Review: The Gendarme

Author: Mark Mustian
Genre: Fiction (2010)

About: A 92-year-old Turkish man, now living in America, is diagnosed with a brain tumor.  He has vivid dreams about his time as a gendarme during the Armenian war when he escorted Armenian refugees to Syria in a death march. He falls in love with Araxie, a young Armenian girl, loses touch with her, and years later desperately tries to find her.

Gendarme (pronounced /dʒɛnˈdɑrm/ or /ˈʒɑːndɑrm/)
 Gendarme (historical), French medieval or early modern cavalryman

• I found the writing to be choppy and stiff, and the tone, monotonous. I thought I'd adjust as I read further but that didn't happen. Until the last chapter. Which I enjoyed because the author finally gave the characters, Emmett Conn and his long lost love, Araxie, more emotional depth. Why did he wait so long to do that? To make for a climactic ending? 
• The majority of the book was dull, probably because I didn't feel a connection to the main character and didn't really care what happened to him.
• The alternating tense between his dream state and the present wasn't always clear. I wish these would have been chapter by chapter or at least more fluidly written. 
• Emmett Conn's daughter Violet was mean and rude, especially the way she made decisions for her father - where he was going to live, who would "monitor" him.  I didn't like her.
• Just as I was finally enjoying the last chapter, the only one I liked, it was over just like that...with a vague and boring ending.

Source: Library

Why I Chose: The cover is beautiful and I had seen it on a few blogs so I was curious.

Recommend? I don't want to say no, because a lot of people liked this book. I'd actually like you to read it if you've had it on your radar at all, and then let me know your thoughts. It's one of those you either love or feel indifferent towards.

Rating: 2.5 / 5  (Normally I wouldn't finish a book I rate this low. But I did because I wanted to be able to review it.)

Review: My Name is Mary Sutter / New Header and Layout!

Author: Robin Oliveira

Genre: Historical Fiction (2010)

About: (From book cover): "In this stunning historical novel, which opens on the eve of the Civil War, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, headstrong midwife from Albany, New York, who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine - and eager to run away from recent heartbreak - Mary travels to Washington, D.C. to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of William Stipp and James Blevens - two surgeons who unwittingly fall in love with Mary's courage, will and stubbornness in the face of suffering - and resisting her mother's pleas to return home to help with the birth of her twin sister's baby, Mary pursues her medical career in the desperately overwhelmed hospitals of the capital."

Descriptive Words: Civil War, midwife, determination, family, loyalty, sickness, death, triumph

Thoughts: When I heard Laura Bush speak a few months ago, she gave high praises to My Name is Mary Sutter, so I thought I couldn't go wrong. I'd heard others speak highly of it as well, and I generally like historical fiction.

I should have been leary, especially after diving into and not liking Eat Pray Love, Lovely Bones, The Time Travelers Wife, The Poisonwood Bible, Three Cups of Tea (*dodging thrown tomatoes*), and Beautiful Creatures (did I even finish that?). I'm a picky reader. It's hit or miss with me. In fact the only recently raved-about book I agreed with was The Help.

But jump I did. When I started the book I was rating it a 5 (do you rate books in your head while reading?). I loved it. I admired Mary's strong personality. She was emotional and fiery. She didn't want to follow in her family's footsteps and be "just" a midwife. She wanted to become a surgeon. Her determination and drive to be involved in a profession normally chosen by men, and her struggle between family loyalty and desire to become a doctor, were my favorite parts of the story.

The other characters involved were just as interesting - Jenny, Amelia, Bonnie, Thomas, James Blevens and William Stipp - and completely added to the story. Loving, fighting, flirting, dying. Great stuff. I also enjoyed the medical aspect and the gory details of how she delivered babies as a midwife and tended to patients during the war. Mary was not afraid of anything, and I loved that about her. Talk about jumping right in...

As the story progressed, though, and the author brought in political details of the war and wrote from President Lincoln's point of view, it started to go down hill for me. I skipped sentences like a school girl on a playground. And I only do that when I'm bored. Whenever Mary or interactions with her family came into play my interest piqued again, but by that time I'd kind of resolved myself to just getting through it.

I was disappointed. I should have known.

Source: Library

Why I Chose: The hype

Recommend? Yes, if you like historical fiction and aren't afraid of hyped up books. No if you're on the fence about it in the first place.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Translation: Better than "it was okay" but not as good as "enjoyed it." I didn't give it a 3 because there were parts I loved, and didn't give it a 4 because there were parts I skipped out of boredom.

Other Reviews:

(Everyone loved it)

Caribous Mom
My Friend Amy
Booking Mama
Linus's Blanket
Bibliophile by the Sea

Anyone plan to read this, despite my review? Are you a picky reader and generally don't like books everyone else likes? Or does it just depend on the genre. Is there a genre you love and therefore enjoy almost every book in that genre? Do you rate books in your head while reading? Talk to me!

Oh, and how do you like my new header and layout? Lauren from Designer Blogs did it for me. Had to keep sweet Emma so everyone would recognize me :)

Review: Beneath the Lion's Gaze

Author: Maaza Mengiste

Genre: Historical Fiction (2010)

About: A family's struggle during the Ethiopian revolution in 1974

Descriptive Words: Pursuit of freedom, family, torture, uprising, violence

Thoughts: How are those for some uplifting descriptive words? How about the first sentence of the book... "A thin blue vein pulsed in the collecting pool of blood where a bullet had lodged deep in the boy's back."

I like books that start with sentences that grab me and don't let go until the end. Unfortunately, the first sentence grabbed me, but not very firmly and for only a few pages. After that it was me doing the hanging on! For 150 pages I clung desperately and almost gave up, but thankfully the story came together in the second half and made my clinging worthwhile. :)

I'm still reading Cutting for Stone on my iPad (it's a long one) - which also is set in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) during the revolution - and it's much more interesting than this book. There's nothing wrong with the prose in this one, but with names like Shiferaw, Emana, Almaz, Melaku, Hailu, Abbaye, it was hard to keep track of who was who, and to put personalities with names. Eventually I figured it out, but I don't like having to work so hard to figure out the characters and would rather focus on the storyline.

Overall, even though it was intense, depressing at times, and way too slow in the beginning, I'm glad I read it. I love to learn about different cultures.

Source: Library

Why I Chose: I'm reading Cutting for Stone and was curious to read another book about the Ethiopian revolution. I'd also seen it mentioned on a few other blogs.

Recommend? Yes, if you like historical fiction.

Rating: 4/5 (although the beginning was a 2/5)

Other Reviews:

My Friend Amy
Fizzy Thoughts
By Book or By Crook