The Secret of Everything

Book No: 62
Title:The Secret of Everything
Author: Barbara O’Neal
Genre: Chick Lit
Completed: 11/30/09
No. of Pages: 386
Rating: 3/5*****

Tessa Harlow is a tour guide recovering from a terrible accident on her last tour, a tour that ended with a death and Tessa recovering from severe injuries. After months of recuperation she is looking to get back to work and heads to Las Ladrones, New Mexico to determine if it would be a good tour for her company. Tessa has a bit of a past there, she lived there as a child and almost drowned. While there Tessa comes face to face with her past and she begins to discover “The Secret of Everything”.

This book was an easy read, pretty standard chick lit fare; beautiful emotionally damaged woman meets incredibly handsome but equally damaged man, sparks and sex fly and together they help each other heal. Nothing earth shattering here, although there was a bit of an interesting mystery involving Tessa’s past. Some small magical realism bits seemed a little out of place. The characters were very likeable, especially the character of Natalie, a little girl grieving the loss of her mother. The descriptions of New Mexico make you want to pack your bags tomorrow. The storylines eventually come together in one big happy bow at the end, not too believable but if you just want to have a nice beach read this is the book for you.

#73 - Kissing Games of the World

Book No: 73
Title: Kissing Games of the World
Author: Sandi Kahn Shelton
Genre: Chick Lit
Published: 2008
Obtained: 2008/First Impressions ARC
Completed: 9/7/08
No. of Pages: 385
Rating: 3/5*****

Jamie McClintock is living a quiet life in a small town in Connecticut. Her son’s father abandoned Jamie and Arley shortly after he was born. So Jamie came to stay with her sister but needs to leave and find a place of her own. Eventually she moves in with Harris Goddard, an older man raising his grandson Christopher. Thw two have them have settled into a platonic friendship, raising the two boys together and helping each other out. When Harris dies from a massive heart attack Jamie’s life is thrown into turmoil when his estranged son Nate Goddard comes back to claim both his father’s home and his son, Christopher.

Nate Goddard is good looking, rich and as arrogant as they come. He has big plans to sell the property to developers and take Christopher to live with him in California. Although Jamie and Nate detest each other on sight, they try to get along for the sake of their sons. Nate is engaged to be married and Jamie is planning on moving to Vermont to be an art teacher. But the best laid plans don’t always work out.

This was a sweet if predictable book. You know from the first meeting where this book is heading. It was an enjoyable and easy read, good for a day at the beach or a cold day in winter, curled up with a cup of tea. Nothing earth shaking, just a pleasant story with amiable characters.

#45 - Stealing Athena

Book No: 45
Title: Stealing Athena
Author: Karen Essex
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 2008
Obtained: 2008/Bookbrowse.com
Completed: 6/12/08
No. of Pages: 452
Rating: 3/5***

Stealing Athena tells the story of two women, Aspasia, courtesan to Pericles, the famous politician who spent his lifetime seeing that beautiful monuments to the Gods were built in Greece; and Mary Elgin whose husband Robert Elgin would spend many years of his life trying to bring all of Greece’s art to England. Through these women’s eyes we learn of all that went into building the Parthenon, a temple to Athena and all that went into the deconstruction of the Parthenon 2000 years later, when Lord Elgin removed many of the marble friezes and had them sent to England, where they are today, known as The Elgin Marbles.

I should have loved this book, as I am a huge fan of historical fiction, particularly those focusing on ancient Rome and Greece, and those set in Victorian England. I was however disappointed in this book. The two stories did not seem to mesh well together and none of the characters came alive for me. The writing was often so descriptive the story would lose momentum. I never really cared for anyone in the book and struggled to finish reading it. At over 450 pages, what this book needed was a good editor to tighten up the story. Not a bad book, but not a very good one either.

#16 - The Palace of Illusions

Book No: 16
Title: The Palace of Illusions
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Genre: Fiction
Published: 2008
Obtained: 2008/Bookbrowse.com
Completed: 3/09/08
No. of Pages: 360
Rating: 4/5****

The Mahabharat is an epic poem that tells the tale of the Pandava and Kaurava families and their rivalry for the throne of Hastinapur. The author uses that poem as the basis for her retelling, imagining the story from the view point of Panchaali, the woman who was the wife of the five Pandava brothers.

Divakaruni expertly brings together the stories of the two families, effortlessly weaving history, mythology and magic together into a fantastical retelling of this tale. Reminiscent of the story of Homer, here too the gods live and intermingle with the people on earth. The writing is so well done that we soon accept the magic and interaction with the gods as normal.

Panchaali’s story is fascinating and complex. Born in fire and told that her destiny is to change the world she is always wondering what it is she is meant to do. When her desire for revenge sets a course of action that ends in devastation she realizes that she does indeed change history, but not necessarily for the better.

At times I had a little difficulty with the names in the book as they were sometimes very similar, but I soon was able to follow the story line and was captivated by Panchaali, even when she was sometimes petty or whiny. I read through the last half of the book in one sitting, I had to know how everything turned out. I loved the ending; it was the perfect finish to a wonderful story.