Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

It was light when we got to Lisa's so we could actually see her garden and everything!  I like it when it starts getting lighter in the evenings.  Anyways, back to the review ...

We all really enjoyed this book, it's set on a small island in-between America and Canada which has a surprising number of Japanese immigrants (it does tell you why in the book but I forget).  The story starts when a local is found dead and a Japanese-American is accused, the trial calls lots of different witnesses and you find out their own story when they take the stand.  The book flicks between present day (1954) and before the 2nd world war.  It's a real, did he/didn't he book filled with stereotypes and prejudices.

We liked the characters, the story, how it was told but the ending was a bit disappointing (I forget why, this'll teach me to wait 2 weeks before writing the blog post).

Concept: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
Ending: 6/10
Cover: 7/10
Page Turner: 7/10
Who would we slap? Ishmael and Carl's Mum
Where's the cheese: Sex scenes, did we really need to know all that shower business?
Would we recommend? 4/4
Better as a ... film
Add a twist: Spoiler!!!!  Someone else murdered him.

Total: 8/10

Our next book will be 'The Falcons of Fire and Ice' by Karen Maitland and the June meeting will be at Kate's house (we won't ask which one).

After The Party by Lisa Jewell

We read another book by Lisa Jewell back in August 2009, so we thought it was about time we tried another one of hers.

This book is definitely chick-lit, it deals with the trials and tribulations of a 30-something couple who have been together for nearly a decade, have two children but aren't married.  The story follows both sides of the relationship which is wobbly to say the least.  It was an easy read and it was definitely a page turner but it was quite annoying at the same time.

I really wanted to knock their heads together and just get them to talk to each other, it's not hard and would have saved them a lot of dithering.  We didn't really like any of the characters, I wonder if the author made them deliberately unlikeable; Ralph was an annoying flighty artist, who had to continually 'find himself', Jem was quite shallow and we hated her for being 'too thin' for her wedding dress (like that ever happens), Jem's sister was too perfect, Joel was just weird, Joel's grown-up son was unbelievable (as in we didn't believe that a 25 year old would fancy a 38 year old who has just given birth), do I need to continue?

We really didn't like the ending, very contrite and it could have been so much better.  Our suggestion is that Joel murders Ralph in the end, that would make the novel very dark and quite likeable.

Concept: 4/10
Plot: 6/10
Ending: 1/10
Cover: 2/10
Page Turner: 9/10
Slap?  Everyone except Jessica
Cheese: Ralph's painting which magically made everything alright
Recommend?  4/5
Better as a ... murder mystery

Total: 5/10

Lisa chose our next book, 'Snow Falling on Cedars' by David Guterson which we'll be reading for May.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 9th April at my house.