The first chapter of Marcia Preston's The Butterfly House sucker-punched me with its intensity and mystery. After such an intriguing opening, I just couldn't resist reading the rest of the book. None of the subsequent sections were quite as compelling as the first, but still...it was an engrossing read.

As the novel opens, Roberta Dutreau hides in her isolated home, surrounded only by snowy hills. When she spies a stranger turning up her driveway, she panics, opening the door only when the man addresses her by her childhood nickname, Bobbie Lee. Despite his use of her nickname, Roberta has never met this man before. She recognizes his face only from a photograph her friend Cincy kept by her bedside, a "photograph from years ago, a young man in a uniform with the same black eyes - my best friend's missing father" (11). The man, Harley Jaines, has come with one purpose - to compell Roberta to tell the truth about a horrific event in her past that landed Cincy's mother in prison. Roberta, who has only recently climbed out of the pit of her own insanity, knows she can't revisit her past without risking another downward spiral. Yet, the door to her past has been opened and her mind won't let her close it.

Shaken from her encounter with Harley, Roberta climbs into her car and begins the long journey to Spokane, where Lenora Jaines - Harley's lover and Cincy's mother - resides in a women's prison. As she drives, Roberta's mind combs over her childhood in Shady River, Oregon, a small town on the Columbia River. When Roberta moves there as a child, her life is bleak and lonely. Her mother, Ruth, cleans hotel rooms by day and drinks herself into a coma by night. Roberta finds her salvation in Cincy Jaines, a vibrant girl who takes the new girl under her wing. When Roberta visits Cincy's home, she feels more at home there than anywhere. She is particularly attracted by the house's glassed-in porch, where plants and butterflies are cultivated by Cincy's scientist mother, Lenora. As Roberta and Cincy spend more and more time together, Lenora becomes Roberta's pseudo mother, a relationship which deepens as Roberta shows increasing interest in Lenora's scientific projects. Not only does Cincy become envious of their relationship, but Ruth is so jealous she accuses Roberta and Lenora of being lesbians. The anger that blossoms between the women erupts in a violent act that leaves Ruth dead, Roberta in a mental hospital, Lenora in prison and Cincy on the run. When Roberta emerges from the facility, she marries, moves to Canada and tries to put the entire situation behind her. She has done so with relative success until Harley Jaines shows up on her doorstep.

When Roberta finally arrives in Spokane, Lenora warns her to keep quiet about their past. Roberta is only too glad to comply, until she realizes that even she doesn't know what really happened that night. As she searches for her own answers, Roberta must confront her demons and decide if she can save Lenora and, ultimately, herself.

Marcia Preston delivers a major punch in the first chapter, then weaves the past and present together expertly throughout the rest of the book to create a compelling, suspenseful story. It's a bit predictable - I guessed several of the "secrets" long before Roberta did - but I still found the book engrossing. It's not warm and fuzzy by any means; in fact, it's downright bleak, but the story is ultimately about truth and redemption. I can't say I loved it, but I did find The Butterfly House an engrossing read.

Now, you know I always have weird issues with the books I read. Like I said, a lot of this novel takes place in a small, fictional town on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. The story describes Cincy and Roberta biking across a bridge to the Washington side to pick up groceries. This detail bugged me because I grew up in this exact sort of town (although it was real and on the Washington side), and the idea of two little girls biking across a bridge to Oregon is a little unrealistic. All the bridges I've crossed in this part of Washington/Oregon are very high and very narrow. Although people do bike across them occasionally, I have NEVER seen children doing it. Furthermore, I would NEVER allow any child to make such a dangerous trip. So, yeah, that detail bugged me through the whole book. I told you it was a small, weird thing.

So, anyway, I'm giving this book a B+ because it's a little predictable and some of the situations seem unrealistic. Overall, though, it's a well-written and interesting story.

The year is 1840. At least, that's what the children in Clifton, Indiana, believe. They have grown up wearing homemade clothing, riding in horse-drawn wagons, and writing on slates with chalk. For 14-year-old Jessie Keyser, it's all part of her normal, everyday life. Then, an epidemic breaks out in Clifton, a mysterious sickness that's affecting kids all over town, including Katie, Jessie's younger sister. Panicked, Jessie's mother takes her aside and delivers the shocking news: It is really 1996. She explains that the people of Clifton are actually part of a living history museum, where tourists can observe life as it was lived in 1840. When the Keysers agreed to live as authentic 19th Century villagers, the agreement had included access to modern medicine. But now, there is a diptheria breakout and no medicine has come into the village. Without it, children will die. Jessie's mother warns her that the founders of Clifton don't want to help, so someone will have to sneak out of the community and find aid. Fearing her disappearance would attract too much attention, Jessie's mother asks Jessie to go. Although she is scared, Jessie slips into the jeans and T-shirt her mom offers her and sneaks into the terrifying world of 1996. With little more than a name and a phone number, she begins her dangerous quest to find help. When she finally reaches the man who is supposed to help her, Jessie realizes just how dangerous her mission really is. With Clifton's founders desperate to find her, Jessie must use all her strength and wit to avoid captureand save the people and town she loves.

This is the ingenious plot behind Margaret Peterson Haddix's fascinating novel, Running Out of Time. The story's premise intrigued me, but the suspense kept me turning the pages. It's a fast-paced, thrilling adventure that is absolutely unputdownable. I loved it. There were aspects that confused me (How come no planes ever flew over Clifton? Why was Jessie instructed to contact a stranger on the outside instead of her grandparents or other relatives?), but overall, it's an awesome read.

Although Haddix excels at writing taut, exciting plots, it's the questions behind her books that really give me pause. This one pits the old world against the new and begs to know which is better, safer? It asks which parents should do - shelter their children against evil or thrust them into the world and teach them how to cope? It also demands to know when children are old enough to learn the harsh truths of their worlds? As a parent, I find these questions endlessly fascinating.

If you liked the ideas behind City of Ember and the movie The Village, check this one out. You're sure to enjoy it.

Okay, so I know I'm getting in over my head with the challenges, but I simply can't resist. Here's another one that I'm really excited about: it's the Triple 8 Challenge hosted by 3M. All the details are on the challenge blog, but basically you choose 8 books to read in 8 different categories. Some overlap is allowed, so it's not as overwhelming as it sounds! It runs from January 1 to December 31, 2008. I'm so excited! Here's my list:

Jane Austen

• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
• Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
• Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
• Austenland - Shannon Hale
• The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler
• Becoming Jane - Jon Spence
• Me and Mr. Darcy - Alexandra Potter

Classics I Need to Read or Re-read

• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Emma - Jane Austen
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
• In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
• Last of the Mohicans - James Fennimore Cooper
• Little Men - Louisa May Alcott
• Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
• A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

Books by LDS Authors

• The Yearbook - Allyson Braithwaite Condie
• I Am A Mother - Jane Clayson Johnson
• Running With Angels - Pamela H. Hansen
• Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (also reading for Cardathon Challenge)
• Rachel and Leah - Orson Scott Card (also reading for Cardathon Challenge)
• Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling - Richard Lyman Bushman (also reading for Unread Authors Challenge)
• Alone, Together - Jack Weyland
• No Doubt About It - Sheri Dew

Biography/Memoir

• Lemony Snicket: The Unofficial Autobiography - Lemony Snicket
• The Lives and Loves of Violet and Daisy Hilton - Dean Jensen (also reading for In Their Shoes Challenge)
• The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom (also reading for In Their Shoes Challenge)
• Color Me Butterfly - L.Y. Marlow
• Fat Girl - Judith Moore
• The Wounded Spirit - Frank Peretti
• Porch Tales - Jewell Parker Rhodes
• A Girl Named Zippy - Haven Kimmel (also reading for In Their Shoes Challenge)

First In A Series

• Uglies - Scott Westerfield (also reading for Fall Into Reading Challenge)
• The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
• The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan (also reading for Fall Into Reading Challenge)
• Flamingo Fatale - Jimmie Ruth Evans
• On What Grounds - Cleo Coyle (overlap book/books about food)
• Catering to Nobody - Diane Mott Davidson (overlap book/books about food)
• To the Edge - Cindy Gerard
• Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

Neil Gaiman

• American Gods - Neil Gaiman
• Coraline - Neil Gaiman
• M Is For Magic - Neil Gaiman
• Interworld - Neil Gaiman
• Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
• Smoke & Mirrors - Neil Gaiman
• Good Omens - Neil Gaiman
• The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish - Neil Gaiman

Random Picks From My (Never-Ending) TBR Pile

• Empire Falls - Richard Russo
• Whistling in the Dark - Lesley Kegan
• I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak
• Saving Fish From Drowning - Amy Tan
• Peony in Love - Lisa See
• Summer Reading - Hilma Wolitzer
• Midnight Sea - Colleen Coble
• Gilead - Marilynne Robinson

Books About Food

• Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
• Something From the Oven - Laura Shapiro
• Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen - Julie Powell
• Cooking With My Sisters: One Hundred Years of Family Recipes, From Bari to Big Stone Gap - Adriana Trigiani
• Murder on the Rocks - Karen McInerny
• Dead and Berried - Karen McInerny
• On What Grounds - Cleo Coyle (overlap book/First In A Series)
• Catering to Nobody - Diane Mott Davidson (overlap book/First in A Series)

Here are a couple of tidbits I wanted to mention...

I have decided to start grading the books I review with a simple A-F system that will be familiar to anyone educated in an American public school. I don't think I really need to explain what the grades mean, but I will probably post an explanation on the sidebar anyway. This will occur when I have the time and energy (so around 2009). My latest review (below) contains this new feature, and I will try to go back and grade the books in my previous reviews. Again, this should be accomplished sometime in the next 2 years. Just kidding - I'll probably get to it in the next week or so. I will also include the grades in the tags at the bottom of this blog so you can skip all the flunkees and find the A plussers more easily.

Also, Camy Tang is having a huge book giveaway on her site. Who is Camy? Well, I was wondering that same thing yesterday when I read about this giveaway on Mommy of 3's blog. Then, I thought, "Who cares who she is - she's giving away a ton of free stuff." After surfing around her website, I found out that she is an Asian woman who writes Christian fiction. If you're interested in entering her giveaway, go to her website and read all about it. If you enter, please mention that Susan at Bloggin' 'Bout Books sent you. I love contests and free stuff!

Okay, that's all I've got. Now, back to my book...