Adam & Eve: A Novel
by Sena Jeter Naslund
Adam & Eve (9/26/2010)
I read this because the story sounded intriguing and I am also a fan of the author. It started off very interesting - wow, someone is killed by a falling piano and there's life other than on Earth - you want to know more about that. And Lucy and Thom were interesting characters. But it started to drag for me about halfway through the Garden of Eden section and on to the end.
I think the book was about presenting a case to the reader that there are alternative ways of looking at our creation and that this is okay. But it was unclear to me what motivated the characters (except for Pierre) and therefore whether or not they achieved their goals at the end. The plot devices of extraterrestrial life, the codex and the Garden of Eden didn't' work for me because they didn't feel fully developed and interrelated. And in the last 30 pages where there was the 'chase' scene there was no suspense.
I think I know what the book is about because the author told me in the last few chapters and not because the story told me.
An Eagle Named Freedom: My True Story of a Remarkable Friendship
by Jeff Guidry
Mitakuye oyasin (5/3/2010)
The book ends with a Lakota prayer that means "I will live with all my relations" including the ones that fly, the creepy crawlies, our 2 and 4 legged friends, the ones that swim, the earth that we live on. This sums up the theme of "An Eagle named Freedom" well. This book will appeal to anyone who loves human/animal stories, such as "Wesley the Owl", "The Good Good Pig", "Homer's Odyssey", etc.
The book was very heartwarming, enjoyable, an easy read and I'm glad I read it. But it was a little light so not top on my list of books in this genre. I would've preferred better writing, more animal fact & lore and more of the animal/animal/human relationship. It seemed to gloss over all.
But I do want to research volunteering at a Wildlife Sanctuary in my area (if there is one) and for that reason I think the author would say the book is a huge success.
Eve: A Novel of the First Woman
by Elissa Elliott
Story of the first dysfunctional family (1/16/2009)
There were three main themes in Eve. First, it was a timeless story about a very dysfunctional family, with an emphasis on motherhood. The author’s telling of the complexities and emotions of motherhood I found touching. Second, while it was a story about struggling with faith emphasized not only by Eve’s desire to understand her expulsion from the Garden but also through the addition of the Mesopotamian’s and their worship of other and multiple Gods, I felt the story really spoke more to consequences. And third, accepting and making the best of one’s fate vs. living in the past, the latter of which cripples Eve.
The story was interesting and easy to read. However, I do not think the author painted Eve in a positive light. I suppose as a woman I expected to be inspired by Eve. Instead she annoyed me with her selfishness, naiveté, whininess and inability to move forward with her life until losing her most favorite child. I also struggled with the arrogance and selfishness of Naava. She felt more like a plot device to add drama and tension to the story than a person with any redeeming value. I loved the independence and spirit of Aya, her middle daughter, but still could not believe that she too could be as mean as the others (and in doing so set off a whole chain of events). In fact, except for Abel and Jacan, they were all fairly selfish and mean to each other and that grew tedious after awhile.
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