Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel by Diana Gabaldon

I have never read a graphic novel before...and am not sure if I will again. I didn't know what was going on through half the book, and most of the characters' names I didn't have a clue about. Ummm...not much else to say, except the end part where the creation of the graphic novel is discussed is pretty interesting...how Gabaldon selected an artist and what scene changes they made, things like that. :)

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

I had a lot more hope for this book when I started it. It is essentially plotless, but is told in an interesting, winding way that draws you in and makes you really understand and relate to the characters...or know relatives who resemble them almost TOO closely. So the story goes that Alice, the matriarch, owns a house in Maine, a house that her husband won on a $50 bet. The husband, Daniel, died ten years prior to the telling of this story. Alice and Daniel had three children, two of who are mentioned significantly: Kathleen and Pat. Kathleen lives in California on her "farm" (a worm farm) with her boyfriend of ten years, Arlo. She has a daughter, Maggie, who lives in New York and is recently impregnated by her on-again, off-again loser boyfriend. Summer comes, and Maggie goes to the house in Maine to figure out life, and tells both Kathleen and Loser Boyfriend in an email she is preggo. In the meantime, Kathleen flies out to "talk some sense into her" aka have an abortion (which she doesn't have), and Loser Boyfriend decides to not be involved. While Kathleen is plotting to go to Maine, Ann Marie (Pat's wife) shows up with dollhouse-making supplies in tow. She has a crush on Steve Brewer, and eventually accidentally makes a drunken move on him in Maine on the Fourth of July. There is a whole lot of other things that happen, like finding out about Alice's sister's death...in the end, all four of the women have secrets, except maybe Kathleen, since it is plain she was not a great mother. I wouldn't really recommend...unless you have nothing better to read, I suppose. But it is definitely intricately written, and well-done, at that.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This book was TERRIBLE! I do not recommend at ALL!!! It's told in a series of vignettes, none that are really cohesive except they all contain the main character, Esperanza. I had no way of relating to this book, since the community I live in is 90% white and I have never lived in an urban area (the past two places I have lived have had horses as neighbors). I have had no experience with Catholicism, or with hating the house I live in (a big part of the book). Two thumbs down!

Sighs Matter by Marianne Stillings

This book was, amazingly, not as terrible and hoky as one might expect. The beginning of each chapter has a fake definition (like Denile: a river in Egypt) that is puntatic. It's about Claire, a doctor, and Taylor, a police officer. Each fight against their desire for the other, but of course, life-threatening situations occur and thrust them together. After reading this, I am not quite sure where sighs/size matter at all, since that isn't mentioned, although there are two "special" scenes in the book, but nothing over-the-top that goes on for 50 pages each.