The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for September, 2010

Julia is the perfect teenage girl. She has her head on her shoulders, with academics as her focus. The cherry on her perfect high school career is being valedictorian and planning on going to law school, just like her father. But the perfect life turns to a nightmare just hours after her valedictorian speech when she finds out her family has kept a major secret from her.

To try to get to the bottom of things, Julia drives all night to her estranged sister’s Sophie’s house. Little does she know, her weekend trip may be extended so that time can help heal her pain. Along the way, she not only learns the deep, dark past of her family, but also that her future can be changed to better suit her and not her parents.

I have been waiting a couple of days to do this review because I just wasn’t sure what to say. The story showed the dark side of a young girl who realizes beneath the surface, all isn’t what it seems to be. Now she must work her way through the family problems and history to find peace. There wasn’t anything stellar about the setup of this novel, it’s what I expect out out of fiction; growth, learning and love, with a little family shenanigans mixed in.

I had a love/hate relationship with the characters in this book. I was a big fan of Julia who reminds me of myself at that age. And I love the fact that she became open to who she really was instead of doing what was expected. My feelings for Sophie, although I couldn’t really relate, were different. I felt bad for Sophie, but at times, I also got upset with her. I know the story wouldn’t have been the same if she just would have told Julia the secret, but I felt that as family, Julia deserved it.

I give The Sweetness of Salt 2 bookmarks. It was just mehh in my book.

ISBN: 9781599905129
Published: November 9, 2010
Author Website
Kari got this book from Around the World Tours

This week’s Teaser Tuesday comes from Wildthorn by Jane England.

Pg33: “What kind of hospital is this?

             Her eyes wide. “Don’t you know?”

             I think I do know now. But I want to be sure.

             “It’s an asylum. For the insane.”

Nothing like being dropped off with a bunch of crazies! What are you teasing this week?

I recently read, reviewed and loved Dead Politician Society by Robin Spano. Spano contacted me and asked me to read her book and be part of her virtual book tour. It was such an awesome opportunity, I jumped right on it. And in just a few short emails, Robin and I hit it off (or at least I thought so lol). Anywho, one of my goals for the next year is to start doing author interviews. And I am starting with Robing Spano.

Before I share the questions, lets put a face with the name and answers:

And here’s a little about our author du jour: Robin Spano grew up in Toronto, studied physics in New Brunswick, and dropped out to explore North America on her motorcycle. She met her husband while working as a waitress and helped him run his Toronto pool room until they moved to Vancouver. She writes full time, plotting murder and living vicariously through her undercover protagonist

Kari: The idea for the book I am working on, no lie, came to me in a dream. Where did you get your idea? Did it just hit you or did it ease its way into your life?

Robin: That’s cool! I’d love to hear your book idea. Mine came from a more earthly realm: I was angry at some politicians. I’d been grinding away at a different project, but once this idea hit, nothing could keep me from my computer. Writing changed from laborious to really fun.

Kari: What is your writing process? Computer? Pen and paper? Notes? Outline?

Robin: Computer. Pen and paper the odd time, if I get an idea in the middle of the night, or we’re out on the boat and I can’t get to a computer. But I feel freest at my computer. Maybe because I know I can press delete anytime, my ideas can wander a bit further before I’ll cut them off. That lack of self-judgment is especially important in the 1st draft, when the story is writing itself.

I don’t use an outline until the very end, when it’s time to corral the clues and the plot into logical order.

Kari:  How much of Clare is based on yourself? I see on your website you’re a motorcycle ridin’ mama

Robin: Ha ha. My friends and family seem to think Clare and I are one and the same. Which is funny, because to me, we’re completely different. Clare is good at all the things I’m not. Yeah, we both ride a bike, but when mine breaks down I call my husband. (Seriously – I called him one time to tell him my bike was broken. He drove to my rescue and explained that the tank was out of gas.) Clare, by contrast, can grab a tool  and fix her own.
 
We do have similar philosophies. Clare, like me, hates feeling trapped or roadblocked from achieving her goals. She wants to explore the world, and she hates limits – whether it’s other people’s limited mindsets, things she can’t do because her job description won’t allow it, or limitations to her own abilities. She’s kind, but not falsely so – she’ll help a friend in need, but she won’t throw them an insincere compliment. And she has – or she’s discovering – a primal need to leave the world better than she found it.
 
But she’s 13 years younger than me and living a completely different life. She’s taking off and becoming her own person. What I’m interested to see – and yeah, I guess technically I can control it, but I prefer to watch it happen organically through these stories – is who Clare grows up to become. I can already feel her changing as I work on the series going forward. I like who she’s becoming.

Kari:  Is there a sequel in the works?

Robin: Yup. In Clare’s 2nd adventure, she’s undercover as a poker player at a major televised tournament. Her cover role is a trust fund princess named Tiffany who has decided to try her hand at poker. Clare hates her new wardrobe – most of which is pink, and all of which is designer. But she loves the poker scene, and her romantic life grows intense.
 
In her 3rd adventure…but that’s another story. (I’ve just broken ground on writing it.)

Kari:   If your book got picked up for a movie, who would you have play the main characters?

Robin: Ha ha. Because of course that will happen.
 
For Clare, I like Jessica Stroup. She plays Silver on 90210, and I think she has the right look and the right range of emotions. She can be bitchy, but she’s sensitive, and ultimately kind. My husband, on the other hand, thinks Katy Perry would be perfect. (Or maybe he just thinks Katy Perry is perfect.)
 
The rest I’d leave up to this magical director. I’d love to hear who readers would cast in the various roles!

Hope you guys enjoyed the Q&A. When it comes to the movie role, I love Stroup as Clare. I completely forgot about her. I could also see Zooey Deschanel in that role.

Check out Robin’s websiteand virtual tour. Robin is also on Twitter. You can find her book on NetGalley! Check her and her book out!

I am a sucker for the flea market, especially in the fall. For some odd reason, fall weather just gives me the urge to go scrounge through other people’s goods.

The flea market in Gallipolis is held the second Saturday of every month. And since it’s the perfect time of year, mom and I had to take a trip yesterday. Thought I would take a little time out to share my finds.

Our first buy of the day were corn dogs. Unfortunately, mine was scarfed down so fast, I didn’t even have time to take out my camera. I didn’t make it to the 4th of July festivities or fairs this year, and I’ve been craving fair food all year. I was like a kid in a candy store.

But shortly after my brunch of a corndog, I found dessert.

If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you know I have a major obsession with pumpkin. I’m not really a pumpkin pie fan, had a bad experience with one that was a couple weeks old when we got it. But a pumpkin spice latte or a pumpkin whoopie pie and I am in.

I first ran across the whoopies a couple of years ago at our local grocery store. I got them every week that fall. And everyone laughed at me because the store called them “Pumpkin Blobs”. Once I gave my family and coworkers a taste, they fell in love.

Now these pumpkin whoopies above are the real deal. For $0.85 a piece,  I got one for me and my husband (so it really wasn’t corndog dessert) and I got them from the Amish. There were four or five Amish booths at the flea market with amazing baked goods. I am planning on saving it for dessert tonight. If I can last that long.

My next item is a pumpkin as well, but for decoration purposes, not eating.

I was never really a decorator growing up. Yes, I put up the occasional picture or two on the wall, but other than Christmas, my family isn’t really seasonal. I realized once I moved in with my husband that where they lacked in seasonal, I picked up. I have tons of fall, Halloween and Christmas decorations and I just keep getting more.

But I couldn’t turn this little punkin down! It was a whopping $10.  And I have little orange votives to go inside of it. And believe me, it’s already found it’s home on my bookshelf by my bed.

The little booth where I got this pumpkin had some amazing stuff. I can’t wait until next month where I can justify buying more fall decorations and maybe throw in an early Christmas one.

Now I did purchase one more item at the flea market, but it’s a Christmas present for my brother (great sis right?) and I would hate for him to happen to jump on the computer, find my blog and not be surprised Christmas day. He will love it though!

I also found a Christmas gift for myself. I pointed out a cute little Pandora bead ring to my mom. I know she would have bought it for me on site, but I always have a hard time making Christmas lists for the 6 people that buy for me (Spoiled? Better believe it!)

Are you guys flea marketers? What kinds of good buys have you found?

Politician’s are dropping like flies and rookie cop Clare Vengel finally gets her break to go undercover and show the world what she’s got. Her first gig, a college poli-sci student trying to find who is poisoning the politicians.

Dead Politician Society is written through the eyes of Clare, Matthew, Annabelle, Laura and Jonathan. Clare of course is our leading lady. Matthew is her new poli-sci “teacher”, who may also be in charge of the secret society that claims to be killing the politicians. Annabelle is a lowly obit reporter who was the lucky one chosen to receive the obits the killers were sending out. And Annabelle dates Matthew. Laura’s ex-husband was the first politician killed. Her girlfriend is also in Clare’s class. And Jonathan is actually just a man in love. Yes, he’s in Clare’s poli-sci class, but he followed his heart to get there. Each of these offer a unique perspective of the story, some from the outside, some from the very close inside.

Clare has to keep her cool and her cover while trying to find who is slipping the poison.

I normally have an easy time writing the summaries for the books I read, but this one was a toughie. It may be because I was watching a nail-biting, West Virginia rival football game on ESPN at the same time, but I really think it was just because I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around everything that happened in this book.

The number of narrators is one of the things I love most about this book. I’m all about short, quick chapters. And and of most of America these days,  I have a hard time paying attention for long periods of time. This was great for my short attention span. The book changed just in the right times.

To go along with the changing of the chapters in the book, I was very impressed with Spano’s writing. It’s hard for me to sit down and write a book from one point of view, let alone five. Each chapter’s tone changed with each character. Writing like this amazes me. It also offers different ways to tell the story. A lot of the info we learned about the killer was not actually shared by Clare, but through the eyes of the other narrators.

I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into when I first agreed to read this book. Robin contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in taking part of her book tour for this month. Her book was on NetGalley, but since the cover wasn’t pink and purple and glittery, I didn’t pay it much mind. This is why I love reading. I am always pleasantly surprised.

I will always be the fan of a mystery novel if it keeps me guessing. And from the first chapter, I was guessing who the killer was. I thought I knew a few times, but just like Clare, got caught up in friends and fellas to really see what was out there.

Clare is a very likable leading lady and I am really hoping Spano has another one up her sleeve. I give Dead Politician Society 5 bookmarks!

Check out Robin Spano’s virtual tour (link below) and watch for my post to be added. My date is 9/11. I have to admit, this is my first tour like this and it is really cool.

ISBN:  9781550229424
Published: 9/1/10
Author Website
Kari got this book from NetGalley as part of a virtual tour