The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan

This was another selection for my book club, and I just didn't enjoy this one at all.  It took me a long time to get interested in the book, and even then, I still wasn't all that interested.

This is the story of Bess Heath, a young woman growing up in Niagara Falls in the early 1900's, just leading into World War I.  Bess's family is one of wealth and privilege until her father suddenly loses his job and the family finds themselves falling on hard times.  While struggling to keep her family afloat, Bess meets and falls in love with Tom Cole.  Tom is not in the same league as Bess's family, but he is a man who knows the Falls and the river and has special abilities to see dangers there that others cannot see.

Their story is sweet and endearing, but it is buried beneath a story of the development of Niagara Falls, the building of hydroelectric plants, and how the development is beginning to destroy the natural beauty and majesty of the falls.  Tom struggles to fight against that development while needing to work for the plants to support his family after his return from the war.  I found the details of this struggle to be really, truthfully, uninteresting.  I normally enjoy historical fiction, but I really found it hard to get emotionally invested in this story.  I also felt the tragedy that happened at the end of the book was heavily foreshadowed, so it wasn't surprising when it happened.

The woman in our group who chose this book is from the Niagara region, and I can see why she would find it interesting for that reason.  There is a lot of talk about the different areas of Niagara Falls and if you were really familiar with that area, it would be fun to read about that.  But with me having only a tourist's knowledge of the area, that wasn't an important feature for me.

It's a fairly light book, but definitely not a page turner.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Continuing on in the Chronicles of Narnia series, we finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader tonight.  When I asked the kids what they thought I should say about it on my blog, Darcy said, "It's amazing!" and Wesley said, "It felt like it went on forever!"  When I asked him what he meant by that, he said that they had so many amazing adventures in this book, that it seemed like it went on forever, but in the best way.  He loved every minute of it.

I found this one difficult to read aloud, because of some of the nautical terms that I'm not familiar with (we had a lot of giggling every time the book made reference to the "poop" of the ship), but it's a great story.

Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are sent to spend the summer at the house of their nasty cousin Eustace.  One afternoon a painting of a sailing ship comes to life, filling the room with water, taking Lucy, Edmund and Eustace to Narnia.  There they encounter their friend King Caspian, who is on a journey to find seven missing Lords who were loyal to Caspian's father.  Along the way they encounter some strange lands, some strange people, and lots of magic.  Eustace spends some time as a dragon and it goes a long way to improving his personality.

We made the mistake of watching the movie before reading the book.  The movie changed the story in a lot of ways, but because the kids saw the movie first, they thought that was the right way to tell the story. It took a bit of convincing on my part to get them to believe that the book is actually the way the story is meant to be told.

Wesley says that this is his favourite book in the series so far (Darcy's is A Horse and His Boy).  That's not really surprising giving the pirate-like feel of a story told on a ship, with countless adventures to be had.  All in all, a really fun book that we had a lot of fun reading.

We Are Water by Wally Lamb

I have been a fan of Wally Lamb's for years.  I love the way he tells stories, the depth he brings into a storyline and how his stories often span generations in a family.  When I heard he had released a new book, I bought it without knowing anything about it. I will not do that again.

His books can tend to be dark (with the hilarious exception of Wishin' and Hopin') but this book is disturbing.  Just completely disturbing.  I wish I'd never read it, because there are now images in my mind that I can't get out.  The book claims to be about how a woman (Annie) shocks her family by leaving her husband of 27 years for a woman.  The book jacket references "a Pandora's box of secrets" that will be opened as these women prepare to be married.  The book looks at Annie's family and how her first marriage fell apart and the impact that had on her children.  Annie had some secrets that she brought into the marriage that she couldn't quite cope with.

I'm not normally one for spoilers, but I really wish I had known this before I read the book.  Annie, was molested and raped as a child by a cousin who lived with her.  The chapters of the book are told in alternating voices, so we get the perspectives of different characters.  Well, several chapters are told from the perspective of the molester.  I was completely unprepared for that, and to be honest, it's not a perspective I had any interest in reading.  He discusses how he finds new girls to approach and how he grooms them.  This is not something I want to read for fun.  Again, the book jacket talks about the alternating voices, but only mentions Annie, her ex-husband and children, it doesn't say anything about the cousin.

Wally Lamb's storytelling is still incredible to me, but this is not a story I want to be told.

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Continuing in our quest to read the Chronicles of Narnia, we have now finished Prince Caspian.  Darcy is helping me with this review.

This book is an exciting adventure, which has the Pevensie children transported from a train station platform to an unrecognizable Narnia.  Since they've been out of Narnia, hundreds of years have past in Narnian time, their castle is in ruins and the landscape has changed.

They soon find out that they have been summoned to Narnia by Susan's horn, to come to the aid of Prince Caspian and the Narnians, who are fighting against Miraz, Caspian's uncle who has made himself king.

Of course there are battles and adventures along the way, and lots of amazing characters to meet. As with the other books in this series, we loved this book.  Darcy thinks the movie is better though.  I can't believe she just said that.

Egghead by Caroline Pignat

It's a rare thing when I finish a book in one evening, but that's what happened with Caroline Pignat's "Egghead".  I heard about this book a couple of weeks ago in one of my classes, when we were each asked to present a book geared at students in grades 4 and up.  One of my classmates presented this book and I decided to read it.

Written by a local Ottawa writer, this is a book that takes a look at bullying, and is set in a high school (St. Patrick's High School, here in Ottawa).  It is the story of Will Reid, a grade 9 student who just doesn't seem to fit in.  He's not really all that concerned about fitting in, but Shane, Brad and Devan, the school bullies turn it into a big deal.  Katie, Will's only friend wants to help but often feels torn between Will and other friends who want to be more popular.  She's also never quite sure what she should do to help.

Three different characters narrate the story, chapter by chapter.  Will's chapters are told in poems that he's written, then Katie and Devan each tell their parts in the story too.  I know some people don't like stories told in different voices like that, but I really enjoy it.  I like reading the different perspectives and I feel like you get to know the characters better that way.

I would like to know how St. Patrick's High School feels about being the setting for this story, as the school administration is portrayed as not doing very much and the teachers are perceived as not caring about their students.  But, as the story is told from the point of view of three teenagers, I can understand that a lot of high schoolers feel that way about the staff at their schools.

The bullying in this book is downright cruel in parts and can be difficult to read.  But I still recommend the book, especially for teens to see the effects of bullying.  It's a short read, and has received a lot of good reviews from teens on Goodreads.

If you give it a read, or have already, I'd like to know what you think.

The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan

This is a book that took me a bit by surprise.  It was another book club selection, and I'm very glad it was, because I'd never heard of it before then.

It's the story of Gwenni, a young girl growing up in Wales in the 1950's.  She flies through town in her sleep, giving her the chance to see things from a different vantage point.

The father of a family she babysits for goes missing and is soon discovered to be murdered.  Gwenni hopes to become a detective when she grows up so she decides to help solve the mystery.  But there are so many other things to figure out along the way.  Like why does her mother need so many pills from the doctor to get through the day, why does her sister have different coloured eyes than either of their parents, why does that woman in town wear a dead fox around her neck, and why is her best friend suddenly more interested in boys than in solving the mystery with her?

With the setting in Wales, I had a hard time figuring out how some of the places and names should be pronounced.  So I ended up just making up pronunciations in my mind and sticking with them.

I found this book to be similar in feel to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, so if you liked that one, I think you'll like this too.

Many, but not all, of Gwenni's questions get satisfactory answers.  I've seen some reviewers who aren't happy with how some of the questions were left hanging.  I didn't mind that.  You don't always get full answers to your questions in life, and sometimes I find books are wrapped up just a little too neatly.  This one leaves you to try to figure some things out on your own.

I found this to be a light, fun little read.  I highly recommend it.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Another book club choice, I really wasn't sure what to expect from this book.  I certainly didn't expect anything close to what I got.

If I didn't know this was a true story, I would  never believe it.  It just seems impossible for one person to survive so much hardship in his life.  Not only did he survive, but the way in which he was able to move on and build a new life is just astounding.  I don't want to say too much to give away the story, but the fact that he's still alive now, kind of lets you know that he's going to make it through the book.

This is the story of Louis Zamperini, an American Olympic runner in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  He was a bit of a trouble causer as a child, but running gave him the focus and outlet for his energy that he needed.  As he prepared for the 1940 Olympics, World War II broke out, and Louis joined the Air Force.  A plane he was in was attacked by the Japanese and went down.  He survived for more than 40 days at sea with little food and water, surrounded by sharks.  When they finally reached land, they were taken prisoner by the Japanese and were subjected to absolutely horrifying conditions in the POW camps there.

But we all know how WWII ended, and again, because we know he's still alive, we know that even though it seemed unlikely, he made it out.  But my favourite part of the book was his return to California and the difficulty he had rebuilding his life there.

This is not an easy book to read.  The subject matter made it difficult to read more than a few pages at a time.  It was just so upsetting in spots.  But it went a lot more quickly once he had returned home.

I highly recommend this book.  I'm not normally a lover of non-fiction and would never have picked this up on my own, but I'm so glad that I read.  I've also learned that it is being made into a movie.  It will be interesting to see how that is handled and if they do justice to this amazing story.