Title: The Good Daughters
Author: Joyce Maynard
ISBN: 9780061994319
Pages: 288
Release Date: August 24, 2010
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

The Good Daughters follows the story of two girls:  Ruth, from the Plank family, and Dana from the Dickerson family.  They were born within one hour of each other, and despite the fact that they do not like one another, this strange coincidence has tied both families together through all kinds of circumstances, following them into adulthood.

Review:

Though I heard wonderful things about Joyce Maynard’s novel Labor Day, for some reason I never had the urge to pick it up and read it.  When The Good Daughters arrived, however, I knew better than to make that same mistake.  Though I wasn’t sure that the plot really appealed to me, I made it a point to get to it as soon as possible, and am so glad I did.

The Good Daughters was a beautifully written piece of fiction.  Joyce Maynard has a very literary style of writing that will appeal to many different readers.  She elevates the novel from a simple piece of contemporary fiction about two girls to something else entirely.  The novel is sweeping and emotional; the reader gets involved in the lives of these two girls, simply because of Maynard’s amazing prose.

The intertwining stories seem a little strange at first, but the reader quickly gets used to the two voices, the dual narration.  Ruth is expressive, and only wants her mother’s love and approval.  She learns at a young age that she will never receive it, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.  Meanwhile, Dana lives in contempt of her parents.  Free spirits, she envies Ruth for her roots and her solid, dependable parents.  As these two girls grow and change, the reader sees them come into their own and pursue their dreams, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the influence of their parents and surroundings.

Of course, this novel has a few twists and turns.  Some are surprising, others are not – I was able to figure out the biggest twist long before the big reveal, but it didn’t influence my enjoyment of The Good Daughters.  This isn’t a suspense novel; the reader is supposed to deduce these details from the clues the author sprinkles about the novel.  As a result, it becomes satisfying rather than disappointing.

The Good Daughters was an exceptional novel that was well-written and engaging.  Fans of all different types of genres – literary fiction, contemporary fiction, women’s fiction – will find something to love in this wonderful book.  This would also make a great book club pick, as readers will enjoy discussing Ruth and Dana and the way their lives develop.

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Title: I’d Know You Anywhere
Author: Laura Lippman
ISBN: 9780061706554
Pages: 384
Release Date: August 17, 2010
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.75 out of 5

Summary:

Eliza Benedict is a housewife who is content with life at home with her teenage daughter, Iso, and son Albie.  After living in the UK for years, they have made the move back home to the DC-area and are all trying to adjust to life back in the States.  Eliza’s sense of complacency is shattered, however, when a part of her past asserts herself, something she thought she’d left behind.  Walter Bowman, the man who kidnapped Eliza when she was sixteen, somehow finds her and sends her a letter from jail.  Eliza’s world completely changes as she tries to deal with this new complication and comes to terms with what happened to her all those years ago.

Review:

I’m a huge fan of Laura Lippman’s standalone novels, and have only recently begun reading her Tess Monaghan series, so when I discovered she had a new book coming out, it went straight to the top of my list.  I’ve found Lippman’s standalone novels to be taut and suspenseful, with masterful crafting, and happily, I’d Know You Anywhere wasn’t an exception.

I’d Know You Anywhere was an incredibly written piece of fiction.  From the very first page, I simply could not put this book down.  I planned on reading a little, then doing other things, but I ended up reading it in one sitting because I simply had to know what happened to Eliza.  It was lyrically written and flowed incredibly smoothly.  I really cannot praise Lippman’s writing highly enough in this novel.  It’s beautiful, taut, and keeps the reader hooked.  The entire book is so tightly wound that you can’t help but continue reading, no matter what real life matters are calling to you.

Eliza was an intriguing character, made even moreso by the way others in the book characterized her.  They portrayed her as this passive, reactive woman who watched life rather than participating in it, but as the book progresses, it become clear how wrong they are.  Eliza has an amazing inner strength, and is a fierce mother who wants to protect her family from the horrors of her past.  She is a complicated, layered woman who can’t be described with just a few words.  I really enjoyed getting to know her and understanding the person she was.

This book isn’t really a mystery as much as it is a work of suspense fiction.  There are puzzles to be uncovered, but really it’s a look at Eliza and how she copes with the world when it explodes around her.  I found myself angry at characters in the book as they tried to push her one way or another, thinking she was a lamb ready to be led to slaughter.  I loved how Eliza manipulated for her own ends, and only allowed herself to be pushed when it suited her purposes.  It was a great character study and a wonderful work of fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed I’d Know You Anywhere and highly recommend it to suspense and mystery fans, as well as those who love character driven stories.  Additionally, the melodic nature of Lippman’s writing should endear this novel to literary fiction fans.  It’s an exceptional novel and I’m so sad that it’s finished and I have to wait for Lippman’s next novel!

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Title: The Pleasure Seekers
Author: Tishani Doshi
ISBN: 9781608192779
Pages: 320
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Genre: Literary Fiction, Multicultural Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

It’s 1968, and Babo Patel has decided to leave his home city of Madras for London.  He soon sheds the hallmarks of his Jain heritage, choosing to eat meat and drink alcohol, and generally becomes Westernized.  He meets Sian, a Welsh woman, and falls hopelessly in love with her.  When Babo’s parents hear of this, they immediately summon Babo back home.  Eventually they reconcile to the idea of a Welsh daughter-in-law, with the caveat that Babo and Sian must live in Madras for two years after their marriage.

Review:

I’m always looking for new South Asian literature, so when I saw The Pleasure Seekers in Bloomsbury USA’s catalog, my curiosity was immediately piqued.  Then I saw the endorsement quote on the cover – a blurb from Salman Rushdie.  I didn’t even need to know what it was about.  The South Asian setting and Salman Rushdie, my favorite author, were enough for me.

I was completely mesmerized by Tishani Doshi’s ability to manipulate language.  This book was beautifully written.  I can’t tell you how many passages I marked, hoping to share with you in my review, in the end deciding I couldn't choose among them.  Doshi’s descriptions are lush and beautiful.  Whether she’s discussing a place, a person, or an emotion, she has the ability to convey so much through her prose.  The reader can feel the emotions pulsing through her words.  It’s an incredible talent, and as a result, The Pleasure Seekers is worth reading simply for the sheer beauty of Tishani Doshi’s writing.

A common theme running through The Pleasure Seekers is being away from your own country, in a foreign country with alien people and cultures.  Doshi captures these feelings wonderfully, really showing the reader how strange the entire experience is.  Even if you have never traveled to or lived in a foreign country, Doshi can make you understand the bereft excitement, those dueling forces that make you feel lost and found at the same time.  The quote below describes Sian in Madras as she writes a letter home to her family.

“I’m always a beginner here,” she wrote, trying to get to the heart of the melancholy that had set in ever since they’d taken up residence in Sylvan Lodge.  “I am always beginning because I cannot surrender a part of myself.  It’s difficult to explain.  Everyone has been more than generous, more than patient, and yet, it’s a feeling of being marooned, of not having quite reached my final destination.”

The Pleasure Seekers was a wonderfully written look at one family over decades, through tumultuous events in Indian history.  Though the plot does meander a bit towards the middle of the book, Doshi’s beautiful prose is a constant that ties the book together.  This is Doshi’s first novel, though she has published a collection of poetry called Countries of the Body.  Though I don’t usually read poetry, I’ll be seeking it out just because I cannot get enough of Doshi’s gorgeous writing.

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Title: Maybe This Time
Author: Jennifer Crusie
ISBN: 9780312303785
Pages: 352
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Andie Miller is ready to settle down again, this time with Will, a cute, sweet writer.  But before she can commit to him, she has to cut all ties with her ex-husband, North, who keeps sending her alimony checks despite the fact that she explicitly told him she doesn’t want them.  She feels like these checks still bind them together.  When Andie goes to confront North, he turns the tables on her, offering her money in exchange for a huge favor.  North’s cousin, now dead, left his two children in North’s care, and he wants Andie to go out and see why they have driven three nannies away, and why they refuse to move to the city and live with North.  When Andie arrives, she finds an old, crumbling house and begins to wonder if there are such things as ghosts.

Review:

I’ve heard good things about Jennifer Crusie, so when I was offered the chance to review her newest book, I took it.  After all, I really do enjoy a good ghost story!  I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed at all.  This book was enjoyable from beginning to end, with appealing characters and great laughs.

Andie was a wonderful main character, and I really loved getting to know her.  She was strong, smart, and very funny.  She was incredibly patient with the children, which is saying something.  While Carter was a typical sullen teen (even though he was only 12), Alice was a different story.  She seems incredibly spoiled at the beginning of the novel, so used to getting her own way that she just screams at the top of her lungs when something goes wrong.  However, instead of getting mad at her, Andie works with her to help her see that screaming isn’t the answer.  Eventually the reason for Alice’s behavior comes to light and it’s much easier to understand.  Still, getting to that point was difficult, and I really admire Andie for how genuine she was and how much she really wanted to be there for these kids that she barely knew.

The ghost story aspect of the book wasn’t really that scary.  It was certainly well done, and creepy at times, but overall the novel has a feel of humor rather than horror.  I also appreciated the premise – a smart, savvy woman introduced into a ghost story.  How will she react?  Will she believe in the ghosts?  It really was a gothic story with a modern day heroine.  I enjoyed this twist and thought Crusie did an excellent job making this book as entertaining as possible.

The secondary cast of characters is also a lot of fun.  Towards the end, as more and more of them begin showing up at the house, it turns into utter chaos.  It’s great to watch them banter back and forth and see how all these incredibly varied personalities interact.  They’re developed to varying degrees, but all clearly have their own quirks and charms.

I really enjoyed Maybe This Time, and am now curious about Crusie’s other novels.  I had the impression that she was a romance novelist, so I’d refrained from picking up her books before now.  I’ll definitely have to seek out her other non-romance titles and read them as soon as possible!

Haven’t heard of the DSC South Asian Literature Festival?  Neither had I, until I received an email about it earlier this week from someone involved in the organization, asking me to inform my readers about the festival.

It’s “Britain’s first major festival celebrating South Asian literature” and it runs from October 15-31, with locations all over the UK.  This is one of those (many) times I’m very jealous of those of you across the pond!  It’s in London from October 15-25, and then will move across the rest of Britain for the remaining dates.  If you are in Britain, or know someone who will be there, I highly encourage you to check out the festival and spread the word.  This is something that is invaluable to the South Asian literary community, and I really hope it is a success, as I’d love to be able to attend sometime!

If that’s not enough, there is also a prize to go along with the festival!  It’s called the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (pretty self-explanatory).  They have just announced the longlist for the prize, which consists of:

• Way to Go – Upamanyu Chatterjee
• The Immortals – Amit Chaudhuri
• Arzee the Dwarf – Chandrahas Choudhury
• The Story of a Widow – Musharraf Ali Farooqui
• A Disobedient Girl – Ru Freeman
• Neti Neti – Anjum Hassan
• Atlas of Unknowns – Tania James
• The Immigrant – Manju Kapur
• Home Boy – HM Naqvi
• The Hour Past Midnight – Salma
• The Middleman – Sankar
• The Wish Maker – Ali Sethi
• Chef – Jaspreet Singh
• The Temple-Goers – Aatish Taseer

Some of these I’ve already read (and have linked to my reviews), others I want to read, and the rest I haven’t heard of.  But you can bet I’m going to try and find every one of these books, even if they aren’t available in the United States.  The shortlist will be announced at the festival, and the winner in January 2011.

Title: Faithful Place
Author: Tana French
ISBN: 9780670021871
Pages: 416
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Viking
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:

Frank Mackey, an undercover detective on Dublin’s police force, has been living with the ghosts of his past for a long time.  When his sister contacts him and informs him that one of them has reasserted itself, he can’t help but be intrigued.  In 1985, the love of his (very young) life, Rosie, abandoned Frank the night they were supposed to run away together.  But now it’s looking like the situation may have been more complicated than it seemed, and Frank is drawn back to his family as he tries to discover the truth behind Rosie’s disappearance.

Review:

I really enjoyed Tana French’s two previous books In the Woods and The Likeness, so I was waiting for her third novel Faithful Place with breathless anticipation.  All I knew about it when I picked it up was that it was yet another mystery novel set in Ireland, and this time it focused on Frank Mackey, a minor character from French’s other books.

Unfortunately, Faithful Place wasn’t quite as engaging as I’d hoped, and as a result, it didn’t really live up to my expectations.  It was definitely a competently written novel, and if it was by almost any other author, I probably would have liked it.  But because I have such admiration for Tana French and think so highly of her other books, I expected more of this one.

Frank Mackey was definitely a difficult character to like.  He was very rough around the edges and didn’t really respect anyone.  Frank also chose to do things his own way, rather than trying to work with those around him.  Normally, I don’t mind that in a lead character, but throughout the novel I got the distinct sense that Frank thought he was better than everyone else.  Additionally, he wasn’t afraid to use (and abuse) people in order to get the answers he wanted.

The mystery in Faithful Place was interesting, but not captivating.  I figured out the culprit about halfway through the book, and though that didn’t really diminish my enjoyment of it, I was very surprised at the end that I’d actually deciphered almost everything correctly.  French wrote an intriguing mystery, but most of the secondary characters were unlikeable as well, with the notable exception of Frank’s ex-wife, Olivia.

Overall, Faithful Place was a disappointment.  After loving Cassie from The Likeness so much, it was difficult to read a book where I was so ambivalent towards the main character.  However, Tana French is still a top-tier mystery author for me and I’ll definitely be reading her next book.

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Title: Fly Away Home
Author: Jennifer Weiner
ISBN: 9780743294270
Pages: 416
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Atria
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Library
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Sylvie Serfer has been hungry for years and years.  However, she acknowledges that part of her role as a senator’s wife is staying thin and fit, and she’s happy to make that sacrifice for her husband.  Her career is supporting him, her purpose in life to make his easier, and she’s fine with that.  That is, until at the age of fifty-seven, her world comes crashing down on her.  She discovers that her husband Richard had an affair with a young intern.  Richard’s affair affects the entire family, from Sylvie to their two daughters, Diana and Lizzie.  Diana is a doctor who is unsatisfied with what her married life has presented her with, while Lizzie is a recovering addict.  Together, these women must cope with the repercussions of Richard’s infidelity.

Review:

I’m a big fan of Jennifer Weiner’s novels, and was thrilled to review her last endeavor, Best Friends Forever.  In Fly Away Home, Weiner takes on an entirely new topic – the political sex scandal and how it might affect those involved and closest to the situation.

Weiner’s view of the situation is a fascinating one.  There’s Sylvie, who has subjugated every need and ambition to her husband’s career.  When she thinks they have a good, stable marriage, she’s okay with that.  After all, she freely admits she never wanted the spotlight on her.  But once Richard’s extramarital affair is revealed, Sylvie begins to rethink everything.  Did she make the right decisions with her life?  Was she actually happy during her marriage, or was it all a facade she was hiding behind?  This process of reflection and self-discovery is satisfying, as Sylvie asks herself difficult questions and doesn’t shy away from the answers she finds.

The two daughters are also on their own paths.  While their father’s infidelity doesn’t affect them quite as directly as it does their mother, it still changes them.  For Diana, it makes her realize how complicated recent decisions she made really are.  She also becomes cognizant of the fact that infidelity affects everyone around you, not just the two involved in the marriage.  For Lizzie, it makes her rise to the occasion.  She’s tired of being the delicate one, the one everyone always has to take care of.  For once, she begins to accept responsibility.

Weiner also provides a fascinating commentary on the role of a politician’s wife.  Sylvie is expected to always be one step behind her husband, perfectly coiffed, and to always say the right thing.  She has few friends of her own because she’s forced to socialize with people who will help her husband’s career move forward.  After the extramarital affair story breaks, Sylvie is watched to force as the media judges her for her actions, when really she’s barely had time to think things through and is just living day to day.

Fly Away Home was a interesting look at the life of a politician’s family, and at how scandal can tear people apart, but also lead to important self-realizations.  In some ways, it’s a difficult novel to relate to due to its political scandal nature, but it’s a sympathetic book that puts a human face on something we read about on a daily basis.

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Title: Love in Mid Air
Author: Kim Wright
ISBN: 9780446540445
Pages: 320
Release Date: March 29, 2010
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: SheKnows Book Club
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:

Elyse Bearden has been discontent with her life for a long time.  She hasn’t acted on these feelings, though, because she’s been stuck in such a deep rut with her husband, Phil.  That is, until she met Gerry on a plane.  Though they were only together for a few hours, Elyse can’t think of her life the same way anymore.  She finds herself thinking about Gerry all the time and realizing that things can’t continue on like this.  She decides she needs to pursue her own happiness, even if the cost is her marriage.

Review:

I’m going to say this right off the bat:  I had mixed feelings about Love in Mid Air.  There were aspects I appreciated, some parts I didn’t really love but went with, and others I didn’t like.  Let’s start with the good:  Kim Wright is a really talented writer.  She knows how to write a story, how to keep a reader hooked. The pacing of Love in Mid Air was very good.  There was a healthy balance of introspection and “action” to move the plot forward. 

I didn’t love the character of Elyse, I have to admit.  I couldn’t identify with her at all, partially because we are at such different stages in our life.  Also, though, I felt like she complained without trying to make herself happier, by either finding fulfillment in the life she had or starting over in a new life without Phil.  Instead, she decided on the middle road of infidelity, something I had a lot of trouble with.  That being said, once I was able to let go of identifying with Elyse, I found her story to be interesting.  It’s difficult for me to enjoy novels where I can’t at least sympathize with the main character, though, hence the mixed feelings.

I might be old fashioned, but I really don’t like infidelity in books.  I think it’s an incredibly hard thing to justify and present sympathetically, no matter how unhappy the characters are.  I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of books lately that focus on infidelity, and it only cements my feeling that (a) it just creates more problems, rather than bringing any kind of happiness and (b) it’s important to communicate unhappiness.  There were times I felt really sorry for Phil because he just didn’t understand how unhappy Elyse was, yet everything he did was being viewed and judged through that “should I stay or leave or just continue with this affair” lens.  At the same time, though, Phil was incredibly dense about some things, but instead of speaking up, Elyse kept quiet and just marked another line in the “against Phil” column.  I also didn’t really get Gerry, Elyse’s love interest.  He’s never really fully developed as a character, which is fine because it’s Elyse’s story.  But the entire initial encounter on the plane just didn’t strike me as realistic.

Love in Mid Air was a SheKnows book club selection, which is why I read it, and I think it makes a wonderful pick.  There is so much to discuss here, from Elyse’s choices to her circumstances, to the explosive ending.  Even if, like me, you don’t really sympathize with Elyse, you certainly will have an opinion about her that you’ll be itching to discuss.  Though the book didn’t work for me as well as I’d hoped, I certainly will be keeping an eye out for Kim Wright’s future works.

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Title: The Nobodies Album
Author: Carolyn Parkhurst
ISBN: 9780385527699
Pages: 320
Release Date: June 15, 2010
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Summary:

Octavia Frost is in New York City, planning on hand delivering a copy of her latest novel to her editor.  The book is called The Nobodies Album and revisits all of Octavia’s previous novels, rewriting their endings.  Octavia is in a cab on the way to the publishing offices when she hears startling news:  Milo Frost, the lead singer of a famous band, has been accused of murdering his girlfriend.  Octavia, shocked, immediately puts her plans on hold – after all, Milo is her estranged son.  Determined to reconnect with her son and help him through this, Octavia flies to California to see what she can do.

Review:

I’d heard wonderful things about The Nobodies Album around the blogosphere, but I wanted the hype to die down a little bit before I read it.  It’s easy to become wary about a book when you’re seeing it everywhere, and I wanted to be able to fully experience this novel.

The Nobodies Album is a very creative, introspective book.  I was hooked from the very first page, intent on Octavia’s story.  I love how she narrated events in her head – the gift and curse of being a writer.  The discussion of how real life (especially where tragedies are concerned) contributes to writing and self-expression was fascinating.  It gives the reader an entirely new perspective and is incredibly thought provoking. 

The mystery in The Nobodies Album was a central part of the novel, but it wasn’t really the main point.  It was a catalyst for change in Milo and Octavia’s relationship, which was really the focus of the book.  As a result, the mystery fizzles a bit in the middle of the novel and the ending, while surprising, is a bit anti-climactic.  After all, this isn’t really a mystery novel, but an exploration of people and relationships that happens to take place within a mystery.  Still, I would have appreciated a little more development of that plotline, as I do love a good mystery.

Interspersed between the chapters of this book are excerpts from Octavia Frost’s The Nobodies Album.  The reader is given the original endings to the novels, then their revised endings.  They give an insight into the mindset Octavia was in when she wrote them, as opposed to what she thinks and feels now, looking back.  It’s another demonstration of how much of themselves writers invest in their books.  Though sometimes I felt they took away from the overall plot, it was interesting to see these glimpses into Octavia’s mind and deconstruct them to understand her better.

The Nobodies Album was an incredibly creative novel that I definitely recommend.  It was very well done and made me really want to go and read Carolyn Parkhurst’s backlist.  This book would make an excellent book club pick, as readers will want to discuss the complicated characters of Octavia and Milo, as well as their tense relationship.  I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Parkhurst’s next book!

Title: The Home for Broken Hearts
Author: Rowan Coleman
ISBN: 9781439156858
Pages: 352
Release Date: September 7, 2010
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

After her husband dies, Ellen Woods flounders.  She does her best to take care of their son, Charlie, but she really just doesn’t know how to deal with life on her own.  When she realizes that she and Charlie have almost no money to live on, Ellen makes a drastic decision:  she rents out the extra rooms to her house to lodgers.  Ellen doesn’t realize it at the time, but these lodgers will become a part of her family and will help her come to terms with her husband’s death.

Review:

I haven’t read anything by Rowan Coleman, but I know she’s huge in the UK.  I love their women’s fiction and am sad we don’t get more of it published in the US; when I saw that Gallery Books was publishing a Rowan Coleman novel, I was thrilled and immediately decided I needed to read it.

After reading The Home for Broken Hearts, I can see what all the Rowan Coleman fuss is about.  She is incredible at writing a diverse cast of characters.  There are a lot of main characters in this novel, a lot of people that need careful developing.  Coleman shows that she is up to the challenge; each person in this novel is sympathetic and easy for the reader to understand.  The wonderful characters really make this book worth reading – they become like friends, rather than people in a novel.

The main relationship in this story didn’t appeal to me, unfortunately.  While I really loved Ellie and the guy she chooses (I don’t want to ruin anything), I thought the entire storyline read like a romance novel.  There was way too much unexpressed desire and fantasizing for it to really be palatable for me.  While not a lot of space in the novel is reserved for this, and therefore it wasn’t that big of a deal, it just was much too “forbidden desires” for my taste.

I absolutely loved the character of Ellie and how strong she became as she faced her personal issues that stemmed from her husband and his death.  I really wish more space had been devoted to her grappling with these, as well as her relationship with her sister Hannah.  I loved watching Ellie become a stronger person as she accepted her problems and let go of her preconceptions.

All in all, while The Home for Broken Hearts wasn’t perfect, it was definitely a satisfying read.  I wouldn’t exactly call it light women’s fiction, but at the same time, it’s not a heavy read.  I really hope more of Coleman’s books release in the US going forward, as I’d love to read more of her work.

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Title: Out of the Shadows
Author: Joanne Rendell
ISBN: 9780451231123
Pages: 336
Release Date: September 7, 2010
Publisher: NAL Trade
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Clara Fitzgerald is a professor at prestigious Manhattan U, living with her fiancé of five years, Anthony.  Since her mother’s death, Clara has felt bereft and alone.  Her mother always claimed they were somehow related to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and Clara has been exploring Shelley more and more in an effort to feel somehow connected to her mother.  Clara meets with Kay, an elderly Mary Shelley scholar, and together they explore Shelley.  By doing so, Clara begins to realize what’s important to her and what she wants – and doesn’t want – out of life.

Review:

I was very excited to pick up Joanne Rendell’s third novel, as I really enjoyed The Professor’s Wives’ Club and Crossing Washington Square.  I was thrilled that she returned to the same setting as well – the fictitious Manhattan U.  I love academic settings for novels, and though this didn’t play into the novel quite as much as it did in her other two books, it still was a nice backdrop.

I loved that Clara was pursuing Mary Shelley for such personal reasons.  She felt so lost because of her mother’s death, especially because it was so sudden.  Researching Mary Shelley helped Clara remember her mother.  After awhile, though, it changed into something else altogether – she needed to understand Mary Shelley for herself.  It became a part of her search for a sense of identity and to understand how she viewed the world. 

Anthony was a pretty despicable person.  From the beginning, it was clear that he wasn’t very invested in his relationship with Clara.  As the novel progressed, his attempts to control her and assumption that she would follow him to the ends of the earth showed how arrogant he really was.  I hated that she was with him, but I didn’t blame her.  Part of Clara’s growth in this novel is discovering her sense of independence, and it’s satisfying to watch that happen.

I enjoyed the tidbits about Mary Shelley interspersed through Out of the Shadows.  I don’t know anything about her, but it really sounded like she led an interesting life.  I could understand why she was an inspiration for Clara.  After reading this novel, I’d like to read more about Mary Shelley.

Out of the Shadows was a well-written, thoughtful novel that I really enjoyed.  I’ve come to expect smart, interesting novels from Joanne Rendell, and I’m so happy to say that this one didn’t disappoint at all.  If you haven’t read any of Joanne’s novels, I highly recommend all of them.  Though they all share a setting, these books aren’t sequels, so you can read them in any order.

Title: Room: A Novel
Author: Emma Donoghue
ISBN: 9780316098335
Pages: 336
Release Date: September 13, 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Five-year-old Jack lives in Room with his mother.  In Room, there is Chair and Bed and Wardrobe and Meltedy Spoon.  Outside Room is Outer Space.  Old Nick comes from Outer Space and brings food and Sunday treats.  Jack has lived in Room all his life and doesn’t believe there is anything outside. 

Review:

Room is an incredibly difficult novel to describe or discuss without giving away key plot points, hence the extremely sketchy summary above that only reveals information from the first few pages of the book.  Other summaries (including the publisher’s) reveal a lot of information, but this is a book that works best if you don’t know at all what to expect.

Jack’s five-year-old voice definitely takes some getting used to.  He’s a smart child, advanced educationally because he has spent so much time one on one with his mother.  However, he isn’t socialized at all, clearly, since he has spent his entire life in Room.  He’s never difficult to understand, though sometimes it takes some slow reading to comprehend exactly what he’s talking about.  Once the reader adjusts to his method of speaking, though, the novel goes incredibly fast.  Donoghue did an amazing job writing the voice of a five-year-old.  He’s never unbelievably precocious and his thoughts are simple and precise. 

This is an incredibly disturbing and emotional book because of what Jack and his mother go through.  Jack’s Ma was my age, so I could really relate to her and what she felt.  Her experiences, though, were so foreign to me.  I couldn’t imagine being stuck inside a 500 square foot room for seven years of my life. It was completely horrifying, and I really admired her for how well she held herself together.  It often seemed like she didn’t have any strength left, yet she always found something for Jack.  He gave her a purpose in life.  Their love for each other was pure and sweet, and it was clear that no matter what they were put through, they would be okay if they were together. 

I have to admit, while I did like this book, I would have enjoyed it more had I witnessed it from Jack’s mother’s point of view.  While Jack’s voice was very well-written, it was his mother and her traumas that really intrigued me.  I would have loved to know more about her psychological issues from the trauma she experienced.

I can’t talk much more about Room without discussing the specifics of the novel, so I’ll have to leave you with this sketchy review.  I did really love this book; I was planning on reading it slowly, over multiple days, and that worked for the first fifty pages.  Once I got to page one hundred, though, I found that I couldn’t put it down.  I had to know what happened, to know that Jack and his Ma would be okay.  This was an exceptional novel, and I can’t wait to explore Donoghue’s backlist.

Today finds me preparing for yet another week of bookish fun!  Last week was BBAW, and I can’t tell you how many great new-to-me blogs I discovered – I added at least 30 new blogs to my Reader!  Now that all those festivities have wrapped up, it’s time to look ahead.

Today, Lenore (from Presenting Lenore) is in town for one of her husband’s book events, so I’m getting ready to go meet up with her and some other bloggers – I am very excited!  This weekend is the National Book Festival and the Baltimore Book Festival.  I’m really excited to see all the great bloggers at the National Book Festival (if you’re going to be there and haven’t filled out this form yet, today’s the last day before I make dinner reservations!).  I’ve never been to the Baltimore Book Festival, but I’m looking forward to that as well because I’m on a panel!  Julie from Booking Mama and I, along with some great other panelists, will be talking about book clubs on the Book Club panel on Sunday at 3 PM, so if you’ll be there, please stop by!  There’s also an earlier panel on Book Blogging, which the lovely Beth Fish Reads will be on, so you can bet I’ll be attending that panel.

With all this bookish fun, will I get any reading done?  I hope so, but if I don’t, at least I had a great reading week last week!  I finally read Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and while I did really enjoy it, I’m glad I’d read enough negative reviews to balance out the positives.  That’s a book you can’t go into with your expectations sky high, just because it’s so quirky and odd.  I also read Delirium by Lauren Oliver (which doesn’t release until February 2011, but I’m lending out my copy to a fellow blogger so I wanted to get it read), which was very, very good.  I didn’t expect to love it, just because I’ve been disappointed in a lot of the YA I’ve been reading recently, so it was a very pleasant surprise.

I’ll be checking in this week with bookish goodness, and will definitely be writing wrap-up posts for both the National and Baltimore Book Festivals.  Unless I get to it really early, I probably won’t do a Sunday Salon next week, but I’ll make sure to make up for it with great write-ups of the events.  Happy reading, all!

Reviews posted this week:

Title: Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures
Author: Robert K. Wittman & John Shiffman
ISBN: 9780307461476
Pages: 336
Release Date: June 1, 2010
Publisher: Crown
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

For almost 20 years, Robert K. Wittman’s was the FBI’s only full-time art crime agent.  Over the course of his career, he recovered more than $225 million worth of stolen art.  In this memoir, Wittman describes some of his more exciting and famous cases.

Review:

I’m a complete sucker for books about art in general, and art crime specifically, so when I first heard about Robert K. Wittman’s memoir, I was incredibly excited.  It sounded like an exciting and intriguing book, and I’m happy to say that the experience of reading it did not disappoint in the slightest.

The book is structured by case, and roughly by time.  Each chapter focuses on a different case Wittman worked on.  Sometimes these cases would overlap, but the entire case, from beginning to end, is covered in one chapter, rather than moving through Wittman’s life chronologically.  This makes it incredibly easy to follow and gives the reader a sense of closure at the end of each chapter, getting the satisfaction of the stolen artifact being returned to its rightful owners.

I appreciated that Priceless was never dry or monotonous.  I was engaged from beginning to end and never found my attention wandering.  The format had a lot to do with this – since each chapter was its own, self-contained story, I knew what to expect.  The pace also moved very briskly.  Wittman was careful to include all the necessary details and relate knowledge to the reader, but never went overboard or saddled the reader with unnecessary history.

Priceless is also a glimpse into the inner workings of the FBI, and I have to admit, it left me frustrated.  Specifically, the book opens and closes with the most famous art crime in United States history, the 1990 heist from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.  (Wittman does do an excellent job giving the reader the basic facts about this case, but if you want some in depth reading, definitely check out Ulrich Boser’s The Gardner Heist).  I don’t want to ruin the story or give away any details, but it was the last case Wittman worked on, and clearly it was unsuccessful, as the stolen art is still missing.  But the reason for the bungling, as well as the internal politics, were incredibly irritating for someone like Wittman and the reader, who just want to see the stolen art returned.

Wittman’s memoir is an incredibly exciting and engaging look at the world of art crime.  For the most part, it leaves the reader with a warm, fuzzy feeling, as Wittman succeeds again and again at recovering stolen artwork.  I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in the subject, even if you’re not a fan of non-fiction – the chapters are short enough such that it will keep your interest, and the book as a whole is a wonderful read.

Title: The Chemistry of Death
Author: Simon Beckett
ISBN: 9780440335955
Pages: 400
Release Date: September 26, 2006
Publisher: Dell
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

After a horrible accident that claims the lives of his wife and daughter, Dr. David Hunter moves to the small town of Manham in order to become a GP.  He wants to leave his past behind, to forget what happened.  But when a body is found and the police discover that Hunter used to be one of the top forensic anthropologists in the country, they push him into putting his old skills to use again.

Review:

I’m always on the prowl for good mysteries, so when I saw a review of The Chemistry of Death somewhere around the blogosphere, I decided I’d check it out from the library.  I was a little hesitant to start it because I’m easily grossed out, and I know that forensic anthropology is not for the faint of heart, but it sounded like a really interesting novel and worth a little squeamishness.

The Chemistry of Death was an absolutely fascinating novel.  I was surprised to discover that it actually wasn’t that gross.  There’s definitely some graphic descriptions, but it’s all clinical enough that it didn’t really bother me.  I found what Dr. Hunter did really interesting, and it whetted my appetite for more novels on forensic anthropology.

The mystery in this novel was also very well done.  I really did not suspect the culprit, and the twist at the end was amazing.  Beckett is a very talented writer, and he develops Dr. Hunter very well.  I liked how Hunter was trying to move on with his life, to get past what happened but was unable to.  It’s only after he confronted his former profession that he started the acceptance phase.  Running away only made the problem worse.

I am thrilled that The Chemistry of Death is the first in a series – I’ve already put the second novel, Written in Bone, on hold at the library.  Beckett has written a fascinating character with an intriguing profession.  Combine that with a suspenseful, well-written mystery?  I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

Title: I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies)
Author: Pittacus Lore
ISBN: 9780061969553
Pages: 448
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Teen/YA, Science Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:

10 years ago, 10 Lorien children managed to flee their homeworld, which was being consumed in an attack by the Mogadorians.  Along with their guardians and protectors, they fled to Earth, to grow up in anonymity until a time they can return to Lorien and reclaim it for their race.  They have a charm put on them, so they cannot be killed except in order, from one through ten.  The novel opens with Number Four receiving news that Number Three has been killed, which can mean only one thing – that he is next.

Review:

Sometimes I wish I had a dual rating system for YA books – the strength of the mythology and creativity of the story would be one rating.  The other would be the likability (or in this case, sheer stupidity) of the main character.  I enjoyed the premise behind I Am Number Four.  It was creative and was set up such that there are a lot of secrets to uncover along the way.  I appreciated the development of the mythology and was excited to see it fully fleshed out along the way.  But then.  Oh, but then.

I could not stand the main character, Number Four, or John Smith as he goes by in the novel.  He irked me to no end, continually wrapped up in his selfish teenager ways rather than taking his situation seriously.  I cannot tell you how tired I am of reading books about teenagers that risk anything and everything because they decide they’d rather hang out with their boyfriend (or in this case, girlfriend).  I mean, John dates a girl for a few weeks and decides he’d rather risk his own life and his guardian’s (and of course, that means the future of two planets as well as Number Five, wherever he or she might be) because he doesn’t want to leave his brand new girlfriend.  This is why I don’t read a lot of YA anymore, because this self-centeredness and sense of self-importance seems to permeate the genre and drives me up the wall.  Predictably, John’s selfish decision leads to all kinds of catastrophe.

I Am Number Four had a lot of promise and I hate that the main character really just ruined it for me.  The bright side is that it’s the first in a series and sequels always fare much better with regards to irksome main characters because they’ve usually finally learned their lesson by the end of the book, and that seems to be the case here.  I haven’t decided whether I’ll be picking up the sequel, but if it focuses more on the main storyline, rather than John’s teen antics, it’s a safe bet that I will.  If the whole teenagers acting like idiots thing doesn’t bother you, then you probably will enjoy I Am Number Four a lot more than I did.  If it does, though, I won’t tell you not to read it, but I will caution you that it can be very frustrating at times.  Overall, though, the novel has a promising mythology and I’m curious to see how it develops.

Today’s topic: Sure we’ve all read about Freedom and Mockingjay but we likely have a book we wish would get more attention by book bloggers, whether it’s a forgotten classic or under marketed contemporary fiction.  This is your chance to tell the community why they should consider reading this book!

I have many, many of these types of books, but I’ll limit myself to three for the purposes of today’s topic.

The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald – This book was really amazing.  The characters were so interesting, the details so well-researched – I can’t say enough good things about it.  Though I did see a few reviews of it around the blogosphere, I’m sad I haven’t seen many, many more!  From what I’ve heard, it’s one of those books people want to read, but it’s middling in their TBR stacks.  Well, I’m telling you to move it to the top – it’s totally worth it!

First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood by Thrity Umrigar – Yes, you’ve all heard me gush and gush about Thrity Umrigar.  Many of you have picked up The Weight of Heaven and have seen what I’ve seen in her.  But First Darling of the Morning is a book that still remains obscure.  It’s a memoir of Thrity’s time growing up in India, a series of glimpses at her life.  It’s written in vignettes, so it doesn’t get old or stale, and has her trademark beautiful and emotional writing.  It’s so worth reading!

Murder on the Cliffs – Joanna Challis – I absolutely love a good mystery, so this series starring a young Daphne du Maurier was perfect for me.  It combines a great atmosphere with wonderful details and a feisty and intelligent protagonist.  There’s a sequel coming out soon, so if you’re a mystery fan, make sure you get your hands on this great book!

I have many, many more, but I’ll stop myself at these three!  If you’ve reviewed any of these, please share a link!

Title: Finding Nouf
Author: Zoe Ferraris
ISBN: 9780547237787
Pages: 320
Release Date: June 20, 2008
Publisher: Mariner Books
Genre: Mystery, Multicultural Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

When a sixteen year old girl named Nouf goes missing in Saudi Arabia just a few days before her wedding, her wealthy family contacts Nayir al-Sharqi, a Palestinian and friend of the family, to investigate her disappearance.  Nayir’s search takes him through all classes of Saudi Arabia and forces him to interact with women, something he isn’t quite comfortable with.

Review:

I’d heard great things about Finding Nouf and have been wanting to read it for some time.  When its sequel, City of Veils arrived on my doorstep, it moved to the top of my list.  I was eager to delve into the mysterious and difficult world of Saudi Arabia in order to solve the mystery of Nouf’s disappearance.

Finding Nouf was an exquisitely written novel that I can’t praise highly enough.  It is a literary mystery, rather than a thriller, and Ferraris takes the time to create a vivid setting.  For most Western audiences, what life is like in Saudi Arabia, especially for women, is a big question mark.  Ferraris lifts the veil (metaphorically and literally) from this cloistered world, and gives the reader a real sense of the mechanisms of every day life in this country.  It’s also nice to read a book about the Middle East that doesn’t focus on war.  Instead, this is a quiet novel that provides a glimpse into Saudi Arabian life.

The main character, Nayir, is a contradiction.  He’s a very good man, honest and principled, yet he cannot interact with women.  Through Nayir, we see how much women are considered second-class citizens in Saudi Arabian societies.  He describes men who consider themselves unclean if they even see a woman after performing their ablutions.  Nayir himself has some of these same reservations – he becomes incredibly embarrassed for a woman if he sees her with her face uncovered because it isn’t “proper”.  He’s the type of person that would infuriate me had I met him on the street, and yet Ferraris portrays him so well that it’s difficult to dislike him.  I loved how his eyes opened as the book progressed and his judgments and principles were called into question.  Ferraris really put a human face on the extremely conservative Muslim, and I appreciated that she broadened my worldview.

The mystery in Finding Nouf was merely the icing on the cake.  The setting and intriguing main character were enough to make me want to read this book, yet Ferraris also crafted an engrossing puzzle for the reader.  It made the book incredibly enjoyable and difficult to put down.

I can’t recommend Finding Nouf highly enough.  Zoe Ferraris did an exceptional job with this novel – each aspect of it is exquisitely crafted.  I cannot wait to read the sequel, and am very hopeful that this will become a full-fledged series.

Affiliate Links:

Buy this book from Powell’s Books
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I am sitting here with a huge, ridiculous smile on my face.  I am so honored to win the Book Blogger Appreciation Week (BBAW) award for Best Cultural Review Blog.  Thank you so much!

I also wanted to mention my fellow shortlisters, Summer Edward’s Caribbean Children’s Literature and Hawaii Book Blog.  Definitely check these out if you have a chance, I was honored to be nominated with them!

Title: The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine
Author: Todd Kliman
ISBN: 9780307409362
Pages: 288
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Genre: Non-Fiction, History
Source: Amazon Vine
Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

In this book, Todd Kliman traces the history of the Norton grape, a 19th-century American hybrid strain that is disease resistant and very well suited to the weather and growing conditions outside temperate California.  The Norton also produced award-winning wine, but then somehow disappeared almost completely.  Kliman looks at the grape’s origins, as well as what happened to it, and where it might stand now.

Review:

I’ve really enjoyed the few books I’ve read on wine, so when I first heard about Todd Kliman’s The Wild Vine, I was really excited.  I also appreciated that Kliman is the food and wine editor for Washingtonian magazine, a DC area magazine that I enjoy and subscribe to.  I was excited to read about the Norton and a little local Virginia history.

However, Virginia history isn’t exactly what I got, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Kliman uncovers the history (and repeated failures) of American wine making in this book.  It was not in Virginia, but in Missouri that the Norton actually flourished.  I had no idea there were even vineyards in Missouri!  It was very eye opening and provided a lot of history.  The most intriguing aspect of the book was the effects of Prohibition on the wine industry.  I can’t get the image of federal inspectors rampaging across the country and ripping out grape vines out of my head.  Kliman researched The Wild Vine well, giving us both past and present day looks at the Norton grape.

The Wild Vine moves quickly, never stopping in one place long enough for the book to become dry.  Kliman’s style is engaging and he keeps the reader interested in the narrative.  It also helps that this book is so many things at once – a history lesson, a biography of a grape, a biography of the different winemakers who pursued the Norton, past and present.  The author successfully rolls all of these into one book.

If you’re interested in the history of wine at all, you should definitely consider picking up The Wild Vine.  I enjoyed reading it, and now am determined to find a Norton wine at my local wine store!

Piloting the space shuttle mockup at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here

For the BBAW interview swap, I was lucky enough to partner with Sherry from Semicolon.  Though I am very familiar with her blog, I don’t know her personally very well.  As a result, I had a lot of fun getting to know Sherry better – I hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as I enjoyed giving it!

Why Semicolon? Is that your favorite punctuation mark?

Actually, my Eldest Daughter, who is about your age, suggested the name, and I just went with it. I later decided that the name Semicolon had hidden depths of meaning for me, or else I imposed meaning on it or something like that. I posted about it here.

You enjoy reading and reviewing Christian fiction.  If a reader is interested in reading some Christian fiction but isn't sure where to start, what would you recommend?

Honestly, I think a lot of "Christian fiction" is poorly conceived and poorly written. However, there are some real treasures being published by Christian publishers, books that everyone can enjoy. I would recommend Athol Dickson, especially River Rising. Leif Enger's Peace Like a River is a fantastic book, and Marilynne Robinson's two interrelated books Gilead and Home are excellent. The latter two books were not published by an exclusively Christian publisher, but I would consider them to be fiction from a deep and thoughtful Christian perspective.

Where did the idea for the Saturday Review of Books, a weekly feature where readers are encouraged to link up their week's reviews (a feature I love and participate in), come from?

I don't really know where the idea came from. I just decided to do something different, something where other bloggers could contribute links to their reviews of books. And, voila! The idea appeared full blown from the recesses of my little brain. I'm really thankful to all the bloggers who keep the Saturday Review going, and I hope it's a service to readers looking for that next book. By the way, any bloggers reading here are invited to contribute review links to the Saturday Review at Semicolon any Saturday.

You are a homeschooling mom, and have homeschooled 8 children (3 of which you currently are still homeschooling).  Why did you choose to homeschool?  Did you enjoy it at first?  What about now?

I used to be a school librarian (in another life), and I saw firsthand what the schools were like. Some of the teachers were wonderful, and some of them not so much. And there was a lot of wasted time and energy. I read a couple of books by guys like Raymond Moore and John Holt, and I decided before my first child was born, twenty-five years ago, that I would try to homeschool when the time came. It's been a great experience for me, and I hope for my children. I wouldn't recommend homeschooling to the faint of heart, and it definitely has it moments, both good and bad. Nevertheless, it's mostly good, and I'm committed to see it through.

What inspired you to write your book, Picture Book Preschool?

A combination of homeschooling and my own children and that librarian part of me that was still there even after I no longer had a library to run. I gathered up all the picture books that I loved reading with my own children, and I listed them by subject in a book for parents to use a a curriculum guide for their own preschoolers and kindergartners. It was fun for me, and it's been useful to other parents who are looking for good books to read with their children.

I see you enjoy movies.  What else do you do when you aren't reading?

Obviously, I spend a lot of time homeschooling, planning classes and curriculum and just reading doing math with my children. My youngest is nine years old and she and her older sisters and brother keep me busy. I don't do any more housework than I have to do, and I'm only a so-so cook, but those things also take some time. I don't  know. Maybe when I'm not reading or blogging, I'm sleeping?

You were a LOST fan?  I was too.  Who was your favorite character, and whose was the hardest death for you? 

My entire family loved LOST. My favorite character was either Hurley, or evil, but finally redeemed, Benjamin Linus. Hurley was such a wise fool. And the story of Ben's hard road to truth and humility was a perfect parable of the Christian life. The hardest death was, of course, was Charlie's. The foreshadowing was blatant, and by the time he died at the end of the second season, it was inevitable. Still, no one in my family wanted Charlie to die.

What's your favorite part of blogging?  What's the hardest part for you?

I like being able to write down what I'm thinking about a book or an idea. Writing about a book sort of cements the whole reading experience in my brain. I don't like it when I feel obligated to write about a book, maybe an ARC I've been given, when I really have nothing to say---or when I have nothing good to say. I usually shirk that responsibility when it happens to come along.

Do you have a book you find yourself constantly recommending to people?  If so, what is it and why?

I recommend C.S. Lewis a lot---all of his books. The Narnia books are great for children and adults. Mere Christianity is a good book for contemplative, intellectual seekers. And The Screwtape Letters is just full of insight about why we do the things we do and how to live the Christian life. I even recommend Lewis's science fiction trilogy for anyone who's at all interested in that genre.

I hope you enjoyed this small peek into Sherry’s life and blog.  For more about her, make sure to visit Semicolon!

Title: Charm City: A Tess Monaghan Novel
Author: Laura Lippman
ISBN: 9780380788767
Pages: 304
Release Date: October 1, 1997
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Mystery, Audiobook
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Summary:

In the second book in the Tess Monaghan series, Tess is working as a private investigator in Baltimore.  When her Uncle Spike is badly beaten and left for dead, Tess is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.   She also finds work at the Baltimore newspaper, the Beacon-Light, trying to get to the bottom of a rogue story.

Review:

I enjoyed the first book in the Tess Monaghan series, Baltimore Blues, so I was eager to give Charm City a try.  Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the promise of the first.

Beth Fish Reads described Charm City as a sophomore slump, and I’m inclined to agree.  That’s not to say it was all bad – Tess is clearly starting to grow up and take control of her life.  She’s dependable and resourceful, and is clearly good at her job She’s learning how to get things done.  I loved that she was really getting over the hump we found her at in the beginning of Baltimore Blues.

However, the two mysteries didn’t really work for me.  I found the Beacon-Light story to be very interesting and it really kept me reading the book.  I thought it was complex and well-done, though it took some time to fully develop.  The Uncle Spike storyline took away from the rest of the book.  I thought it was confusing, and was puzzled by whether it would ultimately tie into the other case she was working on.  I didn’t think this two-case format for one book worked very well.

This was the first Tess Monaghan novel I listened to in audio, and I think the format worked very well for this book.  It was unabridged and ran about 9 and a half hours.  The narrator was Deborah Hazlett, but I can’t really say I cared for her.  Her voice was jarring to me, and didn’t sound like my vision of Tess at all.  Additionally, her voices for all the men sounded the same, and were all very silly.  It was difficult to take seriously when she was trying to perform men’s dialogue!  Still, since this series is so well suited to audio, I will probably continue this series in that format.

Title: The Girl She Used To Be
Author: David Cristofano
ISBN: 9780446582216
Pages: 272
Release Date: March 19, 2009
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:

Melody Grace McCartney has had many different names over the years.  She’s lived in so many nondescript towns that she can’t remember them all.  She’s had multiple jobs, multiple lives – all because she’s a member of WITSEC, the Federal Witness Protection Program.  When she was six years old, Melody and her parents saw Tony Bovaro, a New York mobster, kill a man.  Twenty years later, Melody doesn’t know how to live life, which is acceptable since she doesn’t really have one.  She pretends to have been threatened in order to move to a new locale, to get a fresh start.  But on her latest fake out, she is contacted by Jonathan Bovaro, the son of the man who is trying to kill her, and together, they try to change Melody’s future.

Review:

I had very mixed feelings on The Girl She Used To Be, so let me start by saying that I absolutely loved the premise.  A woman in the Federal Witness Protection Program?  Cristofano does an incredible job portraying what that might do for your personal life, for your emotional well-being.  Melody has no friends, no confidantes, no one close she can turn to.  It’s too dangerous for them (and for her, psychologically) for her to confide in anyone, so she shuts that part of herself off.  She feels that WITSEC has failed her, that her and her family bore all the costs of entering the program for nothing.  At the beginning of the book, Melody’s anger and frustration ring completely true and she is a very realistic character.

However, that changes as the novel progresses.  Melody becomes almost a caricature, acting completely irrationally and is very difficult to understand.  Her emotions vary wildly from one moment to the next.  While it’s understandable that a woman in her situation might be emotional, this just doesn’t seem realistic.  As the novel progresses, Melody seems less and less like a real person; instead, she comes across as what a male writer thinks a woman might act like in any given situation, mercurial and difficult to predict.

The overall plot is also difficult to swallow.  It’s hard to accept that Melody would willingly leave the custody of the US Marshals for Jonathan Bovaro.  Yes, WITSEC did fail her and her family, but Jonathan’s plan is so ridiculous that it’s hard to believe that anyone would accept it, especially when lives are at stake.

Overall, The Girl She Used To Be had a lot of promise, but unfortunately fell flat for me.  I absolutely loved what I thought the book would be about, and the first 50 pages of it really lived up to my expectations.  But once the actual plot started, between that and Melody’s reactions to what was going on around her, I began to like it less and less.  I will definitely still be on the look out for the next book by David Cristofano, but unfortunately this one didn’t work for me.

Affiliate Links:

Buy this book from Powell’s Books
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Happy Sunday everyone!  I’m finally back at home this weekend, resting, and of course I’m a bit under the weather.  I’ve felt it coming for the past few days, but just wanted to get through yesterday (my husband’s birthday) without being sick.  Luckily, we had a great day yesterday, but I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and scratchy throat.  This week should be pretty low-key, though, so I’ll have plenty of time to get better.

This coming week is BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week).  There are a lot of festivities going on for book bloggers, though I haven’t decided exactly how much I’m going to participate.  I will probably do the daily blogging topics, which means I’ll be double posting every day because, of course, I can’t go five days without scheduling a review!  I hope that doesn’t annoy readers too much – feel free to skip what you don’t want to read if you find it completely uninteresting.

If you’re attending the National Book Festival in Washington, DC later this month, or know someone who is, please fill out (or spread the word about) this form.  We’re planning on having dinner again after the festival this year, just like last year.

Now, onto giveaway news.  First, I’ve posted a new giveaway for BBAW for a copy of Kristina Riggle’s The Life You’ve Imagined.  I’m also still running a giveaway for Daphne Kalotay’s Russian Winter.  I also owe you guys winners for my previous giveaways, so here they are, chosen according to Random.org.

Rooftops of Tehran – 71 & 105 – Congratulations Lauren P. & Mary W.!

The Red Queen – 89 – Congratulations Debbie P.!

Reviews posted this week:

Thanks to the lovely people over at Avon A, I have a copy of Kristina Riggle’s The Life You’ve Imagined to give away.  I’ve been saving this giveaway to coincide with the BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week) festivities because I wanted to have a great book to give away for BBAW, and this one fit the bill!

To enter:  fill out the form below.  If you’re having trouble with the form, please email me with your name and mailing address with the subject line “The Life You’ve Imagined giveaway” and I’ll enter you.  Comments on this post will not be counted for entry.  This giveaway will run through Friday, September 24.  Because it’s a publisher-fulfilled giveaway, US-only please.

If I do not have all of your information (full name, full mailing address, etc.), I will automatically move onto another winner. Click here for complete privacy policy and givaway rules.

Good luck!

Title: Midnight's Children: A Novel
Author: Salman Rushdie
ISBN: 9780812976533
Pages: 533
Release Date: 1981
Publisher: Random House
Genre: Literary Fiction, Multicultural Fiction
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Summary:

Midnight’s Children follows the story of Saleem Sinai, a boy born at midnight on August 15, 1947, the exact moment of Indian independence from Britain.  Within one hour of midnight in either direction, 1,001 children were born in India, and they each have some sort of special power.  As a child born right at midnight, Saleem’s powers are the strongest – those of telepathy.  Rushdie takes the reader through independent India’s tumultuous early years, juxtaposing Saleem’s personal story against the broader events of modern India, and brilliantly intertwining the two.

Review:

In the past when I’ve told people that Salman Rushdie is my favorite author, yet I haven’t read Midnight’s Children, they are surprised.  After all, it’s considered his seminal work, one of the best novels in modern literature.  I have a good reason though – I started it years ago, got about halfway through, at which point my book met with an unpleasant fate.  Water was somehow spilled all over it, and I couldn’t even peel the pages apart, much less finish it.  I vowed to buy another copy immediately so I could continue, but by the time I got around to it earlier this year, I had forgotten too much to be able to pick up where I left off.  So I started anew, devouring this unique novel from beginning to end.

I absolutely loved the history contained within Midnight’s Children and am very glad I waited this long to read it.  Why?  I just wrote my master’s thesis on the conflict between India and Pakistan.  Therefore, when I was reading this novel, I recognized the historical accuracy of even the most minor events.  It gave me a lot of familiarity with the subject matter.  Midnight’s Children on the whole is a bit convoluted and confusion (that’s not a criticism, just a statement of fact – I liked the way it was written, personally) and having an intimate knowledge of that history really helped me understand the book.

I could really tell that this was an early work of Rushdie’s when I was reading it.  While brilliantly written, it doesn’t quite have that polish that his later novels display so easily.  Rushdie has always had the ability to write beautiful prose, but it’s clear that he’s honed that skill over the years.  While the writing in Midnight’s Children was excellent, it wasn’t quite as beautiful as some of his later work.

Magical realism is ever present in Midnight’s Children, as it is in most of Rushdie’s works.  I thought it worked especially well in this novel, as many of the events taking place in the backdrop are larger than life.  I love how Rushdie incorporated fantasy into the very real, very scary history of post-independence India.  Wars, riots, states of emergency – it was not a pretty picture, yet Rushdie handles it very well.

After reading the 25th anniversary author’s note at the beginning of the novel and really absorbing the book itself, the genius of Midnight’s Children becomes all the more clear.  It’s simultaneously a love and hate letter to India.  Rushdie loves his country at the same time he is incredibly angry at how events have unfolded there.  He brilliantly expresses these feelings through Saleem and the events in the book.  It’s really an amazing feat, all the more astonishing considering this was only his second novel.

Midnight’s Children is really a masterpiece of twentieth century fiction.  I was continually amazed by its breadth and depth, at how much Rushdie jam-packed into its pages.  As a result, it is a book to be read slowly and savored; reading it quickly will ruin the experience and make it difficult to understand.  I really enjoyed it and am glad I finally got around to reading this modern classic.