Catalyst

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Rating: 3/5


I really enjoyed Speak (also by this author), so I thought I would enjoy this one too. It was okay. In many ways, it reminded me of Cut by Patrica McCormick because of the main character's need to run. The main Kate and Teri were also similar to a minor female character in Deadline by Chris Crutcher. The private stories were very not what you would expect. The story behind Teri's little brother is the exact same story as Crutcher's character. Also, I kept imagining the kids from The Breakfast Club as the characters. Molly Ringwald could play Kate. Emilio Estevez would be cast as Mitch, and Ally Sheedy would make the perfect Terri.

These similarities probably influenced my negative opinion of this book.It just feels like the formula storyline ha been done too many times before. It got interesting after the climax (p. 148), but there was not enough build up. Okay is the best rating I can give this one.

See Dewey's review here.

People of the Book

Author: Geraldine Brooks
Rating: 7/5


I LOVED this book! It reminded me of The Thirteenth Tale because both are very well told stories. Encountering this book renewed my reading zeal and reminded me there are books out there that cause you to read well past your workday bedtime. All of the characters felt like flesh and blood, courageously flawed people. I even enjoyed the side story between Hanna and her mother (it reminded me of the story line between Dr. Meridith Grey and her mother on Grey's Anatomy. Mother/Daughter relationship are complex...even when they're fictional.) Hanna's side story fits given the theme of the book.

"I think you have to accept a book as your receive it from past generations, and to a certain extent damage and wear reflect that history."

As in life, the side stories in People of the Book are the story.

See Dewey's review here.

Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman
Rating 3/5

"When Coraline steps through a door to find another house stangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous. But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go."

This was the second book I've read by Neil Gaiman. Like Good Omens it is not an ordinary story. The mirror world is dark and twisted making Tim Burton the perfect person to put together the recently released movie version of this story. As I was reading it, it reminded me of many of his films.

Despite the originality, I did not really connect with these characters. I enjoyed the cat. Given the personalities of most cats, this character could have been and done so much more. The other mother caught my interest for a brief period, but when she and the other world began to take on abstact forms my interest faded and collapsed like the structures and places in the other world. Overall, this book was okay. It was able to get my attention (which is sometimes a major feat) but couldn't keep it.

I read this for Dewey's Challenge and 20 in 2009. Click here for Dewey's Review. Books completed for all challenges are shown in the sidebar under the button for the challenge.

Dewey's Books Challenge

Recently the author of The Hidden Side of a Leaf passed away. In the book blogisphere all roads lead to Dewey, so fittingly a book challenge has been created in her honor.

I'm going with option #2 and my list of titles for this challenge includes the following:

1. Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffenegger
2. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
4. A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 by Annie Lieboviitz
5. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Alternates
1. The Splendor of Silence by Indra Sandaresan
2. Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson