Reviews

It’s always hard to write a review for a book you didn’t care for when it’s gotten rave reviews from pretty much everyone else. But that’s the great thing about books. There’s something for everyone, and if you don’t like it, you can always read something else.

Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice (I discovered after I wrote this entry that it is not in the JCL catalog, but is readily available Interlibrary Loan.)

Author Jessica Prentice is a professional chef and food activist, co-founder of Locavores and a founding worker-owner of Three Stoner Hearth: A Community Supported Kitchen in West Berkeley. Her website www.chelseagreen.com

What was life like

I started reading this book with a bit of trepidation. I expected the book to be pretty scary, or at least somewhat frightening. Initially I did find the story to be a bit creepy, but as the story continued, it lost its scare factor.

The movie Ondine is a bit of a love story and a bit of a fairy tale. What is a fairy tale without a dark brooding hero down on his luck. And one that rescues a damsel in distress no less. Because of her checkered past she conveniently contracts amnesia and says her name is Ondine which means "she came from the sea".

Juliet is both a modern and historical retelling of Shakespeare’s classic tale, “Romeo and Juliet”. The story weaves back and forth between a present-day Juliet searching for a family inheritance in Italy and a 14th-century Giulietta defying a family feud to be with her Romeo. The later is supposed to be the real inspiration for Shakespeare’s classic story, set in Siena instead of Verona.

Sue Wyshynski’s debut novel Poser is a light hearted and funny page turner. Tallulah is a sophomore who has recently moved from Florida to California. She is eager to fit in at her new school and find new super cool friends.

I have always enjoyed reading books by John Grisham. The King of Torts is one of my favorites probably due to my interest in tort law while attending college. The Broker is also a favorite. In that book, he describes Bologna, Italy in such colorful detail and realism that I could probably find my way around without having actually been there.

Florida Grace Shepherd is the title and main character as well as the narrator of this story of her life. “Gracie” is the daughter of the Reverend Virgil Shepherd and his third wife, Fannie Flowers. There are four other children and together they travel as a family to wherever Virgil can find an audience for his preaching.

The author of the celebrated novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and, my personal favorite of his novels, “Ignorance,” Milan Kundera is a writer whose work I always look forward to reading. His new book, “Encounter,” is a mix of essays and short stories. In it, Kundera offers his personal reflections on artists and writers who have been important to him.