Ti | Book Chatter

It is cold and windy out and a storm is a brewin’. I love this weather! After a quick trip to the market to get more stuff for the big meal, we are about to head over to see the in-laws and watch some football. I’ve got a roast in the Crock-Pot and I am trying to ~~bribe~~ rally the kids into sitting for a holiday pic. Each year, it gets harder and harder to take pics of them and I’ve got nothing good to put on the Christmas card. Seems like a simple request but I swear, they act like I am killing them or something.

On the reading front, I am still reading 1Q84 and really loving it. It’s the type of story that you digest in small bits because it really makes you ponder your existence (in general). I’ve been enjoying a couple of chapters here and there, but come Wednesday, I will be reading King’s new one so I have to finish 1Q84 before then. Time to pick-up the pace a bit. I am also reading Sunset Park and that is also a book that you ponder after putting it down, so my brain is in overdrive right now. I love it though.

This week I am working Monday and Tuesday and then I am off the rest of the week. We will be enjoying another year of “Thanksgiving in Pajamas” which means that on Thursday, we will be absolute slugs. We will eat, drink and be merry and do nothing but watch movies and maybe The Twilight Zone or I Love Lucy. A long time ago we did away with the pretense and it’s made the holiday super fun for everyone. We still break-out the fine china but it’s casual and easy. It’s become my favorite thing.

Anyway, I am off to get those kids photographed. Wish me luck!

The House on Tradd Street
By Karen White
(NAL Trade, Paperback, 9780451225092, November 2008, 352pp.)

The Short of It:

Full of Southern charm but sadly, the story never grabbed me.

The Rest of It:

Melanie Middleton sells houses. Old houses. But she doesn’t really like them and can’t understand why anyone would ever want to restore one. This becomes a bit of a problem when an old man leaves his home to her with a slew of conditions that must be met. She has to live in the house for year, restore it and only then can she sell it.

Well, you know where this going, right?

It’s haunted and Melanie has, how can I say it…a special talent.

I know that Karen White has a huge following and really, there were parts of this novel that I liked quite a bit. I adored the parts about the house and I grew to like Melanie quite a bit, but in the end it was too much of a good thing. There’s romance. Actually, quite a bit of it and as charming as Jack Trenholm is, the whole relationship was formulaic (think, woman in peril).

Plus, it took way too long to set-up.

Having said this, I took a peek at the other books in the series as this is only book one and I have to tell you that book two looks to be a bit more my style. Everything is more established, the newness of the romance is gone and the story looks pretty good.

Would I give Karen White another shot? Yes, but I prefer a story with a little less romance and a bit more meat on its bones and frankly, more about the house and its inhabitants.

Source: Borrowed
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