Stay Close by Harlan Coben

Author: Harlan Coben 
Original title: Stay Close 
Pages: 416
Edition Language: English
Series: no 
Format: Paperback
Genres: Crime, Thriller, Mystery 
Goodreads

Blurb:
Megan is a suburban soccer mom. She’s got two kids, a perfect husband, a perfect house and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead-end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids. Jack is a detective who can’t let go of a cold case - a local husband and father disappeared seventeen years ago. As the terrible consequences of long-ago events crash together in the present and threaten to ruin lives, they will come to the startling realization that they may not want to forget the past at all.

My thought: 
     This was a good serial killer mystery with several different past and current stories coming together. Three people all with a hidden past: Megan and Ray are both hiding from it; Broome, the detective, is trying to reveal the past to find peace. Megan, with the help of a friend, come to the point when she cannot run from the past anymore and wants to come clean, so she contacts Jack to give him her version of the murder 19 years ago. So from this point the plot develops really quickly. I was quite surprised that Broome, who could not meet any ends for 19 years, now so easily progresses in the investigation. There are also the strange couple of mob killers to spice up the plot, but does not fit too much, in my opinion. Frankly speaking, I was not impressed by the book, but at the same time I could not put it down. 

Rating:

    3/5 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Author:  Paula Hawkins
Original title: The Girl on the Train
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Format: audio
Read by: Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher
Duration: 11h1m
Goodreads

Blurb:
EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

My thoughts:
      What would I say? I was wrong not to read the book for such long time. Actually, after all those movies based on books I am afraid to pick up the original. I was not taken nor by the book description neither by the movie trailer. How wrong I was.
       The first thing I liked is the 3 women narration. I actually quite love this technique in books, it refreshes the narration and abrupt changes from one character to another keeps you on edge and helps brush up everything you know about the character. Though, in this book only narration of Rachel and Megan were audible and had character development, Anna’s part was rather weak and not credible.
         This book has been compared to "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn but honestly, I don't see any comparison at all besides from them being written within the same genre. Maybe that is why I liked this book so much. I was impressed what with the author’s creation: Rachael – such a miserable drunk head, broken, without self-esteem, useless and paranoid character.  I liked the inner monologues in her head, the perception of reality and despair and loneliness that surrounded her. It felt so real. The hopelessness she felt all of the time and such a severe desolation worked her in a state that the touch of a stranger made her shiver and her stomach flip. Everyone in this book is terrible, especially a drunk and unstable Rachael and as a result, this book delivers good work in character study and development.
       As for the plot itself, it was not so complicated or mysterious: a murder, attempts to get away with it and one unreliable witness – nothing new. But I liked the way the story was revealed: a big deal of manipulation and mistrust, every page throws suspicion on a different character (I actually was suspecting even Anna); the ending fell a little flat for me though.

Rating: 

    4/5     

January Monthly Recommendations| Historical Fiction

 In this group we will have a monthly theme for book recommendations to share on your BookTube channel or blog. It is pretty relaxed with when you can upload, but we recommend that you upload the first full week of each month. You are welcome to recommend as many books as you want.  We would love for you to share the books you would recommend based on each months topic, no matter how many you have.  For more details visit the a group on Good Reads named Monthly Recommendations. This group was created by Trina from Between Chapters and Kayla Rayne.

 "Historical Fiction"

      Ok, when I have read about the topic for January I was all exited. Yey! It is going to be easy. Past is my favorite topic, so what I should recommend you guys from my favorite books. And then suddenly I had this thought: how we define the book as historical fiction? You would ask: Is it not obvious Julie? A book set in the past. Ok, I would agree with you. Yes when Kerri Maniscalco publishes the book “Stalking Jack the Ripper” in 2016 and it is about Victorian England I totally agree – it is historical fiction, but say when Jane Austin publishes “Pride and Prejudice” for her it is a contemporary novel, yes for us it is in past, but still the novel is not historical. So I tried to find the definition of the notion “historical fiction”, here comes almighty wiki:

Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting located in the past. Historical fiction can be an ambiguous term: frequently it is used as a synonym for describing the historical novel.

Historical novel. Definition:

Definitions differ as to what constitutes a historical novel. On the one hand The Historical Novel Society defines the genre as works "written at least fifty years after the events described", whilst on the other hand critic Sarah Johnson delineates such novels as "set before the middle of the last [20th] century in which the author is writing from research rather than personal experience." Then again Lynda Adamson, in her preface to the bibliographic reference work World Historical Fiction, states that while a "generally accepted definition" for the historical novel is a novel "about a time period at least 25 years before it was written", she also suggests that some people read novels written in the past, like those of Jane Austen (1775–1817), as if they were historical novels.

    So even according to "generally accepted definition" the setting of the book should be at least 25 years prior the publish date, which actually cuts a great amount of books I was thinking about as Jane Austin’s, sister Bronte’s, Remarque’s and so on.

    Still, I have some suggestions left, which fit the pattern. Please check my previous post on historical fiction. 

1. The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
4. Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
5. Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell
6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
7. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
8. Aubrey/Maturin Book by Patrick O'Brian
9. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

 

Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances

Authors:  John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
Original title: Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances
Pages: 354
Edition Language: English
Series: no
Genres: YA, Romance, Family

    I've been meaning to read this for some time. I'm glad I finally did, but I wouldn't say I would recommend it to any of my friends. I found the stories generally interesting enough to keep reading, but I didn't fall in love with any characters, any settings, and any stories.

      This was a sweet Christmas read and set me in a proper winter mood. I also liked the cooperation of three authors and the fact that these stories are linked with each other and you recognize the characters as you read on.

      The book started off interesting and got progressively boring. The best stories are from Maureen Johnson and John Green. The last one seems like non-stop whining. I liked the development of the Jubilee story, lively staff and great weather description, but I did not like her judgments and how easy she is to persuade, but altogether the story was fun with many plot turns.

John Green's story kind of baffled me. I wanted to like this story more, but the main characters seem so irrational and sometimes stupid. Their idiotic actions and the twister game were the only thing that made the plot moving.

     I did not like Lauren Myracle's story mostly thanks to her main character, that was a self-absorbed spoiled girl and the attempts of the author to show that the girls is so ready to change.The last chapter was a killer. I was like watching a second-rate love story from 80s. Terrible soupy ending of the nice book.

    And finally this was surely a quick read; it would be good for anyone who's looking for light reading on Christmas without any deep thoughts to get you in the right winter and holiday mood.

Rating: 

    2/5 

October 2016 Wrap Up

Read books:
read: 1 / listen: 1 / pages: 376 /hours listened: 14h51m
1. Billie Letts Where the Heart Is p.376
2. Jo Nesbø The Redeemer

Movie watched:  
1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
2. Inferno (2016)
3. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
4. Doctor Srtange (2016)
5. Sweet Bean (2015)

Theater visited: 
1.The Deep Blue Sea by NT Live (2.10.2016, Prague) review

November Monthly Recommendations| Family Focus

In this group we will have a monthly theme for book recommendations to share on your BookTube channel or blog. It is pretty relaxed with when you can upload, but we recommend that you upload the first full week of each month. You are welcome to recommend as many books as you want.  We would love for you to share the books you would recommend based on each months topic, no matter how many you have.  For more details visit the a group on Good Reads named Monthly Recommendations. This group was created by Trina from Between Chapters and Kayla Rayne.

 "Family Focus"

This is my first time doing a monthly recommendation.
I really wanted to joint the meme in October, but October's topic "Monster Mash" is not really cup of tea. So I really enjoyed the discussion and view so many recommendation from all over the world that I am really about to open some of the scary books and start reading.
So every month the group suggests the topic with some criteria.
November is "Family Focus" and the task is to recommend books with my favorite examples of family relationships.


1. Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen

This is one of my favorite books of all times. It covers many topics, but of cause the family is in focus. In the book you can see the different type of sisterly and brotherly love: tight connection between Elisabeth and Jane and competitive rivalry between Lydia and Kitty. The different type of relationship is between Mr Bingley and his two sisters who are quite deaf to his preferences and his idea of happiness. But the moss curious relationship for me is the attitude of Elisabeth to her parents. This quiet love she has and total forgiveness in despite of all shortcomings she sees in them. And even when she realizes that happiness of Jane was destroyed mostly by her whole family misbehaving she is still a loving daughter. This is the attitude which is healthy for a good family: be able to forgive your closest ones for little shortcomings and faults.

2. The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime by Mark Haddon

The story is told by the 15-year old boy with an autism spectrum condition. The primary story line is how the main character investigates the murder of the neighbor's dog. The background, which more important, is a story about a parental challenge with difficult children. Though there are no direct indicators, we can see the suffering of the father when he loses this son's trust and problems he struggles to take care if the boy alone. How much such a parent should concentrate on a child's demand, leaving his personal troubles and wishes apart.

 3. My grandfather was a cherry tree by Angela Nanetti

This is one of the best children’s books in the world, but it is not childish at all. The story is told by a boy Antonio at different age of his childhood. He has 2 grandmothers and 2 grandfathers. His father's parents live in a city and his mother's parents live in a village. Through the narration of a child difficult relationship of adults comes up to light.
This book opens the world of grandparents - grandchildren love, how much magic and understanding these two age groups might have. They have a lot in common: they find pleasure in small things and see the beauty around; believe in justice and wonders; they are not afraid to express their emotions and do unexpected things; they know how to love deeply and truly.

 4. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

The book describes the live in a small rural town in the early 20s. It focused on the adventures of Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year-old boy and his 10 year-old brother. In the background of the story we can also see the union and understanding that prevails in their family.  Dandelion Wine is made by grandfather every summer and Douglas reflects how all the joys of a summer can be packed in a single bottle.


5.The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

It focuses on four Chinese American immigrant families who start The Joy Luck Club, playing the game of mahjong on money. The stories told in this novel revolve around the Joy Luck Club women and their daughters. The author shows not only how difficult the relationship between mothers and daughters can be and how deeply they can hurt each other, but also how they can love and unconditionally forgive each other.

6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

The story is told by a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. In the story, Oskar discovers a key in a vase that belonged to his father, a year after he was killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The discovery inspires Oskar for a quest around New York in a desperate attempt to connect with his father.  This book shows the traumatized child who is trying to survive the tragedy of his life and how the whole family is helping him to cope with this traumatic experience. This quest helps Oscar to grow loser to his mother for whom he cares deeply.

Quote of the day #1

Catriona by R.L. Stevenson
Alan Breck Stewart to David Balfour:

Statue of Alan Stewart and David Balfour in Edinburgh

"Them that cannae tell the truth," he observed to myself as we went on again, "should be aye mindful to leave an honest, handy lee behind them. If folk dinnae ken what ye're doing, Davie, they're terrible taken up with it; but if they think they ken, they care nae mair for it than what I do for pease porridge". 

      That is funny truth in the statement from Stevenson's book. How many times I was compelled not to tell truth about myself. There was nothing sinister in my motives. It might be variety of reasons: I really dislike the person, I was introduced to; I really do not trust the person anymore and do not want to share anything with them; or I am just terribly tired of the small talk with unfamiliar people. You know how it is: What is your name? Where are you from? Why did you come here? Are you single? What do you do? And so on and so forth for one thousand times. I get sick and bored of those talks sometimes.  

      Naturally, this is part of communication culture and how you get to know a new person without asking and answering? But in most of the cases this questionnaire just remains small talk, the one you have been through millions of times. So sometimes I wonder if I add something peculiar and unexpected about my live story, how it will turn out: will it come back to me one day in the form of a stupid gossip or will the person be satisfied with the answer and settled with what he thinks my character is, as it is suggested by Stevenson.

Leo's Oscar

Movie:

Name: The Revenant
Year: 2015
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Time: 156 мин. / 02:36

Book: 

Author:  Michael Punke

Original title: The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Western 

Edition Language: English

Pages: 272 

        

         Фильм, за который Лео наконец-то получил Оскара, просто необходимо было видеть. Первое, что я поняла о фильме, что его нельзя смотреть в кинотеатре. Напряжение захватывает с первой минуты и не отпускает до конца. Этот фильм надо прочувствовать, прожить, и думаю, жующий попкорн сосед, не очень вписывается в картину заснежённой Америки 1823 года.
Кинодрама завораживает с первых минут, и отнюдь не волосатостью и мужественностью Лео и не грубостью и наглостью Тома Харди, а операторской работой. Кадры природы потрясают своей красотой и простотой. Простые снежинки, падающие на кучу усталых мужиков; качание могучих сосен; стебли прошлогодней травы, торчащие сквозь снег – все это складывается как части пазла в общую картину жёсткой борьбы за выживание. Эти карды наполнены мировым спокойствием и грандиозностью ещё ярче оттеняют тщетность и мелочность жизни человека, маленькой щепке в бушующей реке. Не удивительно, что Эммануэль Любецки получил Оскара за свою работу
         Так, а что же Лео..?
         Хью Гласс, опытный следопыт и охотник, подвергается нападению медведицы. Его истерзанное тело, заштопанное на скорую руку, не так легко нести в форт под постоянной угрозой нападения индейцев. Гласса оставляют под присмотром его сына Хока, молодого парнишки Бриджера, и опытного Фитцдеральда. Последний, позарившись на лёгкий гонорар, не хочет ждать естественной смерти Гласса и пытается удушить его. Хок, помешавший этой попытке, убит героем Тома Харди. С этого момента начинается противостояние двух героев, которое решится только в последних 10 минутах фильма при личной встречи, первой с этого драматического момента. Фитцджеральд бросает Гласса в лесу без пропитания и оружия и хитростью уводит Бриджера. Далее идёт ожесточённая борьба Гласса с самим собой и воспоминаниями о былой жизни, с болью и ранами, с природой и голодом, с французами и индейцами. Как ни печально, но конец драмы был предсказуем: зло отомщено, миссия, заставляющая тело и разум бороться, выполнена.
           Как бы не был прост сюжет, не столь просто его восприятие. Как бы не были мерзки и корыстны поступку Фитцджеральда, как бы не было жестоко убийство Хока, суровость условий и природы ставит его с Лео одну ступень. У обоих цель выжить, но идут они к ней разными путями. Определённую симпатию также вызывают его некоторые жизненные суждения и поступки, он придерживается своего кодекса морали.
Необычайный протест у меня вызвало убийство капитана Генри (его играет Донал Глисон). Этот герой с мягким и нежным лицом и сильным характером необычно симпатичен. Он крепко держит своих людей в узде, но глубоко переживает потерю каждого человека. Чёткость его действий и стойкость его суждений – это оазис здравого смысла и порядочности в море крови, вражды и убийств. Этот герой должен был жить, но увы без его смерти Гласс не добрался бы до Фитцджеральда для финальной схватки, а Лео до своего Оскара.

Сюжет книги отличается от фильма некоторыми событиями. Во-первых, сына у Гласса нет, меньше драматизма, но так же сильна жажда мщения. Месть должна покарать обоих Бриджера и Фитцджеральда, никаких исключений. Во-вторых, в книге Гласс встречает больше сочувствия и получает больше помощи. В книге нет никаких лирических объяснений жестокости индейцев (в фильме вождь ищет свою дочь, похищенную бледнолицыми и вырезает всех подряд), видимо сложно передать на экране запутанность отношений белых и краснокожих. И на послед, в книге Гласс так никого и не убил, Бриджера он конечно отколотил как следует, но простил. С Фитцджеральдом вышло все немного хаотично: Гласс настиг его в форту недалеко от Сент-Луиса. К тому времени Фитцджеральд успел проиграться и ему пришлось пойти в регулярную армию. Обвинение Гласса было рассмотрено на суде, где Фитцджеральд свалил всю вину на Бриджеса, выставив себя добрым самаритянином. У Гласса не выдержали нервы, он понял, что Фитцджеральду верят, и достав пистолет выстрелил в негодяя. Все обошлось ранением в плечо Фитцджеральда, и двухнедельной гауптвахтой для Гласса.

           A movie for which Leo finally got Oscar was a must see for me. The first I realized about the movie is that is that you cannot see it in a movie theater. The movie grasps from the first scene and does not let it go till the end. This movie should be lived through and I guess the neighbor chewing popcorn is not fitting the picture of snowy America in 1823.
          Thee drama bewitches from first seconds, but not by the hairy and masculinity of Leo and audacity of Tom Hardy, but by the cameraman's work. Nature shots stagger the imagination by its beauty and simplicity. Plain snowflakes falling down on a bunch of tired men; swinging of great pines; stalks of last years' grass sticking out of snow veil - all this coming together as puzzle pieces and reveal the cruel battle for survival. These shots are full of peaceful calmness and grandness what emphasize the futility and pettiness of human live even brighter. It is not a surprise that Emmanuel Lubezki got Oscar for his work.
         And what about Leo..?
         Hugh Glass, an experienced trapper and frontiersman, is attached by a huge grizzly bear. His mauled body, sewed up in haste is not easy to carry under constant threat of Indian attack. Glass is left under supervision of his son Hawk, young trapper Bridger and skillful John Fitzgerald. The latter, lured by easy money, does not want to wait till Glass dies and tries to "help" him with that. Hawk, who intervened this "helping" is killed by Tom Hardy's character. From this moment begins the struggle between 2 main characters, which will be resolved only in the last 10 minutes of the movie in their first meeting after the killing of Hawk. Fitzgerald is leaving Glass in the forest without food and weapon and makes Bridger go with him as well. Then follows the struggle of Glass with himself and recollection of live he had, with pain and wounds, with nature and hunger, with French and Indians. It is sad but the movie's conclusion was crystal clear: the evil would be revenged; mission that drives the body and mind to fight would be completed.
        As simple the plot might seem, not so easy its perception. No matter how filthy and selfish  Fitzgerald's deeds are, no matter how cruel the Hawk's murder was, the nature' s severity puts him on the same level with Leo. Both have the primary target - to survive, but their journeys are different. Certain degree of sympathy is also gained by Fitzgerald's rational judgments and actions, he has his own code of behavior and he sticks to it. The biggest outcry for me was the killing of Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson). This character with soft face and strong spirit is absolutely adorable. He keeps a tight rein on his men but deeply suffers the death of each of them. Precision of his actions and firmness of his judgments is the oasis of common sense in the ocean of blood, hatred and killings. This character could have lived but, alas, without his death Glass would not face Fitzgerald for final combat and Leo would not get his Oscar.

The book naturally differs from movie. Firstly, Glass does not have a son: less drama, but the thirst for revenge is still strong. Revenge must do justice on both Bridger and Fitzgerald without an exception. Secondly, in a book Glass faces more compassion and gets more help. There are no lyrical excuses explaining savagery of Indians (in the movie a chief is searching for his kidnapped daughter and slaughters every white man on his way). I guess it is difficult to picture in a movie complicated relationships between white and native people.
Finally, in a book Glass does not kill anyone. Of course he gives Bridger a good beating, but late forgives him. With Fitzgerald it turns out a bit chaotic: Glass finally catches up with him close to Sent-Louise fort; by that time Fitzgerald gambled away a lot of money and has to join to regular army. Glass’s accusation was taken to court where Fitzgerald dumps the fault on Bridger and show off himself as Good Samaritan. Glass loose his nerve in a court and tries to kill the rascal, but only wounds him. Everything ends with Fitzgerald’s shoulder wound and Glass’s two weeks military custody.

Rating

6/10