nomadreader

The basics:  "Pearl doesn't know how she's ended up in the river--the same messy, cacophonous river in the same rain-soaked valley she'd been stuck in for years. But here her spirit swirls and stays . . . Ada, Pearl's daughter, doesn't know how she's ended up back in the house she left thirteen years ago--with no heating apart from a fire she can't light, no way of getting around apart from an old car she's scared to drive, and no company apart from her own young daughter, Pepper. She wants to clear out Pearl's house so she can leave and not look back."--publisher My thoughts: When Weathering  came out in the UK last year, many predicted it would be longlisted for the Baileys Prize. It wasn't, but when it finally was scheduled to come out in the U.S., I was still curious to read it. I picked it up not knowing what it's about, as both the title and cover are ambiguous. If I had read the basic description, I might have realized ...

narrated by Julia Whelan The backstory: As a holiday gift to members, Audible enlisted its 2014 narrator of the year, Julia Whelan, to record a new edition of the classic fable, The Snow Queen . ( It's free on Audible until January 31, 2015 .) The basics: The Snow Queen , most recently made more famous as the inspiration for Frozen , is the story of two friends: one who gets lost in the woods and the other who goes on a journey of rescue. My thoughts: I was curious to listen to this inspiration for Frozen . I assumed it would look quite different than the film, which I liked but did not love the way everyone else seems to. And it did, but it was not quite the cozy, winter read I envisioned. The story is divided into seven parts, and I found this structure odd, as not all of the pieces seemed essential. Perhaps the most unexpected part of this story was how overtly Christian it was. Comically, when the story veered to the religious, I turned to look at my car's dashboa...

The backstory: After loving all three of Audrey Niffenegger's earlier graphic novels, The Adventuress , The Three Incestuous Sisters , and The Night Bookmobile ,  I was eager to read her latest, Raven Girl . The basics: When a postal carrier falls in love with a raven and takes her to live with him, they're both surprised her baby turns out to be human, but still birdlike. The Raven Girl longs to be a raven, as she feels on the inside. My thoughts: Audrey Niffenegger's graphic novels tend to include elements of magical realism, and Raven Girl  is no different. I'm not a fan of fairy tales, per se, but those elements in Raven Girl worked well for me. Niffenegger quickly builds a world in which it makes perfect sense for a postal carrier to fall in love with a raven and build a life together. That sense of magic dissipates somewhat when Raven Girl grows up and goes to college. A darker magical realism emerges, and it wasn't as captivating for me. Niffenegger's...

The backstory: The Seas  is on the 2011 Orange Prize longlist. It's also the shortest book on the longlist, so I started with it. My thoughts: Imagine you are Samantha Hunt. Your debut novel, which was published in the U.S. in 2004 and mostly forgotten gets a new life with its publication in the UK last year. Then it gets nominated for the Orange Prize, two years after your second novel, The Invention of Everything Else , was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. It's a lovely story, and I was looking forward to reading this "modern retelling of the little mermaid story." I am not a reader drawn to fairy tales. I'm drawn to strong writing and strong characters. The Seas  was hard to read because although the writing was strong the characters were not. I did not attempt to summarize this novel because it slowly unfolds over time. Our unnamed narrator gives more details as time goes on, but she remains mysterious. I'm tempted to call her an unreliable narrator,...