Devourer of Books

First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Waite-Brown

Eve always told people that she planned to join the Peace Corps one day, but she never really thought about what it would mean to actually DO it.  Eventually, after college, she realized that it was basically a now or never situation, and Eve wasn’t the sort of girl who liked to fail in what she said she would do.  As she walked into her meeting with her Peace Corps recruiter, fully expecting to ‘wow’ him with her awesomeness, she never expected that she would fall in love with him and it would change her life forever.  Okay, the last half of that sentence makes this book sound like it is going to be totally cheesy and mushy – some sort of real life romance novel.  BLEGH.  Luckily, “First Comes Love, The Comes Malaria” is not like that at ALL.

After meeting John, her recruiter, Eve embarks on a journey that leads her from New York to Ecuador to Uganda.  She is both gung-ho and hesitant about each step, thinking about what she might be leaving behind by leaving the comfort of the United States for a poor town in Ecuador or a part of Uganda that US officials are not even allowed to enter because of the danger.  Clearly, there is a lot of exciting stuff (well, exciting from the safe vantage point of a reader) going on in this book.

Lest you think this is only an adventure book, let me just tell you that Eve is awesome.  She is smart and sassy and I felt like I was sitting with one of my girlfriends, listening to her tell her story – complete with hand gestures and sarcasm.  I really loved her wit and style, and I think we should be best friends.  If you read a lot of book blogs, you might be able to think of this book as “Monique and the Mango Rains,” as experienced and told by Trish from Hey, Lady, Whatcha’ Readin’?

I seriously very highly recommend this book, whether you’re an idealist who wants to go out and make the world better, someone who wishes they had the cajones to follow love and their ideals to third world countries, or someone who likes an entertaining story; in other words, basically everyone!

For those of you who have or will read “First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria,” and just can’t get enough of Eve, I would like to let you know that she’ll be HERE on Devourer of Books this June with a guest post while I’m off attending to my new baby boy.

Buy this book on Amazon. No, seriously, buy it now! (affiliate link)

This review is part of “Debutante Ball Week” on DevourerofBooks.  All this week I’m featuring reviews from the 2009 class of The Debutante Ball and spotlighting the 2010 Debs.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

Oh, Truly, you’ve had such a difficult life, but you’re so interesting!

“The Little Giant of Aberdeen County” is the story of Truly who was born in a small town in upstate New York in the 1950s.  She was never like other children, she was always big, big, big.  Even so, she never realized just how other people viewed her until going to school with her dismissive teacher who called her ‘giant.’

Truly’s sister, Serena Jane was the exact opposite; small, delicate, and feminine where Truly was bulky and dressed in boys clothes (the only thing that would fit), Serena Jane was the most beautiful girl in town.  Despite her big dreams of getting out of town, however, Serena Jane becomes involved with ‘Bob Bob’ Morgan, son of the doctor Robert Morgan.  Eventually Serena Jane’s involvement causes Truly to become enmeshed with the unpleasant man as well.

I loved the way Truly grew during this novel.

Wait, that sounds like a really bad joke.

I didn’t mean it that way.

I loved the way Truly developed her character over the course of this novel.  Really she grew in a variety of ways.  One was the obvious physical growth; she had a form of  giganticism that kept her growing nonstop her entire life.  ”Little Giant of Aberdeen County” also follows Truly from birth through adulthood.  What was really interesting, though, and what i’m really talking about when I say her ‘growth’ is how Truly learned to feel comfortable with who she was and take control of her life within the strictures of her environment.

The language of the book was simply lovely, I adored Baker’s writing style and the story she was telling.  I listened to an audio version of this book and really, the narrator was just the icing on this already delicious cake of a book.

Buy this book here and support this blog.  Purchase from:
Powells.*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound .*
Amazon.*

This review is part of “Debutante Ball Week” on DevourerofBooks.  All this week I’m featuring reviews from the 2009 class of The Debutante Ball and spotlighting the 2010 Debs.

I got this book from my library.
*These are affiliate links, if you buy this book here I will be rich!  Rich I tell you!

The Debutante Ball is a group blog for debut authors.  The fourth class of authors is currently discussing things bookish (and lots of other things as well!) at www.thedebutanteball.com.

Our spotlight today is Deb Sarah!

Who is she?

A journalist who has covered Capitol Hill as well as written features, after her first two children were born, Sarah left her job to stay home with her sons, at which point she began writing her novel.

What did she write?

Sarah Pekkanen’s “The Opposite of Me” is being released in March 2010 from Atria Books.  It is the story of two twin sisters who find out they are more alike than they could have imagined when a family secret is revealed.

Her best blog post so far…(in my opinion)

Deb Sarah Gives Giselle a Run for Her Money (ha!)

Link Love

Sarah’s introductory post on The Debutante Ball
Sarah’s blog posts on The Debutante Ball
Sarah’s website

This review is part of “Debutante Ball Week” on DevourerofBooks.  All this week I’m featuring reviews from the 2009 class of The Debutante Ball and spotlighting the 2010 Debs.