The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

Genre:  Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Published:  2004, 277 pp. by Picador USA
Source:  Personal library
Review:  3/5 stars

Brief Summary:  It's hard to give a good brief description of this book without giving away too much.  If you've seen the movie previews you know that Charlie St. Cloud can see and talk to is younger brother who is dead.  I think I'll leave it at that to avoid any spoilers.

My Thoughts:  We read this for my neighborhood book club.  I liked the premise and the ideas the author, Ben Sherwood, put forth about what happens after we die.  I really liked the relationship between Charlie and his brother, Sam.  Their conversations were fun and witty and I enjoyed all the parts when they are together.  I thought the romance part of the book wasn't as well developed but I still enjoyed it.

Recommendations:  I liked this book and it kept me interested but I can't say I would recommend it to many people.  There is a sex scene that isn't really graphic but is still descriptive enough that it made me a little uncomfortable. Not for teens.

Rating:  3.1.3  Unmarried, descriptive sexual relations and moderate profanity.


Thanks for reading!

Jane by April Lindner

Genre: Realistic fiction, YA fiction?, Retelling

Published: Oct. 2010, 384 pp.

Source: Library

Review: 4/5

I enjoyed this modern retelling of Jane Eyre. I thought that Jane Eyre would be too unrealistic set in modern day because times have changed so much but I think that April Lindner figured out a way to make it work. With a "Mr. Rochester" character who is a legendary rock star and the "Jane" character as a reserved and sheltered nanny, the classic story plays out pretty well.

This book was shelved in the Young Adult section, which makes sense, but it always bothers me when a YA book includes as much bad language and sex as this one did. While I enjoyed this book, I would have a hard time recommending it to many people. There are about a dozen f-words and a couple of sex scenes that weren't overly explicit but definitely more graphic than I think is necessary. I have to classify this one as a "read at your own risk" book.

Rating: 4.1.5 Two moderately explicit sex scenes between unmarried people and a dozen f-words with a smattering of other profanity scattered throughout.

The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction
Published: 1997, 469 pgs.
Source: Personal library, (received in book swap at Utah Book Bloggers Party from Angie of Angieville)
Review: 4/5 stars

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been in a reading rut for a while. I just haven't had much desire to read. I'm hoping that this book has pulled me out of the rut. I believe it has.

Rebecca Phillips enlisted with the Army as a nurse to run away from some problems at home. She didn't know that going to Vietnam would make all her problems worse. The book is divided into two parts: the War and the World. The first half describes the horrors of war with honesty and feeling. In the second half Rebecca tries to recover from the experiences that she endured.

I quite enjoyed this book. I really liked Rebecca's character as well as the other supporting roles that make up the story. I must give a disclaimer though. Just because this site is called Good Clean Reads does not mean that all the books I review are "clean". This is definitely one to "read at your own risk". The subject matter is Vietnam and it's gritty. The language could be worse but it is definitely strong. The descriptions of wounded soldiers are done tastefully but there is a lot of it. I think White manages to describe the atrocities without being gratuitous but it is still not easy to read.

The Road Home is definitely not for everyone, especially those offended by profanity and vain references to Deity. I normally stay away from that myself. But in this case, I still really enjoyed this story of a young woman's experience in war and recovery from the horrors she faced.

Rating: 2.3.5 There were some sexual references but nothing explicit. Violence is plentiful due to the war setting. There were 3 or 4 f-words and lots of other profanity including vain references to Deity.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

Genre: Romance, Austen fan-fiction

Published: Jan. 2010, 288 pgs

Source: ARC from Sourcebooks

Review: 4/5 stars

Description on Goodreads:

In this sexy Jane Austen sequel, Elizabeth Bennet accepts Mr. Darcy's first marriage proposal, answering the "What if...?" question fans everywhere have pondered
" I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."
Famous last words indeed! Elizabeth Bennet's furious response to Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal has resonated for generations of readers. But what if she had never said it? Would she have learned to recognize Mr. Darcy's admirable qualities on her own? Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy follows Elizabeth and Darcy as they struggle to find their way through the maze of their prejudices after Elizabeth, against her better judgment, agrees to marry Darcy instead of refusing his proposal.

I should have paid attention to the "sexy" adjective used to describe this Pride and Prejudice sequel before I read it. That is a very apt description for the detailed sex scenes towards the end of this book. Having said that... I really liked this book. I am embarrassed at how quickly I devoured it soon after receiving it in the mail from Sourcebooks a couple of months ago. By the time I got to the objectionable scenes, there was no way that I could set this book aside (they are in the last quarter of the book). While I don't think Reynolds always captured Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth's true characters, her story of their marriage and struggles to find happiness with each other is compelling and quite a page-turner. Reading this book reminded me again of what a hopeless romantic I am. I am ashamed but I've decided to just be open and honest about it. :)

Rating: 5.1.1 Two detailed sex scenes; it is within a married relationship but it is detailed.

Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen

Genre: Historical fiction, romance

Published: 1 December 2009, 496 pgs.

ARC

Review: 3.5/5

Simonsen's Searching for Pemberley is not your typical Austen sequel. Set in England after World War II, Maggie is an American working in London when a sight-seeing trip to Derbyshire leads to a friendship with a couple who believe that Jane Austen based her novel, Pride and Prejudice, on real people. The story is multi-generational, includes a few different love stories, including Maggie's, and is a history lesson on both World Wars. I've read a few reviews that have called it a "leisurely" read and I think that is a perfect word for it. The story behind the people who were allegedly the inspiration for the Darcys, Bingley, and Bennets is slowly laid out as the main story about Maggie and the couple, named Jack and Beth Crowell, and their family, unfolds.

I quite enjoyed this book. I have to admit that it was pretty slow going at first and it was probably about page 100 before I started to really like it. Sometimes there seemed to be too many characters to keep track of and I'd come across someone's name and think, who is that? I enjoyed the journal entries written by Elizabeth Garrison and the letters written by William Lacey who were supposedly the real Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. However, that part of novel was not extensive and the story mainly dealt with Maggie, her love interests and the Crowells. I thought their story was interesting and I really liked the information about the wars and conditions in England during and after the war. I learned quite a bit from that and I appreciated the obvious research that Simonsen had put into writing the book.

Overall this was a pretty good story with interesting characters. I didn't really like the direction it went with the morality/religion/pre-marital sex issues that were brought up so I wouldn't recommend this book for teenagers. It definitely has adult themes.

Rating: 3.1.3 This book contains many sexual situations but not explicit and graphic. Also contains plenty of barnyard language (I didn't think it was excessive, though).

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Category: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction
Published: 2009
Audiobook

Review: 3/5 stars

Dan Brown is finally back with a new book and I'm curious to see how many people will be disappointed. I listened to this on cds and I'm glad I did because I think I would have had a hard time getting through it otherwise. It wasn't bad, it just didn't captivate me like The Da Vinci Code did. I was into the 5th of 14 cds when I realized I was pretty bored so far. That is not what I expected. Also unexpectedly, Robert Langdon kind of got on my nerves. His scepticism was just too much for me.

Rating: 1.4.3 Includes the kind of violence you would expect in this genre. Scattered profanity but no f-bombs.

The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon

Category: Fiction

Published: March 2009, 352 pages

Review requested by publisher

Unfinished

I was interested in reading this book because it was about a young women's book club. The Lacuna Cabal Montreal Young Women's Book Club is quite different from others. They meet everyday and they try to act out the book in real life. This premise sounded pretty interesting to me but I'm afraid I finally just put it down. The foul language and sexual nature of the book was just a little too much for me. I feel bad about not finishing it since it was a review book from the publisher. I will say that even as I was deciding to stop reading the book, I found myself wanting to keep reading just a few more pages to see what was going to happen next. Even though the characters were so strange, quirky, and with completely different values from me, I was interested in them. This book wasn't for me but I imagine that many others could enjoy it.

The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond

Category: Adult fiction

Published: 2007, 369 pgs.

Audiobook

Review: 3.5/5 stars

In the first chapter of The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond we meet the narrator Abby Mason, a photographer who is engaged to a man who has a 6 year old daughter, Emma. While Abby and Emma are walking together on the beach the unthinkable happens, Emma disappears. Abby tells her story of guilt, heartbreak, longing, and searching that she endures.

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was insightful and interesting. However, at one point one of Emma's shoes is found and she describes it as a tiny size 3. Anyone who is very familiar with children would know that a "tiny size 3" fits a 1-year-old not a 6-year-old. When I read that I immediately knew that the author doesn't know children very well and didn't take the time to find out the shoe size of a young child. That put me off a little and I think it tainted my view of the book. I realized later that the book really wasn't about a child as much as it was about a woman who loves a child and that little mistake doesn't invalidate the rest of the book. The Year of Fog did make me really think about the lives of so many families that have missing children. The news follows them for a week or two and then we don't hear much about them unless more information becomes available. I can't imagine what a living hell it would be, but this book gives a pretty good description.

Rating: 3.1.5--I can't remember what's in this very well. It seems like there were a couple of sex scenes that were a bit descriptive but not too bad. I do remember that there were several f-words scattered here and there.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

Category: Sci-Fi/Fantasy?

Published: 2009, 272 pgs.

Review: 3.5/5 stars

Set in a not-so-distant future in Sweden, The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist is a novel about what might happen if society decided that a person's contribution to the nation became more important than the individual himself. Dorrit Weger begins her story as she is being placed in the unit, a facility where childless individuals who reach the age of 50 or 60 are taken to be used in humane medical and psychiatric tests. They have very nice accommodations and want for nothing in the way of physical comforts but they are essentially guinea pigs. They live there in the unit with no communication to the outside world and participate in different medical trials until they make their final donation, such as a liver, lungs, heart, etc.

I had a hard time putting this book down. I just really wanted to know what was going to happen. I liked and cared about the characters. I did have a few problems with the book though. For one, it just was too implausible. The way everything was described it seemed like the unit could exist now rather than the future. There was talk of DVDs and CDs and the technology just wasn't futuristic. For me that made it feel so close to present day that I couldn't accept that a government or a society would allow this kind of treatment of people. If something is placed far enough in the future than it seems more credible to me and I can swallow the premise better. I think I didn't get into the story quite as much as I would have liked to because it just wasn't believable to me. That being said, I did like the book. I have to warn you though that this does not come even close to qualifying as a "good, clean read."

Rating: 4.1.4 There are several descriptions of sex that I felt were gratuitous and unnecessary. I really don't mind if there is some sex in a book (you may find that hard to believe considering the premise of my blog) but it never has to be described as thoroughly as it is in this book. There were also two instances of very harsh language and a smattering of lighter profanity.

The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

Rating: 3.1.5
Category: Fiction
Published: 2007
Audiobook

Review: 2/5 stars

You may remember that I posted about this book about a month ago. I had listened to the first couple of cds and decided it wasn't worth continuing. For some reason I decided to pick it up again and continue. I shouldn't have.

The book is about an 18 year-old girl from Tasmania who moves to New York to begin a new life. She finds a job at The Arcade, a huge used bookstore, with a staff of strange people. Not a whole lot happens for the first half of the book and then in the second half there is a little mystery about a lost Herman Melville manuscript that is more interesting but still not great. I just didn't care about any of the characters very much. The only one I liked was Pearl, who is a man who dresses as a woman and is taking medication to prepare for a sex-change operation.

Even though I didn't really like this book, there is one line that I really liked that comes up again and again. Rosemary often thinks of what Chaps, an older friend from Tasmania, used to say, "A book is always a gift." Isn't that the truth?

As for the content of this book, I rate it as "read at your own risk." Rosemary, the narrator, doesn't swear at all but some of the workers at the bookstore throw out f-words here and there--a total of 7 or 8, maybe. There is also a sex scene that's just...weird.

Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hays

I was listening to this audiobook and at the end of the 2nd of 9 cds I wondered if I wanted to keep reading. Though interesting in a way, it was pretty slow moving and I didn't feel driven to put in the next cd. I then decided to look on Goodreads to see what was said about it. One reviewer talked about a sex scene towards the end that I had guessed might be coming. Overall the reviews weren't that good for this book anyway, so I've decided to stop listening. For those who prefer "clean" books, this one is probably not for you.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Rating: 1.3.4 (PG-13)

Recommended audience: Mature teen to adult

Category: Historical, considered YA fiction

Review: 4.5/5

When I was about a third of the way through The Book Thief, I was enjoying the book but wasn't sure what all the hype was about. At the end, I understood why so many people liked it but I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It's now been a few weeks since I finished it and I'm finally going to try to write a review. This is the kind of book that I didn't love while I was reading it but looking back on it now, I will say that it is very good. The setting is Nazi Germany and the protagonist is Leisel, a young girl trying to make sense of the turmoil all around her. The thing that really makes the story unique is that the narrator is Death. That took a while to get used to and I felt like it didn't always "work" (there were some inconsistencies or problems with the point of view) but it added some interesting touches. There was quite a bit of profanity (some blasphemous) but it never got into any really harsh swear words, so while the profanity put me off, I would still recommend this book to many people I know (with a strong profanity disclaimer). I'm still waffling between a 4 and a 4.5 star review, but I'll go ahead and stick with the 4.5 because it did touch me, I came to really care about the characters, and whenever I think about it I remember some of the emotions I felt as I read it.

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Rating: 4.1.5

Category: Romance

Review: 3/5

I really liked the premise of this book. Jane is an eight-year-old child with an adult imaginary friend. He means everything to her because she is neglected by her mother. Michael is a "real" imaginary friend. It's his job and he has all the powers he needs associated with such a job, like being visible or invisible to whomever he chooses. This was a quick, easy, fun read. Predictable and fluffy could also describe it well, though. I enjoyed it as I read and had a hard time putting it down but when I was done, thought, there wasn't much substance to it. There is a sex scene that I skipped and a half dozen f-words to spoil it, too. Another thing that bothered me was the cover. I think it's a beautiful cover, but Jane is a blond and I had a hard time picturing her right because of the picture of this dark haired woman.

I've seen a few reviews for this one that were quite derogatory, calling it too predictable, dumb, etc. Others really liked it. I didn't think it was that bad and I did enjoy it while I read. So Sundays at Tiffany's will be classified as a "read at your own risk" book. I'd be interested to hear what you think if you've read it, or tell me if you think you might read it.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Content Rating: 4.1.5 (R)

Category: Realistic fiction, romance, adult

Review : 3/5

How do I review this book? Did it keep me interested and turning the pages? Did it make me think? Yes, on both counts. Did I enjoy reading it? I have to say, guiltily, yes. I say "guiltily" because it is not a clean read. There are dozens of cases of very harsh profanity, though it seems to really come out towards the end. Until I got to the last 100 pages I thought, "Yeah, there's a lot of profanity but it hasn't been too bad." Well, that changed. As for the sex content, I thought it could have been much worse. I gave it a 4 rating just to be on the safe side. I thought it might classify as a 3 because it wasn't overly graphic but it was outside of marriage, so I gave it the 4 rating, as seen above. I couldn't recommend this book to anyone I know but I did find it very interesting. The characters are fleshed out well, they are likable, and they touched me. I thought it was pretty well written most of the time. It made me think about how I treat each of my kids and hope that I can show each of them that I truly love them for who they are.

Haven't read it but...

A few months back, I checked out Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It seemed highly praised by critics and others so I wanted to try it out. I ended up being too busy and even though I had started it, I just decided to take it back to the library and try again another time. Since then I've heard from two sources that it has a lot of sex. My friend Jenn had to stop half-way through. You can read a very interesting review of it at Maw Books.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

Rating: 4.3.2

Recommended audience: Adult

Category: Historical with some romance

I read this book well over a month ago. I have had such a hard time getting myself to write a review for it because I just couldn't decide how to rate it and what kind of review to give it. The book is set in a small village in England in 1665. The book is roughly based on a real village, Eyam in Derbyshire (how interesting that it is the same county as Mr. Darcy's), which became known as the Plague Village because after being infected with the plague, decided to quarantine themselves rather than spread the heinous disease. This book was so thought provoking, with so many issues of faith, religion, superstition, family, and more that would be so interesting for a book club discussion. Then the ending came and what a disappointment. Brooks turned it into a steamy romance that just felt wrong and incongruous with the rest of the novel. Then the epilogue seems really far fetched too. I can understand a little why she took it in that direction because of some of the information that was brought to light through the affair but how I wish she had found another way. I don't know whether to recommend the book or not, but hopefully based on the information here you can make an informed decision.

Wicked by Gregory Maquire

Rating: 5.3.5

Category: Read at your own risk

I haven't finished this book and I'm not sure if I will. I've been listening to the audio version while I run and though I have enjoyed it, I've about decided that I should just wait for the musical. It is definitely not a clean read. I have heard that it is a very good book and I can see that it would be very interesting and entertaining but there is just a little too much sex, innuendo, and crudity for my taste. Since the musical is so family friendly I have heard of many people being caught unaware by the content of this book so I thought that I'd try it out and see for myself. With 3 F-bombs in the first third and more to come I'm sure, I've given it a 5 rating on profanity. The 5 for sex is deserved but the 3 for violence is just an estimate of what may come since there hasn't been much violence yet. If you really want to read this book I would guess that you could skip parts and be okay because it doesn't have profanity throughout like some books I've been unfortunate enough to pick up. If I do finish I think I will try the book version instead of the audio because I might be able to control what I read a little better. I would definitely not want my teenage daughter to read this.

More "Read at your own risk" books

Here are a few more that have very questionable material. It's up to you whether you want to read them or not.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
I get the impression that this is a very popular book. I don't really get it. I listened to this one on CD's and I don't remember it well because I don't retain what I hear as well as what I read. I just remember that a teenage girl is raped and murdered (and I think cut up into pieces). Yeah. Why I finished listening to it is beyond me. I don't know what I was thinking. The rape and murder are graphic. Awful. Enough said. Rating: 5.5.5

Thanks to my cousin Charlotte for the next two reviews.

Fade by Robert Cormier (YA Fiction)
"This is a depressing story about a guy who has the ability to become invisible. Cormier uses some horrific examples to show how the gift of invisibility would actually be a curse and a burden. I'm opposed to censorship, but I'd be hesitant to let my kid read this book."
Rating: 4.4.2 Review by Charlotte

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
One of those that couldn't be finished. Charlotte liked it for its humour, depth, and compassion but it was just too graphic and disturbing for her. Rating: 4.4.4

Non-recommendations or wary recommendations

I hate to say, "Don't read this book. It's bad." It's really not anyone's place to make a judgment call like that for another person. However, there are so many books out there that you hear such great things about and it would be nice to know before you pick it up if there's anything that could be considered offensive in it. I'm just going to put out a little information that I've gathered about a few of these books.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I didn't get through this book. Not because I didn't want to finish it. I really did. I loved the premise of the book and it was so interesting. There were just so many F-words that I finally had to stop. I just can't handle too much of that. If I were rating this book it would probably be a 4.2.5.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon
I started listening to this one on cd's. Within the first 15 minutes there was a scene with several F-words. It was a stressful, serious situation so I don't know if that kind of language continued through the book. So I really can't rate this book. I'd be interested in knowing a little more about it, if anyone's read it.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
I liked this book. You have to think of it as pure fiction (which it is) or it might shake your faith in the Bible a little. It's very disrespectful towards the prophet Jacob, if not sacrilegious, but I liked the women so much that I didn't worry about it. There is also a lot of sex in this book, but not really illicit or graphic. I have friends who couldn't finish it because of this but it didn't bother me much. (Isn't it funny how different people are affected?) I don't necessarily recommend this book but if the sort of things I've talked about don't bother you, it might be worth trying. It makes me nervous that I've just said all of this. Oh well, think what you will. That's my take on it. The rating for this book is (according to my memory) 4 or 5.3.2