LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Woo hoo! I snagged yet another LibraryThing Early Review copy! This time I'm getting Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker. I've gotten really lucky with this program and have read some excellent books. I'm really looking forward to reading this one, too!

Every Past Thing by Pamela Thompson

Every Past Thing is a very complicated book. I can’t say that I liked the book as a whole, but the more I read, the more I became wrapped up in the novel. This is not a novel to curl up with on a rainy day and get lost in. It is a very difficult read, at times painfully boring. Pamela Thompson’s prose is dense and challenging, but altogether beautiful. She is a very talented writer. She needs to be taken in small bites and savored, chewed on for a bit. By the end of the novel I cared very deeply for Mary and Edwin. Their discontent was palpable, so much that it made me uncomfortable at times.

One of the things I loved about this novel was the way Thompson revealed little bits at a time about Mary and Elmer’s past. You really didn’t learn the whole story about the relationship between Mary, Elmer, and Elmer’s brother Samuel until the very end.

I thought she handled Mary’s “search” for Jimmy Roberts, a man she had a brief relationship many years before, artfully. I quote “search” because I don’t feel Mary was really looking for Jimmy as much as hoping she might encounter him. And the near misses were brilliant.

Thompson’s inclusion of Emerson quotes throughout the novel delighted me, although I still find him very difficult to read.

When I first started this book, up until maybe 2/3 of the way through it, I thought I would never recommend it to anyone. So dry, so difficult. But something happened near the end. I now say, pick it up if you’re brave. Be willing to give it some time. Just bury yourself in it, and find Thompson’s rhythm. It might surprise you.

Double the good luck!

I found out today I'm getting one of the Early Review copies from the bonus batch in November, too! And best of all, it's the new Mary Doria Russell!, Dreamers of the Day. I haven't read anything of hers yet, but I have heard such glowing reviews of The Sparrow and Children of God that I just can't wait to read this one! I can't believe my luck!

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Yes! I snagged another Early Review book from LibraryThing! I'm getting Becky by Lenore Hart, which is about an adult Becky Thatcher, of Tom Sawyer fame, telling her story. It sounds like a great read!

I'm making progress with my first Early Review copy, Every Past Thing by Pamela Thompson. I'll save my thoughts for a full-on review when I finish it. My feelings about it are quite complicated.