I am just starting one of Danielle Steel's latest novels, "Answered Prayers".  I have ready everything she has published to date.  I really love her novels, but, lately, they have become very predictable.  The writing is still very good, but you almost know what is going to happen before you read it.  Maybe that is because I have read so many of her books over so many years.  Anway, I will let you guys know what I think after I am finished.  Has anyone else read this already.

 

I went through a Danielle Steel phase about 20 years ago.  After about 6 books, I lost interest.  The ones I really liked best are Kaleidoscope and Zoya and I think I like those more than the others because the stories were more fully realized.  They were more intricate and not superficial.  The reason I got sick of Danielle Steel is because her stories started to sound the same, and also, her characters are so one-dimensional.  Her characters are "beautiful" and have "long red flowing hair" and "green eyes" and that's supposed to suffice for a description.  I'm still always willing to read her again, IF the story is something new and interesting.  Let us know what you think of the new one

Sambuca -- I love Alice Hoffman.  I especially love the way she writes teenagers.  She always gives them a beautiful inner life... they are real people with real thoughts and not trivial and superficial, like most teenagers are portrayed.  Seventh Heaven is still my favorite of hers.  I'm almost at the end of The Bonesetter's Daughter and although it's not my favorite Amy Tan novel, I'm really enjoying it.  I don't often read novels... I have this concentration problem!!!

Nancy -- I'm exactly the same way.  I always thought there was something weird about me, but if I read a book that has something difficult at the beginning -- especially if it has something to do with a child being hurt -- I can't read the rest of the book.  I give it away.

 

The only time I was able to read a book that had a gruesome first chapter, was a non-fiction (true crime) journalistic book about the Son of Sam killings.  It's by Maury Terry and it's called Ultimate Evil.  The first chapter is meant to catch your attention, but it is difficult to read.  The rest of the book is a fascinating story about the Son of Sam and his ties to the Satanic cults in this country.  It is amazing all the people who tie in to this cult and how Berkowitz, Manson, and some other famous people, were connected to this cult.  In fact, Maury Terry makes a very good case for there actually being FOUR killers.  They are all dead, however.  Berkowitz is the only one of the four killers living but he has never revealed this information publicly.

Nancy -- I'll definitely take a pass!!  I don't like stories that make me feel bad and creepy.  I think that's why I tend to like Amy Tan and Alice Hoffman.  I liked Bonesetter's Daughter -- all of her books are about mother/daughter relationships, with the daughter finding out the story of the mother's life.  And the mother's life is always fascinating and full.  My favorite Amy Tan novel is The Kitchen God's Wife.  In that book, the mother's story is astounding.

 

I also read Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz ... one of those thrillers that's a great ride, a fun read that you can't put down.  It's about a man who has lost his wife and two daughters in a plane crash, but then he is briefly contacted by a woman who claims to have been on that same plane and has survived.  She disappears soon after she meets him because she is being chased by some bad guys.  He's a journalist so he, of course, gets totally involved in trying to find out who this woman is, what the secret of the plane crash is, and who those thugs are!  It's a great read.  However, I will admit that the ending is disappointing.  But the journey is great.

 

I just finished an old classic by Paulo Coehlho.  It's called The Alchemist and it's a simple story that has caught on with the public.  It's mainly a spiritual fable about a shepherd and the journey he takes, and I thought it was quite lovely.  It might seem a bit simple and sappy to some people, but I really connected with a lot of the messages the book was trying to impart.  It's an easy and fast read.

 

Don't know what the next book will be... I've got a sci-fi novel that's been sitting around for years (by George Turner) or possibly reading The Hours which I bought for half price online.  I also bought The River King for a few cents online and I'm still waiting for it.  I'd use the local library but the one near me is terrible and never has what I want.  In fact, the libraries in New York are a scandal -- short hours, lousy book selections, books in bad condition, etc.  Just terrible.

...spelled the guy's name wrong:  It's PAULO COELHO -- The Alchemist

I finally finished the book I was telling you about -- "The Seventh Telling:  The Kabbalah of Moshe Katan" by Mitchell Chefitz.  This is one of the most unusual, yet engrossing books I have ever read.  Let me start by saying I have NOT been in the mood for any type of inspirational reading.  Well, [Diane], as they say, when the person is ready, the learning comes to them ... or whatever "they" say along those lines.  I'm still not sure I was "ready", but what a book.  That said, as I was about to leave the library the book SO jumped out at me that I had to grab it and take it home.  Now I want to purchase a copy.

 

This is a work of fiction but based on the Kabbalah (which I have never studied).  In fact, my lack of religious knowledge is pretty much complete.  I'm hoping that in typing this I'll figure out a way to describe the book. :)  Basically, it is the story of two people who are telling the stories they learned from another couple.  The first couple are a lapsed Jewish woman and an Asian (non-Jewish) man who was very interested in theology.  The couple whose stories they told were those of a semi-lapsed Rabbi and his wife.  Every once and a while, between the stories, you get a glimpse of the couple who are doing the telling. 

 

There is no way I can tell you the story (although that is exactly what the writer would want me to do).  He claims that the learning is in the telling.  To take it all in is a slow read -- took me about a month -- because you just cannot disgest the meanings etc. behind the stories unless you go slowly.  The reading is not tedious -- it's really quite easy -- and any Hebrew terms that you may not be familiar with (I didn't know most of them) are indexed at the back of the book.  In all, it is a book of enlightenment.  Yes, it is told from a Jewish point of view I suppose, but it's a book for anyone.  If you're "trained" in Judiasm, I suppose it might be more enlightening and more readable, but I don't know because I was not trained.  Since I am obviously having a great deal of trouble trying to explain this, I'll just copy the cover notes:

 

********

"You are dead to me," Stephanie's father told her when she married Sidney.  For thirty years there had been no contact, until her mother died, and then only a terse note.

 

So begins a journey into the Kabbalah, a spiritual discipline hidden within the folds of Jewish history.  Stephanie and Sidney have been sutdying with Moshe Katan, a kabbalist who shared his learning only when he perceived that a kabbalistic intervention might be necessary to save the life of Rivkah, his wife.  For that reason alone he taught the course that opened Sidney's and Stephanie's eyes, a byproduct of what was intended primarily for Rivkah.

 

What has happened to Moshe and Rivkah we do not know, only that their house is now being used for an extraordinary storytelling, a spiritual discipline to share with those willing to risk examining the very core of their beliefs.

 

The Seventh Telling is a roller coaster ride through all four worlds of the Kabbalah, a story of transformation, of Moshe, Rivkah, Sidney, and Stephanie, and, quite possibly of the reader as well.

 

***********

 

Except for about 4 pages toward the end, this is not a tear jerker -- however, if one of the stories happens to "hit home" you will certainly begin to think about your own life.  It's a truly amazing piece of work.  Let me know if you read it cause I'm curious to know what others think.

Thanks for the review, Beth -- I never heard of this book, but I might check it out (however, I have no patience with reading again!!!  I was on a roll for awhile and now I'm back to my space cadet ways) ...

 

If you read some of the reviews on amazon.com, you might find if interesting to note that quite a few of the reviewers said that the book "called" to them.