Novels Now

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Pages: 288 pages
First Published: Jul. 29, 2008
Publisher: Dial Press

Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

Dear Sidney, Susan Scott is a wonder.

Reason for Reading: I’ve wanted to read this since the minute it came out! The title is the first thing that grabbed my interest then of course all the positive reviews. Somehow the book just kept getting pushed further down my tbr pile until finally it rose to the top when it was randomly selected as my final book for the Random Reading Challenge.

I’ll keep this review short since there are hundreds, make that thousands of reviews already online. I feel like I may be the last book blogger to read this book! As anyone who reads my reviews regularly might have guessed: how could I not have absolutely loved it! Everything I enjoy in this type of book is present here, historical fiction written as a collection of letters with a cast of eccentric characters. Perfection! I just love epistolary novels and they read so fast it is almost impossible to put the book down. Each and every single character was a dear and getting to know them through someone’s letters somehow seems so personal and insightful. I loved everyone though I must say Dawsey and Isola were my favourites.

As to the historical content, while the book takes place one year after the war it often feels to be in the here and now as the letters are full of reminiscences of wartime experiences. I must say that even with all my reading of World War II, I had not known that the Channel Islands had been occupied. It didn’t surprise me, tactically I can understand how the situation happened, but I’m surprised it has never been mentioned in my previous reading. It was an eye-opener for me and I’m now quite interested in finding out more about the occupation and the experiences of people from different points of view.

A delightful little book, that is a quick read with dramatic, tragic, romantic and comedic moments to be found throughout. A truly beautiful book not to be missed!

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
Darkest Powers, Book One

Pages: 390
Ages: 14+
First Published: July 1, 2008
Genre: YA, paranormal, fantasy
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

Mommy forgot to warn the new babysitter about the basement.

Reason for Reading: I’ve been wanting to read this author for sometime now but her adult series has a number of books in it and with all the series I already have going it’s a daunting project and I thought this new YA series would be a great place to start and see if I liked the author before trying her adult books.

Comments: Chloe was a normal teenager until the day she sees a very scary ghost of a janitor in the girl’s bathroom and runs screaming down the school hall. Next thing she knows, she has woken up in an exclusive home for mentally troubled teens. She’s told she has a mental condition and they only want to help her get better. The handful of other patients all seem nice enough, well except a couple who have major attitude problems, and she begins to adjust to her diagnosis. But Chloe (and the others) begin to realize that something isn’t right. Chloe can still see dead people and the kids don’t think it’s because of any mental illness. In fact, quite a few of them seem to have rather special talents. Why are they always being threatened with transfer? What’s so bad with being transferred? Why can Chloe see the girl who was transferred?

This is an absolutely amazing read! You need one of those rubber page-flipper thingies on your finger so you can turn the pages fast enough when you read this. Kelley Armstrong has created an amazing world, which her website reveals is the same one in which her adult books are set. The mental home the teens live in has that boarding-school feel to it but with a much closer, tighter, oppressive atmosphere. While three of the teens stand out as main characters at this point, all six of them are fully realized and each given a background and believable personality.

The plot starts off with a bang and just keeps going from there. Event after event keeps the pace moving very quickly then reveal after reveal towards the end will have you gasping in shock. There is an overhanging darkness throughout the book which we are briefly let into and by the end of the book we have some idea of what it is but no real knowledge of its depth except that it has evil intentions.

The book does end basically mid-paragraph though not exactly with a cliff hanger as we know what is coming immediately next but it is one of those “to be continued” endings that I’m not partial to with everything left just at the crucial moment and leaving the reader dying to read the next book. Fortunately, I have the next book on hand and don’t have to wait a year to found out what happens next but I do fear that book two will leave me in the same position. However, the book is just too darn good to take any marks off so it gets a full rating from me! This is the best teen novel I’ve read since A Great and Terrible Beauty (which I loved!) and this is by far the better book. If you read paranormal books, whether they be adult or teen, you’ll love this. Go get it now! Highly recommended.

 
The Likeness by Tana French
Mystery
2008 Viking
Finished on 2/27/09
Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

Product Description

The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestselling psychological thriller In the Woods

Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still trying to recover. She’s transferred out of the murder squad and started a relationship with Detective Sam O’Neill, but she’s too badly shaken to make a commitment to him or to her career. Then Sam calls her to the scene of his new case: a young woman found stabbed to death in a small town outside Dublin. The dead girl’s ID says her name is Lexie Madison—the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective—and she looks exactly like Cassie.

With no leads, no suspects, and no clue to Lexie’s real identity, Cassie’s old undercover boss, Frank Mackey, spots the opportunity of a lifetime. They can say that the stab wound wasn’t fatal and send Cassie undercover in her place to find out information that the police never would and to tempt the killer out of hiding. At first Cassie thinks the idea is crazy, but she is seduced by the prospect of working on a murder investigation again and by the idea of assuming the victim’s identity as a graduate student with a cozy group of friends.

As she is drawn into Lexie’s world, Cassie realizes that the girl’s secrets run deeper than anyone imagined. Her friends are becoming suspicious, Sam has discovered a generations-old feud involving the old house the students live in, and Frank is starting to suspect that Cassie’s growing emotional involvement could put the whole investigation at risk. Another gripping psychological thriller featuring the headstrong protagonist we’ve come to love, from an author who has proven that she can deliver.

Wow! What an amazing book! I was immediately drawn in at the first chapter and never once grew tired or bored with the plot or characters. This is one of the most engrossing, entertaining, and enjoyable books I’ve read in years. I read for hours on end after work. I read late in the night. I read before work and, yes, even at stoplights. I could not put this book down! Nearly 500 pages and French never once missed a beat. The pacing is remarkably even, the breathtaking suspense incredibly sustained. Perhaps, like Cassie, I began to feel a part of the cozy group of friends, anxiously awaiting a revelation about Lexie’s murder. As the details were finally revealed in the closing chapters, I found myself holding my breath with anticipation, laughing out loud, not because the situation was funny, but because of nervous tension.

Reminiscent of Dennis Lehane’s literary mysteries, The Likeness is much more than a whodunit. The characters are finely drawn, springing to life with believable dialogue. The odd lifestyle of these eccentric roommates isn’t the only aspect of the novel that creates such taut suspense. Whitethorn House (a creepy rambling mansion in which the five English post-grads reside) and the surrounding countryside are very much characters in and of themselves.

Cassie, on her return to undercover:

It felt good, getting stuck into the case like this, like I was just a Murder detective again and she was just another victim; it spread through me strong and sweet and soothing as hot whiskey after a long day in wind and rain. Frank was sprawled casually in his chair, but I could feel him watching me, and I knew I was starting to sound too interested. I shrugged, leaned my head back against the wall and gazed up at the ceiling.

and

Going to sleep on your first night undercover is something you never forget. All day you’ve been pure concentrated control, watching yourself as sharply and ruthlessly as you watch everyone and everything around you; but come night, alone on a strange mattress in a room where the air smells different, you’ve got no choice but to open your hands and let go, fall into sleep and into someone else’s life like a pebble falling through cool green water. Even your first time, you know that in that second something irreversible will start happening, that in the morning you’ll wake up changed. I needed to go into that bare, with nothing from my own life on my body, the way woodcutters’ children in fairy tales have to leave their protections behind to enter the enchanted castle; the way votaries in old religions used to go naked to their initiation rites.

I held my breath, worried that Cassie would eventually make a slight mistake in her character, blowing her cover and putting herself in danger.

This is the part I didn’t tell Sam: bad stuff happens to undercovers. A few of them get killed. Most lose friends, marriages, relationships. A couple turn feral, cross over to the other side so gradually that they never see it happening till it’s too late, and end up with discreet, complicated early-retirement plans. Some, and never the ones you’d think, lose their nerve—no warning, they just wake up one morning and all at once it hits them what they’re doing, and they freeze like tightrope walkers who’ve looked down[...]And some go the other way, the most lethal way of all: when the pressure gets to be too much, it’s not their nerve that breaks, it’s their fear. They lose the capacity to be afraid, even when they should be. These can’t ever go home again. They’re like those First World War airmen, the finest ones, shining in their recklessness and invincible, who got home and found that home had no place for what they were. Some people are are undercovers all the way to the bone; the job has taken them whole.

I was never afraid of getting killed and I was never afraid of losing my nerve. My kind of courage holds up best under fire; it’s different dangers, more refined and insidious ones, that shake me. But the other things: I worried about those. Frank told me once—and I don’t know whether he’s right or not, and I didn’t tell Sam this either—that all the best undercovers have a dark thread woven into them, somewhere.

My husband enjoyed the book, yet felt the mystery fell short due to the unbelievable set of coincidences. And I suppose he’s right, to some extent. After all, what are the odds that one’s doppelganger just happens to be a police detective? I, on the other hand, was able to suspend disbelief and was thoroughly entertained. My copy of the book is littered with Post-It notes, marking passages I thought might reveal a hidden clue as I flipped back and forth, trying to untangle the intricate threads of a skillfully crafted web.

This is one of those compelling mysteries I continually found myself imagining on the big screen. The Talented Mr. Ripley, which also involves a complicated masquerade, lurked in my consciousness as I read. I can even envision Jude Law and Matt Damon playing Daniel and Justin. And, perhaps, Audrey Tautou as Cassie.

While The Likeness is a follow-up to In the Woods, I believe they stand alone and can be read in any order. It’s early in the year, but as of today, The Likeness is my #1 read in 2009. And from what I’ve read, French is working on a third, this time narrated by Cassie’s boss, Frank Mackey. Until then, I plan to pick up Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, which has been compared to The Likeness. I’m ready for another gothic mystery!

Five stars, Tana!

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye
Illustrations by Bob Dob
Heck, The First Circle of Heck

Pages: 288
First Published: July, 2008
Genre: children, fantasy
Rating: 3/5

First sentence:

As many believe, there is a place above and a place below.

Comments: Milton’s sister Marlo is a lot of trouble; a Goth girl always pulling off pranks and often dragging her younger brother along for the ride. When Milton and Marlo are killed in a marshmallow-bear explosion at the local mall they slide down to a place with big sign “Heck”. Seems children aren’t fully responsible for their earthly actions and Heck is the place where they go until they are 18 or eternity whichever comes first. At that time their soul will be re-weighed and their final destination (up or down) will be determined.

Heck is not a nice place. They have to go to school with teachers such as Lizzie Bordon, Richard Nixon and Blackbeard. Then there is a principle Bea “Elsa” Bubb who has particular designs on Milton as it appears he really shouldn’t be here and she watches him carefully. Milton, Marlo and Milton’s new found friend Virgil come up with plans to escape.

A fun romp through demons, teachers and yukky places provide plenty of humour and a fun ride. While much of the book is predictable I found the ending quite a surprise. The humour is a bit much of the toilet variety and I had expected something more witty but the potential is there and I’m looking forward to see where the story goes in book 2. Ages 9 to 11 are certain to enjoy the book, while I found it somewhat lacking in believable characterization I still found the story a lot of fun. Sometimes a book can just simply be a pleasant diversion and that is how I conclude my impressions of this book.

Nicola

Richly Textured Like a Piece of Good Lace

Towner Whitney returns to her hometown of Salem, MA from California after the mysterious disappearance of her Aunt Eva. Towner comes from a family of women who can read the future through lace. The family has buried secrets that unfold throughout the novel, including the truth about Towner’s twin sister’s death.

Towner starts off by stating that her real first name is Sophya. She say’s “Never believe me. I lie all the time…”

When I requested an advance reader’s copy of this novel, I was under the mistaken impression that it was both about modern day Salem and an historical fiction about the Salem witch Trials. Though the historical was only slightly touched upon, the story did not disappoint!

This richly textured novel paints a vivid portrait of modern day Salem and how self-proclaimed witches live today. With a cast of eccentric characters and themes abound such as abuse, mental illness, witches, forgiveness, etc this is a real page-turner! This is sure to become a classic. Highly recommended!

4.5/5

Fisherman’s Bend by Linda Greenlaw
A Jane Bunker Mystery, Book 2

Pages: 244
First Published: July, 2008
Genre: mystery
Rating: DNF

First sentence:

I stood at the stern facing aft and watched the walls of Cobble Harbor gently melt into rainbow sherbet foliage of Quoddy Head.

Comments: I did not finish this book so will not give a review but a brief statement as to why I couldn’t keep reading. The story is a mystery that takes place in a fishing village in Maine and could be classified as a cozy, more or less. I ususally have a 50 page rule but at page 48 I found myself getting a little interested so continued on reading but by page 88 I knew I had better books around here to read than this.

It was incredibly slow. Not much happened in the 80-odd pages I read and the book was full of fishing, boating, and environmental issues which held no interest to me. I couldn’t get into the characters and once putting the book down at night, I found myself having forgotten what the story was about. Perhaps, if fishing off the coast of Maine is an interesting subject to you, you will find the book more interesting than I did.

Even today, if you asked my father who his favorite actress is, he would answer Adrienne Barbeau. Since the days of Maude, he’s had a wild crush on her. Me, I never watched it. But The Fog, Escape from New York, and the excellent HBO series Carnivale would rank me pretty high on the Fan-Girl list myself. So when Anna, from The Book Report Network, contacted me with an opportunity to review Ms. Barbeau’s first fiction novel, Vampyres of Hollywood (336 pgs, Thomas Dunne Books, 2008) I was over-the-top excited. Not only is it Adrienne Barbeau, but she’s writing about Vampires. And we all know how much I love Vampire Fiction.

It took an X-ray and an autopsy to confirm that Jason Eddings had been killed with the Oscar he’d won for Best Actor just six hours earlier. He deserved it. The Oscar, that is. As for being murdered, well, he probably deserved that too.

As so begins the story of the Vampyres of Hollywood. Ovsanna Moore is a Hollywood powerhouse. She is the “Scream Queen” that has starred in and written seventeen blockbuster horror films (”and a few that went straight to video”). She is also the head of her own Hollywood Studio called Anticipation Studios. Beautiful, tough and powerful, she is a true Hollywood A-lister. She just also happens to be a 500-year-old vampire. As the Chatelaine of Hollywood, Osvanna was the first vampire to lay stake to the area. No other vampire is higher in rank than she. And rank is a pretty big deal among the various vampire clans. She also has connections to 3 very violent and very public Hollywood murders. Each actor that was killed by the “Cinema Slayer” has starred in at least one film from Anticipation studios. Not to mention that all 3 were vampires and part of Osvanna’s clan.

Detective Peter Moore has been assigned to find the “Cinema Slayer”. As handsome as an actor, Moore is a star in his own right. He has hero status among the cops for saving a child’s life in a very high-profile way. He also has a lot of knowledge of the movie industry. His mother was a bit player back in the day, but ended up owning a very successful catering business that worked big name films. And now she’s an even more successful dealer in Hollywood memorabilia. Peter knows the ins and outs of the business, and to him all roads in the gruesome serial killings lead right to Osvanna Moore and Anticipation Studios.

My first thought when I picked up this book was, “What if I don’t like it?” I would be so disappointed, as an Adrienne Barbeau fan-girl, if I didn’t. But nothing could be further from the truth. I absolutely loved this book!! Campy, without being cliché; witty, without being slapstick; and gruesome, without being repellent; Vampyres of Hollywood is a breath of fresh air in a genre that is fast becoming overdone in the literary world. With a new take on all the old vampire legends, Barbeau and Scott have created a funny, fast-paced “horror” novel that is also a very crafty mystery. The icing on the cake is a lot of cool Hollywood trivia, and the inclusion of many of the old Hollywood screen legends.

Told in alternating chapters from both Osvanna’s and Peter’s perspectives, the novel moves quickly. And once the story starts taking shape, it’s near impossible to put the book down! If you are a fan of the paranormal, of the vampire legend, or even of the old Silver Screen Actors, this book is definitely for you. Combine that with a lot of behind-the-scenes looks at Hollywood from a true insider, and you have a novel that certainly puts a “Bite” on the reader. Pun, most definitely intended!! Many, many thanks to Anna for passing this great read on to me. Highly Recommended!! 4.5/5

When I first accepted this book for review, I was under the impression that it was mostly about adoption and told through the thoughts and feelings of Willa Golding, a teenager who was adopted as a baby by wealthy parents. It’s not. Although Willa’s point of view certainly comes into the story, this book is about misogyny, p*rn*gr*phy, pr*stituti*on, drug abuse, and a host of other sordid activities. Before I give my other comments on the book, I’d like to state that in no way do I believe that Brundage endorses these vices; however, I also don’t agree with her presentation of the case against them either. This book is brutally graphic, and I just wasn’t prepared for that. Knowing that this will color my review, I’ll try to be as fair as possible.

The book starts out by introducing Nate Gallagher and his girlfriend Catherine as strung out heroin addicts. Catherine gets pregnant with Willa and is clean for a time, but soon after Willa is born Cat becomes just too sick to care for her, and they decide to give her up for adoption. The couple who adopt her, Joe and Candace, are wealthy residents of the Berkshires and seem to have it all, yet they are hiding some pretty dark secrets. Very dark. Not only that, but it seems quite a few other characters in the story have even scarier skeletons in their closets. Here’s where it starts to break down for me a bit. It seems a bit too much that all of ‘this’ is going on in the same small community; it just is not believable to me. Gosh, I hope that wouldn’t be the case, anyway.

As Willa grows up, she attends an elite private school headed by Jack and Maggie Heath. Their daughter Ava is good friends with Willa, and the two girls have a group that they hang out with who are into alcohol, drugs, dares, and the like. All the girls are smitten with the new boy at school, Teddy, but it is Willa that catches his eye. Meanwhile, the new creative writing teacher at the school is a Mr. Gallagher. Yes, it’s Nate Gallagher, Willa’s birth father, but he tells no one of his relationship to Willa.

This is where the book then goes off into the weird areas listed above. Although I believe it was Brundage’s intent to bring awareness into the sufferings of women in these so-called ‘professions,’ the horrible descriptions of the things they endure was just too unnecessarily graphic. I know I am very conservative compared to most, but I have a hard time imagining that an average female reader would be able to get through this book without disgust and revulsion. I honestly would not have gotten through much of it at all had I not committed to this review. In addition, there are some descriptions of Willa’s s*xual experimentation that were very explicit to the point of poor taste.

I am honestly not trying to bash Elizabeth Brundage as a writer or as a person. However, I believe I do represent a certain group of women who share my views. I also believe it is my responsibility to speak out about content that is so over the top and objectionable so that those who feel the same as I do can stay clear of it or at least make an informed decision about it.

It was just after dark in a lonely reach of the South Pacific. As we sped westward, the ocean floor was a mile below us - or it was supposed to be. Like when microphone feedback suddenly fills an auditorium until you must cover your ears, a deafening shrill exploded through the boat. It seemed to come from everywhere. Then a big jostle. horrible, gouging, scraping chalkboardlike sounds. The twin hulls under us were screaming. John looked at me the way someone in the next seat of an airplane might look if, at forty thousand feet, all the engines just quit. I had never seen him so instantly confused and horrified - then came the great shaking and crash as we bounced more violently between the iron-hard treetops of submerged coral, sharp as butcher knives. Seconds later we slammed full on into the coral reef. Our home, the Emerald Jane, came to a ripping halt, and the great waves of the Pacific exploded around us in a deafening, continuous roar. -From Black Wave, pages 5, 6-

John and Jean Silverwood lived with their four children in Southern California. They seemed to have it all - a beautiful home, comfortable income and lots of friends. But beneath the happy exterior, lay a family in a struggle with addiction and a search for larger meaning in life. They made a decision, which would change their lives, to set sail on the 55 foot catamaran Emerald Jane. For two years, the Silverwood family sailed the high seas, visiting remote islands, running from pirates and seeing some of the world’s most beautiful scenery and wildlife. Their adventure was full of challenges, but it forced them to grow and come together as a family. And then, near the end of the voyage on a velvety dark night, they collided with a coral reef. Black Wave is the story of their survival and how it changed them forever.

This true life adventure is narrated in two parts. In part one, Jean Silverwood describes the shipwreck that threatened their lives, and then looks back to recollect the weeks and months of their voyage. Her story is one of inner meditation - of her children and how they grew up in those two years, and of her marriage which was challenged by John’s alcoholism. She writes with a poetic style that is easy to read. She bares her soul and so the reader feels that they know her.

In part two, John Silverwood takes over the narrative. He reveals the aftermath of their voyage and parallels their story to one which happened in 1855 when a ship called Julia Ann struck the exact same coral reef and sank into the wild Pacific waters. Although the historic tale lends some perspective (and perhaps a link to our shared pasts), it changes the direction of the book to an historic rendering versus a personal family saga. I was much more captivated with Jean’s narration…perhaps because the real story here is less about the wreck and more about a family who discovered their strengths in the face of disaster.

This book is a quick read - and I enjoyed it. Although the two parts felt disconnected to me, this is a book which will entice adventurers and sailors. Filled with images of star studded skies over the vast ocean waters, Black Wave is also a book for romantics and dreamers.

Fractured by Karen Slaughter
Special Agent Will Trent, Book 2

Pages: 388
Finished: Oct. 18, 2008
First Published: July 29, 2008
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 3.5/5
Reason for Reading: received a review copy from Random House Canada. Plus I’ve read all the author’s books, this is her latest.

First sentence:

Abigail Campano sat in her car parked on the street outside her own house.

Comments: When I first started reading this book I thought it was a standalone but quickly realized it was the next book in a series which started with Triptych. The story starts with a woman arriving home and finding her door open and the window glass smashed. She thinks of her daughter and runs up the stairs but at the top of the stairs she sees a girl obviously murdered (presumably her daughter) and a man kneeling next to her with a knife in her hand. She screams and runs down the stairs, she falls down the stairs, the man follows, grabs her legs, she kicks him, gets on top of him and strangles him to death.

A very exciting start and things slowly unravel to not be as they first appeared. This was an enjoyable mystery with lots of turns in the plot and a satisfying solution. However, I expected more from a Karin Slaughter book. I’m used to using the word “gruesome” to describe her books and this was nowhere near that calibre which is somewhat a shame since the first book in this new series, Triptych, was an incredibly brutal and intricately woven story. I honestly felt that for some reason Slaughter was purposefully trying to tone down the stomach-turning details of her previous works and that is not what I expected.

The book ends on an obvious note that there will be more books in this series. The main characters from this book appear as minor characters in a few of her other Grant Country series books so I would suggest starting from the beginning with Karin Slaughter and read her books either by series or by the order in which they were published.

Overall, I enjoyed the crime, the detecting and the solving of the mystery. Though this is not Slaughter’s best work, I still look forward to her next book and wonder with anticipation whether it will be a Grant County or Will Trent book.

She had conceived children in that house, suffered a miscarriage in that house, brought her babies home there, argued with her husband there, made love, rejoiced, despaired, sipped tea, and gossiped and sobbed and counseled and blessed her friends there, walked the halls with sick children there, and scrubbed the worn brick of the kitchen floor there at least a thousand times on her hands and knees. And it was because of all this history with the house, all the parts of her life unfolding there day after day for so many years, that Ellen decided to burn it down. -from House and Home, page 1-

Ellen Flanagan seems to have it all - a handsome and loving husband, two beautiful little girls, a flourishing business, a best friend next door, and the perfect yellow house with a white picket fence filled with her most cherished memories. But when her husband Sam blows through their savings and uses a second mortgage to chase a far-flung inventor’s dream, Ellen must deal with the reality of losing her home. Forced to sell her house to uptight Jordan Boyce and Jordan’s quiet and alluring husband Jeffrey, Ellen believes she has lost everything - including her eighteen year marriage.

Kathleen McCleary’s debut novel is about family and what makes a house a home. McCleary’s lush descriptions of the Portland Oregon area, as well as the decor of Ellen’s home (filled with antiques and sunlight and personalized with hash marks on a door frame to document the growth of her children) are like comfort food.

As the novel unfolds, the reader is drawn into Ellen’s despair at losing her home, her doubts about aging (she is 44 years old), her grief at leaving behind the ghost of her dead child, and her struggle to discover what is truly important. Ellen’s story becomes more complicated as she develops an uneasy relationship with Jordan’s husband while wrestling with her still strong physical attraction to Sam. She clings to her memories of the house, contemplates burning it to the ground so that no one else can live there, and is forced to re-examine her priorities when an unexpected disaster strikes.

House and Home is a quick read which examines our attachment to “things” because of the memories they hold, and asks the simple question: What is really important in our lives? McCleary is an engaging writer who creates characters to whom most women readers will relate. Her sense of place is strong and beautifully presented. House and Home is an evocative novel that invites its reader to curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of tea and lose themselves in its pages.

Recommended for readers who love Women’s Fiction.

So Long At The Fair
By Christina Schwartz
Completed September 9, 2008

Christina Schwartz’s latest book, So Long At The Fair, was a story about adultery and distrust in relationships. At the center, it’s the story of Jon and Ginny, high school sweethearts who have been married for many years, and Jon’s affair with his co-worker, Freddi. But Schwartz added many layers to this already-told tale – layers that often left me scratching my head but still piqued my interest.

While learning about Jon, Ginny and Freddi (and their marriage or relationship), the reader also read flashbacks from 1963, which involved Jon and Ginny’s parents. There were also flashbacks about Freddi’s childhood and college years. Minor characters tended to play major roles as the story unfolded. But one must wait until the last chapters to see how it all connected.

Told over the course of one day, Schwartz does a good job captivating the reader regarding Jon’s decision: to leave his wife or dump Freddi. Plus, the prospect of Jon and Freddi getting caught added a level of suspense. Where the story broke down for me were the many confusing story lines, especially the 1963 flashbacks. I had a hard time keeping track of characters’ names and what part they played in this story. It wrapped up in the end, but I wonder why these sub-stories made their way into So Long At The Fair.

Schwartz is a fabulous writer, and her ability to draw in a reader is commendable. Despite the multiple storylines, I still plowed ahead with So Long At The Fair because I had to know how it ended. What did Jon decide? Did he get caught? What was going on in 1963? Overall, I would recommend this book to readers who want a quick but provocative read – or to those who like to watch train wrecks unfold on the page. ( )

Mosquito
Roma Tearne
299 pages

Life in this paradise, he felt, was exactly as the beautiful mosquito that lived here, composed in equal parts of loveliness and deadliness. (p. 284)

Theo Samarajeeva is a successful Sri Lankan writer, who returned from London to his homeland after his wife’s sudden death. He spends long, languorous days in his beach house, grieving, with only his servant Sugi as company. He is frequently visited by Nulani Mendis, a 17-year-old girl whose father was killed in a terrorist incident. Nulani is largely neglected by her mother, who is focused on her son’s path to success through a British university scholarship. Nulani is a highly talented painter. The friendship between Nulani and Theo blossoms and, while he writes, she creates sketches, mostly of Theo. Eventually she paints his portrait. Theo, ostensibly acting as a mentor, takes Nulani to the city of Colombo to meet his artist friend Rohan, and Rohan’s Italian wife Giulia. It’s obvious to everyone but Theo that, despite their 28-year age difference, his relationship with Nulani has become more than just friendship.

However, Sri Lanka is also in the midst of civil war. Just as Theo and Nulani acknowledge their feelings for one another, violence explodes with dramatic impact on all of the characters. At this point Tearne shifts tone and pace, yanking the reader away from lazy seaside days into the suspenseful drama of terrorism, suicide bombings, and torture. Each character’s story unfolds independently, at times heartbreaking and, at others, inspiring. I felt great sadness for the people of Sri Lanka and other countries affected by long-term civil war. But I also felt inspired by the hope and redemption in this beautifully-written debut novel.

Then, staring at the undulating phosphorescent water, he understood at last that freedom was a doubled-edged thing, which, like innocence lost, was unrecoverable. (p. 253)

( )

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer
277 pages

In 1946, Juliet Ashton is a London-based writer who has gained some degree of fame writing fictional accounts of wartime under an assumed name. Now, as London begins to rebuild and recover, Juliet is casting about for new material with which to continue her career. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from a man on the Island of Guernsey, who has found himself in possession of a book she sold through a used bookshop. This begins a correspondence between Juliet and Dawsey Hawkins. Through Dawsey’s letters Juliet learns of the formation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and the set of circumstances which resulted in a collection of islanders meeting regularly to discuss books. She also begins correspondence with several other society members, and becomes fascinated on an intellectual level with the German occupation of Guernsey during the war, and begins to develop emotional ties with the society’s members. Her eventual visit to the island turns out to be a life-changing event.

The novel takes the form of a series of letters: between Juliet and island residents, and with other significant characters such as her publisher, and another long-time friend. The letters, being highly personal, express characters’ thoughts and feelings in a deeper way than a traditional narrative. And various elements of the story are revealed in small bits, so that everything comes together only after reading several letters from different people. I found some aspects of the plot easy to predict, but in no way did this spoil the book for me. The writing style is breezy and full of humor, the characters are folks you could easily imagine and identify with, and the story is touching on many levels. This is a delightful, highly-recommended book. ( )

“It’s a sudden loss of muscle control,” is how I would always begin, feeling cornered, “while remaining conscious. It’s as if your body’s faintin’ but you’re not.” [ pg 24]

Aberrations by Penelope Przekop
Emerald Book Co, 2008
Fiction; 241 pgs

Angel Duet is 21 and everything she believed and thought she knew is about to change. Things couldn’t be worse when her father’s girlfriend, Carla, moves in, making her mark by taking down all of the photographs taken by Angel’s mother. The photos are the only material things that Angel really has to connect her to the woman she lost many years ago.

Angel feels like she is sleep walking through life. She puts much of the blame on the absence of her mother and the neurological condition from which she suffers: narcolepsy. Her narcolepsy controls so much of what she does and how she reacts, making it impossible for her to live like a “normal” person, or so she believes. She wants more than that for herself, however. Angel wants to break away from the rut she is in and wants to experience what it is to truly live.

Her father tried, in his own way, to be the best father he knew how to be to his daughter. The grief that came with having lost the woman he loved permeated their lives. His lies to protect Angel have never quite filled the void inside Angel, and now, more than anything, she wants to know the truth.

Taking a summer job working in the cotton fields, Angel makes two unlikely friends. Kimmy, the 26 year old virgin, is not so different than Angel, feeling stuck in a rut, barely living life, and longing for something more, something different. Tim has his own secret, which he is bursting to share. He is gay, feeling stifled by his hometown and society, and is tired of the prejudice and secrecy surrounding him. Tim opens a door into a world that neither Kimmy nor Angel had ever imagined stepping into. He offers them hope, but not quite in the way any of them, or even the reader, could have anticipated.

Angel felt lost and empty most of her life. She comes across as immature and selfish at first, but by the end of the novel, she has made great strides in coming into her own. In a way, this is a coming of age story about a young woman who only needed to find her way. The void she feels inside is not something that can be filled by something on the outside. It has to come from within. Angel’s decisions are not always the best ones, but as with all mistakes, she can only hope that she learns from them and is able move forward.

Aberrations is rich in characterization, each character complex and flawed, beautiful and ugly. The characters are so wrapped up in their own problems that they are not always able to see how similar their struggles are to those around them. Each of them has their own secrets and created their own lies. Secrets and lies have a way of spilling out no matter how hard a person tries to contain them. The mess left behind is not always so easy to forgive or accept.

Minor Spoiler Alert Begins Here

Although at first I was not sure what to think of Carla, she eventually came to be my favorite character in the novel. She was an outsider on the inside and her insight and dedication to the broken Duet family was steadfast. Mac was another one that grew on me as time went on, despite the fact that he was cheating on his wife. He came across as confident and sure of himself, and yet that was only a mask for what lay underneath. One of the saddest characters in the novel is Tim, who in the beginning seems to be the most together of the bunch. As Kimmy and Angel come into their own, growing as individuals, he stays much the same throughout the book. What once Angel most admired in Tim, was what eventually she came to recognize as biggest downfall.

Minor Spoiler Alert Ends Here

The writing is beautiful and I liked how the author added a Southern touch to the dialogue, least the reader forget where the novel is set. It actually takes place during the early 1980’s in Louisiana. It seems the perfect setting for this poignant story about love, family, friendship, forgiveness and redemption.

Aberrations was not quite what I expected. It was deeper and more satisfying. At times it was tragic but above all it was hopeful.

Rating: (Very Good)

Be sure and stop by Penelope Przekop’s website for more information about the author and her book.

Admiral Zheng stops and extends his arm. A Vice admiral places a scroll in his outstretched hand. He turns his attention to it, unrolls it, and reads aloud: “‘All ships moored are ordered back to the capital, and all goods on the ships are to be turned over to the Department of Internal Affairs and stored. All overseas trade and travel is banned. All voyages of the treasure ships are to be stopped. All accounts of the expeditions of Grand Eunuch Admiral Zheng He are to be burned, and the voyages are never to be mentioned again. Violations of this edict are punishable by death.’

“In our new emperor, Hongxi, the mandarins received the emperor they requested. An emperor who will focus China inward and close the doors to the outside world.” -From The Map Thief, page 176-

Historical evidence reveals that the earliest European world maps show lands and oceans which had not yet been discovered by the Europeans for decades. Many historians have conjectured that it was really the Chinese explorers who first circumnavigated the world, but maps of those voyages were destroyed during the mid-1400s when Emperor Hongxi closed China’s doors to the outside world. Could some maps have escaped the bonfires and made their way into European explorers’ hands? It is this question which fuels Heather Terrell’s fascinating second novel: The Map Thief.

The Map Thief is really three interconnected stories which revolve around world exploration, political intrigue, and the art of navigation and mapmaking.

In the early 1400s, a mapmaker and eunuch by the name of Ma Zhi is chosen to accompany the famous Admiral Zheng He from China across the Yellow Sea and Indian Ocean to the coast of Africa. Their journey is to continue on from there to discover new territory…and map it. Zhi is a sympathetic and courageous character who has given up his manhood to bring honor and wealth to his family. His mapmaking is nontraditional and beautiful, and his private life is revealed through his art.

In the late 1400s, Antonio Coehlo is a rough-around-the-edges mapmaker from Portugal who finds himself aboard a vessel with the explorer Vasco da Gama in a quest to locate the sea route to India. But there is a secret he must keep - da Gama already knows the way because of an ancient Chinese map in his possession.

Mara Coyne lives in present day New York - the head of a company which negotiates the return of stolen artwork. She is contacted by a powerful man who is funding an archaeological dig along the Silk Road in China. A map has been unearthed and is now missing. Mara must travel to China to investigate - and what she finds will uncover a mystery long kept secret.

Heather Terrell has done her homework for this richly historical suspense-thriller which weaves together Chinese and Portuguese culture, while exploring the fascinating world of stolen artifacts. The three separate stories come together seamlessly. The Map Thief is suspenseful, but even more so an historical lesson about the early explorers as well as art.

If there is a flaw in the book, it is Terrell’s development of Mara’s character and relationship with Ben, the archeologist in charge of the dig. Their interactions feel contrived at times, and the chemistry they supposedly were building lacked conviction. Despite this, the book exhibits fine pacing, engrossing detail, and tantalizing setting.

Heather Terrell’s debut novel - The Chrysalis - introduces Mara Coyne’s character and should probably be read first. But, The Map Thief can also stand on its own. I’m looking forward to reading more from this talented writer.

Recommended.

Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner
Sixth book in the Quincy/Rainie series

Pages: 360
First Published: July 15, 2008
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

He was moaning, a guttural sound in the back of his throat as his fingers tightened their grip in her hair.

Comments: Kimberly Quincy, FBI agent, is told a strange tale by a prostitute of a very scary man who is taking and killing prostitutes and has been for years. Another agent finds an unmarked envelope under his car wipers with driver’s licences for 6 young women. When a few names match the prostitute’s story Kimberly believes the tale. But with no missing persons reports and no bodies the word of one hooker does not make a case. As the story progresses we are introduced to one of the most vicious serial killers I’ve read about recently. There is more than just the one story here though, a child who has been abducted and leads a life of fear and degradation enters the scene and this thrilling thriller takes the reader on a roller coaster ride.

This is my first Lisa Gardner book and I can’t believe I’ve waited this long. I enjoyed this thriller just as much as any by my other favourite authors (ie. Slaughter or Gerritsen). This read is fast-paced, very disturbingly gruesome, with a plot that twists and shocks. You can’t ask for more when it comes to a serial killer thriller. As a first-timer with this series I found it very easy to jump in with this sixth book, enough past details are given to explain what drives the characters and also to make me want to go back and read the other books. I will definitely be reading more Lisa Gardner.

Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books. -From Isola Pribby to Juliet, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ first novel will certainly ruin you ‘for enjoying bad books.’ Set on the island of Guernsey (in the Channel Islands) in the months following the Second World War, the novel is written as a series of letters between Juliet Ashton and the diverse characters who people the story. Juliet is struggling to find a subject for her next book when she unexpectedly receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a pig farmer from Guernsey, who discovered Juliet’s name in the flyleaf of a Charles Lamb book.

I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true. -from Dawesy Adams to Juliet, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-

Dawsey’s letters pique Juliet’s interest in the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (a society impulsively created as an alibi to protect its members from arrest by German soldiers), and she begins to trade correspondence with the society’s other members. Through these letters (as well as exchanges between Juliet and her literary agent, her new boyfriend in London, and her best friend Sophie) the story about the German occupation of Guernsey and its effects on the island’s residents begins to unfold.

We started out hopeful, sure they’d be gone in six months. But it stretched on and on. Food grew hard to come by, and soon there was no firewood left. Days were grey with hard work and evenings were black with boredom. Everyone was sickly from so little nourishment and bleak from wondering if it would ever end. We clung to books and to our friends; they reminded us that we had another part to us. -from Eben Ramsey to Juliet, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-

One character, Elizabeth, is introduced not through her voice, but through the voices of those who knew and loved her. It is this character that provides the glue which binds all the characters together and gives us a glimpse into what it means to maintain one’s humanity in the face of tragedy.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a heartfelt and captivating book about a small community of people connected through their love of literature and the trauma of war. The novel is deeply satisfying due in large part because of Shaffer and Barrows’ sharp wit coupled with a discerning eye towards what makes characters memorable and unique. Book lovers will relate the authors’ astute observations of literature and the healing power of sharing a book with a good friend. This is novel which makes the reader laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. Beautifully written with warmth and humor, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is highly recommended.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Contemporary Fiction - Epistolary
2008 The Dial Press
Finished on 7/23/08
Rating: 4.75//5 (Fabulous!)
ARC - Release date of July 29th
“Here’s who will love this book—anyone who nods in profound agreement with the statement,’Reading keeps you from going gaga.’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delight. Tart, insightful and fun.”—Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow, A Thread of Grace and Dreamers of the Day.

Publisher’s Blurb:

“…I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’d never met, a native of Guernsey, the British island once occupied by the Nazis. He’d come across her name on the flyleaf of a secondhand volume by Charles Lamb. Perhaps she could tell him where he might find more books by this author.

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, she is drawn into the world of this man and his friends, all members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a unique book club formed in a unique, spur-of-the-moment way: as an alibi to protect its members from arrest by the Germans.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s charming, deeply human members, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Through their letters she learns about their island, their taste in books, and the powerful, transformative impact the recent German occupations has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds there will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

The minute I read the above blurb, I knew this was my kind of book. I love epistolary works (84, Charing Cross Road is one of my all-time favorites!) and I love books set during (and post) World War II. I was immediately drawn into Juliet’s story and found myself reading late into the night, savoring each letter, dreading the impending finale as it drew near.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful book and a joy to read! I chuckled to myself on several occasions, felt a gentle tug at my heartstrings toward the end of the story, and had a strong desire to book a flight to the island for a month-long getaway! It didn’t take long to realize that this entertaining novel will be among my Top Ten for 2008 and one I’ll enjoy recommending to friends, family and customers at work.

On booksellers…

I love seeing the bookshops and meeting the booksellers—booksellers really are a special breed. No one in their right mind would take up clerking in a bookstore for the salary, and no proprietor in his right mind would want to own one—the margin of profit is too small. So, it has to be a love of readers and reading that makes them do it—along with first dibs on the new books.

On literary societies…

None of us had any experience with literary societies, so we made our own rules: we took turns speaking about the books we’d read. At the start, we tried to be calm and objective, but that soon fell away, and the purpose of the speakers was to goad the listeners into wanting to read the book themselves. Once two members had read the same book, they could argue, which was our great delight. We read books, talked books, argued over books, and became dearer and dearer to one another. Other Islanders asked to join us, and our evenings together became bright, lively times—we could almost forget, now and then, the darkness outside. We still meet every fortnight.

On the Occupation…

Due to your kind offices, I have received lovely, long letters from Mrs. Maugery and Isola Pribby. I hadn’t realized that the Germans permitted no outside news at all, not even letters, to reach Guernsey. It surprised me so much. It shouldn’t have—I knew the Channel Islands had been occupied, but I never, not once, thought what that might have entailed. Willful ignorance is all I can call it. So, I am off to the London Library to educate myself. The library suffered terrible bomb damage, but the floors are safe to walk on again, all the books that could be saved are back on the shelf, and I know they have collected all the Times from 1900 to—yesterday. I shall study up on the Occupation.

On the evacuation of the children…

Eli left Guernsey on 20th June, along with the thousands of babies and schoolchildren who were evacuated to England. We knew the Germans were coming and Jane worried for his safety here. The doctor would not let Jane sail with them, the baby’s birth being so close.

Eli did not come back until the war was over—and they did send all the children home at once. That was a day! More wonderful even than when the British soldiers came to liberate Guernsey. Eli, he was the first boy down the gangway—he’d grown long legs in five years—and I don’t think I could have left off hugging him to me, if Isola hadn’t pushed me a bit so she could hug him herself.

On the island and slave labor…

My greatest pleasure has been in resuming my evening walks along the cliff tops. The Channel is no longer framed in rolls of barbed wire, the view is unbroken by huge VERBOTEN signs. The mines are gone from our beaches, and I can walk when, where, and for as long as I like. If I stand on the cliffs and turn out to face the sea, I don’t see the ugly cement bunkers behind me, or the land naked without its trees. Not even the Germans could ruin the sea.

This summer the gorse will begin to grow around the fortifications, and by next year, perhaps vines will creep all over them. I hope they are soon covered. For all I can look away, I will never be able to forget how they were made.

The Todt workers built them. I know you have heard of Germany’s slave workers in camps on the continent, but did you know that Hitler sent over sixteen thousand of them here, to the Channel Islands?

Hitler was fanatic about fortifying these islands—England was never to get them back! His generals called it Island Madness. He ordered large-gun emplacements, anti-tank walls on the beaches, hundreds of bunkers and batteries, arms and bomb depots, miles and miles of underground tunnels, a huge underground hospital, and a railroad to cross the island to carry materials. The coastal fortifications were absurd—the Channel Isles were better fortified than the Atlantic Wall built against an Allied invasion. The installations jutted out over every bay. The Third Reich was to last one thousand years—in concrete.

On cooking…

I had a small supper party for him—cooked by me alone, and edible too. Will Thisbee gave me The Beginner’s Cook-Book for Girl Guides. It was just the thing; the writer assumes you know nothing about cookery and writes useful hints—”When adding eggs, break the shells first.”

Epistolary novels bring a sense of intimacy to the reader, and the Guernsey characters and location are so nicely drawn, I felt a bit sad, as though I were saying goodbye to a group of new friends as I finished the final page of this fabulous book. I was also saddened to learn that Mary Ann Shaffer died in February at the age of 73. What a shame that she didn’t live long enough to see her first published novel. I hope her niece (and co-author), Annie Barrows, continues to write, possibly with a follow-up to this wonderful story. It was a joy to read and one I’ll return to in the coming years.

I have a feeling this book will not only be quite popular with book groups, but it’s also the sort that is sure to be passed around among friends and co-workers.

Cornflower claims, Mary Ann Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an utter joy of a book, beautifully judged, witty, lively, almost Mitfordesque at times, sparky, extremely touching, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. To read her complete review, go here.

You can find The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society website here.

The Seance by Iain Lawrence

Pages: 263
First Published: July 8, 2008
Genre: YA/juvenile, historical fiction, mystery
Rating: 3.5/5

First sentence:

At five minutes to midnight, a stranger arrived for the seance.

Comments: It is 1926 and Scooter King is his mother’s helper. Madam King is a spiritualist who holds fake seances and Scooter is the one who pulls all the strings behind the scenes. One night he follows a mysterious stranger and ends up at the theatre where Harry Houdini will soon be performing. As Scooter enters the theatre, unnoticed, he enters the room where Houdini’s Torture Tank will be on public display the next day, and he discovers a dead body hanging in the chamber. Houdini is out to prove that all spiritualists are fakes but Scooter and he must join forces to find out not only who killed this man but who is trying to kill them both.

Iain Lawrence writes wonderful books and each book is significantly different than the others. The historical setting of 1926 American city-life is vibrant and even more so as we enter the world of fake spiritualists of the time and backstage theatre life. His characters even speak the slang of the day adding to the authenticity. The murder mystery is an added bonus that will probably keep kids guessing, though I, an adult, did see where the plot was going fairly on. Houdini certainly was an entertaining character and those who are familiar with his life will appreciate the research the author must have done to be true to character.

I noticed several Holmesian ‘nods’ in the book, names and such, so I wondered if Arthur Conan Doyle was going to appear in the story somewhere. He did not; but the author’s afterward explains how this story came to be and the real history behind it along with the connection between Doyle and Houdini. A really fun historical romp that I enjoyed.