Book Review: Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller

Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is a novel that at it’s core I think is about the bonds between mothers and daughters and how what happens in the past often comes back to haunt the future.

Sylvia Sandon is a wife to Nathan and a mother to Hannah and Emmie. She’s overwhelmed with the demands of her daughters, an artistic career presently going nowhere, and a marriage which is in trouble. It seems that she and Nathan have lost that spark that used to keep their marriage alive. Sure it can be the fact that they have kids now, they are both busy, or can it be she just doesn’t care anymore. Then one day when she takes the kids into town she meets Tai Rosen, father to one of her art students, and she’s more than intrigued. Yet…she always said she would never become her mother…

To better understand Sylvia you have to go back to her childhood which was far from normal. Her own parents had a very rocky relationship and Sylvia’s father was prone to very violent outbursts towards his family. Her mother carried on an affair with a married man for years and very selfishly involved her daughters in the secrecy of this affair. As well Sylvia’s mother had a very different kind of relationship with her – she treated Sylvia as a confidant instead of a daughter. She put pressures on Sylvia that no mother should. Sylvia saw what this affair did to her family as it literally destroyed them.

Sylvia swore to herself that she would never let this happen to her family and yet when Tai came into her life she began to sway. She was unhappy and frustrated and Tai made her feel better about herself even while she was consumed with guilt. In the short time of their tryst, very explicit emails went back and forth and Sylvia became more distant from Nathan. Nothing stays the same for long though and the walls fall down when Sylvia’s oldest daughter Hannah learns of the affair. Now Sylvia has put her own daughter in the same position she was as a young girl – keeping a secret that no child should ever have to keep for a parent.

Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller is an emotionally charged novel that at times has you cringing at Sylvia’s childhood and then frustrated with her decisions as an adult. I don’t condone infidelity in any way but this novel me me wonder about the reasons why – could Sylvia’s upbringing have had anything to do with the fact that she fell into the affair? That’s what I asked myself as I read the novel and I guess for me I don’t know – if you haven’t lived someone else’s life you can’t really say what decisions you might make.

This novel would appeal to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction and I think it would be a great pick for a book club as novels such as these always spark a lot of conversation. For myself I found the novel slow to start but once I got into the dynamics of Sylvia’s childhood and it’s implications I was completely drawn in and didn’t want to put the book down.

I read Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller for her book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can see what others thought of the novel here and be sure to check out Dori Ostermiller’s website as well. You can purchase your own copy of Outside the Ordinary World here in the US and here in Canada.

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

My copy of Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller was provided for review by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

Book Review: Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb

I’ve been a fan of Wally Lamb for quite a few years now having read a few of his novels so I was excited to read Wishin’ and Hopin’ and I wasn’t disappointed. At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but just as quickly I got into the swing of things back in the 1960′s and starting enjoying this novel quite a bit. It really takes you back to a time when things were easier and reminds you of the younger years you’ve already left behind with fondness.

Felix Funicello, yes a distant cousin to the famous Annette Funicello, is in fifth grade and much to his horror is always compared to Dondi, the adorable war orphan in comic strips. This novel is about Felix in the fifth grade and yet so much more with all the other quirky characters hanging out in this book. Felix is quite the kid, very naive, and very amusing. You can’t help but laugh out loud with some of the things he’ll say or do. He has a friend Lonny who is far from innocent and Lonny likes to tell Felix jokes that just fly right over his head and unfortunately for Felix come back later to bite him in the butt when he tells them in the most inappropriate places.

Life is pretty busy for Felix. His father runs a diner where Felix likes to spend time, his mother is going to be on television for the Pillsbury Bake-Off (this was so funny), Felix himself is going to appear on the Ranger Andy show, school is hopping with new teachers and entertaining students and most of all there is the dreaded school Christmas pageant coming up.

One of the funniest parts of the novel for me was when a new student came to Felix’s fifth grade class – her name Zhenya and she’s from Russia. Between the way she pronounces things to her personality, these sections had me laughing. She definitely wasn’t the typical Catholic girl and while she wasn’t too popular with the girls she certainly was with the boys as she loved sports instead of girly things. I busted a gut on her pronunciation of Felix Funicello’s name which I just have to share – Fillix Foony Jello.

Other than the funny Zhenya, this novel is full of funny and quirky characters. There are many characters introduced in this novel and yet it’s not hard to keep track of any of them. Felix’s classmates are amusing especially Rosalie who strives to be the teacher’s pet and gets her nose very out of joint if she isn’t. My favorite of course is Felix who takes us back to the innocence of being a kid where a scary movie sends you to sleep with mom and where you just live life without the worries and stresses of being an adult.

If you want to find yourself back in the time when the Beatles were Entertainer of the Year, Mary Poppins was the most popular movie, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis was in the theater, Annette Funicello was at the height of her career, or Gunsmoke was still on the air; then Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb is the book for you. You surely won’t be disappointed by this wonderful journey back in time!

I read Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb for his book tour with TLC Book Tours. You can check out what others thought of the novel here. You can purchase your own copy here in the US and here in the Canada.

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

My copy of Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb was provided for review by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

Book Review: Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning is the third in the MacKayla Lane series and yet another great thrill ride for Mac! She sure leads the exciting life although battling monsters and wondering if you’re going to live another day isn’t exactly the kind of excitement I would thrive on but Mac sure does. I just love her as a character – she’s spunky and funny and never one to shy away from a battle.

This installment finds Mac still in Dublin and still wanting revenge on the Lord Master for her sister Alina’s death. She is still in the clutches of Barrons and V’lane; always debating on which one she should be putting her trust in or if she should be trusting them at all. The thing is both do save her life when it needs saving so it’s hard to know – although they are both using her to get closer to the Sinsar Dubh (the dark book).

Now Mac has started getting pages from Alina’s journal. Who could be sending them and why? What message is someone trying to send her? The pages are disturbing to Mac and she wishes that Alina had trusted her enough to tell her what was going on in Dublin although all Alina was trying to do was protect Mac. I think either way Mac would have been drawn into the dark world in Dublin even after Alina’s death — they would have known she had a sister by then and hunted her down.

As Halloween approaches Mac learns that the veil between our world and the dark world is very thin and if something isn’t done to reinforce it our world will be taken over by the dark world. Mac gets the Orb from Barrons for the sidhe seers to use but that doesn’t necessarily turn out too good. She also got him to promise to help protect the walls on Halloween which he agreed to do but we never find out if he actually is or not. No surprise that Barrons has his own agenda when it comes to most things.

This novel finds the chemistry between Mac and Barrons at a high point and I keep waiting for it to explode. I love how the author has kept the relationship between them as it is because it adds a really amusing note to the books when the two are at each other bickering. Then there is V’lane who promises Mac the world but I’m unsure about him – can he be trusted – I don’t think so.

Faefever leaves us with a humdinger of a cliffhanger! Wow! I didn’t see it coming and when I got to the end I turned the page over a few times hoping there was more. Lucky for me I have Dreamfever waiting for me. Things are pretty dicey for Mac and it seems that her two life savers – Barrons and V’lane are nowhere to be found. What will happen? Your guess is as good as mine but I’m dying to find out.

I read Faefever by Karen Marie Moning for her tour with TLC Book Tours. I am loving this series – it’s really fantastic. You can check out other tour stops for the books here. In addition you can see my review of Darkfever and Bloodfever if you wish. Be sure and pop in to check out Karen Marie Moning’s website. You can purchase your own copy of Faefever here in the US and here in Canada.

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

My review copy of Faefever by Karen Marie Moning was sent to by TLC Book Tours and the publisher.

Book Review: Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto is a tale about angels coming to earth trying to do their best to straighten things out. Three angels are sent down posing as siblings to Venus Cove – Gabriel, Ivy and Bethany with Bethany being the youngest and most inexperienced since she came to be only seventeen mortal years ago. Their mission is to conquer the dark forces that seem to be taking over everywhere.

As their goal is to fit in on earth, Gabriel poses as a music teacher at the high school where Bethany attends as a high school student. Ivy spends her days focusing on many charitable works. Of course high school is something very new to Bethany and her first days there are nerve wracking. She knew that to fit in is the most important thing to accomplish but luckily Bethany is quite beautiful and has no trouble making some friends. It was funny to read about her learning the normal things that teenage girls take for granted – for the most part she simply couldn’t understand how all this ‘stuff’ could be important.

Without even trying Bethany also captures of the interest of one of the most popular boys in school – Xavier Woods; a boy that, after losing his girlfriend in an accident, has been uninterested in any girls. However Bethany isn’t just any girl and Xavier is very attracted to her and she to him even though she knows she should be avoiding anything human like the emotions involved in caring about someone. Yet Bethany just can’t stop herself; she has fallen in love with Xavier. He knows the truth about her and doesn’t care. The only thing he cares about is he doesn’t want to ever be separated from her and yet they both know one day she will be sent back.

Allowing your emotions to get involved in your work though can lead to problems and it seems that some very dark forces have come to stay in Venus Cove. The angels must battle them while trying to keep the humans they’ve come to care about safe. It will take all of their powers – Gabriel being the warrior, Ivy, the healer and Bethany, the one with the closest connection to the human race to win the battle against evil…providing they can.

I enjoyed Halo, a YA novel which is classed as paranormal/fantasy/romance. It’s a great story that kept my attention throughout even though it weighs in at almost 500 pages. The amazing thing is it was written by a now eighteen year old and I found that surprising while reading it – it’s really quite well written. It’s also the first of a trilogy and I’m looking forward to reading more about Bethany and her ‘earth family’. I think this is the type of book that you have to just let go of reality and enjoy and isn’t that the point of enjoying a book in the first place? If you like to read books like this, make sure and read Halo – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

You can purchase your own copy of Halo by Alexandra Adornetto here in the US and here in Canada.

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

My copy of Halo by Alexandra Adornetto was provided to me for review from Zeitghost Media.