The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

I found this book in a convenience store while I was stranded for a few hours in Petersburg, Alaska. The teenage boy at the desk was disappointed that I got the last book.

I was drawn into the story early. I found the writing and story telling style different. However, it became slow throughout the middle of the book. The story is told 2nd and sometimes 3rd person through letters the main character is reading. It's not until you get to the last quarter of the book before you start seeing some present-day action.

The book is about a girl, who finds a book in her father's collection that is sinister and mysterious. She persuades her father to tell her about it. He only agrees to do this in small bursts over her teenage years. The reason why is not revealed until late in the book. I won't tell you why, in case you read this book.

The story follows her mother and father through letters she is reading during the middle part of the book, which makes up the bulk of the story. This is where it gets slow and (almost) painful, but there is a lot of information here, it's just hard to get through. I'm usually one to read a book constantly until it's done, sleep be dammed. It was easy to put this book down while I was reading the middle of it. In fact, I've been reading this book off and on for a while now.

Once you get to the last quarter of the book, if you haven't suffered through the middle, you won't get what's happening. This is where I couldn't put it down.

The end was good, if not anti-climactic. Maybe I'm just too used to more action in my books. I thought that because the book is about vampires, that it would be more riviting.

If you have nothing better to read, this is a good time-filler. But there are probably books in existance that are more entertaining.