Her Feaful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I don't like reading comtemporary literature, because there are no heroes, no one we can aspire to become.... all there are are flawed, broken, unhappy people like there are all over the world.

I decided recently that I would try reading more literature, I was starting to feel bloated from the amount of candy I'd been reading. I was well fed with a couple books I'd read before, then this one came around... I thought it would be intriguing, but it turned out to be sad and depressing to me.

It's the story of two sets of twins. There are Edie and Elspeth, and Julia and Valentina. Elspeth and Edie had been estranged for many years, however when Elspeth died, she willed almost her entire estate to her nieces Julia and Valentina on the condition that they live in her flat in London for a year, and their parents may not enter the building.

Julia and Valentina love and hate each other. They love what they have always known best, and hate how they cannot leave each other. When they come to London, they start to grow apart and meet new people, but one girl always manages to keep the other girl from growing too far apart. Finally, Valentina devises a plan to leave Julia forever... she tries to kill herself, thinking she will be able to come back with the help of Elspeth's ghost. However, that doesn't work and Elspeth steals Valentina's body instead.

There are so many layers to this book, and it will take forever to unravel it all. I am a bit reluctant to embrace the analysis of books, afraid I will lose my enjoyment of them again, like I did in school... There are two important side characters, Robert and Martin. Robert is Elspeth's former lover, who is drawn to Valentina. Martin is trapped in his apartment by his OCD, and Julia feels compelled to unravel his mysteries and set him free of his illness. They each have their lives, flaws, and intricacies. I am afraid to go through it all.

The story made me sad and lonely. It was good, but I'm just not prepared to dive in so soon and lose myself again.

Heat Wave by Richard Castle

Heat Wave is the novel written as part of the tv series Castle, which is about a crime novelist that follows a female NYPD homicide Detective as a muse. The novel follows the tv show exactly in its feel and characterizations, which makes it a perfect companion to the tv show because this is supposed to be the novel written by the author in the show.

The plot of the novel follows a murder/theft taken from several different episodes in the show. There are differences of course... like Castle gives the best lines to Jameson Rook, his counterpart in the story. And the sexual tension between Castle and Becket are released in the sex scene between Nikki Heat and Rook. Riley is Raley, and Esposito is Ochoa... the characterizations are eactly the same... so awesome because I'm suffering Castle withdrawl from the long summer hiatus.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

This book is like TV's Bones set during the reign of Henry II in England. The main character, Adelia, is almost exactly like Temperence Brennan in Bones. Adelia is a singular woman, orphaned as a child and raised by two doctors in Solerno, a cosmopolitan city that allowed for the existance of female doctors.

Adelia is sent to England at the request of the King Henry to help discover the sadistic serial killer of children that has been prowling through Cambridge. At the start of the book, the Jews in Cambridge were blamed. She examines the bones of the dead children and helps look for suspects. She is constantly up against the moral dilhemma of granting people life or justice. Despite her affinity for the dead, she is still a doctor and want to ease suffering. She is accompanied by her eunuch manservant, Mansur, and is helped by Simon of Naples, a Jewish spy. She meets Sir Rowley, a former crusader turned tax-collector/spy who she gradually falls in love with. In the end, we find out the killer is the generous, wealthy and sadistic knight and his accomplice is the angelic, masochistic, victim/lover nun (the least suspected, of course).

This story actually read like a movie or tv episode too, not just in the story. The start of the story is written in a series of vignettes that jump back and forth as an introduction to the story. And in each of the main event scenes, you only get Adelia's impressions and aren't able to guess anything because you don't get to "see" what happens, so you have to wait until Adelia draws her own conclusions after she experiences each event. It's a little odd to read at first, but not terrible, just weird...

I have yet to decide if I would read the other books in the series.

Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

This is a series of short stories that Armstrong once had posted on her website. It included the story of Clay and Elena's first meeting, Eve and Kristof's life together, Lucas and Paige's wedding and a couple other short stories involving other characters in the Otherworld universe.

Good, but not as exciting as I hoped it would be. Although, Clay and Elena's story got me interested in reading Bitten again.

Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks

Entertaining enough books, but my complaints remain the same as his other two books.

Kylar helps Logan become king. Dorian becomes GodKing because the alternative is too terrible, he marries Janine to compensate but she doesn't love him. Kylar gets to marry his beloved for awhile. Durzo is still alive and is around for awhile, and helps Kylar out but doesn't take too much of center stage. A bunch of minor characters do stuff, and everything comes together at the Black Barrows, where Kahli gets a body and all the armies clash for one reason or another. Kahli is defeated, loose ends are vaguely tied, the book could probably go on for another couple books.

WORST SERIES EVER.

Poorly written, plot barely hangs together, pointless characters. Don't bother.

Still makes me angry that I actually read the whole trilogy.