The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon #3)

by Dan Brown
3 Stars
Setting: Washington, DC
509 pages
Published 2009

Ellie's Review
The first half of this book was a real page-turner for me. Then I started loosing interest, and it was work to keep myself interested at the end. I didn't feel like I learned that much in this book, unlike his other Robert Langdon novels. I'm interested in learning more about Masons but didn't feel like I learned too much from this book.  Brown had too much of an agenda, and I just got tired of it. One of his scientific breakthroughs in the novel was something I've known for years - I just expected more.  Overall, I liked it but this was not up on the same level as The Da Vinci Code.

Book Summary
As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object--artfully encoded with five symbols--is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation... one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's beloved mentor, Peter Solomon--a prominent Mason and philanthropist--is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth. 

Firefly Lane

by Kristin Hannah
3 Stars
Settings: USA
496 pages
Published 2008

Ellie's Review
Although the beginning of this book felt too much like a Lifetime movie, I ended up really enjoying it and couldn't put it down at the end. It's a nice chick-lit novel that's totally girly and just an enjoyable read.


Book Summary
Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated by Lucia Graves
4 Stars
Setting: Barcelona, Spain
487 pages
Published 2003

Ellie's Review
This is a beautifully written book! The plot of this mysterious book is so well laid out that at the end I could see how carefully the details were planned from the beginning, yet it wasn't predictable. I really enjoyed this both for the writing and the plot, which doesn't happen often for me.

Book Summary
Barcelona, 1945—Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes one day to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again.

Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a book from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the book he selects, a novel called The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last of Carax’s books in existence.

See Ellie's review of Zafon's book The Angel's Game.

The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme #8)

by Jeffrey Deaver
3 Stars
Setting: USA
414 pages
Published 2008

Ellie's Review
This novel reminded me of some of the original, classic John Grisham's - that's a good thing in my mind. While solving a crazy mystery, the reader learns about some topic. I would have given this 4 stars, but I didn't like who the killer was and Deaver had a teenager in NYC owning a car (I think that's totally unrealistic, especially for one in foster care - Deaver needs to learn to write about the subway).  If you like Grisham's first books and haven't  read Deaver, give him a try.  This is my first mystery read from the Lincoln Rhyme series, and I was fine picking this up without the others.

Book Summary
Lincoln Rhyme and partner/paramour Amelia Sachs return to face a criminal whose ingenious staging of crimes is enabled by a terrifying access to information....  When Lincoln's estranged cousin Arthur Rhyme is arrested on murder charges, the case is perfect - too perfect.  Forensic evidence from Arthur's home is found all over the scene of the crime, and it looks like the fate of Lincoln's relative is sealed.

Belong to Me

by Marisa de los Santos
4 Stars
Setting: USA
400 pages
Published 2008

Ellie's Review
What does it mean to belong to someone? This novel switches narration between Cornelia (someone I'd love to be friends with), Piper (the queen bee of a social group), and Dev (teenage genius); whose lives all intersect and explores various relationships as life becomes unexpected.  I really liked this book - it was quite enjoyable.

Book Summary
As this book begins, the couple is settling into their first house on an idyllic street in a picturesque Philadelphia suburb. Cornelia is inexplicably drawn to "this unsurprising place" that she yearns to call home, but her neighbors are less sure of how these transplanted, apparently childless urbanites will fare in their midst. Especially Piper Truitt. The epitome of blonde cool, this demanding mother of two has created her own version of perfection within the walls of a home that sits across the street from Cornelia's. From their early encounter at a dinner party, the two are at odds, a situation that Cornelia, adrift from her familiar surroundings, cannot conceive how to navigate.

As the novel progresses, new characters emerge. We meet Elizabeth, Piper's best friend, who's battling cancer, as well as Toby, Cornelia's brother, and Clare, the bright and compassionate teen familiar to readers of Love Walked In. Then there's Lake, a single mother working at a local Italian restaurant, who throws Cornelia a timely lifeline in the form of a dish of spaghetti alla puttanesca. Lake's son Dev, a preternaturally gifted 13-year-old, becomes Cornelia's unexpected kindred spirit. Deftly blending several tales at once, de los Santos' narrative is richly embroidered with intertwined lives and loves. As present circumstances are threatened by the revelation of past secrets, the friends forge a circle of strength and forgiveness that the reader, too, belongs to -- and will hate to leave when the last page is turned. A triumphant testimony to the power of love, Belong to Me hums with the hope that pulls friends through the ups and downs that the years hold in store for everyone. 

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

by Thomas Hardy
4 Stars
Classic, Historical Fiction
Setting: UK
592 pages
Published 1884

Ellie's Review
While I really enjoyed Jane Austen's books where the girl always ends up happily ever after with her love, Hardy's view of what girls go through was fascinating. Sometimes life sucks. I contemplated giving this book five stars, but I was a bit disappointed in the ending. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was sad that it ended.  This gave me a lot to think about.

Book Summary
Thomas Hardy's penetrating look at the sexual hypocrisy of Victorian society attracted strong barbs (and numerous readers) when first published. Today it is revered for its subtle character portraits and resonant symbolism.

The original title was Tess of the D'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented.

Outliers

by Malcolm Gladwell
4 Stars
Nonfiction: Other
309 pages
Published 2008

Ellie's Review

Outliers is a great book that looks into why individuals or groups have been so much more or less successful than others. It mentions the research without going too deep into the statistics to overwhelm/bore the reader. I learned some fascinating things in regards to raising children and think any parent in particular would like this book. This is a wonderful book that I think anyone can gain great insight from.

Book Summary
Gladwell argues that, when we try to understand success, we normally start with the wrong question. We ask 'what is this person like?' when we should really be asking 'where are they from?' The real secret of success turns out to be surprisingly simple, and it hinges on a few crucial twists in people's life stories - on the culture they grow up in and the way they spend their time.