Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

I don't know why I don't like this author more than I do.  I liked The Poisonwood Bible a lot, but my interest usually wanes in her other novels.  I haven't read them all though, so I will stick to this one for now.

Set in Appalachia, this is the story of an unhappy young wife and mother, Dellarobia, who lives on a sheep farm with her husband and his parents. They are dirt poor, with a large balloon payment on their equipment coming due - with no money to pay it. Dellarobia comes across millions of Monarch butterflies one day, that have settled on their land, having left Mexico due to apparent climate change (too hot for them to survive). Unfortunately, although Appalachia doesn't get too hot for them, the fear is that it will become to cold for them to survive and they will die out.  Enter the "scientist", Ovid, who has studied the Monarchs for the length of his career, and wants to continue to do so on Dellarobia's in-law's land.

So, this is a study in climate change and how it is affecting our world; a study of Monarch butterflies; a study in relationships: mother/child, husband/wife, friend/friend, unrequited love, unconditional love; unplanned pregnancies; and the search for a happier life.

All of the above, and yet I kept checking to see how many pages I had left to read....  This was simply not "gripping" enough for me. Maybe because I'm not on board with the "climate change" theory being brought on by man, believing that our world is constantly changing whether man is here or not. (That's not to say I don't care about taking care of our world!) Maybe because I love the Monarch butterflies and learning about their breeding and migratory patterns was interesting - but I'm not a butterfly scientist. Maybe because I'm not a big fan of authors who describe everything - especially scenery - in detail on every page. I would read another novel by Barbara Kingsolver....but not anytime soon.

Wendy's Rating: ***

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I really loved this story! It was charming and funny and honest - and showed great character development. This book clearly demonstrates the positive and negative aspects of living with Aspergers.  Don was an extremely likable character, despite his obvious eccentricities - or I guess, because of them. One of my favorite quotes in the book is when Don states, "Humans often fail to see what is close to them and obvious to others". I loved when he filled in for Gene and gave the lecture on Asperger's syndrome. That set the scene for the entire book. Loved it!

I thought Gene was a complete jerk. I could not believe the way he treated his marriage and Claudia. I could not believe that she continued to live with such a jerk.  I would not have been happy if no one had confronted Gene about his hurtful behavior at some point in the book!  He so deserved Phil's punch - and so much more.  At least by that point, he knew he deserved it, if not from Phil, then so many others.

Rosie was a wonderful influence on Don, despite having miserably failed the Wife Project test. ;) I thought she was a little hard on Phil though. But, we really didn't know too much about Phil except for her assessment of him. So many lost years for that relationship. Better late than never though I guess.  Relationships are hard enough without living with erroneous information.

This is a true love story and I found it completely heartwarming. I will absolutely read the sequel, The Rose Effect.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

I liked this book quite a bit more than the last one I read by Susanna Kearsley (The Shadowy Horses). My main complaint about that one was the lack of character development. I think The Firebird did a much better job, not only with character development, but also establishing relationships between people that were meaningful and believable.

I liked the historical elements of this novel, especially the parts involving St. Petersburg, since I am intrigued by Russian history. It was interesting to read about the developing relationship between Nicola and Rob as they were watching the developing relationship between Anna and Edmund. Nicola & Rob following Anna to make the connection between the Firebird and Empress Catherine was a clever way to share Anna's story. I was surprised that they couldn't make a clear connection between the two, but I happy that Rob found the James Bond books so that Margaret Ross (poor thing) could go on her well-deserved trip! :)

Susanna Kearsley obviously writes a lot about the Jacobites and their fight for King James to claim the throne as his birthright. I have come to the conclusion that no matter how many times I read about James (First-Eighth!), the Morays, Colonel Graeme, King George, the fight between the Catholics and Protestants, Scotland and Ireland, this is just not a part of history that I am familiar enough with to be able to remember it all. I am not sure I am clearer on the history of Scotland in the late 1600s-early 1700s than I was when I read my first Susanna Kearsley book! Slow learner I guess. I did like how Colonel Graeme from The Winter Sea was also a character in this book.

The only thing I took exception to was Rob's insistence that Nicola speak publicly about her "gift". Why? Why couldn't she keep that information private and them still be together? If I were Nicola, I would not want to be "used" by people (ie Sebastian) for my gift. Now that she has exposed her gift, she WILL be used by others. As much as I liked Rob, I did not agree at all with him forcing that issue.

I suspected early on that Captain Jamieson may be Anna's father, but when he pretty much disappeared from the story, I forgot about my suspicions. So, I wasn't surprised to find out that he was indeed her father, but I really thought he was a Jamieson, not a Moray! It didn't occur to me that he would be disguised, since I really believed that he was dead.

All-in-all, a good story.

Wendy's Rating: ****