In Laurie's Mind

Reading Challenge: Read Your Name

2011-12-27T01:20:00.000-08:00

This year I will be joining the Read Your Name Challenge. I am Laurie (obviously), and I'll be reading a book that starts with each letter of my name. U is definitely going to be the hard one.

So, I'll be searching for an "L" book come January. Suggestions welcome!

Want to sign up for this challenge? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: TBR Pile

2011-12-27T01:10:00.000-08:00

I have a dirty little (big) secret. I have a huge TBR pile. Fifteen hundred books huge. Yes, they are all in my house. Yes, They take up waaaay too much room. Yes, I need to get through them. In aid of that, I will be joining the 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge. The challenge is basically just to read my own books that have been sitting around my house.

I can choose from multiple challenge levels, but I've decided to go for the top level and attempt to read 41-50 books from my own TBR.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Tea and Books

2011-12-27T00:42:00.000-08:00

I love both. This challenge involves settling down with a cup of tea to read massive tomes- more than 700 hundred pages. I have several of these on my stack, so I'm going to sign up. I'm choosing the lowest level, which is two books. I'm not sure if I'll make it through more than that, but I really want to clear a couple of these off my TBR.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

2011-12-21T14:38:00.000-08:00

By CeeCee Honeycutt's twelth year mental illness has taken her mother's life. Camille Honeycutt has developed a reputation for wandering the streets in old prom dresses, and one of these walks ends with her hit by a truck. CeeCee is taken in by a distant aunt and moved to Savannah. In Savannah CeeCee finds an entirely new life, including stable guardians and adults who show her love for the first time.

This is a very southern story. It is also a feel-good story. CeeCee is a child desperately in need of love. In the heat of the Savannah summer, she finds that love. I enjoyed this book, but I did have some quibbles. The treatment of racism in late-1960s Georgia is a bit too pat, and the resolution to racial problems a bit too neat. Oletta seems entirely too happy to spend nearly all of her time away from her own family. Racism is fairly minimal, and the only racist characters are the "bad" ones. The easy resolution of the one racist episode belies belief. Still, this book certainly has its charms, and CeeCee is a very likable character.

Beth Hoffman, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (Penguin, 2010) ISBN: 0143118579

Review: Singing Songs

2011-12-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is a book about child abuse. Anna and her siblings are abused by their father in every way: physically, emotionally, and sexually. Her brothers are not allowed to sleep in the house, and all of the children attend school only sporadically. The family continues to move to rural areas to avoid contact with the authorities. Anna's mother is not as guilty of abuse, but she is certainly guilty of neglect and failure to protect her children.

The book is narrated in Anna's voice, and it is quite believable. Through Anna's experience we can see how an abused child struggles to sort out what is right and wrong. Hers is a world in which the wrong has become normative. It is a startling reminder of how easy it is to hide a family's darkest secrets. It was shocking to me just how easily Anna's parents avoided schools, doctors, social workers, and anyone else who might interfere. Anna is a charming and believable narrator. It is hard not to feel for her plight.

Meg Tilley, Singing Songs (Plume 1995) ISBN: 0452271657

Review: Poirot Investigates

2011-12-20T22:26:00.000-08:00

I don't think this about all of Christie's Poirot episodes, but this collection reminded me very much of Sherlock Holmes. It might be the short story format, it might be the use of Hastings as narrator, or it might be Hastings's Watson-style toadying. It's probably also Poirot's insistence on the simplicity of the solution, based on logic and reasoning. In novel-length works Poirot's style is usually to gather all of the suspects and offer a dramatic revelation of the culprit. In these short stories Poirot engages in setting traps and capturing criminals red-handed. Again, this is much more like Holmes than Poirot. In each of these cases Poirot is the only one with any focus. All of the other characters, including Hastings, are led astray by incorrect assumptions. I had the same reaction to Poirot short stories as I did to Miss Marple stories- they're a bit of fun, but I prefer the novel-length works.

Agatha Christie, Poirot Investigates (William Morrow, 2011, orig. 1924) ISBN: 0062074008

Reading Challenge: Victorian Challenge

2011-12-20T21:49:00.001-08:00

I've completed several Victorian reading challenges in the past, and am going to sign up for this one in 2012. When I do Victorian reading challenge I usually read books actually written during the period. I suspect I'll read some Dickens and some Sherlock Holmes, and probably a few female authors too. I'm hoping to get through approximately 5-6 books, but the minimum requirement is only two, and I think I can definitely manage that.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: I Want More!

2011-12-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

I love the idea behind the I Want More Challenge- read authors who I've previously read and enjoyed. There are so many authors whose other books I keep meaning to read, but then there's so much new stuff too. This challenge will give me a chance to go back and read more of authors I've enjoyed, like Joyce Carol Oates and Gail Godwin. I'm going to sign up for the top level of this challenge- 9-12 books.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image.

Reading Challenge: Chunkster Challenge!

2011-12-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

I've got some large tomes on the old TBR, so I'm going to give the Chunkster Challenge a go. This challenge involves reading large books, 450 pages or more. The levels are as follows:

The Chubby Chunkster – this option is for the readers who want to dabble in large tomes, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. FOUR Chunksters is all you need to finish this challenge.
The Plump Primer - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to SIX Chunksters over the next twelve months.
Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the reader who can't resist bigger and bigger books and wants to commit to SIX Chunksters from the following categories: 2 books which are between 450 - 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 - 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length (for ideas, please refer to the book suggestions page for some books which fit into these categories).
Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to EIGHT or more Chunksters of which three tomes MUST be 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

I'm going with option one, the chubby chunkster. If I manage that one well enough maybe I'll upgrade in 2013.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Short Stories

2011-12-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

In 2012 I will be joining the Short Story Reading Challenge. I seem to read plenty of short story collections in any given year, so I might as well make it official :)

I'm going to start out at level 1, which involves reading 1-3 anthologies, and we'll see how far I go from there.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Alex Awards

2011-12-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

I'm signing up for 2012 to participate in the Alex Awards Challenge. This is a new challenge to me, focusing on books that have....won the Alex Award (crazy stuff, I know). There's lots to choose among, and my target level for this challenge will be to read 4-6 books. I can pull that off, right?

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Cruising through the Cozies

2011-12-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the Cruising through the Cozies Reading Challenge in 2011, and I'm going to be back for another round in 2012. I have to choose a participation level, and in 2012 I will be aiming for Level 2, 7-12 books. Here's to 2012!

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: 2nds 2012

2011-12-11T14:29:00.001-08:00

I've been doing the 2nds reading challenge for several years, and I'll be doing it again in 2012. The instructions are simple: read a second book by an author which I've read once. There are several different challenge levels to choose among, and I'll be aiming for six books in this challenge.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Merely Mystery

2011-12-11T14:24:00.001-08:00

I love mysteries. They're my fun and comfort reading. I consider them to be a bit like junk food, or at least like comfort food. They always make me happy, though I couldn't survive on them. I'm signing up this year for the Merely Mystery Challenge. I have to read at least two mysteries, which I can say with confidence will not be a problem, not at all.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: What's in a Name 5

2011-12-11T14:19:00.001-08:00

I've done the What's in a Name Challenge for the past several years, and I've always have fun with it. It's a no-brainer for me to sign up for What's in a Name 5. Instructions are as follows:

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Ape House
A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah's Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Southern Literature

2011-12-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

I love Southern Literature. I used to live in the south, Virginia to be exact, and while I was born and bred a Yankee, there's something very compelling about the south. I'll be celebrating my love of Southern literature by participating in the Southern Literature Reading Challenge in 2012. The challenge involves reading anywhere from 1-4 books. I'm going to go for the four books- might as well aim high.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Reading Challenge: Mystery and Suspense 2012

2011-12-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

I've done the Mystery and Suspense Challenge before, and I'm planning on joining in again for 2012. It was fun in 2010, so I think it's time to give it another go. I can choose to read either 12 or 24 mystery and suspense books. I'm going for the 24!

Interested in signing up? Click on the image!

Review: Irma Voth

2011-12-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

I always want to like Toews's books more than I do. The plots always sound so interesting, but then I try and read them and am completely disinterested. That was the case again for Irma Voth. The plot sounds imaginative and compelling. Nineteen-year-old Irma lives in Mexico with her Canadian Mennonite family. She has been shunned by her father for marrying a Mexican man, who has since fled the scene. When a documentary filmmaker arrives in the community Irma gets a job as a translator, and her work allows her to make plans to break free from her highly restrictive family.

Undeniably the best part of the book is Irma's flight to freedom. Her exodus with her sisters reveals some deeply held and damning family secrets. The early part of the book, when Irma is working on the movie, is comparatively dull. One would think that conflict between some angry sectarians and famous filmmakers would be interesting, but somehow it manages to be extraordinarily dull. Toews describes every little quotidian event in Irma's world in minute detail. There's description of dialogue that simply couldn't keep my attention. The payoff is in the second half of the book, so if the reader can last through the first part they'll probably find the second easier going. That said, I keep having this experience with Towes's books. We'll see if I've learned my lesson.

Miriam Toews, Irma Voth (Harper, 2011) ISBN: 0062070185

Review: The Gardner Heist

2011-12-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

The largest unsolved art heist in history happened at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Two men stole twelve works of art including a Vermeer and several Rembrandts. The ripped and cut paintings out of frames, and the lot has never been found. Boser's book sets out to try and find out what happened to the missing art. The result is an intriguing look at art detection and the Boston criminal underworld. The methods art detectives use to recover works are often unorthodox. Detectives have to maintain a network of surly underworld contacts.

This book was tremendously interesting. It is also somewhat depressing. It's frightening just how many works of art are stolen, and how poorly protected most museums are. Boser points out that many of us would like to believe that when artworks are stolen they are secreted away to private collections. In fact, that is almost never the case. Stolen art most frequently becomes currency in the criminal world, providing collateral for all sorts of unsavory underworld activities. Drugs, weapons, the mafia: stolen art funds all of them. Thieves are rarely punished because the most important objective for the art detective is to get priceless works back into museums.

Boser does not ever recover any of the stolen works, but his journey is fascinating. I learned a great deal about art theft and recovery, and how the criminal world uses priceless works of art. Anyone with an interest in art or crime would enjoy this book.

Ulrich Boser, The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft (Smithsonian, 2009) ISBN: 0061451835

Review: Miss Zukas and the Island Murders

2011-12-05T23:33:00.000-08:00

Straight-laced librarian Helma Zukas finds herself in charge of planning her high school reunion. Miss Zukas decides to fly all of her classmates out to the Washington coast for a resort reunion. This will give Helma the chance to investigate the mysterious death of one of her classmates during their senior year. Those accustomed to Helma's exploits will not be surprised to discover that danger follows the reunion, and Helma and company find themselves in grave danger.

This book provides the usual entertaining fare one gets in the Miss Zukas series. There are elements of the story that belie conceivability, which is also typical of this series. The reunion takes place in Washington, though the class graduated in Michigan. Helma funds the trip for the entire class, as she was supposedly able to invest left over money from class fundraising in high school. Getting around these issues this volume provides Dereske's usual standard of entertainment. This volume was more removed from the library and its environs than some of the other books. I thought that was a shame, as the library is a huge part of this series's draw.

Jo Dereske, Miss Zukas and the Island Murders (Avon, 2006) ISBN: 0380770318

Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

2011-11-24T22:16:00.000-08:00

This is a delightfully creepy story, in which Jackson reminds us that the most frightening tales need not rely on graphic violence, spilling blood, or similar. This is the story of Merricat Blackwood, who lives in the family home with her sister and uncle. The rest of the family is dead, having been poisoned at dinner years ago. The Blackwoods have become pariahs in town; Merricat is the only one who ventures out beyond the old, Gothic manse they call home. How the family came to be poisoned, and how the sisters have come to exist on the fringes of society are revealed as the book develops.

This book is pure weird, psychological suspense. I loved it for that very reason, and stayed up half the night so that I could read this in one sitting. I was shocked to discover that Merricat is supposed to be eighteen. She behaves more like a stunted child than an adult. As unique as the characters are, it's the house that remains seared in my memory. When I think of this book, I think of the house, the castle, such as it is. The castle is a character in this book. It has a life, presence, and personality of its own. I would definitely recommend this book, especially as a classic for those who generally don't care for classics.

Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin, 2006, orig. 1962) ISBN: 0143039970

Review: The Case of the Late Pig

2011-11-19T19:31:00.000-08:00

Albert Campion is a gentleman inspector in the style of Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey. Here Campion finds himself investigating the death of a former classmate. Pig Peters was a nasty child who grew into a nasty adult. Few people are sorry to see him die, even if he does appear to die twice. Campion attends Peters's funeral after reading a notice in the newspaper. Months later he happens upon a second funeral, also purported to be that of Pig Peters. The second time around Campion views the body in the morgue. It is unmistakably Peters. Who was buried at the first funeral? How did one or two people meet their death? These are the questions Campion sets out to answer.

While reading this I was struck by the many similarities between Campion and Lord Peter Wimsey. Both are sons of minor gentry waiting to inherit. Both are dilettantes assisted by faithful valets. I found Campion's valet, Lugg, somewhat difficult to
comprehend. He is presented as a large, hulking, almost ogre-like man who dons aprons and makes tea. I was unable to figure out how and why he is with Campion. Presumably this is explained earlier in the series. Jumping into the middle of the series made it somewhat difficult to understand all of the characters' quirks.

This book is notable among recent mysteries I've read in that its ending is wholly satisfying. Generally when I read mysteries I enjoy the build-up and then find the ending to be a disappointment. With this book I had the opposite reaction. There were points where I got bored with the build-up, but the ending was full of suspense and intrigue.

Margery Allingham, The Case of the Late Pig (Felony & Mayhem, 2008, orig. 1937) ISBN: 1934609145

Review: The Buddha in the Attic

2011-11-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

This book consists of the stories of Japanese brides sent to California to marry the men who immigrated to the United States in the early-20th century. On the boat crossing the Pacific the women share stories and photos, hearing about the careers and wealth of one another's husbands while also expressing their anxieties about marriage.

Arrival in California presents a world most of the women never expected. Most find themselves working to exhaustion in fields with little to show for their labor. They are subjected to racism in all of its forms. Much of what they were promised was a myth. The book follows the experiences of these women, from their time on the boat, through marriage and family life, work, and finally through the hysteria of World War II that led to internment.

Otsuka has written this book in the first person plural, a decidedly interesting choice. This has the benefit of allowing Otsuka to explore the varieties and commonalities of these women's experiences. The most interesting and most haunting chapter was the final one, in which white Californians expressed their surprise and wonder at the disappearance of Japanese Americans from their communities. It was astounding how white Americans managed to simply ignore all of the notices that were regularly being addressed to the Japanese community.

This book offers a familiar narrative of immigration, resettlement, and racism. What makes this a fresh and interesting story are the unique writing choices Otsuka has made. This is a rather short book, but it seems to be the right length for the manner in which the story is told.

Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic (Knopf, 2011) ISBN: 0307700003

Review: Maisie Dobbs

2011-11-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

This is a rags-to-riches and detective story wrapped into one. Maisie Dobbs is a plucky but poor young woman. When she enters servitude her employers become her benefactors, leading her to a career as a detective. Wen Maisie sets up her own agency an infidelity case leads her to something far more curious- a commune for former soldiers where residents seem to die under mysterious circumstances.

The specter of the First World War looms large in this book. Though set in 1929 memories and experiences of war infuse everyone and everything. Maisie is shaped by her experiences as a battlefield nurse, and we learn that wartime experiences have shaped her personal life as much as her professional life. Ten years after Versailles the wounds of war, both physical and emotional, have far from healed. As Maisie investigates the soldiers' commune, the war is at the center of the experience.

This is a well-done historical mystery, both engaging and well-written.

Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs (Penguin, 2004) ISBN: 0142004332

Review: Whose Body?

2011-11-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

Lord Peter Wimsey, sometimes sleuth, and constant man-about-town, began his sleuthing career here. Lord Peter is called in when an unassuming man finds an unidentified dead body in his bathtub. Police suspect that the body might be that of a missing businessman, but Lord Peter is not so sure. The body's attributes don't seem to match those of the missing. According to police the prime suspect is the owner of the bath. Again, Lord Peter is not convinced, and it becomes his job to clear the innocent man's name.

Lord Peter's aristocratic eccentricity is on full display in this novel, more so that in some of the later books in the series. There were definitely times when I started to get annoyed at the preponderance of "What Hos," and similar. Still, Lord Peter solves the mystery quite admirably.

Dorothy Sayers, Whose Body (Harper Collins, 2007, orig. 1923) ISBN: 0739405292

Review: Miss Zukas and the Raven's Dance

2011-11-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Miss Zukas has stumbled onto another mystery, this one at a Native American Cultural Center. When the librarian at the cultural center is found dead, Helma is sent to catalog the center's collection. Frightening stunts seem to be happening all over the building, and it becomes clear that Helma, the new cataloger, may be in danger too.

The plot of this mystery is solid, and it's a good addition to the series. This is the fourth book in the series, and I'm finding that after four books Helma is starting to wear on me. She seems to be rather unkind to her friends; I'm honestly not sure how it is that she has any friends. Her prim and proper demeanor was charming in the first book, but it's becoming extreme, and Helma now is treating people badly.

Probably the most egregious victim in the book is Boy Cat Zukas, the stray cat that Helma has sort of taken in, but who she leaves out at night and to whom she refuses to show affection. These irritations aside, I am enjoying the series, and will surely continue to read it.

Jo Dereske, Miss Zukas and the Raven's Dance (Avon, 1996) ISBN: 038078243X

Review: The Aquariums of Pyongyang

2011-11-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

Hwan's purpose in writing this book is to expose to the world the horrors of North Korea's gulags. Hwan spent ten years, from age nine to nineteen, as a political prisoner in the concentration camp Yodok, deep in the North Korean mountains. At Yodok Hwan and other prisoners like him were nearly starved, worked to death, and indoctrinated in the cult of the great leader, Kim Il-Sung. What did Hwan do to deserve all of this? He happened to be the grandson of a man who might have spoken out against North Korea's corrupt regime.

Hwan's account of his life in the camp is undeniably horrifying. He draws connections between North Korea's camps and those of the Nazi and Stalinist regimes. His memoir certainly offers insight into how such a corrupt dictatorship manages to sustain itself. In North Korea transgressors are not the only ones punished; their relatives are punished too.

North Korea clearly thrives on secrecy, and shining a light on the dreadful human rights abuses perpetuated there is undeniably an important part of trying to end them. That said, this memoir is less literary and more political in outlook. It is sometimes less concerned with nuance, and more concerned with making a political point. Still, for those unfamiliar with how North Korea operates, this is important reading.

Kang Chol-Hwan, The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag (Basic Books, 2005) ISBN: 0465011047

Review: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

2011-11-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

Flavia de Luce is a chemistry prodigy with a special interest in poisons. At age eleven she can craft a variety of poisons in her attic laboratory. As the child of a distracted single father, Flavia is frequently left to her own devices, as are her two self-obsessed sisters. One day a dead bird with a stamp on its beak, and a dead man, turn up at the De Luce estate. What follows is a bizarre trip into the past, stamp collecting, and chemistry. Flavia quickly proves that she can out-investigate the local police.

This book is nothing if not original. I've never met a character quite like Flavia. I did find the book to be a bit on the long side. An eleven year-old protagonist, no matter how unique, cannot necessarily sustain 300+ pages of interest. I found that to be the case here. If the book was reduced by a third it would have been cleaner, tighter, and more enjoyable. Overall an entertaining and unique read, and I will likely look for more books in this series.

Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Bantam, 2010) ISBN: 0385343493

Review: Death of a Travelling Man

2011-11-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

A surly man in a caravan and his equally surly female companion arrive and park themselves in Lochdubh. Hamish is annoyed and presumes that the new arrival is up to no good. The rest of Lochdubh's villagers seem to disagree. Many are charmed by the newcomer, Sean Gourlay. The vicar even allows Sean to park his caravan on the property. To add to Hamish's annoyance, he has been assigned an associate constable who prefers cleaning and chasing the daughter of the local restaurateur to any actual police work.

Then Gourlay winds up dead. The investigation reveals that he harbored some dark secrets about the locals. Hamish is desperately afraid that the killer is a Lochdubh resident. He begins desperately searching for an answer outside the village, but it begins to look more and more like Hamish might simply be ignoring an uncomfortable truth- that someone he knows and likes is the killer.

This is another entertaining episode in the Hamish Macbeth series. It is a fast and fun read, perhaps most notable for the entertaining character of Hamish's associate officer, a great fan of cleaning products, and definitely an original.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Travelling Man (St. Martins, 1993) ISBN: 0312097832

Review: Hoopi Shoopi Donna

2011-11-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

Set in a Polish-American community in western Massachusetts, this novel follows Milewski as she tries to come to terms with her father. As a child Donna was the apple of her father's eye. When her parents adopt a young cousin from Poland Donna's place in the family is eclipsed by younger, more Polish Betty. An unfortunate car accident cements this. Donna is blamed for the accident, and her new sister Betty becomes everyone's favorite. While Betty prospers Donna fades, and stews about her broken family.

Adulthood finds Betty in medical school and Donna working in a tampon factory, unable to create any kind of lasting relationship with a man. To find her way out Donna has to return to one of her childhood loves: polka music.

Parts of this book seemed overdone. By the end of the narrative Betty's accomplishments start to seem ridiculous. She doesn't quite cure cancer or create world peace, but she comes close. Donna has a tendency to get annoying at times. In fact, there were times I wanted to smack her. The book's strength is definitely in its vibrant description of a Polish-American community. I had no idea that polka music was still so prominent anywhere. The tensions between those born in Poland and those born in the US was were intriguing. Read this book for the setting, not necessarily for the characters.

Suzanne Strempek Shea, Hoopi Shoopi Donna (Washington Square, 1997) ISBN: 0671535455

Review: The Butterfly Cabinet

2011-11-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

Told in two voices, this novel explores life in a wealthy and secretive Northern Irish family. The two voices are those of Harriet Ormond, mistress of Ormond Castle, and Maddie, one of her young servants. Harriet's portion of the book is a diary, written while its author was incarcerated for the murder of her daughter, Charlotte. Maddie's portion is told decades later, in old age, as she narrates her story to Harriet's great-niece Anna, who visits Maddie in the nursing home. Through the interwoven stories we learn what role each woman played in Charlotte's death. The picture that emerges of Harriet is one of a cold and misguided woman, more at home in nature, with the butterflies she collects, than she is at home with her family.

This is certainly an atmospheric noel, and the cold and draughty castle serves as a fine backdrop for this rather Gothic tale. McGill makes the reader feel the dankness of the prison and the shadowy alcoves of the castle. I did not much care for the format of Maddie's narrative. She tells her story to someone who is not really a character, and I found that Harriet's portion flowed much more smoothly. The ending offered some exciting twists and turns, but I still would like to be rid of the unseen Anna.

Bernie McGill, The Butterfly Cabinet (Free Press, 2011) ISBN: 1451611595

Read-a-Thon: Hour 24

2011-10-23T04:14:00.001-07:00

Which hour was most daunting for you?
The ones at the beginning- I hate getting up early!

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Mysteries are always good- Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, that sort of thing.

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
None- I always enjoy it!

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I love the books read database, and I'd like to be able to see it.

How many books did you read?
5

What were the names of the books you read?
Cargo of Eagles- Margery Allingham
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For- Alison Bechdel
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother- Amy Chua
The Butterfly Cabinet- Bernie McGill
Death of a Travelling Man- M.C. Beaton

Which book did you enjoy most?
Death of a Travelling Man

Which did you enjoy least?
Cargo of Eagles

If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
N/A

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I often have a hard time with the spring one, as responsibilities mean I have little of the day to devote to reading, but I'll be here next fall!

Read-a-Thon: Hour 23

2011-10-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

It's hour 23 and I'm still reading! Now working on Margery Allingham, Cargo of Eagles.

Read-a-Thon: Hour 20

2011-10-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! It's hour 20 and I'm still reading. I'm nearly done Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and I've been enjoying it. My goal is now to finish this book and one other before the readathon's end.

Read-a-Thon: Hour 19

2011-10-22T23:18:00.000-07:00

It's hour 19 and I'm still reading. I've also eaten too many M&M cookies (bleh.) I've finished three books, and now I'm reading Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which has caused so much controversy. It's really interesting!

Read-a-Thon: Hour 16

2011-10-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

I'm at hour 16 and I've finished two books:

Death of a Travelling Man by M.C. Beaton

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

The mini-challenge for this hour is rereads. I must admit, I am not one to reread books. There's so many unread books I want to get through, that I don't like to spend my reading time on re-reads. That said, I have lately been rereading some favorite books from my youth. This year I've been focusing on the Nancy Drew series. I read all of them when I was young, and now I'm going back through them slowly. I'm shocked by how outdated they are; they never seemed so outdated when I was a kid (even though that was in the eighties and many of them were written in the 30s and 40s.) Still, it's fun to revisit what I enjoyed as a child.

Read-a-Thon Hour 15

2011-10-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

I've not been blogging very much this readathon, in part because I prefer to spend the time reading. I've also been mixing some other responsibilities with my reading: some time at the ice rink, and I took a nap, because I want to make it to the bitter end. I'm now in the middle of three books, all of which I hope to finish in the next two hours:

The Butterfly Cabinet, by Bernie McGill

Death of a Travelling Man by M.C. Beaton

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

I'm also watching Skate America (figure skating competition) while reading.

Having fun thus far- will soon be making dinner.

Read-a-Thon: Hour 3

2011-10-22T07:31:00.001-07:00

It's hour three, and I'm participating in the book puzzle mini challenge. My puzzle describes the book I'm currently reading. Have a guess:

Read-a-Thon: Hour 1

2011-10-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

It's 5am in the Pacific Northwest, and here I am starting another readathon. I am not a morning person, so...yawn. The coffee is brewing.

Here's my answers to the opening meme:

1)Where are you reading from today?

Washington State, USA

2)Three random facts about me…

I'm a figure skater (in fact, I'll be going to the rink later, with a book)

I teach history

My favorite color is lavender, but you might have guessed that from my blog.

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

Too many, at least 10.

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

No, it's much less daunting if I just plan to read.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?

Have tasty snacks. Read the sort of books you normally plow through and can't stop.

Review: Nothing to Envy

2011-10-21T02:54:00.000-07:00

This book had a profound effect on me. Like many, I came to this book with little knowledge of North Korea, aside from what is on the news. And that's no accident, the country is highly secretive. This is what makes Demick's book so groundbreaking. By interviewing six defectors Demick is able to offer an unprecedented look into the lives ordinary people live in this communist dictatorship.

The stories in this book present a country where millions suffer from miserable deprivation. People are starving, reduced to eating grass and tree bark. Most of the country no longer has electricity. Pervasive malnutrition has collectively stunted the country's growth.

Meanwhile, the North Korean government offers a program of constant brainwashing, requiring constant supplication to the leadership. Detractors are sent to gulags, as are their relatives. The government practices a policy of "tainted blood," suggesting that any malcontent had tainted the blood of their family by three generations, meaning that grandparents and grandchildren are also undesirables needing eradication.

Demick's care and persistence in collecting these stories is admirable. Even more so is the courage of these North Koreans to tell their stories. Their families have faced retribution for their decision to leave. It is truly astonishing the level of isolation and brainwashing that the government has managed to accomplish. This is important reading for everyone. Such shocking human rights abuses must be made public.

Barbara Demick, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea (Spiegel and Grau, 2009) ISBN: 0385523904

Review: Death of a Glutton

2011-10-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

A conference descends on Lochdubh's hotel, and shenanigans abound. The conference is a matchmaking weekend, a dating agency's attempt to match up its most difficult clients. Things seem promising to the potential lovebirds. All hope turns to despair when the agency's unpopular co-owner, Peta Gore, arrives and ruins everyone's good time. Peta is an enormous glutton, shoveling in all edibles within a hundred foot radius. She manages to disgust everyone. When Peta turns up dead, trussed like a roast pig with an apple in her rmouth, no one is particularly sorry. Still it falls to Hamish Macbeth to investigate.

I found this installment in the Hamish Macbeth series quite entertaining. Peta Gore is an amusing character, and I was excited to discover who had actually killed her. Beaton manages to maintain a comic tone while creating an killing off an entirely unsavory character. I would certainly recommend this one.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Glutton (St. Martins, 1993) ISBN: 0312087616

Review: Chile Death

2011-10-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

China Bayles is a former trial lawyer turned herbalist, and this installment in the series finds her investigating the death of an unpopular insurance salesman with a peanut allergy. During a chili cook-off Jeff Cody ingested some chili laced with peanuts, leading to a quick demise. Some think death is an unfortunate accident, but China is convinced otherwise.

During the investigation China is also dealing with her boyfriend's recovery from a gunshot wound. The nursing home where he is recuperating seems suspicious to China, opening another possible mystery. Signs of possible abuse and a very evasive director keep China attuned.

This book is definitely light reading, but it was mostly enjoyable. One of the things I like about this series is that China is a former lawyer, her boyfriend is a cop, and they collectively have more respect for law, police procedure, and due process than one generally finds in a cozy mystery. This is not the sort of book in which a random knitter, barista, antiques seller, or other such character mishandle evidence and take over a murder investigation. That was refreshing. I'm sure I'll read more in the series when I'm looking for light entertainment.

Susan Wittig Albert, Chile Death (Berkley, 1999) ISBN:

0425171477

Review: Down from Cascom Mountain

2011-10-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

This is a novel about grief and about moving on after a loss. Mary and Michael Walker arrive on Cascom Mountain in New Hampshire to spend the summer at Mary's childhood home. Mary has deep roots attaching her to the mountain, Michael is a newcomer. Just days into their summer Michael falls off one of the mountain's cliffs. Mary is left widowed. When Michael's estranged father arrives he and Mary, along with several alienated teenagers working on the mountain for the summer, start to forge connections and work out their problems.

This was a perfectly acceptable book, but nothing really stood out about it. I was never especially invested in Mary or Callie, Mary's teenage friend. The most interesting character in the book is Tobin, a bright but shy teenager, recovering from years of abuse at the hands of his mentally ill mother. Sadly he is a fringe character. Williams writes very believably about grief, I just wish that the book had more plot to add to the emotion.

Ann Joslin Williams, Down from Cascom Mountain (Bloomsbury, 2011) ISBN: 1608193063

Review: The Oriental Wife

2011-10-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Louisa, Rolf, and Otto grow up as childhood friends in Germany. With Hitler's rise to power these Jewish children scatter: Rolf and Otto to America, and Louisa to Switzerland and England. Louisa is desperately seeking companionship, particularly male companionship, and she has a habit of attaching herself to men as the needy girlfriend.

When Louisa makes her way to New York she begins a relationship with Rolf, who has always been obsessed with his childhood friend. A seemingly needy Louisa suits Rolf just fine, but a health issue soon after their marriage leaves Louisa in a different state entirely. The book proceeds to examine how their marriage evolves. Character weaknesses come into full relief.

I found this book to be uneven. There were two things happening in the book which didn't seem to fit together. Louisa being a submissive wife was not all that closely tied to the accident and its aftermath. I enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the second. I also found the treatment of Nazi Germany to be uneven. It sometimes seemed incidental, even to characters who were trying to get family members out in the shadow of death camps.

Evelyn Toynton, The Oriental Wife (Other Press, 2011) ISBN: 1590514416

Review: When She Woke

2011-10-16T13:10:00.001-07:00

Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, this book describes a world in which women are primarily valued for reproduction, and in which the state has complete oversight over the private activities of individuals. This is a world in which extreme religion runs the government in the name of "morality."

Most important to this story, the government has developed melachroming as a means of punishment; it dyes the skins of criminals according to their crime. Protagonist Hannah Payne has been dyed red after being caught having an illegal abortion. "Chromes," as they are known, are constantly subjected to harassment and vigilante justice. Many do not survive. As Hannah tries to adjust to life as a chrome her world, formerly sheltered, starts to open. She begins to rethink previously held assumptions, as she sees the underside of policies she previously considered humane.

In this novel Jordan has created a world that is frighteningly believable. The book is clearly a statement on the dangers of dissolving the boundaries between church and state, and serves as a reminder of the dangers of a justice system that reverts to arcane methods. Jordan has created The Scarlet Letter for the 21st century. The book is imaginative, frightening, and definitely made me think.

Hillary Jordan, When She Woke (Algonquin, 2011) ISBN: 1565126297

Review: Death of a Dreamer

2011-10-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hamish Macbeth's Scottish Highlands are visited by a delusional and slightly irritating artist. When said artist turns up dead the locals are not necessarily surprised, and it falls to Macbeth to work with a new and ambitious (and female!) detective to uncover the murderer, if there is one. Most of the locals think the death was a suicide, as the artist, Effie Garrand, has recently been rejected by the manly object of her delusional lust. Before the case is over Hamish finds himself in danger.

This was my first Hamish McBeth mystery. The plot was engaging, and I was interested in the characters. Given that I jumped into the middle of the series, there are a few things I'd like to understand better. It seems that Hamish has some issues with women. He has a seeming gaggle of former girlfriends, and refuses to marry any of them, though this is clearly making him miserable. I'm hoping to get fuller picture of this when I read more books in the series, which I am certainly planning to do.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Dreamer (Warner, 2007) ISBN: 0446618136

Review: Diary of a Provincial Lady

2011-09-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

This book is the satirical diary of a social climber trying to make an interesting life for herself in the English countryside. The provincial lady faces the problems of never enough money, unruly house and garden, never well-read enough, never attractive enough, and children never quite well-enough behaved. The provincial lady is constantly trying to be a model of attractive femininity, household management, and literary accomplishment. In all of these things the provincial lady claims to be coming up short, in part due to the multiple demands on upper-middle class women, and in part due to the very English tendency to underplay one's accomplishments. The provincial lady's world is populated by a host of amusing characters, snooty neighbors, oddball friends, and snarky servants. The book is certainly humorous, but perhaps longer than it needs to be. After the halfway point it starts to feel like more and more of the same. Repetitiveness is a double-edged sword. It certainly gives the reader a sense of the ponderousness of provincial life for many women, but it can start to sap the reader's energy too. This book is most effective when read in small increments, and is very much worth reading, particularly by those who enjoy early-20th century women's literature.

E.M. Delafield, Diary of a Provincial Lady (Academy Chicago Publishers, orig. 1930) ISBN: 0897330536

Review: Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death

2011-09-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

Straight-laced librarian Miss Zukas is a bit of a dark horse. In addition to being a prim and proper librarian, she has a history as a canoeist. But her efforts to train for the big race and help the library's team beat the city planning department are interrupted. A dead man is found outside Miss Zukas's friend's house, and said friend Ruth becomes the prime suspect in the subsequent investigation. In her efforts to clear Ruth Miss Zukas finds herself in danger.

This is by all accounts an entertaining, quick read. Miss Zukas is starting to look a bit more human by this third book in the series. It's still not clear to me why all men in the general vicinity seem to have a crush on Helma Zukas- perhaps it's the stuffy/sexy librarian trope? Still, I suspect I'll be reading more in the series. These are fun books.

Jo Dereske, Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death (Avon, 1995)

Review: The Lilac Bus

2011-09-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

This book, a collection of interwoven short stories, follows a group of people who commute to and from their small Irish town to Dublin on the same bus. Though they spend a fair amount of time in one another's company, it quickly becomes clear that those travelling on the bus know very little of one another. As the story of each is revealed the reader learns that each character had significant problems and heartbreak.

This formula is one that will be familiar to regular readers of Binchy's fiction. This is one of Binchy's early books, but she has used this formula in later books to great effect. There is something comfortable about Binchy, and the reader can slip into reading her easily. Binchy delivers here exactly what the reader has come to expect from her, and that's certainly not a bad thing.

Maeve Binchy, The Lilac Bus (Delacorte, 1991) ISBN: 0385304943

Review: Miss Zukas and the Library Murders

2011-09-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

Miss Zukas is the stuffiest of librarians. She follows policy to the letter, dresses like an old maid, and tucks in early each night. When a dead body is found in her library Miss Zukas starts acting strangely out of character.

For a stereotyped and downright cheesy as elements of this book are, I still found it rather charming. Miss Zukas is such a tremendous stereotype that she's more entertaining than serious. That said, given that Miss Zukas is such a stereotype, there's little room to understand how or why she would withhold evidence from the police, and why her best friend is a loud, disaster of an artist. In sum, I can't really explain why I found this book to be charming, but I did, and I plan to read more of the series.

Jo Dereske, Miss Zukas and the Library Murders (Avon Twilight, 1996) ISBN: 038077030X

Review: Crocodile on the Sandbank

2011-09-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

It took me some time to get my head around this book. It's not like anything I've read previously. This mystery, set in 19th century Egypt, is a parody of Victorian manners and mores. Amelia Peabody, an enlightened and educated woman who favors trousers, sets out to tour the archaeological sites of Egypt. Along the way she picks up an impoverished and wronged fair British maiden, and they find themselves at the dig site of the Emerson brothers. Soon the whole group is facing trouble as a wandering mummy continues to disturb them. Figuring out the mystery of the mummy quickly becomes dangerous and threatens to derail the entire expedition.

To really enjoy this mystery it's essential to get into the parody. A reader expecting historical fiction will likely be disappointed. The mystery was not especially difficult to solve, but each of the characters is so caught up in his or her particular personality quirk that they are blinded to the clues around them. Victoria is the archetypal Victorian woman, Amelia is the feminist, Walter Emerson is the young man in love, and Radcliffe Emerson is the gruff scholar.

Elizabeth Peters, Crocodile on the Sandbank (Mysterious Press, 1988) ISBN: 0445406518

Review: The Cracked Pot

2011-09-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

This book features one of the most annoying protagonists I've encountered. Carolyn Emerson owns a pottery shop in a Vermont tourist town. When a dead body turns up in her backyard, the prime suspect is Carolyn's associate, who also happens to be her best friend's son. Convinced that the police are incompetent, Carolyn undertakes the task of solving the mystery.

The problem with all of this is that Carolyn is annoying. REALLY annoying. Her favorite activity is complaining. Carolyn complains about her husband, her customers, the local sheriff, among others. She's downright rude to the sheriff because she thinks he's incompetent (though there's no evidence of that in the book).

Then there's Carolyn's troupe of followers, "the firing squad," a group so devoted to pottery that they're willing to go all out to solve a dangerous mystery. They still take pottery breaks, though. Each of the members of the firing squad is a sort of stereotype, especially the ex-con with the heart of porcelain, and the tough, no-nonsense lady judge.

Honestly, life is too short for books like this. There are more entertaining ways to spend one's time.

Melissa Glazer, The Cracked Pot (Wheeler, 2008) ISBN: 1597228273

Review: God on the Rocks

2011-09-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is the story of eight-year-old Margaret Marsh. Daughter of overly-religious sectarian parents, Margaret finds little affection at home. Margaret's main caretaker is a bawdy servant, taken in by her father as a sort of religious project. Lydia is the most challenging of converts, she is also the only member of the household who shows Margaret much affection. Margaret's mother is overworked and overtired, and chaffing at the boundaries of her religious life. Margaret's father is everyone's holier-than-thou nightmare.

During the summer an indiscretion on the part of Margaret's father sets in motion a series of events that will end in tragedy. The plot of this book is quite straightforward. It is the elaborate details, rather than the plot, that give this book its brilliance. Gardam does not stray away from the absurd. She reminds me much of Barbara Comyns. This is a well-executed book, well-worth the time to read.

Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks (Europa, 2010) ISBN: 1933372761

Review: This Boy's Life

2011-09-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

As a boy Tobias Wolff and his mother moved west to seek their fortune and to escape an abusive man. They landed first in Utah, later in Seattle. In just a matter of months Wolff's mother has met and married another abusive man and moved Tobias deep into the Cascade Mountains where Dwight, his new stepfather, lives in a company town. In this remote environment Dwight is free to abuse Jack, as Wolff is known in his youth. And abuse is a constant in Wolff's young life. His stepfather has free reign, and Wolff's mother does little to reign in her husband's tirades.

The wild and dangerous setting of the mountains serves as a fitting background for Wolff's youth. His life in many ways mimics the scenery. It is lawless, it is amazing, and it has little connection to the outside world. Wolff's life is a test of wills, an assertion of wit and strength. His writing is lyrical and engaging. I was taken with his story from beginning to end.

Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life (Grove, 2000) ISBN: 0802136680

Review: The Summer without Men

2011-08-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Reading this book felt like following the stream-of-consciousness ramblings of a smart, but uninteresting person. The plot sounded promising. After her husband leaves her poet Mia cracks, spends a year recovering in a psychiatric hospital, and finally moves back to Iowa to live near her aging mother. Yet, there's something about this book that simply didn't connect with me. At the end of the book I felt as if nothing had happened. And yet, so much happens in this book, but events are subsumed by Mia's musing which are simply not very interesting. Mia would be fodder for people who think that academics aren't very interesting (and I'm an academic- I know that some of us are interesting!) This is a short book, but it took me some time to get through, as I could only handle small bits at a time.

Siri Hustvedt, The Summer without Men (Picador, 2011) ISBN: 0312570600

Review: The Nine Tailors

2011-08-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

This books is the epitome of the English countryside murder mystery. There's a mysterious dead body, an old parish church, a bumbling rector, and lots of foul weather. When Lord Peter Wimsey's car breaks down in Fenchurch St. Paul he is taken in by the rector. When an unidentified body turns up in the churchyard, Lord Peter is on the case.

In Fenchurch St. Paul Sayers weaves a gripping and atmospheric mystery. At the heart of the mystery are the ancient church bells. They are tended by a close-knit and somewhat suspicious coterie of bell-ringers, who display an almost-slavish devotion to their ringing. More broadly, the book is fully infused with bell-ringing culture. The bells give their name to the the book; each has a name and together they are called 'The Nine Tailors.' In all honesty, there was more about bell-ringing than I needed to know. Still, this is a gripping mystery.

Dorothy Sayers, The Nine Tailors (Mariner, 1966, orig. 1934) ISBN:0156658992

Review: A Far Cry from Kensington

2011-08-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Set in the mid-twentieth century London publishing world, this is a quirky and enjoyable read. The book is structured as a flashback, as Mrs. Hawkins looks back on her youth, working for a minor Kensington publisher. She looks back from the comforts of her retirement in Italy. As a young war widow Mrs. Hawkins lived on a small salary reviewing manuscripts for her employer. Her duties led her to an ongoing feud with an untalented hack writer, who believes firmly in his own merit, but whose clunky prose Mrs. Hawkins dismisses. After brandishing him with a somewhat amusing moniker, she becomes the target of his revenge. Their ongoing feud reveals to Mrs. Hawkins a seedy underbelly of the publishing industry, one that she may unknowingly expose. The ending is both bizarre and entertaining, and the characters are originals.

Muriel Spark, A Far Cry from Kensington (New Directions, 2000, orig. 1988) ISBN: 0811214575

Review: The Thirteenth Tale

2011-08-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

I could review this book in one sentence: This is one messed-up family, but its a family that makes for an enchanting story.

This is a book that reads like a fairy tale. Bookshop assistant and minor biographer Margaret Lea is summoned by dying writer Vida Winter to write the latter's life story. Winter has lived and secretive and reclusive life, and Margaret will be the first to get a look at her past. What she finds when she arrived is a story of abuse, abandonment, and twins helplessly devoted to one another. In the course of writing Winter's life story, Margaret will be forced to confront a tragedy in her own past.

I was fully enthralled and engrossed in this book. Once I started I read at every spare moment until I was finished. This is a novel full of gothic atmosphere and mystery. I must say that I found Vida Winter's story far more engaging than Margaret's. Margaret struck me as a fairly annoying individual. Luckily she is mostly a foil for the story of Vida, her family, and her childhood home.

Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale (Atria, 2006) ISBN: 0743298020

Review: Clocks

2011-07-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

This novel begins with one of Christie's creepiest murder scenes. A young woman arrives at her employer's house to find an unidentified dead man and a room full of stopped clocks. The rest of the book is spend unraveling the mystery of the dead man's identity and his presence in the home. To complicate matters the homeowner is blind, so visual identification is impossible. Before the mystery is solved a young secretary is also murdered, likely in connection with the mystery man.

I found the clues offered in this book to be far less subtle than in some of Christie's other mysteries. Indeed, the list of characters at the book's outset gives away a great deal. Ultimately I found the solution to the mystery to be rather odd. Suffice to say that it is very much a product of its time. This is not one of Christie's more haunting efforts, but the reading of it was entertaining nonetheless.

Agatha Christie, The Clocks (Pocket, 1981, orig. 1962) ISBN: 0671428799

Review: Spooky Little Girl

2011-06-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

After the worst week of her life Lucy Fisher wakes up dead. She's in ghost school, in a class on haunting for those who died suddenly. Lucy, it seems, has been run over by a bus, and is marked to be sent back to the world of the living to complete an unknown task before being allowed into heaven.

While this is a cute and charming story it is also entirely predictable. I knew exactly where Lucy's ghost would be sent. Notaro is a funny writer, but I think her talents are better used on non-fiction. This was quite an easy read, but too predictable to really be satisfying.

Laurie Notaro, Spooky Little Girl (Villard, 2010) ISBN: 0345510976

Review: Vintage Murder

2011-06-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

Scotland Yard's Inspector Alleyn cannot take a holiday without falling into a murder investigation. While vacationing in New Zealand Alleyn finds himself investigating the death of a theater company magnate. During a birthday celebration for his leading-lady wife Alfred Meyer is killed by a hurtling magnum of champagne, falling from the eaves of the theater. Finding the killer seems impossible; many had motive, but no one seems to have had the opportunity. Alleyn steps in to help the local police investigate.

While I generally enjoy this sort of murder mystery, this one was rather ponderous. So much of the investigation relies on highly technical measurements: exactly how was the bottle rigged, where was the ladder placed, and so on. The book also features a large cast of characters, most of whom are entirely uninteresting. I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters, and I didn't particularly care about most of them. There's also the issue of Marsh's somewhat racist treatment of native New Zealanders. I will likely try another Inspector Alleyn mystery, but I will look for one outside of a theatrical setting.

Ngaio Marsh, Vintage Murder (Amereon, 1983, orig. 1937) ISBN: 088411497X

Review: Miss Pym Disposes

2011-06-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is a rather odd sort of mystery, as for most of the book there is no mystery at all. Miss Pym, a pop psychologist, spends a week in residence at a girls' school. Much of her time is spent getting to know the students, and noticing how bucolic and normal everything seems to be. Then, one girl is terribly slighted by the headmistress, and it becomes clear to the reader that something terrible is about to happen.

That something terrible happens near the end of the book. What appears to be an accident might be something more sinister, at least it seems so to Miss Pym. This is really a backwards sort of book. Most of the book is spent studying the characters, before there is any hint of nefarious activity.

What I found most interesting about this book was that it provided a look into a competitive girls' boarding school. Without giving too much away, I was never able to figure out why the headmistress made the decision that she did. The slight on which the whole mystery turns was essentially inexplicable.

Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes (Touchstone, 1998) ISBN: 0684847515

Review: My Best Friend's Girl

2011-06-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Kamryn Matika spends her 33rd birthday learning that her best friend is dying and wants Kamryn to adopt her daughter. Kamryn has been an avowed singleton ever since her painful breakup with her fiance. Parenting hardly comes naturally to her, and the book follows what happens when she becomes Tegan Brannon's guardian. Along with the expected challenges of managing work and parenting and dealing with a grieving child, Kamryn must try and mend her broken love life. She develops a love-hate relationship with her new boss while trying to avoid her ex-fiance.

This is a book full of damaged people trying to find love. It is also a book full of people mistreating one another. I found some of the relationships difficult to believe. Kamryn and her boss, Luke, were particularly odd. This is a touching story, but it is not always entirely believable.

Dorothy Koomson, My Best Friend's Girl (Bantam, 2006) ISBN: 184632422X

Review: Miss Timmins' School for Girls

2011-06-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

This book is a murder mystery wrapped up in a book about a girls' boarding school in the mountains of India. Miss Timmins' School is heavy on colonialist ideology, and becomes the scene of fear and intrigue when a teacher is murdered. Told through the eyes of a teacher, Charu, and a student, Nandita, the reader follows their efforts to discover what really happened to teacher Moira Prince.

Charu is a new teacher, living away from home for the first time and experiencing her first love. At Miss Timmins she relishes the freedom of independence and makes friends with a group of local hippies. She is particularly tied to Moira Prince, well-known bad girl at the school, and Charu's first love. Their romantic relationship is always charged by Charu's fear that she will be found out.

The book is a bit slow in the first section, particularly in the development of Charu and Moira's love affair. Once the murder investigation began the book quickly gained speed. This is a beautifully-written book, a suspenseful mystery with the style and depth of literary fiction. The book is perhaps a bit longer than it needs to be, but it was a very engaging read.

Nayana Currimbhoy, Miss Timmins' School for Girls (Harper, 2011) ISBN: 0061997749

Review: Beautiful Malice

2011-06-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

This psychological thriller follows a grieving teenager who falls under the spell of a charismatic friend. Alice seems to be just the friend Katherine Patterson needs, but it quickly becomes clear that Alice has a dark side. Filled with grief since her sister's murder, Katherine moves to a new school and avoids others, until the beautiful and popular Alice befriends her. The two become fast friends, but Alice quickly shows her dark and unpleasant tendencies. People are captivated by Alice's beauty and charm, but she treats others terribly as mood strikes her.

It is not entirely clear what is wrong with Alice, but by the time Katherine recognizes this it may be too late to escape Alice's clutches. The story is told in the past, present, and future, as the reader learns what happened to Katherine's sister, they also see her grown up, with a daughter.

James does a decent job of building suspense throughout the book. That said, there were certain nagging issues that bothered me. I couldn't tell exactly where the book was set. James is an Australian author, though this was billed as her US debut. It was never entirely clear to me if the book was set in the US or Australia. I also found the amount of freedom afforded these teenagers completely unbelievable. Katherine's parents are supposedly overprotective, though they let her live in a distant city with no supervision. Both Alice and Katherine live on their own and seem to have plenty of money and ample tie to do whatever they want. This simply didn't seem plausible, and I found these things distracting.

The final analysis- this is a good enough story, though nothing spectacular.

Rebecca James, Beautiful Malice (Bantam, 2010) ISBN: 0553808052

Review: Rachel's Holiday

2011-06-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Marian Keyes is a very funny writer, and like so many of her books, this one manages to deal with a serious subject and still be tremendously entertaining. The serious subject here is drug and alcohol addiction. In New York Irish ex-pat Rachel Walsh's life devolves as she develops cocaine and alcohol addictions. After losing her job, her boyfriend, and her best friend, Rachel finds herself back in Ireland in treatment. Refusing to believe that she is an addict, Rachel agrees to treatment only because she thinks she might see celebrities. What follows are Rachel's comic misadventures as an addict in denial while in treatment, interspersed with the story of how she became an addict.

Keyes has an amazing ability to bring humor to horrible situations, and this is a book to read when you need a pick-me-up. The ending is a bit unbelievable, but the book is by and large light and fun reading.

Marian Keyes, Rachel's Holiday (Avon, 2002) ISBN: 0060090383

Review: Life in Miniature

2011-06-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Navigating the landscape of junior high is difficult enough for loner Adie, but her mother's psychiatric issues only magnify her sense of alienation and unhappiness. With her mother's history of psychiatric hospitalization Adie battles the stigma of having a "crazy" mother. Adie's mother suffers from paranoia, particularly with regard to illicit drugs. As the 1980s War on Drugs infiltrates the media, this brings Adie's mother to the brink of crisis. She moves the family frequently to avoid the dangers of drugs, and scrutinizes her daughters' behavior, presuming that every little scratch is a track mark. The situations escalates to the point where Adie's sister, Miriam, leaves home, and her mother, Mindy, goes on the run with Adie, trying to outrace the violent drug dealers who she is convinced are following them.

In Adie Schlossberg has crafted an intriguing character. Adie is desperate for her mother's attention, which is occupied by obsessions. I loved Adie's habit of observing the peculiarities of adult speech; that transported me back to my own childhood. I found the book's ending difficult to believe, but it did provide a compassionate portrayal of the effects of a parent's mental illness on a child.

Linda Schlossberg, Life in Miniature (Kensington, 2010) ISBN: 9780758238436

Review: Saving Max

2011-06-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize when I selected this book that it was more of a legal thriller than straight literary fiction. As such, it was much more violent than I was anticipating. That said, this book offers a compelling story, one I stayed up half the night reading because I had to find out what would happen at the end.

Max Parkman finds himself accused of murdering a fellow patient at the psychiatric hospital where he is being treated. Max is autistic, and appears to have violent tendencies. His mother, Danielle, is convinced that her son is innocent, and wages a full-scale effort to prove his innocence. Danielle's legal battle is a desperate one, and she is committed to saving her son at all costs. The costs will be high. Unable to keep up with work at her Manhattan law firm, Danielle falls off the track to partner. More seriously, her unorthodox efforts to prove Max's innocence land Danielle in jail and out on bail.

This is a fast-paced and suspenseful book. Over the course of the book I warmed to Max's character, but I was never able to warm to Danielle. I found Danielle to be quite disturbing. As an officer of the court, Danielle is more than willing to flout the law and the conditions of her bail. Even more troubling to me was the fact that she was willing to pin the crime on any sacrificial lamb in her path. Danielle quite candidly admits that she is willing to place the blame on a known innocent if it will lead to her son's exoneration.

Several weeks after having finished this book I'm still left with an unsettled feeling. I'll likely be thinking about this one for quite some time.

Antoinette van Heugten, Saving Max (Mira, 2010) ISBN: 9780778329633

Review: This Life is in Your Hands

2011-06-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

This is Coleman's memoir of growing up on a homesteading farm in rural Maine in the 1970s. Coleman's parents moved to the backwoods of Maine to experiment with organic farming and self-sufficient living. The early years were idyllic, but things deteriorated.

Coleman's parents had been warned that homesteading with children was nearly impossible. The stress of managing Coleman and her two sisters, combined with postpartum depression, threw her mother into a tailspin of despair. The vitamin deficiencies in the family's self-produced diet affected moods and energy.

As the Colemans' efforts gained notoriety a series of apprentices shifted through the homestead, and Coleman's parents' marriage deteriorated. The final straw was the accidental death of Coleman's sister Heidi. Much of the book tells the story of the slow deterioration of the Coleman family.

This books offers a fascinating look inside the homesteading movement, and inside a family. The Colemans lived at the center of the Maine homesteading community. Their farm was adjacent to that of Helen and Scott Nearing, and the Nearings play a significant role in the book. Melissa's childhood was tragic in many ways- a little girl, desperate for friends and parental attention, her needs were generally secondary to a larger ideology. The farm was an all-consuming project, and its residual side-effects left little affective or attentive surplus for Melissa. My one complaint about the book is that it could be shorter; there were times I found it repetitive. This does serve to suggest the constant demands of the homestead, but I still think it could have been trimmed. This is a memoir well-worth reading.

Melissa Coleman, This Life is in Your Hands (Harper, 2011) ISBN: 0061958328

Review: Ask Me Why I Hurt

2011-06-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Christiansen's memoir of creating a mobile healthcare service for homeless teenagers is both inspiring and heartbreaking. Dr. Christiansen gave up his hospital appointment to transform an old RV into a mobile clinic. He discovers that there is tremendous demand for his services, and that America's homeless teenagers face multiple and complicated problems.

What is particularly striking is just how tragic the stories of Christiansen's patients are. The majority are homeless because they have run away from abuse. Most have weathered horrible situations. One of his patients lives in a hole in the desert. These children don't just need medical care, they also need attention, compassion, and a competent adult to pay attention to them.

This book highlights the difficulties of providing care to this population. It is nearly impossible to get these children enrolled to receive benefits, as such things require identification and parental help. Likewise, it is prohibitively expensive for Christiansen to stock drugs, but it is generally impossible for homeless teenagers to fill prescriptions, especially regular prescriptions for chronic conditions. The problems that are regularly recognized in the American medical system are magnified for Christiansen.

This book is also something of a personal memoir, as Christiansen is trying to start a family at the same time that he is beginning his work with the mobile clinic. I found the personal memoir to be much less engaging than the professional. Ultimately I left this book inspired by what Christiansen has managed to do, and terribly depressed by the extent of the problems.

Randy Christiansen, M.D., Ask Me Why I Hurt (Broadway, 2011) ISBN: 0307718999

Review: Salting Roses

2011-06-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Consummate small-town southern girl Gracie Calloway celebrates her 25th birthday by discovering that she is the heir to a New England fortune. Her abrupt and controlling grandmother is adamant that Gracie must take her place as the family heiress. Despite the advantages of her New England family's wealth, Gracie is loathe to acquiesce. All Gracie wants is to continue her life as she had known it, but New England grandma is unwilling to allow that. The situation becomes a contest of wills between two powerful women, Gracie and her grandmother. That contest convinces Gracie that perhaps she has more connection with her New England family than she had previously thought.

This was generally an engaging read, though I sometimes found it difficult to get my head around Gracie's southern family.

Lorelle Marinello, Salting Roses (William Morrow, 2010) ISBN: 0061443743

Review: Spider's Web

2011-06-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

This is a novelization of one of Christie's plays. Clarissa Halisham-Brown, a diplomat's wife, finds a body in her parlor while waiting for her husband to return home with an important diplomatic guest. Her efforts to hide the murder and save her husband's career become increasingly more complicated. The body is the focal point of Clarissa's efforts, and her attempts to hide it are increasingly more difficult to execute. As the story progresses, Clarissa traps herself in a web of lies.

It is fully evident that this story was originally a play. All of the action takes place in one room, requiring only one set. There is no change of scenery, and only limited characters. It is less satisfying than Christie's novels. Those new to Christie's work should start with her novels. This is for the Christie fan.

Agatha Christie, Spider's Web (St. Martin's Minotaur, 2001) ISBN:

Review: The Frugalista Files

2011-06-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

In 2008 journalist Natalie McNeal decided to try and get control of her debt and her financial life. McNeal set up a blog to chronicle her journey. This book is the product of that blog. The book is essentially a compendium of blog posts. In terms of content, the book is fairly similar to other books in this genre. The content likely will not surprise most readers; McNeal learns to make do with the clothes in her closet and cook meals at home. Potential lay-offs at the paper where McNeal works provides a somewhat interesting twist, and she must decide whether to take a buy-out, or keep her current job. As a newspaper journalist the threat of cuts is always looming.

McNeal is a good writer, and she has an accessible, conversational style. I'm not convinced, though, that blogs translate well to books. There's not much in the book that goes above and beyond the blog. I also found that this was a book best read a few pages each day; it's not the sort that can be read in several-hour stretches. I'd prefer to see McNeal write an independent book apart from a blog, as she is a technically good writer. She seems like the sort of woman I'd like to meet for a drink. That's great for a blog, but with the book it seems that McNeal has sold herself short.

Natalie McNeal, The Frugalista Files (Harlequin, 2010) ISBN: 0373892292

Review: Minding Ben

2011-04-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Grace Caton's dream is to leave Trinidad and move to New York City. When she arrives in the city she finds herself along and forced to compete with other West Indian women for poorly paid, exploitative nanny jobs for Manhattan's wealthy. For most of the book Grace works for Sol and Miriam Bruckner, babysitting for their son, Ben. The Bruckners overwork and underpay Grace, lording the promise of a visa sponsorship over her head to keep her in their employ and justify their poor treatment.

This book reminded me very much of The Nanny Diaries, both books looking at the strange world of New York nannies, and the abuse they take from their employers. Brown's work adds immigration issues into the tale, and Grace's hope for a visa leads her to consider options she might otherwise avoid, such as marrying a completely unsuitable American man, and continuing to work for the miserable Bruckners. Grace realizes quickly that everyone is willing to take advantage of her.

Throughout the book I had a hard time understanding why Grace wanted to stay in New York, given how badly she was treated there. The Bruckners were a like a train wreck, their behavior was so bad that it was almost painful to read about, but at the same time, it's hard to look away. The luxurious apartments of Manhattan's wealthy are a different kind of sweatshop, taking advantage of vulnerable workers and subjecting them to irrational whims and poor treatment.

Victoria Brown, Minding Ben (Voice, 2011) ISBN: 9781401341510

Review: Running the Books

2011-03-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

As an unemployed Harvard graduate, Steinberg found himself taking a job as a librarian in a maximum-security prison. His memoir details his adjustment to prison life and the relationships he forms with the inmates. Steinberg quickly discovers that the library is a lifeline for inmates, and that intricate hierarchies dominate prison life. He finds himself involved in elaborate turn wars with some of the guards, and emotionally invested with the inmates.

Steinberg's tale is certainly humorous; that was clear from the opening line: "Pimps make the best librarians." The absurdities of Steinberg's clientele are on full display, but Steinberg is certainly sympathetic to his patrons. He goes to bat for the inmates on more than one occasion. Steinberg attempts to reunite a mother with her long-lost son, and helps another inmate plan for a future career as a chef.

For all the humor and humanity, this book does not shy away from the violent and dehumanizing elements of prison. Aside from the miseries and loneliness of prison, Steinberg discovers that the outside world has its own problems, as he reads about the deaths of released inmates in the newspaper. He is particularly saddened by the deaths of two inmates to whom he developed connections in the library and his writing classes. Ultimately the humor and the sadness are wrapped together; they are inseparable.

This is a well-done memoir written by an observant and sensitive man. I highly recommend it.

Avi Steinberg, Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian (Nan A. Talese, 2010) ISBN: 0385529090

Review: The Illumination

2011-03-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

This book has an intriguing concept: it looks at life in a world in which pain emits light. The execution of this idea, however, leaves something to be desired.

The book follows six people, tied together by a book full of love notes, which passes into each of their hands. They come from all walks of life: a homeless man, a young author, an abused child, a widower. The book is actually much more about the notebook full of love notes than about the illumination of pain. This is one of my most significant criticisms of the book. If everyone's pain began emitting light, the consequences would be significant. No one would be able to hide their physical ailments. Yet, Brockmeier doesn't explore the effects of the illumination, it is merely background for the stories about the love notes.

I was never as taken with the the love notes as were the people in the book. The concept of the book of love notes seemed trite: one note written every day in the form of "I love when you..." That sounds like the sort of thing that newlyweds might do, and which would make everyone else gag. The idea of peering into the most intimate details of a person's life is interesting, but the book of "I love yous" just did not do that for me.

This book is also heavily laden with human misery. The misery never seemed to be abated; reading it was sometimes like constantly picking a scab off a wound. Ultimately I see this book as an opportunity missed.

Kevin Brockmeier, The Illumination (Pantheon, 2011) ISBN: 0375425314

Review: Tales of the City

2011-03-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Reading this book is a bit like a history lesson. Set in San Francisco in the late-1970s, this book was remarkable for presenting homosexuality as part of mainstream popular culture. In 2011 this is hardly shocking, but thirty-five years ago it was. This is important to recognize before going into the book.

With the stage set, I felt like this book read like a sitcom. The characters engage in crazy antics. They get involved in humorous love triangles. The series began in the newspaper, and I can see how that shapes the book. The book is comprised of short chapters and small vignettes. It is humorous and easy reading, a bit of mind candy.

By the end I was left with some unanswered questions. What was the issue with the landlady? As this is the first book in a series, I'm going to assume that Maupin is setting up for the next book. I'll be reading it to find out.

Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City (Harper Perennial, 2007) ISBN: 0061358304

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2011-03-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Having heard so much about this book I felt obligated to read it and see for myself why it has generated so much buzz. As someone who didn't know a tremendous amount about the story going in, I found the book to be much more violent and horrifying than I expected.

The book consists of two storylines involving disgraced financial reporter Mikael Blomkvist, and socially-inept hacker Lisbeth Salander. Together the two are trying to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of corporate heiress Harriet Vanger, and expose the financial misdeeds of a prominent tycoon. I was much more taken with the Vanger mystery than with the story about corporate corruption. That was rather dry.

One of Larsson's larger objectives in this book is clearly to highlight the disturbing pervasiveness of violence against women. All of the significant violence in the book is gendered, and is perpetrated against female victims. One of its victims is co-protagonist Lisbeth Salander. She is certainly an interesting character, one who is uncomfortable with what many of us might consider basic sociability. She is also a woman who has endured much abuse, and that makes her essential to Larsson's larger point. One of Salander's most significant problems is that legally she is considered a ward of the state. She had been in this position as a child without competent parents, but her status as a legal dependent was allowed to continue into her adulthood. The fact that an adult who earns her own money, holds a job, and is capable of managing the basic elements of day-to-day life can be legally alienated from her money and her basic legal rights is, quite simply, frightening. Clearly Larsson is making an argument against the institution of guardianship. I was unclear if the portion of the text which explain guardianship were part of Larsson's original text, or if they were added by the translator for the non-Swedish audience.

This is not the most amazing book I've ever read, but it's a book I'll certainly think about for some time. I suspect I'll read the next two books in the trilogy, as long as I can stomach the violence. Larsson does not glorify the horrific violence about which he writes, but it is, undeniably, difficult to read.

Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage Crime, 2009) ISBN: 9780307454546

Review: The Red Garden

2011-02-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

This linked series of short stories follows the residents of the town of Blackwell, Massachusetts from its eighteenth-century founding to the present day. Nestled in the Berkshires, the town has a legendary founding involving an intrepid pioneer woman, a bear, a girl who drowns in the river, and a red-soiled garden that causes all plants to grow with a scarlet tinge. Throughout the years the garden nurtures the lonely and the sensitive, and is ever so slightly magical.

In tone and form this books is quite similar to Hoffman's earlier Blackbird House. Both books follow the life of a town through the centuries, but The Red Garden is far less depressing, and many of the stories are far more hopeful. I found that this was a book best read in increments, not in a few sittings. Each story really needs its own space to digest.

Alice Hoffman, The Red Garden (Crown, 2011) ISBN: 0307393879

Review: The Book of Tomorrow

2011-02-20T17:06:00.001-08:00

This book is best describedas chick lit with a magical twist. Dublin teenager Tamara Goodwin has lost everything. Her father has committed suicide, leaving the family in debt and leading to them losing their home. Tamara's mother is so overwhelmed by grief that she sleeps all day and rarely gets out of bed. She and her mother have been forced to move in with an aunt and uncle who live in the middle of nowhere.

If all of this was not bad enough something strange seems to be happening in Tamara's new home. Aunt Rosalind is evasive, and she refuses to let Tamara see her mother. The garage remains mysteriously locked, and Tamara is ordered not pursue any of her curiosity about the surrounding area. Most significantly, she acquires a diary that writes entries for her, foreshadowing the next day's events.

The course of the plot of this book is rather predictable, though the magical elements do offer a sort of interesting twist. I don't generally read books with any kind of fantastic elements, but I did think that Ahern offered just enough here to create interest without overdoing. The magic did not necessarily always seem logical. I know, it's magic, but whether Tamara could change the future or not did seem to vary from day to day. Probably the best thing about this book is the setting, on the grounds of a ruined castle and an old convent. The setting was somewhat magical in and of itself, and it definitely added to the atmosphere.

Cecilia Ahern, The Book of Tomorrow (Harper, 2011) ISBN: 0061706302

Immigrant Stories Challenge

2011-02-19T14:22:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to post this for ages, but just got around to it. I'm joining the Immigrant Stories Challenge. It runs until the end of the year, and involves reading books about people emigrating from one county to another. There are several levels of achievement, I'm starting by signing up at the lowest level, and I can always move up.

Interested in signing up? Click on the image.

Review: Hungry for Happiness

2011-02-19T13:24:00.000-08:00

I wanted to like this book, I really did. Instead, I found it to be quite offensive.

Loretta Crawford has lost significant weight after a gastric bypass. Life remains a struggle, as she ties to get her catering business off the ground and navigate the dating scene as a thinner woman. Loretta has a terrible self-image, and discovers that life as a thinner woman is not as easy as she expected.

The main problem with this book was the characters. They were at best unlikable, at worst offensive. The worst of the lot is Loretta, who expresses tremendous hatred of fat people. She is constantly criticizing overweight people, including her friends and family. Loretta genuinely believes that fat people do not deserve happiness, and she thinks that her overweight friends and family are disgusting, a sentiment she repeats ad nauseum. She expresses anger and disbelief when good things happen to her fat friends. Loretta Crawford is certainly not someone I would want to be my friend. Hatred of fat women seems to be coursing through this book. The male character who prefers to date fat women is repeatedly described as "a pervert," and treated much more harshly than the male characters who commit rape.

This book also employs a strange dialect. I've lived in the south. I'm used to heavy accents. I've never heard anything like this. Loretta calls everyone "Bub," "Buster," or "Buckaroo." I have no idea what the intention was, but I have yet to hear a Texan speak lie this.

I honestly cannot recommend this book.

James Villas, Hungry for Happiness (Kensington, 2010) ISBN: 0758228481

Review: Bitter in the Mouth

2011-02-03T00:12:00.000-08:00

The most important thing I can say about this book is that it gets much better in the second half. A coming of age story about a southern girl with a unique disorder, Linda can taste words. Every word has a flavor. Listening and speaking can create a whole series of unpleasant tastes. Human conversation becomes a minefield.

To add to these problems Linda's family relations are strained. She has little relationship with her mother, and after her father's death Linda's only real emotional connection is with her uncle Harper. Harper faces his own demons struggling to find acceptance in a town that demonizes homosexuality.

This all sounds like it could make for a good story, but honestly, I found the first half of this book to be rather dull. Tasting words seemed like an unnecessary add-on, and the result was basically that Linda ended up smoking all the time. I nearly abandoned it. Then Truong drops a bomb on the last page of the first section, and the books gets much more interesting. I'm not going to address the nature of what changes; it's much more effective if it's a surprise.

Monique Truong, Bitter in the Mouth (Random House, 2010) ISBN: 1400069084

Review: Atonement

2011-01-17T00:18:00.000-08:00

I had heard so much about this book that I approached it with great anticipation. At first I was disappointed. Actually, I was disappointed for much of the book. Then, I reached the end of the book, and I was blown away. The ending of this book changed the entire experience of reading it. The ending was startling and moving, and well-worth the time to get there.

The book spans more than sixty years, from the mid-thirties to 1999. It begins on a fateful summer day in 1935, when thirteen-year old Briony Tallis witnesses the interactions between her sister and the son of a family servant. Unable to understand the budding romance between Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner, Briony's response causes a devastating set of consequences. These consequences alter multiple lives.

A significant portion of the book takes place during the Second World War, and the grizzly realities of the battlefield are presented in full detail. Be ready for plenty of stomach-turning injuries. The language in the book is very atmospheric. The prose describing the summer evening is sultry and languid, nearly as stultifying as the heat itself. The language does seem showy and a bit overdone. Why McEwan makes this choice becomes evident later in the book. This is a somewhat difficult book to get into, but it is well worth pushing through to the ending.

Ian McEwan, Atonement (Anchor, 2003) ISBN: 038572179X

Review: Holidays on Ice

2011-01-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

This collection of short stories and essays remind the reader of the complete and utter absurdity of the holidays. The best of the selections is undeniably Sedaris's memoir of working as an elf in the Santa display at Macy's in Manhattan. Tales from the Santa line are just as absurd as one might expect. Sedaris's maligning of children's Christmas pageants is good too. The other stories were not as funny.

This confirms what I've always suspected about Sedaris, which is that he shines in the humorous memoir genre. And really, he is quite a funny man. The non-memoir material means that this is not the strongest of his work. It's good for a holiday chuckle, and probably best for those who have to face crazy holiday relatives, but this is by no means the best of Sedaris.

David Sedaris, Holidays on Ice (Back Bay, 1998) ISBN: 0316078913

Review: Burning Bright

2011-01-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Set in London during the French Revolution, this novel chronicles the burgeoning friendship of two near-adolescents. Jem Kellaway, son of a country chair-maker, and confirmed London urchin Maggie Butterfield strike up a close friendship, bordering on first romance. The two are united in a fascination with their unique and libertine neighbor, poet and artist William Blake. Blake shares some of his poetry and engravings with the children, which keeps them hungering for more. As the children navigate the streets of London, they discover that the revolution growing on the other side of the Channel will affect their lives in ways they never imagined. Chevalier does a fairly good job recreating the London of the 1790s. That said, the addition of William Blake as neighbor to the main characters is the only thing that makes this book anything out of the ordinary. I was never convinced that Blake contributed to the story in any meaningful way. Each time he appeared it seemed like a drive-by William Blake sighting. This was my first Chevalier book, and I think it must be one of her weaker works. I've heard wonderful things about her books, so I'll be reading some of the others, hoping for something better.

Tracy Chevalier, Burning Bright (Plume, 2008) ISBN: 0452289076

Wrap-Up: Thriller and Suspense Challenge 2010

2011-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to have finished the Thriller and Suspense Challenge for 2010! I read and reviewed the following 12 books:

Audrey Niffenegger- Her Fearful Symmetry
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle- The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Helen Grant- The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
Carol Goodman- The Drowning Tree
Carol Goodman- Arcadia Falls
Agatha Christie- At Bertram's Hotel
Agatha Christie- The Moving Finger
Agatha Christie- The Complete Miss Marple Short Stories
Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret
Katharine Weber- The Music Lesson
Therese Walsh- The Last Will of Moira Leahy

And then there's the thriller/suspense/mystery books I finished but haven't posted m reviews yet:

P.D. James- Cover Her Face
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Agatha Christie- Peril at End House
Agatha Christie- Sparkling Cyanide
Agatha Christie- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie- Spider's Web

All in all, quite a satisfying year.

Review: At Bertram's Hotel

2011-01-01T18:59:00.000-08:00

Bertram's, a central London hotel, attracts a wealthy and staid clientele. It specializes in creating an old-world ambiance for those who want to relive days past. But not all is right at the hotel, which Miss Marple discovers when she spends a holiday in its quarters. What exactly is amiss in the hotel is unraveled over the course of the book.

This book was somewhat different from the other Christies I've read. Most begin with a murder, and the rest of the book is spent sorting out whodunit. When I'd reached the halfway point of this book, I realized that no one had died yet; quite unusual for Christie. Instead, much of Miss Marple's time is spent trying to determine what, if anything is wrong. Several parallel story lines converge by the end of the book at Bertram's.

The unique format makes a nice diversion for the Christie fan, though I don't think that this is one of her best, it is still solid.

Agatha Christie, At Bertram's Hotel (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2007) ISBN: 1579127320

What's In A Name 3, Wrap-Up

2011-01-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

I'm very pleased to have completed the What's in a Name? 3 Challenge in 2010. I read the following books:

Food: Blood Orange by Drusilla Campbell
Music Term: The Music Lesson by Katharine Weber
Plant: Violet Clay by Gail Godwin
Title: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen
Water: Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
Place: Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson

2nds Challenge 2010 Wrap-Up

2011-01-01T18:21:00.001-08:00

I am delighted to have successfully completed the 2010 2nds Challenge! I reached the level of "Fascinated" by reading six (actually I read seven!) My completed books are:

Gail Godwin, Violet Clay. Previously read Father Melancholy's Daughter
Jennifer Niven, The Aqua Net Diaries. Previously read Velva Jean Learns to Drive
Andrea Levy, The Long Song. Previously read Small Island
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Previously read The Hound of the Baskervilles
Carol Goodman, Arcadia Falls. Previously read The Lake of Dead Languages
Joshilyn Jackson, Between, Georgia. Previously read Gods in Alabama
Sue Miller, The Lake Shore Limited. Previously read While I Was Gone

Review: Between, Georgia

2011-01-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is my second Joshilyn Jackson book, and I think I liked this one better than Gods in Alabama, though this does suffer from some of the same problems. The novel tells the story of Nonny Frett, trying to manage her unconventional family, and her looming, but uncertain, divorce. All of this happens against the background of the tiny and colorful southern town of Between.

The plot of this book moves along at a good pace, and the story is full of colorful characters. The similarities to Gods in Alabama are striking: the unique maternal situation, the overbearing aunt, and the troubled romantic relationship are all here.

My main issue with the book was the ending: it was a bit too neat, and definitely a let-down. I'm not sorry that I invested the time reading this book, but I was disappointed at the end.

Joshilyn Jackson, Between, Georgia (Grand Central, 2006) ISBN: 0446524425

Review: The Land of Spices

2010-12-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

In a convent school in the Ireland of the 1930s, O'Brien weaves the parallel tales of a sensitive young pupil and the lonely mother superior who sees promise in her. Anna Murphey, daughter of an alcoholic father, weak mother, and dictatorial grandmother, finds solace only in the companionship of her younger brother, Charlie. Away at school from a young age, Anna's academic talents create a barrier between her and her classmates, and they run her afoul of certain of the most jealous nuns. Compounding Anna's problems is the fact that she is emotionally isolated from her mostly useless family. Her drunk father, her dominating grandmother, and her spineless mother all exist outside of Anna's emotional world.

O'Brien is clearly cognizant of the dangers of convent education for sensitive young women like Anna. The book suggests that loneliness and unhappiness is the lot of the thinking, feeling woman, as epitomized by Anna and the mother superior. Loneliness is endemic. The only happy women in the book are some of the simpering, unthinking elder students.

The book also provides a strong indictment against the provincialism of Irish nationalism. The Irish nationalists in O'Brien's work are univerally short-sighted and unsure of why they support their cause. In short, they are incapable of seeing the forest for the trees.

This is an interesting, thinking novel, which provides a fascinating look at life in a convent school.

Kate O'Brien, The Land of Spices (Virago, 2006) ISBN: 1844083160

Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

2010-12-29T06:11:00.000-08:00

I had previously read Holmes in novel-length, but this is the first I've read Holmes in short form. The shorter form really seems to suit the larger-than-life character that is Sherlock Holmes. Holmes's quirks and ego, and Watson's sycophantic toadying are far more tolerable in smaller doses. Holmes's deductive reasoning is also on full display in these short tales, as attention to the details leads him to the solution, which is always "really rather simple, Watson!"

It's possible for the reader who attends to the details to figure out the solution to many of these cases, generally at least, if not in all the details. The stories in this volume are just the right length to be suspenseful without being stale. It is easy to see why these detective stories have withstood the test of time.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Puffin, 1995, orig. 1892) ISBN: 014036689X

Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles

2010-12-28T23:37:00.000-08:00

This was my first Sherlock Holmes, and it very much lived up to my expectations. In this novel Holmes is called from London to consider the death of Charles Baskerville, apparantly by a crazed and superhuman dog. Reports have come from the manor of a ghostly, dog-like creature that haunts the hills. When Charles's heir arrives to take up residence at Baskerville Hall, Holmes is convinced that the young Baskerville's life is in danger. Watson takes up residence at Baskerville Hall to watch out for Henry Baskerville's safety. When Watson notices strange things happening in the moors, the reader starts to wonder if, in fact, there is something supernatural haunting the moors.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is certainly an engaging read. I stayed up late to finish it, and I can imagine that reading it in serials would create great anticipation for the next installment.

The one shortfall I found was in my ability to visualize the scenery. I'm not entirely familiar with Dartmoor, and it was difficult sometimes to understand the placement of Baskerville Hall and the surrounding terrain. That's not entirely Doyle's fault, and I certainly did get the sense that the countryside was hilly and desolate.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles (Wordsworth, 1999, orig. 1902) ISBN: 1840224002

Review: Marcella

2010-12-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

This book is a Victorian family saga, focused on a family estate, a spurned lover, and a devious villain. Marcella Boyce is young, bright, and taken with socialism. When her parents inherit the family estate in the country Marcella takes up the miserable conditions of the local workforce as her cause. She falls in love with the local favorite son, a Conservative, vying for a seat in Parliament. Socialist Marcella must discover if she can live with a man with different politics, and her feelings on the issue threaten to damage a number of lives.

Marcella shares many of the conventions of the late-Victorian novel. The lead character is intellectually inclined and socially-minded, but her gender ensures that her attention to socio-political issues will either make her look foolish or lead to her demise. The late-Victorian countryside offers no real place for a politically active woman. Ward also gives the reader a strong sense that the best thing for Marcella would be marriage, though Marcella is generally unable to see this for herself. The single woman's folly is readily apparent.

Ward offers a complicated plot and interesting characterizations. That said, I had to pace myself in reading this rather long novel, as Ward is entirely conventional in her treatment of women like Marcella Boyce, and I find Victorian characterizations of women so pat. Oddly enough, I find that to be especially true of books written by Victorian women. It's clear that authors like Mrs. Humphrey Ward were looking for an outlet for intelligent women, but they were still too limited by Victorian gender conventions to be able to revolutionary change in their literature.

Mrs. Humphrey Ward, Marcella (Penguin, 1985, orig. 1894) ISBN: 0140161031, 560 p.

Outdo Yourself Challenge

2010-12-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

My personal goal for 2010 was to read 75 books. I just passed that goal (yay!) For 2011 I'm upping the stakes. I want to surpass 75. Maybe I'll read 100? In reality, anything over 75 would be great. To aid in this project I'm joining the Outdo Yourself Challenge, hosted by The Book Vixen. I'm going to aim for 11-15 more books.

Want to join this challenge? Click on the image!

Support Your Local Library Challenge

2010-12-25T20:41:00.001-08:00

In the midst of this budget crisis public libraries are suffering huge cuts. My own public library has severely reduced its hours (particularly evening hours) to weather the storm. It's very important to me to show that the public library is a valuable community resource, and the best way I know to do that is to ensure that I help keep circulations numbers high. Instead of just reading off my (admittedly gigantic) TBR mountain, I'm going to make sure I make active use of the library, checking out and reading library books. To help this along I'm joining the Support Your Local Library Challenge. I have to check out and read at least 30 books, which I think I can do. I love browsing the library shelves looking for undiscovered books.

Want to join this challenge? Click on the image.

British Books Challenge

2010-12-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

I'm going for the crown!

I love British books, and I seem to read a fair number of them, so I'm delighted to sign up for The Bookette's British Books Challenge, 2011. To challenge myself, I'm going for the top level. For an American that's 12 books, which actually won't be that much of a challenge for me. Therefore, I'm going to jump in and try to read fifty. There's some promise of a crown if I achieve that- it will actually be a challenge, but that's the point. Can't wait to begin!

Want to sign up too? Click on the image!

Ireland Challenge 2011

2010-12-25T20:19:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed participating in the Ireland Challenge last year, so I've decided to re-up for next year. I'm signing up for the Ireland Challenge 2011. I'm not sure what I'll be reading, but I just got an ARC of Cecilia Ahearn's new book, so I suspect that will be one of them.

Want to join? Click on the image!

Review: The Lake Shore Limited

2010-12-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

Devastation is the expected response to the death of a loved one. This is a book about all of the other complicated emotions that can interfere with pure grief, and the impossibility of expressing those emotions. The book focuses on the web of people who surround a young man who died in the 9/11 attacks. His girlfriend writes a play about the experience, revealing that she might not be as grief-stricken as she ought to be. The play's viewers and actors form the core of the group of characters. The play focuses on an aging academic, caught in the drama of not knowing what has happened when a terrorist attack is reported on his wife's train. The play is, of course, meant to be a metaphor for the playwright, Billie's, own relationship. It's very difficult to write a play within a novel, and I can't say that this novel is better for it. So much of the book focuses on the play, and the play is just not all that interesting or nuanced. The play is such an important part of the story, but it's essentially flat. I didn't think that this was one of Miller's better books. I much preferred While I Was Gone.

Sue Miller, The Lake Shore Limited (Knopf, 2010) ISBN: 0307264211