Review – Page 52 – Book Journey

A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Published on October 11, 2011October 11, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

On Gemma Doyle’s 16th birthday, after having an argument with her mother about leaving India and going to a school in London, Gemma takes off alone in an angry huff. Suddenly she can not move her feet and a weird sensation covers her as she has a vision of her mother dying. When she returns from her walk, she discovers that her mother is indeed… dead.

Two months later Gemma is enrolled in a London boarding school for girls. She is still dealing with the strange visions and feeling grief and guilt over her mother. As time goes on, Gemma learns to not only control the visions, but also discovers a realm where she has powers and where she rediscovers her mother who directs her through what apparently is some sort of hereditary magic.

As Gemma makes friends (Felicity, Ann, and Pippa) at the school, she lets them in on her new found powers and together the girls explore the realm, not realizing the dangers that lurk within, or the clues given in Gemma’s visions.

Segue: You know how you may pick a dessert from a dessert tray thinking it is one thing, but upon biting into it you discover it is something else entirely, and even better than expected? Well, that’s how I felt about this audio.

At first synopsis, I thought for sure this was an historical fiction read. Which… it was. But, it is also is adventure, mystery, paranormal, a dab of horror, a splash or romance, and dare I say I think I may have experienced just a pinch of steam punk?

A Great and Terrible Beauty is narrated by Josephine Bailey and I would say that in the places that I felt a little lost in what was happening in this stuffed full of genre book, it was Josephine’s clear and incredible voice control that held me captive.

While the start of this novel read is kicking and full of action that made me say “Wha?”, the middle seamed to be filled with just a lot of … stuff. Filling really – about the school, about Gemma…. it just lost the power that it had in the beginning, and maybe it was just too strong an entrance to possibly hold that level of excitement… I dont know…

My favorite part of the book was the friendship of the four girls. As in most books that center around a friendship, the girls have diverse personalities, and I like that. I did enjoy how they came together as quite an unlikely quartette, and well… you will see if you check this one out.

While I did mention the middle fizzle, if you hang on the ending takes you souring again into the “WHOA!” zone and actually had me smiling form the effects of just good writing. Definitely worth a go (and the occasional “whoa!”)

If you do decide to venture into this one on audio be sure to listen to the authors notes at the end. Libba Bray has a pretty funny message about how this book came to be and details of how she came to this story.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include A Great and Terrible Beauty

I borrowed this audio from our local library

Reclaiming Lily by Patti Lacy

Published on October 7, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)4 Comments

Gloria Powell has wanted a child since she first said “I do” to the love of her life Andrew. But ten years had passed and still no children. When the Powell’s decide to adopt they pay the hefty fees as well as the travel expenses to go to China. After much hoop jumping, they leave with a beautiful young girl who Gloria feels God told her was “her daughter” since she laid eyes on her. They decide to call her Joy. It seems so appropriate.

Then seven years later, a woman names Kai appears in the Powell’s life stating she is Lily’s (joy’s birth name) biological sister and comes to share medical records of their mother’s death, a disease it seems that Joy may have inherited as well. Gloria is already struggling in her relationship with the now teenage and rebellious Joy…. what will the entrance of a blood relative due to this relationship, let alone the chance of this disease being in Joy…

Will Kai be an answer to prayer? Or will this blip now in the family dynamics cost Gloria more than she can possibly handle?

Having been to Honduras 8 times (my ninth coming up in just a few weeks here) I was drawn to this book by the topic of adoption. When you travel to some of these countries and you see these darling children with nothing, you want to scoop them up and take them home….

Such as within this story of Gloria, wanting desperately to have a child of her own… and along comes Joy.

I am not sure what I expected when I picked this book up to read… I know the ending result was so much more.

I am impressed by Patti Lacy’s ability to write a captivating, interesting story, that is not always light on the topics. For a Christian fiction read I applaud Lacy’s ability to write strong, three-dimensional, flawed characters. As I read on about what a tough teen Joy was… under my breath I was saying “yes!” And even better? Joy is not the only flawed character of the story…. nor does it seem that any topic is off limits – including Christianity itself.

Kai, was a pleasant addition to the read… you have to wonder her motive for entering into the Powell’s life… is she an answered prayer? Or is she there to try to pull Joy/Lily back to her roots… or is it a combo of both?

I was kept guessing until the very end … in fact – quite literally the very end… as even the last page reveals a surprise.

Reclaiming Lily is a wonderful read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about loss, healing, and the pursuit of hope against all odds.

Amazon Rating

Good Reads Review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Reclaiming Lily

Please see the entire tour schedule for this book here

Thank you to Litfuse Group for allowing me a copy of this book to read and give an honest review

Robin Hood by David Coe

Published on October 6, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

In 13th-century England, the legendary figure known by generations as Robin Hood leads an uprising that will forever alter the balance of world power and will make one man of humble beginnings an eternal symbol of freedom for his people.

An expert archer once interested only in self-preservation, Robin now serves in King Richard’s army. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation. There he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion, who is skeptical of the motivations of this mysterious crusader from the forest.

Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and to save the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct the injustices of the sheriff.

1aaa — The Robin Hood statue as it is in Nottingham

Robin Hood was an outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is now known for “robbing from the rich and giving to the poor”, assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his “Merry Men”.Traditionally Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes. The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from ballads or tales of outlaws.

Robin Hood became a popular folk figure starting in the medieval period continuing through modern literature, films, and television. In the earliest sources Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.

So seriously… doesn’t that sound a lot like Robin Hood? That’s ’cause it is! I kid – but really this audio was all action, all testosterone, strong men who fight for their women…

ahhh… I admit it – I do like the era… I like men who act like men (packing a bow and arrow doesn’t hurt either…) and women who wear the long beautiful dresses but are still tough….

whats not to love?

I have seen the movie Men In Tights (no, I am not proud but there it is…) and probably a cartoon or two in the past, but not this movie as pictured here on the cover of my audio.

And I did enjoy it. I have never read anything about Robin Hood before… haven’t even really sat through a movie about him… so this was really an experience. I wasn’t sure going in if it would be a fit for me but it was funny and full of energy.

Thanks Tanya with Black Stone Audio who hooked me up with one at BEA!

Good Reads Review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Robin Hood

I received this audio at BEA from Blackstone Audio

In The Woods by Tana French

Published on October 4, 2011October 4, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)41 Comments

Rob Ryan, along with his partner Cassie Maddox land the biggest murder case of their police careers when a 12-year-old girl has been found murdered in the woods by a Dublin Suburb. For Cassie, this is the career boost of a lifetime…

but for Ryan it is something more…

Twenty years previous, Ryan (then Adam) at the same age that the now murdered girl was, was part of a group of three best friends that entered that same woods feeling their whole lives were before them… Ryan was the only one to leave the woods, his sneakers covered in blood, with no memory as to what happened… the other two children, were never found.

No one knows about Ryan’s’s past history with the woods or the connection the two children never found… no one, except Cassie.

Although stir carrying many scars from his own experience, Ryan does his best to push the past back into the past while applying all his skills to find the killer of the present… yet in his subconsciousness, he can not help but wonder if the two are not somehow linked together…

“What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective. Our relationship with the truth is fundamental, but cracked, refracting confusingly like fragmented glass. It is the core of our careers, the endgame of every move we make, and we pursue it with strategies painstakingly constructed of lies … and every variation on deception. The truth is the most desirable woman in the world and we are the most jealous lovers, reflexively denying anyone else the slightest glimpse of her. We betray her routinely … This is my job … What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this–two things: I crave truth. And I lie.”

~Opening to In The Woods by Tana French

This audio is a case of internet buzz that brought me make this purchase. I had heard Tana French was an incredible writer, I had heard that the audio was fantastic… knowing that I can get to audio and through audio faster than I can another book on the pile, I went audio.

Diving into this audio I was instantly engrossed in the back story of Ryan’s childhood nightmare and believed this was going to be an incredible story. I have always enjoyed a great murder mystery, probably one of the earliest genres of choice in my youth reading career (oh yes… I feel it is a career :razz:) so I settled in for an amazing ride…

I enjoyed the play back and forth by police partners Ryan and Cassie… I loved that Cassie was not a dopey girly girl but a strong and vile partner to Ryan… what he missed she found, and vise versa.

As the story unfolds into a great and disturbing tale of a family with too many secrets, and the entwining of the two stories both past and present I felt like a kid on the edge of my seat holding the book tight and the blanket up to just below my eyes tighter.

And then just when I was think this book.audio was a rave… the end failed big time for me. It failed so big in fact… I thought I must have missed something. It could not end that way I thought… I have strings left over… they are unraveled… where is my somewhat neat package tied up in a bow?

But no – no package… and no bow.

I even looked at a few other reviews to make sure that I accurate that there was no closure… and its true… at least as far as I am concerned I felt a little cheated in the end, like I was building excitement on this rollercoaster – up,up,up and then…

no exciting drop…. just flat.

Will I read Tana French again? Absolutely… I hear her book The Likeness (also featuring Cassie Maddox) is pretty awesome… so yeah, I will try again. 😀

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include In The Woods

I purchased this audio from audible.com

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

Published on October 2, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)38 Comments

Johnny Wheelwright lives in New Hampshire with his mom who “chose to have me and to never explain a word about me or to her mother or to her sister”. Johnny never knew who his dad was, and his mother seemed to like it that way and went about with her tranquil and modest nature the rest of her days.

Johnny was rather scrawny and wimpy so it was only natural for him to find a friend in Owen Meany. Owen was small for his age – freakishly small due to a mysterious growth disorder. he also has damage to his larynx which leaves his voice very squeaky and needless to say, the blunt of many jokes. But – Owen is wise beyond his years and knows more about life at the age of ten than most people do well into their later adult years.

When a tragic accident happens at a baseball game involving Owen… Owen feels this was foreseen by God, therefore – Owen is an instrument of God. The book goes on to play on this “instrument of God” piece (even to the point that Owen predicts his date of death) throughout the childhood of both boys – and into adulthood as well as Johnny continues the story.

A little history. Last year this book was recommended to me for banned book week. AND in typical Sheila style, I ran to my library and checked this out along with several other banned books. AND in typical Sheila style… I had more books than I could read. It was returned… unread.

There are books out there that continue to call to me, for whatever reason they stay on my radar as “must reads” and this book was one of them. I checked the book out again this year, now not only for Banned Book Week, but I had also chosen it as the Wordshaker fall opener read to force my hand. (I sometimes, have to trick – myself.)

I had seen the movie Simon Birch long before I knew of a book called A Prayer For Owen Meany. I enjoyed the movie, finding it funny, and sad, and a mixture in between. The book left me feeling much of the same emotions.

In the early pages you are hit with the shocking plot starter that really kicks off the story. Owen then takes on this role as instrument of God which at times is funny, but admittedly – at times, a bit disturbing as well. For me, reading this book as the fictional story it is, made it enjoyable, and in the end, although not always the easiest book to follow (flash back and forwards tend to mess me up), I am thankful I had the opportunity to read it.

John Irving and I have had a rocky relationship. He has a knack for creating quirky characters and then writing stories around them. In the early years of our book club we had read (under my suggestion) The Fourth Hand by him. Lets just say that I never have really ever lived down the choosing of this book that as a group we all disliked very VERY much.

John Irving, in my eyes, redeems himself in this interesting and profound read that would make an incredible book group discussion read.

FYI: Did you know the movie Simon Birch is based loosely on this book?

Simon Birch is a 1998 American comedy-drama film loosely based on A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It was directed and written for the screen by Mark Steven Johnson. The film stars Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, Ashley Judd, Oliver Platt, and Jim Carrey. It omitted much of the latter half of the novel and altered the ending. The movie does not share the book’s title at Irving’s request; he did not believe that this novel could successfully be made into a film. The name “Simon Birch” was suggested by him to replace that of Owen Meany. The main plot centers around 12-year old Joe Wenteworth and his best friend Simon Birch.

Why Was A Prayer For Owen Meany a Banned Book?

Banned and censored around the United States for its stance on religion and criticism of the US government regarding the Vietnam War and Iran-Contra.

For those of you who joined me for the Wordshakers read a long of this book – as you are posting your reviews this week, please respond to one or two of these questions within your reviews. When your review is up, please link here.

1. What do you think of Johnny as the narrator of this read? What is his motivation for writing this story?

2. How does Owen develop as a character throughout the novel?

3. Why do you feel so such emphasis is put on Owen’s voice?

4. Reverend Merrill always speaks of faith in tandem with doubt. Do you believe that one can exist without the other or that one strengthens the other?

5. Owen Meany taught John that “Any good book is always in motion–from the general to the specific, from the particular to the whole and back again.” Do you think Irving followed his own recipe for a good book?

6. Several reviews call A Prayer for Owen Meany “Dickensian,” and Irving himself incorporates scenes from Dickens in the story. In what ways does Irving’s writing remind you of Dickens? What other writers would you compare Irving to?

I will be answering my thoughts on these questions through commenting on your reviews. Be sure to use the Wordshaker widget to connect your review as part of the Wordshaker Read-A-Long.

Link your Word Shaker read-a-long review here: (linky open through October 8)

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

I borrowed this book from our local library

Beloved by Toni Morrison (Banned Book Week)

Published on September 28, 2011September 29, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

In the troubled years following the Civil War, the spirit of a murdered child haunts the Ohio home of a former slave. This angry, destructive ghost breaks mirrors, leaves its fingerprints in cake icing, and generally makes life difficult for Sethe and her family. People will not visit the home at 124 Bluestone road for it is clearly haunted – things moving on their own accord, a heavy reddish light of sorrow in the doorway. While Sethe’s daughter Denver would like to move, to escape this every ever enduring life, Sethe herself finds the haunting oddly comforting for the spirit is that of her own dead baby, never named, thought of only as Beloved.

2aa — Beloved is also a movie starring Oprah Winfrey

Does the above synopsis sound like a Paranormal read of today? It is not, instead it is a book released in 1997.

Beloved was my first book by Toni Morrision and I read this for banned book week.

In the beginning of Beloved, the haunting is merely ghost like, a feeling, a movement…. knowing someone is there. Soon in the book Paul D is introduced, a former friend of Sethe’s who is initially passing through the area, but upon making his way to Sethe’s door, finds that she was who he was searching for all along. His presence disturbs the ghost and brings her to full manifestation, in the body of a young woman who immediately falls upon the sympathies of Sethe and Denver as a woman who has nowhere to go and winds up staying with them.

Its hard to write my thoughts on beloved… it was at times powerful, the writing smoothly flowing on each page to the next as I followed Sethe’s loss and pain.. And then at other times it was disturbing. The entrance of Beloved and how she immediately wrapped herself into the family, only Paul D sensing that there was something about her that did not sit right…

As I closed the book (late at night) I had to sit with my thoughts for a bit, all jumbled and processing… was Beloved’s appearance into the home of Sethe a good thing? On one hand it led to abuse – both physical betrayal, and sexual. Her presence, being full accepted as it was creeped me out a bit. Yes on the other hand, Beloved’s arrival also forced Sethe, Denver, and Paul D to make the decsions they did…. to move on and beyond….

Perhaps even more so for me was the fact that Morrison based this book on actual events and the story of an escaped slave named Margaret Garner who had murdered her own child rather than see them all returned to slavery.

Overall Beloved is a disturbing read. Not always, in a bad way. This book made me think about the slavery in our history and the lengths people went to escape it. Toni Morrison shows us here through her work in Beloved, that some ways of escapes…

are not escapes at all.

Why was Beloved banned?

Challenged at the St. Johns County Schools in St. Augustine, FL (1995). Retained on the Round Rock, TX Independent High School reading list (1996) after a challenge that the book was too violent. Challenged by a member of the Madawaska, ME School Committee (1997) because of the book’s language. The 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning novel has been required reading for the advanced placement English class for six years. Challenged in the Sarasota County, FL schools (1998) because of sexual material. Retained on the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 reading listing in Arlington Heights, IL (2006), along with eight other challenged titles. A board member, elected amid promises to bring her Christian beliefs into all board decision-making, raised the controversy based on excerpts from the books she’d found on the Internet. Challenged in the Coeur d’Alene School District, ID (2007). Some parents say the book, along with five others, should require parental permission for students to read them. Pulled from the senior Advanced Placement (AP) English class at Eastern High School in Louisville, KY (2007) because two parents complained that the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about antebellum slavery depicted the inappropriate topics of bestiality, racism, and sex. The principal ordered teachers to start over with The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in preparation for upcoming AP exams.

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Beloved

I purchased this book from our Fall Library sale

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (Banned Books Week)

Published on September 27, 2011September 27, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)59 Comments

Melinda wanders the halls of her school. She sees the excitement of the cheerleaders (which she has much opinion on this group), the decorations for the upcoming dance, people passing her… passing her… passing her by. The preps, the jocks, the human waste, euro-trash, big hair chix, goths, thespians, shredders, country clubbers, suffering artists… all roaming the halls in their little herds… Melinda stands alone.

She is outcast. And she is not speaking.

There is no point in looking for her friends…. err.. ex friends. Her best friend Rachel, now goes by Rachelle. They have moved on without her. Ever since the day she called the cops during the party she was attending, the entire school population has turned their back on her.

Loser.

What they do not know is why Melinda called the cops that fateful night. Why…. why …. why…. they don’t know about IT. They don’t know about the rape. If only Melinda could Speak. Instead, she stops speaking… to her parents, to her teachers, to anyone.

Reposting from my original post on 9/28/2010

Told in the first person of Melinda, I found this book to be filled with raw and real emotion. Melinda narrates with a true teenager voice. She is sarcastic and funnily so.

The first ten lies they tell you in High School:

1. We are here to help you.

2. You will have enough time to get to your class before the bell rings.

3. The dress code will be enforced.

4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds.

5. Our football team will win the championship this year.

6. We expect more of you here.

7. Guidance counselors are available to listen.

8. Your schedule was created with your needs in mind.

9. Your locker combination is private.

10. These will be the years you look back on fondly.

I have to be honest… I picked up this book because I was hearing all the hype around it being challenged and I was hearing also the other side of what this book was about. After reading it, I am pro this book. I did not find the subject matter to be anywhere near as strong as it was described and certainly not offensive. I thought Laurie Halse Anderson wrote in a very tasteful manner about a hard subject.

The book is a quick read and an important one. I loved Melinda’s inner dialogue throughout the book, and it is interesting to watch her grow in her own self-confidence through the dynamics that Laurie Halse Anderson breathed into other characters.

A book like this may help young girls find their voice to SPEAK. And that is really what SPEAK is all about.

FYI: Before she was Bella, she was Melinda. Kristin Stewart plays the lead in the movie SPEAK. (Which I am excited to see!)

Why was SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson banned?

The 1999 young adult novel Speak, which chronicles a high school freshman’s struggle with the aftermath of rape, was challenged by a Missouri professor and father of three in June.

Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University in Springfield, made a public complaint to his local school board about Speak and two other books included on English reading lists at Republic High School. Scroggins also issued an editorial in the Springfield News-Leader on Sept. 18, in which he categorized Speak and other books on the high school reading list as “material that should be classified as soft pornography.”

I purchased my copy of SPEAK at Barnes and Noble

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (Banned Books Week)

Published on September 25, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway is preparing for a party. As she walks through London on a fine June morning, picking up fresh flowers, decorations, and finding just the right dress. As she prepares her home for the event, she is flooded with memories of her past -from Peter Walsh, whom she spurned years ago, to her daughter Elizabeth, the girl’s angry teacher, Doris Kilman, and war-shocked Septimus Warren Smith, who is sinking into madness.

As preparetions for the party continue, a series of events intrudes on her composure. Her husband is invited, without her, to lunch with Lady Bruton (who, Clarissa notes anxiously, gives the most amusing luncheons). Meanwhile, Peter Walsh appears, recently from India, to criticize and confide in her. His sudden arrival evokes memories of a distant past, the choices she made then, and her wistful friendship with Sally Seto…

"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" ~ first sentence

Hmmmm…. as close the book on Mrs. Dalloway I am left with this one lingering thought…

hmmmm…..

I have never read anything by Virginia Woolf before, and with banned book week upon us I felt that this would be a great time to read this book I picked up earlier this year at a sale… this book, Mrs. Dalloway which is considered to be Virginia Woolf’s best book, as well as a banned book.

As I read through this 177 page read I found it to be rather detail oriented, flitting from one topic and one character to the next. The twenty plus characters al play a role in Clarissa’s memories but also you get a peek into their own as well. The book is to be a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway as she deals with the present and the past. Really for a book published in 1925, the idea behind the book is brilliant.

There are strong subject matters that float through the pages…. feminism, suicide, and apparently referenced homosexuality (more on that at the bottom of this review)

I think for me, who has recently been immersed in dystopia fiction, a steampunk novel on audio, as well as a modern-day thriller…. I found Mrs. Dalloway to be a bit of a bore. I hate to say that I do…. but being honest here, the book more than likely came to me at the wrong time. It happens.

Am I glad I had an opportunity to try Virginia Woolf? Yes. But as for me and Mrs. Dalloway, I think we are going to agree to part ways as mere acquaintances.

“It’s not you Clarissa, it’s me. “

So… Mrs. Dalloway? Why are you a Banned book?

Mrs. Dalloway was banned in some communities because of the homosexual attraction of Clarissa to Sally at Bourton. Apparently there is a reference as well of Septimus being haunted by the image of his dear friend Evans. Evans, his commanding officer, is described as being “undemonstrative in the company of women”.

I purchased this book earlier this year at a library sale for my classic collection

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (Banned Books Week)

Published on September 24, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)59 Comments

Fern lives on a farm and has a special spot in her heart for a little pig named Wilbur. Wilbur is a shy, bashful pig, and one day discovers a spider named Charlotte who he discovers making a web in the corner of his stall.

Charlotte has a way with words (literally) and soon Wilbur and her are friends and causing quite a scene in the barnyard.

As Wilbur fears what will happen to him as after all, he is a pig on a farm… Charlotte helps him discover his true potential and self-worth.

Certainly, hopefully, you have spent time with this amazing book. I did several times as a child, and today I spent time with it again. Why? Today kicks off the 2011 Banned Books Week… and yes, Charlotte and Wilbur have done gone and got themselves on this list. More on that at the bottom of this post.

Originally I thought the re-reading of this book would go quickly and perhaps I would even just skim through it enough to capture the memories…

well…

it didn’t quite go like that.

I had forgotten about how Fern had saved Wilbur’s life when he was a runt. I had forgotten about the geese saying everything three times… and I had forgotten how Wilbur fainted when he was scared. I always knew this was a good book… I had forgotten it was a great book. Terrific even. 😀

I spent two hours in my recliner quietly reading and finding my younger self going back to the barn that in my childhood housed Charlotte, a selfless spider, and a fat rat named Templeton, and an amazing pig called Wilbur.

And yes…. if you are wondering if it hit me all over again as the book came to a close… it did. With tear filled eyes I closed the final page with a sense of once again having experienced something remarkable in E.B. Whites famous childrens book.

I cant imagine it not being available for me to one day read to the young children that filter into my life….

In 2006, some parents in a Kansas school district decided that talking animals are blasphemous and unnatural; passages about the spider dying were also criticized as being “inappropriate subject matter for a children’s book.”

According to the parent group at the heart of the issue, ‘humans are the highest level of God’s creation and are the only creatures that can communicate vocally. Showing lower life forms with human abilities is sacrilegious and disrespectful to God.’

A junior high in Batley, West Yorkshire, England, which became the center of international attention in 2003 when the school’s Headteacher decreed that all books featuring pigs should be removed because it could potentially offend the school’s Muslim students and their parents.

I hope that if you have this book somewhere on the shelf… pull it down and either read it again to yourself, or share this incredible story with a child.

The Clue needed for the banned books week challenge:

This book is on loan from my local library

This is the second clue given today. To know more about this please read my post from this morning.

FORBIDDEN by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (W/ Giveaway!)

Published on September 24, 2011September 24, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

The world is no longer as we once knew it. After an apocalyptic experience, the world seems to have lost that sense of impending doom…. all that is left in a civilization of people who live in peace and fear…. can you have both?

The people left on earth seem to believe so… but really who are these people who are left other than the walking dead… merely shells of what people once were…

Many years have passed since civilization’s brush with apocalypse. The world’s greatest threats have all been silenced. There is no anger, no hatred, no war. There is only perfect peace… and fear. But a terrible secret has been closely guarded for centuries: Every single soul walking the earth, though in appearance totally normal, is actually dead, long ago genetically stripped of true humanity.

Then a young man comes across a vial of blood with a coded message that he does not understand. Yet when he drinks the blood (mmmm hmmmm… bear with me here) it seems to lead to real life returning all the human emotions that have long been gone! The sensation is exhilarating!

… but will it also resurrect the old feelings of hate and greed?

Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling author best known for mystery and thriller novels, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans. Early in his career he wrote a number of books that would best be categorized as Religious thrillers. His later works are a mix of mainstream novels such as Thr3e, Obsessed, Skin, Adam, and BoneMan’s Daughters; and fantasy thrillers that metaphorically explore redemptive history. Best known among these are his Circle Series (Black, Red, White, Green), The Lost Books (Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, Lunatic, Elyon), and The Paradise Books (Showdown, Saint, and Sinner), as well as House (with Frank Peretti). One of Dekker’s most notable works is his mega-series, the Books of History Chronicles.

As found on wikepedia –

click here to learn more about this fascinating author

In recent years I have had a love/hate relationship with Ted Dekker. The first books I ever read by him were Blessed Child and A Man Called Blessed… both books took my breath away. Since then I have found some of his books to be good, others to be a bit confusing, and some just downright… WHA?

Which brings me to FORBIDDEN. You have to hand it to Dekker, he does know how to strike where the iron is hot and dystopian style reads are a big draw and honestly, I think a great genre to touch on for a Christian fiction author…

the question is… does Dekker deliver?

I did like the pace of the read. Within a few pages you have a firm understanding of what has happened to the world.

Fear is a big component of FORBIDDEN and while in this read scientists had figured out how to eliminate the need of human emotion, oddly they never could figure out how to dispose of fear… which in its own self is rather interesting when you think about it and rather smart of Dekker to layout the book this way.

Fear plays a huge role in our current world and while some are devoured by the overpowering fear of the unknown, others in today’s society seem to live on it like adrenaline junkies… waiting for the next big tragedy so they can feel alive…

In the end, I have to say I appreciated what Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee built here in this first book in a series. I found the message of “blood giving life” to be deeply symbolic of the blood of Christ bringing each of us life.

I would recommend this book to not only those who enjoy Christian fiction, but also Dystopia, thrillers,and sci fi.