a sheltered girl—she's too young in her mannerisms, too sweet, and too pampered

The story's idea of the prophecy does actually capture my interest, but since the story is from Lia's POV, the prophecy's mysticism is somewhat dampened. I'm not sure how I feel about this book as a whole as it feels a lot like something else too many times.

The middle of the end of the book makes everything decidedly more interesting, and the actual end got me almost excited. Not just because it was over but because it seemed so definitive and adventurous—a contrast to the rest of the book entirely. After the final tragedy, I finally found myself to be invested in the ongoings of the plot (even if certain parts still made me roll my eyes), but by then it was too little, too late, and the book was over far quicker than I expected.

GDR Book Club. The Noticer

So the night before, I started to read The Noticer. My original intent was to read it after I got down to Savannah, but since it was there and I was suffering a mighty awesome, self-induced stomachache, I decided to give it a read.

It's as the book says: "Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective". It's a motivational book. It's also classified under self-help. Here's how the book is presented:

There is a mysterious drifting man who goes by the name of Jones... or 'Garcia' or 'Chen', depending on who he's with, and he always appears to those who are in trouble. His thing is that he's all about changing perspective, about considering different things, and reevaluating what's already known. In execution, the book is all about convenience. The characters are more or less cardboard, and sometimes, it's not them but their situation that's captivating. There aren't enough questions being asked, so the characters and their interactions of Jones are unnatural and made for the sake of plot convenience. As a regular book, I don't find it very good whatsoever.

However, the overlying message will not go without its credit. As a self-help, The Noticer might actually shed some light and help some people.  Even if you know these things, it's good to hear it all again in a less judgmental, more abstract, and all encompassing fashion. It's a good book to read simply for the reassurance, for the hope, for the perspective, but there are many moments in the book where it's preachy and wishy-washy. Despite that, there are many good things to carry away from this book.

It comes with a "Reader's Guide" in that back, which is essentially a quiz-like addition at the end of the book. It's supposed to help readers suck in the full capacity of the book, to help sink the message in, but I can do without that. I'll just take those little nuggets of scattered, perspective wisdom and, y'know, be on my way.

GDR Book Club. Equal Rites

As I continue to rifle through my personal library, I picked up another book that has become a personal favourite simply because of the topic as well as the execution of its contents. It's a very worn book, but it looks well loved. Equal Rites was written by Terry Pratchett, and it's about the eighth daughter of an eighth son who is visited by a dying wizard. And this is a problem as in his final moments, as there is a lore against women being wizards. Did you not know? Well, it's all very interesting how little that all means in the end.

GDR Book Club. Pretend You Don't See Her

Another library bought classic. I say "classic", but. This book is by another female author named Mary Higgins Clark. As you can see, I bought this book with no cover, so to understand it's plot, you'd have to read this. Or read my overview of what it was about.

There's a woman named Lacey Farrell who lives in the busy city of Manhattan, New York as a realtor. Things tumble out of control when she's showing off a co-op for a possible buyer. One thing leads to another, and she ends up being a witness to a murder. A very interesting pretense for a book. In the forward, Mrs. Clark expressed how much research she put into learning about the process of being put into witness protection as well as the legal jargon that goes along with it. Very good, very believable. You not only follow Lacey; you follow her mother, sister, and brother-in-law's family. You follow Jimmy Landi; Ed Salone and Nick Mars, two NYPDs on the case; and you follow the murderer who's hunting Ms. Lacey down.

I feel... rather empty about the book. The book is 65 chapters in total, a few are remarkably shorter than the others. I cruised through 40-something chapters all last night, and I just. I'm not sure how to feel. The book is a good read, definitely. I don't feel excited or moved; I hardly even find the conclusion satisfactory. I just... read it, you know. I felt driven enough to finish this, but in return, I was only given mixed feelings. I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the book. I feel mildly indifferent, in a confusing way. It wasn't bad by any means; I just feel at a loss.

Why don't you check it out and give me your feedback. I'd love to know if the same mixing feelings stir and swell in your cores as well.

GDR Book Club. The Potter's Field

I've had this book for close to... eight years or so? Probably a little less than that. I bought this at the local library for $1. This book is the 17th (wow) in its series, and prior to this title, I've never heard of Brother Cadfael nor have I heard of the author Ellis Peters.

That being said, this book is pretty great.

GDR Book Club. A Trace of Smoke

I should call this, "The Incomplete Edition" because I couldn't bring myself to finish this book.

I know that makes it sound like as though this book is awful, but it's not. It takes place in circa 1931 Berlin. The world is ripe with Hitler's presence, and war is in the air. It's an interesting setting considering everything I've read from this time period (or within the Nazi Era) has been heartbreaking in one way or another. But this was a pleasant turn. We live life through Hannah Vogel's life. She's a reporter and the first thing we witness is the heartache of her losing her younger brother, Ernst.

Hannah's story so far is very simple. While she's trying to figure out what happened to her brother, she reports on a high-brow molestation (I believe it was) case, and deals with the sexual underside of Berlin chasing clues about Ernst's disappearance. She runs into a lovely man during the trial and some days later, she gets stuck with a some mysterious kid.

The story is very... simple as far as living someone's life. It's slow and takes a lot of effort to concentrate on. The story doesn't 100% grab me all the time, and when it does, it only lasts for a few scenes. This is a book that I have to read very slowly over time (purposefully, unlike The False Prince) to try to digest it all. It's not really my favourites, and hopefully, if/when I finally do get through it, I will have more to say.

GDR Book Club. The False Prince

This isn't something I plan to make a regular series, but I have tonnes of books to read these days. I'm glad for it. It gets me off the computer for a while and gives me a decent amount of mental stimulation. One of the books I enjoyed was one I bought last year while I was living in Indianapolis, and it's called The False Prince.

The False Prince is about three orphans taken up by a conniving nobleman to exact a plan laced in treason and struggle. The story is written mostly from the point of view of a ruffian named Sage who makes life difficult for Connor, the nobleman, along the way.

I regret not reading this book faster and enjoying it when I initially started. It really came around for me. Don't get me wrong; it didn't start poorly at all. It had a decent building pace, and I rather like Sage, even though he is incredibly difficult and even insufferable at times. Sage, as a character, is well rounded, and the story itself is well written. There are some typical moments and twists, but they're executed in such a way that the tropes seem fresh.