High Hopes

Lately I've been awfully lazy about reading. Nothing has appealed...until today. I read a recommendation for Justin Cronin's The Passage, including the following details: dystopian/post apocalyptic fiction, 600 pages, and first in a series. An online search gave me access to the first chapter, and a trip to B&N later, I was hooked!

I'm two and a half chapters in and I can't figure out this book. It opens with the abandonment of a young girl by her mother who has lost all hope of being able to provide for her. According to the blurb on the back this girl, who I last saw on the doorstep of a convent in Memphis at the end of chapter one, will be the protagonist. Chapter two brought me on a scientific expedition to Bolivia, with overtones of vampires, while chapter three promises a gritty legal drama, complete with death row inmate and FBI agent. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what to make of the plot yet, but I'm pretty engaged and I've got great expectations for the next 580 pages! I'll keep you all posted...
RDeW.

High School Throwback

In anticipation of the movie coming out, I recently re-read The Great Gatsby.  This was the first time I had picked up the book since being required to read it in the 10th grade, at which time I came away with only a mediocre opinion of it.  I can remember not really understanding what all the fuss was about.  On this go, I enjoyed the novel much more.  Perhaps I needed to spend a few lost years of my own in NYC in order to understand the true beauty of the book.  The experience has set me raiding the boxes in my closet to find some other classics read in high school that perhaps will be more appreciated at this time.  I started East of Eden yesterday!

What are some of your favorite classics? 

-Dani

Drowning Ruth

My literary life has suffered lately due to a lack of time and book recommendations. No one I know has read anything worth recommending to me, and as my two month old daughter has me trapped in the house most of the time due to her severe hatred of the car, I haven't made it to the store. I keep telling myself I need to get over my severe hatred of ereaders, but I can never quite bring myself to jump into the electronic book world.
Fortunately, the last time Dani visited she left me a copy of Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz. Part historical fiction, part psychological thriller, the book explores relationships between sisters, mothers and daughters, and close female friends. Although men appear on the periphery of the story, it's primarily a female world (but not in an overtly feminist way). Although I found the main character fairly despicable, her life included just enough tragedy to make her sympathetic as well. And I truly enjoyed the way the author varied the narrative voice by chapter. All in all, a satisfying read!
RDeW

One year later...

Wow! Hard to believe it has been exactly one year since any of us have posted! It has been a busy year, to be sure...new jobs, new cities, new babies...For me, at least, there hasn't been a whole lot of time for reading. And the books that i have read haven't been all that memorable! In fact, I'm having trouble recalling most of the titles. I think they've mostly consisted of some fairly generic historical romances.
One book that sticks out as worth mentioning is Divergent, along with its sequel, Insurgent. The series is slightly reminiscent of the Hunger Games, with its dystopian plot and strong-willed, fearless, but romantically inept heroine. However, there were enough original plot lines to keep me engaged, and I read each book in under forty-eight hours. So...yeah...I'd say it's worth picking up a copy, especially if you're a Hunger Games fan.
Cant wait to hear what the rest of The Madwomen have been reading!
Rebecca DeWinter