Vacation Hiatus!

I'm getting on a jet plane and flying off to New Orleans for a week of fun in the French Quarter and the surrounding area!

I'll be gone for the next two weeks, however, as I will be playing catch up with work when I'm still in the DC area. With that, regular posting will resume on June 3rd!

Scent of Darkness

First, allow me to say that I love the cover. The smokey visual and coloring is great and a pleasure for the eye.

Second, the review of the book itself. I received this book months ago but only now got to read it as it was delivered to my parents house and my mom had been in Florida since November. Once my mother came back from Florida it was presented to me and I quickly made an effort to read it. Maybe it's due to feeling rushed, that I was so behind on getting the book that I had to read it and finish it up as soon as possible, but as I read through the book I felt as if it was more of a job than a pleasurable read. 

The start of the book was repetitive and there were far too many chapters -- I think that's where I want to begin. Many of the chapters barely lasted for more than a page and they broke off into a new chapter completely unnecessarily. Evangeline, our main character, was most fascinating for me while recalling the memories of her grandmother from when she was a child and teenager. Past that, I found she lacked in development -- but not nearly as much as the rest of the characters in the book!

When a character lacks in development I find it very hard to pay attention to the storyline and even harder to find any emotion for the characters and what they deal with. I especially found Evangeline's struggle of being irresistible to be annoying. 

Allow me to back up: Evangeline is given a perfume by her grandmother but warned that it will change her life. Her grandmother, who was well known for making perfumes and scents that had almost magical properties, passes away and leaves behind not only her home but this particular perfume to the immature Evangeline. I don't say immature by way of insulting; she is just graduated from high school and obviously immature because she is so young! Unable to resist temptation, Evangeline applies the perfume and then finds that no man (or woman) can really keep their hands off of her. Makes for an interesting story, no? Well, almost. Evangeline never feels particularly shocked by becoming so fascinating to other individuals and seems to generally shrug off the advances of others. A girl licking her neck because she just can't help it? No big deal. Happens all the time! And that is where I found myself struggle to feel anything for this character. Anything with a magical twist like this is obviously taking a step away from reality but that doesn't mean the characters have to be unbelievable as well. If some girl I did not know came up to me, sniffed me, and licked my neck I would freak out. Even if I knew that was what the perfume did to people, I'd still be freaked out every time. Instead, Evangeline seems to just resign herself to the fact that people act this way and there isn't a period where she feels uncomfortable. 

Evangeline quickly decides to move to New Orleans with her new boyfriend of sorts, after only knowing him for a short amount of time and basing her feeling of ownership over him by the fact that she crushed on him for years, and that's where things get only slightly more interesting. The author had a way of describing New Orleans as a magical place which only made me all the more excited to visit the city in May. I've never been there before so I couldn't judge this particular description of scenery and the likes off of that but it still fascinated and excited me. Yet... that was it. The only emotion the book brought forth from me was the excitement for my vacation. Nothing really exciting happens in New Orleans. The story is centered so much on Evangeline and how irresistible she is and it's left with very little else. 

So, overall, the story lacked in character development and that made the story suffer overall. It could have benefited had the same application to the description of New Orleans had also been applied to the characters but alas, that did not happen.

The Vampyre

If you are interested in vampire fiction or just the history of literature overall, The Vampyre: A Tale by John Polidori, is a key piece. The Vampyre is a short story that came before all of the vampires you know today -- including Dracula -- and has made a name for itself in both the history of literature and vampire literature alike. 

The story isn't particularly heavy or descriptive; it gives you a point by point telling of what happens and you can figure out emotions and the likes on your own. Often times, I felt that the story was highlighting the important parts and lacking some creativity where it would do me, the reader, well to have a better picture of all that was going on.

Lord Ruthven is our vampire in charge and a handsome devil at that. He appears very approachable and the perfect gentleman. Outward appearances aside, Lord Ruthven is a devilish, manipulative character. He is interesting enough and deemed harmless by Aubrey, an Englishman who is the other lead character of this story, who accompanies Lord Ruthven to Rome.

While in Rome, Ruthven begins to seduce a friend of Aubrey's and the Englishman abandons the man and goes to Greece. While there, Aubrey falls for Ianthe who explains to him the legends of vampires in Greek culture. Shortly after this discussion, her body is found and she apparently has been killed by a vampire.

Somehow (stupidly) Aubrey doesn't think Ruthven killed the girl. He rejoins Ruthven and they continue traveling until they are attacked by bandits and Ruthven is seriously injured. He makes Aubrey swear never to discuss Ruthven's death or anything else for a year and a day then promptly dies.

Aubrey returns home and to his sister who seems very much to care for her brother. When Aubrey discovers Ruthven is there, alive and going by another name, he becomes ill as he witnesses Ruthven seducing his sister. He has a nervous breakdown and tries desperately to forewarn his sister of who Ruthven really is but to no avail. His sister marries Ruthven and Aubrey and his sister both die due to this vampire entering their lives but for different reasons.

The story is certainly creepy but, to me, reads as a medical journal and lacks the certain spark that fiction often has. It was a quick read however and much appreciated after I had read a couple of books that took me quite some time to get through.

April Wrap Up

Wow, April is finally over with. The month of spring showers turned into a month of warm weather and sunshine up until the very end -- we've been living in a misty cloud of showers all week and it's disgusting.

Things have been busy on my end and unfortunately the blog is suffering. I'm still doing a book review a week but I've been failing at posting much else during the rest of the week. But that is going to change! But we'll get to it later. First off: posts!

The Thirteenth Tale was a book I had on my to-read list for years and finally I got around to it. Wow, it was a fun book to read and full of quotes perfect for the literary lover!

The Gold Dust Letters is right up my alley... when I was a kid. Fairies were my thing and the child I once was rejoiced from this book.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There is the second book to the Fairyland series I've been reading and once more I was taken away and sent to a magical realm. I enjoyed this as an adult, fully, and not just because I would've liked it as a kid too.
Children's Bedtime Stories is a collection of books for you all to pick up for your little one's bedtime. There are so many out there so don't look too hard -- just see what I've reviewed for starters!
A Million Little Pieces wasn't entirely what I expected it to be. See the review to find out more.

I've joined up with the 52 Lists project and after playing some catch up I've been sharing a weekly list about different things. I adore this project even still! Catch up with my lists by clicking the links:

Week 12 and 13
Week 14 and 15
Week 16

April has been very hectic, as I've mentioned, and I've been saving every nickel, penny and dime for an assortment of things that are about to happen which I am very excited for:

• I will be starting a certification course for copyediting in June.
• I'm going to New Orleans for a week in May.
• I'm moving! This was sort of a spur of the moment opportunity. Come June I'll be living much closer to DC and getting back 10 hours of my life that won't be used for my currently very lengthy commute.
• I'll be going to Florida... sometime soon.
• I'll be going to the UK next year to be in my beloved cousin's wedding as one of her bridesmaids. And... yeah I've never left the US so I have some preparation I have to do for that.

So that's where I'm at for the moment. Next month, May (even though this is posting on May 1st...), will be a quick one and I'll be on hiatus for about two weeks. Don't go running away though from the lack of posts! Please!

A Million Little Pieces

This was one of the books I purchased during a book buying spree some time ago. It sat on my bookshelf with its fancy cover and urged me to pick it up and yet I did not. It continued to sit there until this year when I really started making progress in reading all of my purchased, unread books that I've collected. So I grabbed it off my shelf one morning and took it with me to the bus. It was cold, that January cold that seems to suck out the air from your chest, and it was early. I'm not the best with early mornings; I want to be left alone and enjoy silence and it's certainly best to just let me do as much. Well, this morning that wasn't going to happen.

I got onto my bus, took a seat, flicked on the overhead light and opened this book. I began reading the quote at the start of the book when a man sat next to me and quite suddenly said to me, "You know, that book's fake." I looked up at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about and why was he talking to me so early in the morning. He continued to tell me that the author, James Frey, had lied and the book was written as a memoir when it was, in fact, a fake. 

I stared at the man, trying to comprehend what he was talking about and also trying to keep my early morning annoyance low, then muttered a reply before turning to the book. Still, the conversation stuck with me as I read the book. Do I take this as fact or fiction? What of it is real? What of it is fake? I wanted to research but I also didn't want to ruin anything for myself so, with that, if you have not read the book before it's your own decision if you'd like to read the article where the cat was let out of the bag. (There are some bits that are spoiler-ish). 

But how do you review a book that's promoted as a memoir but much of the truth is likely stretched? How do you review what could possibly be someones real lives? 

Let's start with my initial reaction: the book is sad. It's not a walk in the park because alcoholism and addiction is not a walk in the park and for that, I find truth in his writing. The book is blunt and overwhelming. It doesn't hold back the punches and it very much describes what I imagine this illness has to bear. You'll love some of the characters, hate others, and feel frustrated.

The book is typed without a single indent nor paragraph break. There isn't quotation marks and you are left to figure out who is saying what, which gets confusing when it's an ongoing conversation. However, after a number of pages in the book I felt I got the hang of when there was dialogue and when there wasn't but boy did it become confusing when I'd leave the book off for a bit and return to where I had left off.

The book took me longer to read than I thought it would and I wonder if it was due to the depressing subject matter. The only time I really had to read the book was on the bus to and from work, my lunch breaks, or before bed. That's precious time for me, time I don't really have a chance to have during the work week, and to spend it reading a pretty sad book... well, I wonder if it took me so long to read the book because I often times thought, "I'm not really up to reading that right now."

The author certainly has talent in description. Detail of the condition his face was in upon entering rehab left me feeling nauseated and weak. At points, I literally had to turn away and stop reading because it was making me so queasy. It's rare that I have physical reactions to something I've read but Frey managed to pull out of me a little bit of gagging and groaning.

In the end, I wasn't sure how to feel about this book or the people mentioned within. Some succeeded in life post-rehab, others failed, and I felt bad for those characters, to see that they had lost their battle. But that was where things became sticky. This book is a "memoir" and, according to Frey, loosely based on his actual life. Whether or not every character in the book actually existed is beyond my knowledge -- I didn't know. Some of the character's I really disliked, I found myself hating them, but then I thought "These could be real people."

How am I to review someones behavior and actions if they are real? But the thing is, I don't know if they are. The claims of fraud in this book are many and yet not very clear. You could feel bad for a character who lost their battle and they may be real, you may feel bad for a real person, or you may feel bad for a fictional being.

By the time I was finished with this book I had the similar sticky feeling I get whenever I read books about addiction and mental illness: I feel thankful that I have not experienced that nor have been close to anyone who has and I feel sorrow for those who have lives affected by this. But I was glad to put the book down and even still am unsure of how I feel about it. Not so much because of what the book pertains but more so because I do not know what is fact or fiction.

52 Lists - Week 16

I have heard whispers of the 52 Lists project from various bloggers and my curiosity got the best of me. Off I went to discover the 52 Lists by Moorea Seal which is a really fun and fantastic concept. A list for each week of the year and for this list maker, I fell in love with the idea instantly. 

I hope you enjoy and if you're interested, visit Moorea Seal's 52 Lists page so you can partake in this as well!

Children's Bedtime Books

On a trip to Barnes and Noble I flipped through a number of children's books and managed to read through a selection of some interesting children's books of the same theme: bedtime. So, considering my blog has been lacking children's books for the past year I wanted to reintroduce them to Soon Remembered Tales. It also helps that I have a goal of reading 50 children's books this year! Might as well get started.

A Book of Sleep

This book is a visual pleasure for me. Different patterns are used to create images of different animals as they sleep in soft hues that can bring both comfort and calm. My favorite bit about this book? We're introduced to an owl straight away which happens to be one of my favorite little dudes of the animal kingdom (or bird kingdom?) and he is hidden away on each page as we travel through the night world. This book will probably be appropriate for children of the 1-5 age but I suspect children can still appreciate the artwork as they get older, I mean, I appreciated the artwork and I'm a long way past five!

The Insomniacs

This is a quirky little book that I would give to my friends whom are night owls and like night-time/darker things but it's also great for a family who may be taking on a big move. The Insomniacs move to a timezone that has a 12 hour difference from what they are used to and they find they struggle staying up during the day but are awake all night. They try to live like everyone else -- doing things during the day and sleeping at night -- but still struggle. After adventuring into the woods to see if they can find out how different animals can get themselves to sleep they realize that there are plenty of creatures who enjoy staying up at night and sleeping during they day! If it's good enough for those animals, it's good enough for the Insomniacs and they give night living a try. 

Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site

What a perfect book for the little one who loves trucks and it's also educational! With each page you are introduced to a different piece of construction site equipment (names included -- I never really took the time to consider the names of some of these vehicles, such as a Crane truck, so I learned a thing or two as well) and what their part is in the whole scheme of construction. Then the sun sets and the vehicles get tired so what else will they do but go to sleep? The artwork is cute, giving personality to all the vehicles, and their nighttime pictures are adorable with elements of the bedtime little kids are used to (the Crane truck had a teddy bear! another truck was snuggled up against a dirt pillow!)

All the Awake Animals Are Almost Asleep

This may be one of my least favorite books because I found it a little cumbersome for a bedtime book but that may also be because it was the last of the books I looked through. It's still a beautifully done book, the colors are lovely and the animals are intricate and well done, and there is certainly a learning element within the story that is told. The book goes through the alphabet, discussing an animal on each page by each letter, and their little blurb is entirely in the letter that they are on (Example: the title being A is 'all the awake animals are almost asleep'). It's a cute learning mechanism but, as I said, a bit long. Not being a parent myself (and I'm sure all kids are different) I don't know how long or short a children's book should be when trying to get a child comfy and sleeping. If it takes your kid awhile, then this is likely the book for you!