Surprise Mail? AWESOMENESS!

I'm going to publicly thank my wife for signing up and getting awarded an advance copy of The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, The) by Brandon Sanderson! He's the author that took over the Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan's passing. I wasn't expecting to see an advanced copy of anything, so that's very cool! This does mean that I'm putting The Stand again.... I'm 400 pages into that so maybe a mini-review is in order.

Thank you!

-D

The Sadness, In Particular

Since we started the book blog, we have a lot of suggestions for books to read from friends and acquaintances.  Rarely, someone will actually bring a book to me and say, please read this and let me know what you think.  Since this is so rare, I often take up the person on the offer.  It seems rude to do otherwise. 

I think I might start to be rude!  Here's the story:

I am into cooking.  I am currently taking a professional baking course at a local cooking class.  One of my classmates asked me if I had read The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.  I told her I had heard of it but I have not read it.  The next week, she brought the book and asked me to read and let her know what I thought of it.  Since the class is winding down, I put it on the top of my to read list. 

So, now that you have background on the reason for the read, here's what I think:

I didn't like it!  I thought the beginning was compelling enough, but then it just died on the vine.  It was all idea and no substance.  The premise suits foodies well enough (I guess): a girl who can taste a person's feelings by eating the food they prepare.  Yeah, imagine what that would be like, think about it for a good 4 minutes.  Now you can skip reading this book.  Apparently, that is how long Aimee Bender thought through the plot lines of this book. 

I kept comparing it to "Heroes" (without the really interesting superpowers) and The Lovely Bones (without all the murder and stuff).  I can't tell you very much else about the plot of this book, because, although, things happen, they happen without direction.  The story just meanders on, without any resolution, without any real point.  Does she use her superpower for good or for evil, or is it just a burden she lives with forever?  You will never know because the author really didn't care enough to tell you. 

I would skip this one.  I think Ms. Bender should have thought of a direction for the protagonist and then shortened the novel to a short story.  It would have made for a much more exciting 20 pages. 

Rating: 2 out of 7

-L

Does the blog need a change?

*UPDATE* - Added a plain white background, and a colorized version. The color is just conceptual and doesn't include the new blog picture links or the final color. The white gives me the added width but not the background. Maybe we'll rotate? =P

We both happen to like a lot of simplicity for the blog, but I'm wondering about spicing it up a bit. The wife doesn't want to change anything, and I'd like to add a background image and a little modification to the blog template we're using.

I like it that way.. gives a little more width. Are the books too busy? L thinks the books should be gone. Opinions greatly appreciated.. even if you don't agree with me.

-D