Novels Now

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason, 344 pages
translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb

continuing mystery series review questions:

Give a brief summary of the book:
A young Thai boy has been found stabbed on the playground. Erlunder, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli investigate, looking into possible racial motives. Erlunder has another missing person investigation, his personal interest, he is also working on.

Likes?
The mystery was good. We really are a part of the detectives investigation in this book and only get to know what they know, making this a real police procedural. The story moves along pretty quickly as the police follow one clue after another. There was lots of discussion about immigration in Iceland and the attitudes and prejudices that can happen. I think in some ways I can identify with the Icelanders; living on an island really isolates a place and on Prince Edward Island we deal with some of the same type of issues in terms of culture and ‘the Island way of life.’  Also, the extreme weather can shape a people. I’m not saying that our weather is as bad but it helps to define culture and people. The weather and lack of sunlight is a real part of the atmosphere in these stories.

I really like the three main characters and their ongoing stories. I can’t say much about that, but Erlundur is slowly, oh so slowly, growing and becoming more socially aware of the people around him. There is more development in the possible mystery surrounding his brother’s death when they were children.

Dislikes?
Not much to add here. When you get a good mystery series going it’s like good times with old friends, so you don’t really notice any of their faults.
I dislike that there is only one more book, after Hypothermia which according to Wikipedia, will be published in 2009, left to be translated.

Additional Thoughts:
I noticed the dedication was to Bernard Scudder, the translator who died in 2008, hence the two names for translation. That’s really sad, because I would imagine the translator of a series greatly contributes to the atmosphere and tone and overall impression of the books. The fact that Indridason dedicated this newest translation speaks to the respect and appreciation that he must have felt to Scudder for his translations.

4/5

Fade by Lisa McMann
Wake Trilogy, Book 2

Pages: 248
First Published: Feb. 10, 2009
Genre: YA, magical realism
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

Janie sprints through the snowy yards from two streets away and slips quietly through the front door of her house.

Comments: Janie has found out that she is not the first to experience her ability to enter other people’s dreams. She and Caleb start researching dreams and she begins to learn to gather some control over her blackouts and the dream events themselves. The nightmares are the worst they make her totally helpless and she begins to experience a classmate’s terrifying nightmare over and over as they share study hall together. Caleb and Janie become aware of a horrible situation taking place at Fieldridge High between teachers and students but no one will talk. Janie tries to find the truth, and stop the terrible event from happening anymore, through her dreams. Caleb and Janie’s relationship also matures and two people who have never felt love from anyone their whole lives find love for each other. Janie also learns a brutal truth about her condition and how it will affect the rest of her life. Again tough issues are dealt with here; rape and once again parental neglect and terrible abuse.

Picking up immediately after the first book, Wake, and written in the same day-by-day format the second book of this trilogy grabs you from the first page and doesn’t let go until the end. This book is on an equal footing with the first; well-written, dynamic characters, compelling and page-turning. I haven’t felt this way about a trilogy since the Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. There is no doubt these books are going to catch the heat of popularity from teens and adults like.

While I liked this book probably even more than the first one, my slightly less rating is due to two points, one of the author’s doing and one of my own personal opinion. First, Janie and Caleb’s relationship turns s*xual and while not graphic it isn’t left to the imagination either. On one hand, the author handled the situation well; it is not portrayed as reckless. But on the other hand, I do not like s*xual intercourse to be portrayed as a “good thing” in books aimed primarily at Young Adults. My second quibble is the plot went, I felt, beyond realistic believability in the way Janie’s “job” was handled.

I can’t wait until the third book of this trilogy, Gone, is published but I will have to somehow make it through the wait until 2010. Highly recommended!

She Always Knew How: Mae West, A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler

Pages: 303
Finished: Mar. 11, 2009
First Published: Feb. 10, 2009
Genre: biography
Rating: 4/5

Reason for Reading: Received a review copy from Simon & Schuster Canada.

First sentence:

My first thought was, women need a Bill of Rights. “And then I thought, no, what women need is — a Bill of Wrongs.”

Comments: A very interesting biography of Mae West written by an author who interviewed West extensively near the end of her life. Mae West was a feminist before the word was invented, and a very racy character, who created herself an image based on sex that she always upheld in public. The book covers Mae’s entire life from her parents up to and including her death in 1980. Mae lived through most of the 20th century and is a legend today for her risque work both on the stage and as a playwright and her movies that pushed the boundaries of 1930s/40s morals. Mae had a way of saying the tamest thing in such a sexy way it became a double entendre.

While a biography, the book is almost completely written in Mae’s own words quoted extensively from interviews with the author and also from a few of her contemporaries such as George Cukor. The author interjects with her own narrative briefly here and there to make a cohesive narrative. I found the book extremely interesting. I love this time period of Hollywood. Though I must say Ms. West does come across as egocentric and narcissistic which surprised me not really knowing anything about the woman herself. One thing I very much enjoyed was every time a play or movie was mentioned the author included a brief synopsis of the plot and since many of these, especially the plays, were unknown to me it was very interesting indeed. I wonder if a book of Mae West’s plays has ever been published… I’d certainly like to read them.

The author has written plenty of other biographies on actors/directors of the golden age of Hollywood and I will look out for them in the future. While I always prefer to read auto-biographies, what I look for biographies is an author who respects the subject and doesn’t dish dirt nor come up with all sorts of wild (unprovable) theories. Charlotte Chandler has most certainly lived up to my expectations of a good biographer.

American Rust
By Philipp Meyer
Completed March 9, 2009

For some reason, the debut novel by Philipp Meyer, American Rust, did not resonate with me. It took me two weeks to complete, which is unusual for my reading pace, and I wanted to abandon it at many times. I stuck with it, but in the end, I wish I had given up at page 50. American Rust had a lot of potential, but this dark and dreary tale of hopelessness and lost dreams fell short for me.

American Rust was the story of boyhood friends, Isaac and Billy. Isaac unintentionally killed a transient at the beginning of the story, and the story examined the boys’ inability to leave their dead-end town, the unhappiness of characters who did leave, and how friendships were tested. The author used different narrators throughout the story, which was distracting after awhile. In my humble opinion, a telling from one boy’s perspective would have been more effective.

Additionally, I was disappointed with the depiction of the main female characters, Lee and Grace. Lee was Isaac’s sister, a Yale graduate in love with Billy but married to another man. Grace was Billy’s mom who suffered from arthritis that left her hands crippled. Both women dealt with their despair by having empty sex with no-good men– over and over again, like a sad broken record.

Where American Rust succeeded was the illumination of former steel towns that later “busted,” leaving thousands of workers unemployed and unhappy. I often had Billy Joel’s Allentown in my head when I read this book. The imagery of the dried-up towns juxtaposed against the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside was not lost on me, and I appreciated what Meyer was trying to do with this element of the story.

I encourage readers to check out other reviews on American Rust before making a decision to read it. Many, many readers enjoyed this book, comparing Meyer to John Steinbeck and Jack London. I am particular about my characterization, and if a book does not meet my standards, I don’t enjoy it. This was the case in American Rust. ( )

Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson
100 Cupboards, Book 2

Pages: 466
First Published: Feb. 24, 2009
Genre: children’s fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

Kansas is not easily impressed.

Comments: In the previous book Henry finds out a secret about himself and now with only two weeks left before his parents come to take him home from visiting his uncle and cousins, Henry decides to enter the cupboards again and find the truth. His cousin Henrietta finds out and is annoyed at not being included so she secretly follows behind him. Henry is kidnapped almost immediately and Henrietta soon finds herself in similar circumstances only with different kidnappers.

The evil witch who is now roaming free is taking over the world with her power of death that kills every living thing that touches the ground. Henry is one of her prime targets. Once Henry finds out his truths the battle to stop evil is well underway.

Full of magical powers, witches, wizards and strange creatures Dandelion Fire is a fantastic read. Much longer than the first book and also oh so much more intricate a plot. A marvelous book that I couldn’t put down. The premise of the 100 cupboards and the worlds behind them is extremely unique. I also like that Henry, while not parent-less though discarded by his parents, is part of a loving family with adults who play an integral part of the story. The orphan theme has been done to death and ND Wilson has not fallen into that trap.

A page-turner recommended for ages 9-12 that any fantasy buff is going to be thrilled with. The ending is very complete and it leaves me to wonder whether this will be a trilogy (as I had assumed for some reason) or not. While the story has all been wrapped up I can’t help but want to meet these characters again and explore more of the worlds hidden behind the 100 cupboards.

The Vagrants by Yiyun Li

Pages: 337
First Published: Feb. 3, 2009
Genre: literary fiction, historical fiction
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

The day started before sunrise, on March 21, 1979, when Teacher Gu woke up and found his wife sobbing quietly into her blanket.

Comments: This book is a story of ordinary Chinese citizens in 1979, China. A year in which people are still getting used to the Communist regime after the break-up of the Cultural Revolution. Those who were staunch Red Guards during the rule Mao have been take care of and anyone still harbouring those or any feelings other than communism are antirevolutionists. The book opens upon the day that the Gu’s daughter, Shan, now 28 after spending 10 years in prison for her actions during the rule of Mao is to be executed for her writings found in her diary in her cell.

The story is mostly one of the characters who knew Gu Shan, those affected by either her life or her death, and those who live upon her street. It is a story of the horrors of political indoctrination, crimes against the people, ordinary people trying to live their lives, and of love. Love, both gone sour from years of hardship and burning romance between two very unlikely people.

What a beautiful book! Very well written, continuously moving from one character’s experiences to an other’s. A slow-paced plot, the book encompasses only one year, but
a moving look into the minds of various Chinese mindsets from traditional superstition to staunch communist to fierce activists. I loved every one of the eclectic characters but especially Nini and Bashi, two young people who slowly become more and more the main focus as the book progresses.

I love reading about China and this brief period of the seventies is one that, historically, I haven’t read of before. I found it fascinating as well as tragic and heart-wrenching. While slow-paced as mentioned above, it is not a slow read and I found myself turning pages as fast as I could. By no means a happy story but a dark and heart-rending one with glimpses of hope.

This is the author’s first novel, having previously published an award winning collection of short stories, and I most certainly will be keeping an eye out for her next one. Highly recommended especially to those who enjoy character driven novels.

Bloodprint by Kitty Sewell

Pages: 351
First Published: Feb. 3, 2009
Genre: psychological suspense
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

Angelina was her name.

Comments: An American now living in Bath, England, Madeleine Frank works as a psychotherapist and paints ants part-time. Madeline has a shaky background including a mother who practises santeria and will do anything to protect her daughter. One day a patient comes to Madeline’s office seeking help in ridding herself of an abusive boyfriend whom she is obsessed with. Madeline soon finds herself facing her secret past as she tries to help this patient. A very intricate plot that sends the reader into the world of santeria, an imprisoned serial killer, the Russian mob, prostitution and murder.

The book is written in two progressive story lines. One, Madeline’s present and two, Madeline’s past until the two join together. This is one of those books that is very hard to summarize as there are several story arcs ongoing and they become intertwined with each other making it impossible to summarize the threads without giving away what happens.

I really enjoyed this book and it is one of those that gets better and better the further along you get into it. Though I was hooked from Chapter One. An intriguing mystery with many surprising and unexpected reveals. An interesting, strong female character with whom one can identify. A very fast-paced and unique thriller.

Not often does it happen, but this is one of those books where the last 50 pages are agonizing to read. One simply wants to get to the end and find out what happens and I found myself wishing I could read faster and putting the book down during this period to catch my breath and to refrain myself from peeking at the final pages.

The only thing that bothered me was the supernatural aspect. Now, it’s not that I don’t mind supernatural aspects in a story,I even expect it in a horror story. However, I do like my mysteries to be logical and real. I was fully aware the plot involved santeria and black magic as topics but wasn’t prepared for the supernatural elements to be portrayed as “real”. Of course, that might not bother you at all and even so, I highly recommend this book with that one caveat and will be searching out Ms Sewell’s first book along with awaiting her next release.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Pages: 541
First Published: Feb. 3, 2009
Genre: fiction
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

After eight months spent in the obscurity of our mother’s womb, my brother, Shiva, and I came into the world in the late afternoon of the twentieth of September in the year of grace 1954.

Comments: This epic family saga spans through the 1950s to present time and travels from Ethiopia to America and back again. A brilliant tale that starts off with an Indian nun working as a nurse in Ethiopia surprisingly going into labour with complications. Her twin sons are delivered alive but she dies on the table and the white doctor who is assumed to be the father refuses to look at the boys and leaves the Mission Hospital never to return again. This, then, is the story of the twins, Marion and Shiva, told through the eyes of Marion, the first born. The story of how they were as one person together until the day that betrayal over a woman tore them apart. An intense story that centres around medicine as the doctors and nurses try to help the poor of Ethiopia but also spans the history of this country from an autonomous monarchy through two coups, and a Marxist regime.

An absolutely brilliant book that I could not put down. Once I started I kept on reading like there was no tomorrow. The characters that populate this book are immensely genuine and eclectic from the twins, to their adoptive doctor parents, to the servants, the Matron and finally the collection of Indian doctors working together in America. A loving family and community from a mixture of cultures (white, Indian and Ethiopian) that combine Catholicism with Hinduism, live together through shocking event after shocking event.

A real page turner. An epic story that is a joy to read. An unfamiliar setting and a focus on medicine both captivated me and a truly heart-wrenching story of love and betrayal that continues to surprise you at every turn. Truly wonderful, this is a book that will stay with me. Highly recommended!

Fool by Christopher Moore

Pages: 311
First Published: Feb. 9, 2009
Genre: fiction, humour
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

“Tosser!” cried the raven.

Comments: Christopher Moore’s latest book is a spoof on Shakespeare’s King Lear, as well as Shakespeare’s writing itself, a few elements from other plays are imported into the story as well, Macbeth’s witches, for example. This is quite different from Moore’s other books, he’s written in a British style, using British slang and some of Shakespeare’s original words, using footnotes for definitions of words possibly unknown to Americans.

Another difference from his other books is that while Moore, who always has a certain humour that you either find hilarious or offensive, (and for some reason Moore hits my funny bone and I’ve never found his humour offensive) at first, I found this book really goes overboard with the language and s*xual imagery and it was quite a bit of a shock but I soon settled down into it and it didn’t bother me after a couple of chapters. If you’ve read Shakespeare you will know that he often used bawdy imagery and often his characters ranted at name-calling. It is quite interesting to see that imagery and name-calling in a modern format. I could even possibly imagine that were Shakespeare a 21st century writer, this is how he may have written.

I’m quite glad I chose to read a modern English version of the original play, King Lear, before reading Fool as I don’t think I would have enjoyed this book as much if I didn’t already know who the characters were and understand the original plot. Moore keeps all the key plot points of Shakespeare’s work but he does not become stuck to the original plot. He soon sways from the original creating his own unique story with extra characters, very different results and ending. King Lear is only a minor character in this book, while his Fool (a minor character in the play) is the narrator and main character of the book.

I really enjoyed the book after getting over the initial language/s*x shock. It was a bit of a slow start but from the middle onwards I couldn’t put it down. While fans will find this different than Moore’s other work I’m pretty sure his devotees will enjoy this book. As to others who have not read Moore perhaps the warning on the back of the book “If that sort of thing bothers you, then gentle reader pass by.” should be taken to heart. Not Moore’s best book, (that spot is reserved for A Dirty Job, imho) but certainly up to par with his other work. A winner!

Rebeca Seitz
311 pages

Joy Sinclair Lasky is one of four adopted daughters. She is the quiet list-maker of the bunch. Her sisters Meg, Kendra and Tandy have always been the standouts. Joy is the one who has everything planned out, in order and in control. When she and her husband, Scott, decide that they would like to start trying to conceive a child they find out that not everything falls under their control. Also, as an adopted child from China, Joy has the desire to visit the land of her birth and understand something of the culture where her biological mother lives.

There is also a lot more going on in Scrapping Plans.  The father of the girls, Jack Sinclair, has found a new lady love after having been a widower for ten years and all four daughters are struggling with how to adapt to the possibility of their father’s remarriage without dishonoring their mother’s memory.

Creative sister Kendra is about to get married and the family is deeply involved in helping her make her special day uniquely hers. Sisters Meg and Tandy are also struggling with a few issues of their own.

Scrapping Plans is book number four in the Sisters, Ink series. The series is named after the sisters love of scrapbooking.  I haven’t read any of the first three and I am not a scrapbooker. I did feel like I was missing some of the back story. However, I didn’t feel like it was a real hindrance. I was able to get a lot of the cues from the current story line. I’m sure I would have gotten more out of it if I’d started with number one but this was an enjoyable read. If you enjoy scrapbooking or chick-lit then you will enjoy this book. (3/5)

American Rust by Philipp Meyer

Pages: 343
First Published: Feb 24, 2009
Genre: literary fiction
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

Isaac’s mother was dead five years but he hadn’t stopped thinking about her.

Comments: Set in a small dying former steel mill town in Pennsylvania, this is the story of two young men (20yrs old). Issac, who is called the smartest person in town except for maybe his sister and had been expected to go straight to college after high school. But his mother dies, his father is in a crippling accident at work and his sister leaves for an ivy league school 3 months after their mother’s death, leaving him to stay with his father. The other is Poe, the legendary high school football player who could have gotten a football scholarship to any college but had always been a bad apple and had no interest in doing any more school, even if it was on a scholarship.

These two boys are strangely enough best friends, each other’s only real friend to be exact and one day there lives and those around them are changed forever. Within the first chapter Issac decides he’s hung around long enough, takes his father’s four thousand dollars of savings and leaves to head to California to go to school. Along the way he meets Poe who doesn’t want to come with him, but agrees to walk to the city limits with him. They spend the night in the abandoned steel mill and three homeless men arrive. Issac knows this is not going to be good and he tries to get Poe’s attention and says he’s going out for a leak. Poe knows what Issac is up to but he’s in the mood for a fight. Issac hears a scream, some thuds and more noises that sound like Poe. He enters through the back door to find his friend, Poe, being held at knife point while another man is obviously about to go at him. Isaac picks up a large iron ball bearing and pitches it across the room hitting the man square in the face and obviously killing him. This is how the story opens.

The book is told in a third person omnipotent point of view with each chapter coming from a selection of different character’s view point: the two boys, Isaac’s sister, Poe’s mom, the chief of police and occasionally Isaac’s father. The narrative takes a little getting used to as it feels strange to jump from one person’s head to another’s but it doesn’t take long to get used too as this is a page-turner from chapter one onwards. The writing is a delight to read, the characters become very real to the reader and the story of the lives and thoughts of these people in a dead-end situation all around is very compelling. These people do not lead happy lives and the book is somewhat raw in it’s telling but that only makes the characters more real. It is not ultimately a sad story though, as the characters learn about hope, love, friendship and redemption. I honestly didn’t know whether this was going to be a book I’d like but I have to say it’s the best book I’ve read this month.

I know it’s only January but I’ll be holding the other books I read this year up to this one as I choose my favourites of the year. Recommended!

The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Pages: 299 (+extensive Notes, Bibliography & Index)
First Published: Feb. 24, 2009
Genre: Biography, Travel, Memoir
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

Comments: This is a biography of early twentieth century explorer, Percy Fawcett. Fawcett was an accomplished explorer of the Amazon jungles and recipient of the Royal Geographical Association’s Gold Medal. He is most known for his determination in finding a lost city and civilization hidden in the depths of the jungle, often called El Dorado, Fawcett labeled his unfound city “Z”.

I pulled the map from my back pocket.

The book begins with Fawcett’s early days as an explorer up to his infamous journey in which he took his 22-year old son with him and simply vanished from the face of the earth. Many others have gone in since to find him and either disappeared themselves or returned defeated and emaciated.

Between chapters of Fawcett’s story, the author occasionally jumps to his own tale of following in the footsteps of Fawcett’s ill-fated last journey using modern technology.

A very compelling read. Fawcett is truly a larger than life character and his story makes for good reading. I really enjoyed the time period, 1900s-1920s, and am fascinated with exploration of that period. A well written biography with plenty of original source quotations including from Fawcett’s own journals. I only wish the book had included some photographs. I like to see who I’m reading about but all in all a very interesting and compelling biography and description of the days of exploration.

Edited to Add: While my arc edition has no photographs, the finished book *will* have photos and maps. That’s great news!

‘Math has proven the existence of God, because it is absolute and without contradiction; but the devil must exist as well, because we cannot prove it.’

Absolutely wonderful — I loved this book!!

Have you seen the movie 50 First Dates? It’s one of my favorite movies, and a very similar situation occurs in this book. A mathematics professor has only 80 minutes of short term memory due to a car accident, but he remembers everything clear as a bell that happened before his head injury. He continues to solve mathematical proofs and has an uncanny ability to know exactly where the North Star is in the sky, even when there’s no visibility. He is kind and has a great love for children. But, he remembers only 80 minutes at a time in the here and now. His sister-in-law lets him live in a cottage next to her main house, and she has hired a ninth housekeeper to cook and clean for the professor.

The housekeeper does her best to please the professor and works around his disability. She tells him about her 10 year old son, and he insists on letting the son come to his cottage after school, even though it’s against the cleaning agency’s rules. The professor writes notes to himself to help remind him of the housekeeper and her son. The boy and the professor both have a love of baseball, and the professor uses this to teach the boy mathematics. Soon a strong bond is formed among the three of them.

There is quite a bit of math in this book, and of course I enjoyed those references tremendously. I have an engineering degree, and mathematics has always been a love of mine. I don’t think you have to know math like I do to enjoy this book, but you will certainly appreciate the beauty of it a bit more if you do.

‘Eternal truths are ultimately invisible, and you won’t find them in material things or natural phenomena, or even in human emotions. Mathematics, however, can illuminate them, can give them expression — in fact, nothing can prevent it from doing so.’

Very highly recommended!!

2003, 2009 for the English translation by Stephen Snyder, 180 pp.
5/5

All the Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
An Inspector Banks Mystery, Book 18

Pages: 349
First Published: Sept. 30, 2008 (Can/UK),
Feb. 17, 2009 (USA) as All the Colors of Darkness
Genre: mystery
Rating: 3/5

First sentence:

Detective Inspector Annie Cabbot thought it was a great shame that she had to spend one of the most beautiful days of the year so far at a crime scene, especially a hanging.

Comments: Two men are found dead, one brutally beaten in his apartment and the other hanging from a tree in a local park. It appears to have been a lover’s spat turned into a murder/suicide but once it is found out that one of the dead men was a secret agent with MI6 things start to seem more complicated than at first presumed.

I enjoyed this book but can’t say that it is up to par with the other Inspector Banks novels I’ve read to date. I enjoyed the whodunit and the author digs deep into Banks’ psyche making him one of my favourite detectives. What I found (shall I say) boring was all the secret agent/spy stuff. MI5 this, MI6 that, just doesn’t do it for me. I like my mysteries to be crimes and thrillers not spy novels. While I enjoy an Ian Fleming as much as the next fellow, I didn’t expect this book to be so dependent on the spy aspects for the plot.

The ending was a surprise, rather bleak, certainly not a happy ending. Inspector Banks’ private life is a main feature of this novel and I enjoyed that aspect very much and once again it also was left with a bleak uncertainty, leaving one curious as to where his personal life will go in the next novel. Fans of the series will find enjoyment meeting up with favourite characters again but if you are new to the series do not start with this one as it is not representational of the series as a whole.

tales from outer suburbia by shaun tan

Pages: 95
First Published: Oct. 28 (Can), Feb. 1 (USA)
Genre: short stories, adult picture book, YA
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

when I was a kid, there was a big water buffalo living in the vacant lot at the end of our street, the one with the grass no one ever mowed.

Comments: This is a beautiful, picture book of short stories. The publisher promotes it as juvenile literature but I found the stories immensely deep and could not imagine a child appreciating the full depth of each story. Some stories are one page long, some are several pages long but each is profusely illustrated in full colour by the fantastic shaun tan. The illustrations are not just there to illustrate the story but are an integral part of the story, in fact one story has several pages of wordless illustration to propel the story along. Some of the stories are about children but certainly not all of them, one for example is about a couple about to be married.

I enjoyed each story but would classify them as strange and quirky. Each tells a rather bizarre tale that the reader finds themselves looking deeper for the message or reading between the lines for what is really happening. The artwork is amazing and there are several spreads of collage art, which as a practitioner myself, I found highly appealing. I would recommend this to those who enjoy bizarre short stories and those who enjoy graphic novels. Even though this is not a graphic novel, I found the same elements present of text and illustrations working hand in hand. Really, a delightful quick read.

Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy, 452 pages

Fiction or non-fiction? fiction

What led you to pick up this book? I love Maeve Binchy, and it is her newest release. A staff member at school brought it in and I scooped it right up.

Summarize the plot, but don’t give away the ending!
Following the lives and loves of the staff of a cardiac clinic in Dublin, Ireland.

What did you like most about the book? What did you like least?
I loved that characters from many of Binchy’s other books were in this one. It gives an update on some characters from Evening Class, Scarlett Feather, Quentins, Whitethorn Hills and Nights of Rain and Stars.
The characters are realistic, modern people that fight with their family, have good friends, and hope for a better life and love.
That was only a problem in that it has been many years since I’ve read some of the books. It isn’t necessary to know all the back story, but it provides a sense of remembrance. There are so many characters that if feels a bit like a series of short, interconnected stories. I would just get to know a character and then their part of the story was done.

Have you read any other books by this author? What did you think of those books? I’ve read all of Binchy’s books, she’s one of my favorite authors.

What did you think of the main character? I guess Clare was the main character. She was strong in her job and inspired loyalty, but didn’t get along with her daughters. Fiona was also a main character and she was also a wonder woman type, everyone loved her and she knew how to deal with everyone, but was fighting some internal battles.

Any other particularly interesting characters?
The twins, Maud and Simon are quite amusing and I foresee a story of their own soon.

Share a favorite scene from the book. The wedding at the end, with all the characters.

What about the ending? Aw, wonderful ending all tied up with all the characters. You don’t read Maeve Binchy to have the characters end up unhappy.

Which of your readers are most likely to enjoy this book? Why?
If you haven’t read any Binchy, I wouldn’t start with this one. Evening Class, Whitethorn Hills and Nights of Rain and Stars are more stand-alone stories and would be what I would recommend. If you’ve read Binchy before, I don’t have to tell you to read this one. You’ve already got it.
I would recommend Binchy to fans of LM Montgomery. They both set a location and character so well, with star-crossed lovers, pride and honor getting in the way, and then pretty much perfect, idealized endings. I get the same sense of comfort reading both authors.

released in Canada in October, 2008

to be released in US in Feb, 2009