November Book Report

I've finished two books recently and was disappointed by one and taken away by the other.

The first book I finished this month was The Time Traveler's Wife which began rather well and seemed to be a very promising book. The book is about two main characters: Henry the time traveler and Clare, his wife. Clare first meets Henry when she is six and he is in his 30s. Henry first meets Clare when he is 27 and she is 20. The book begins well and does a great job of setting up the rest of the story. The middle section was a bit tiresome and I struggled to get through it. The writing was good, the middle was just a tad bit boring and lost some of the momentuum at the beginning. The book picks back up again and I was enjoying it once more, until the end. The ending was terrible. It had the feeling that the author just got tired of writing and decided to stop. There is no resolution and there is no end. Maybe that was her point, afterall, if one is a time traveler, there is no end nor beginning. Time is one big circle of existence. I, though, am not a time traveler and I prefer endings to stories. Honestly, the lack of ending ruined any enjoyment I had.

The second book I read, The Thirteenth Tale, was absolutely delicious. I was hungry for it when I wasn't listening to it. The words in the book were perfectly choosen and satisfying. The story is about a storyteller who believes that every story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. This story fits those requirements. There are stories within stories and each story is interwined with the main story. The characters float from one to another and as a reader, you find yourself drawn into their own stories. The Thirteenth Tale is part fairy tale, part ghost story, part 19th century British Literature. The writer was definitely influenced by Bronte, Doyle, James, and they weave themselves in and out of the book as well. This book is an excellent book for people who love books, especially rich decadent books. I'll read this one over and over again.

Now, the book was wonderful, the story was absorbing, but the best part was the knitting. Yep, there is knitting in the book and not just any knitting, there is sock knitting! In fact, one chapter is titled "Ms. Love turns a heel." You just can't get much better than that.