Hold tight is what you’ll want to do when you pick up this book. You won’t want to put it down. Harlan Coben’s latest mystery has suspense on almost every page. His list of characters includes several couples and their children, especially Mike and Tia Baye and their two children, Adam and Jill, and Jill’s friend Yasmin. Sixteen-year-old Adam is missing and Mike and Tia begin their search for him through a spying program on his computer. Mike, in his search for his son, runs into dangerous situations, but he can’t stop. Tia does her own investigating. |
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Others are facing complicated problems as well. Recently Betsy Hill’s son Spencer, close friend of Adam, apparently committed suicide. Betsy finds a puzzling piece of information about the circumstances of his death. Does Adam know about it? Could that be why he is missing? The book begins with the brutal beating-murder of a young woman. Who is the man and woman doing the killing? Who is the victim? What has it to do with the rest of the story, or is it connected at all? Some authors throw many characters into their books with minor and sometimes unimportant roles. Though Coben’s characters are many, he makes each come alive for you (before he kills them off) with the introspection he gives you privy to. As you learn more and more about each of the characters, you wonder what will bring these people, each with their own problems, together in the pages of this book, but, as usual, Coben keeps the mystery going until the very end. Twists are the norm in the mystery novel, but Coben’s plot twists are surprising, and seem to stretch the credulity, yet in the end seem quite rational to the character or the situation presented. |
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DISTORY The quotes in Distory, A Treasury of Historical Insults, seem to suggest that, in the past, being politically correct was not quite as important as it is today. During the current political rhetoric, the presidential candidates have to be very careful what they say. This year, because of the race, gender and military questions in peoples’ minds, the candidates are under even more scrutiny, and seem to be constantly defining, defending and/or explaining what they say … and even what others say about them. Distory is divided into four parts: Disunited States, The Battles of Britons, Words of War, and the final chapter contains quotes by persons from one country about another country. In the section of quotes about Great Britain, Thomas Edison said, “The English are not an inventive people; they don’t eat enough pie.” In the Disunited States section, Benjamin Franklin Bache, grandson of Benjamin Franklin, is quoted as saying about George Washington, “If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington.” Of John Adams he said, “A ruffian deserving of the curses of mankind.” Alexander Hamilton called John Adams, “Petty, mean, egotistic, erratic, eccentric, jealous natured and hot tempered.” Tom Paine is quoted as saying about Adams, “It has been the political career of this man to begin with hypocrisy, proceed with arrogance, and finish with contempt.” When told of the death of Calvin Coolidge, Dorothy Parker said. “How could they tell?” Harry S. Truman is quoted several times as is Winston Churchill. Theodore Roosevelt is also quoted. He said about William McKinley, “McKinley has a chocolate éclair backbone.” Herbert Hoover described Franklin D. Roosevelt as “A chameleon on plaid.” In the Words of War section Generals Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley and others battle it out. Distory is a fun book that can take your mind off the media coverage of every little misspeak heard today and the constant nitpicking about who said what, where, when and about whom. |
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THE DARKEST EVENING OF
THE YEAR Does Dean Koontz like animals, especially dogs, and golden retrievers in particular? Many of his back-cover photos on his books are of him and his golden retriever, Trixie. In this book his preference comes through clearly, as does his need to let his readers know of the many animals in the country in need of help and homes. The first chapter of The Darkest Evening of the Year (not a great title) introduces Amy, a dog lover, especially of golden retrievers. She saves golden retriever Nickie, from an abusive home. The first two powerful chapters might possible make you weep, as might other chapters. Koontz, true to form, heats up the story with one mystery, one puzzling situation, and more than one strange character after another, but each character is distinct (except maybe Bobby/Barney and Vern/Von who don’t know themselves who they are) and important as the characters play a part in bringing the story to its conclusion. You find yourself hating the author for what he is doing to some of the characters, and hoping he doesn’t let the seemingly inevitable happen. Koontz isn’t all fast-paced action as his bits of description give a break now and then. Here is the neighborhood where Amy finds Nickie: “In the salt-pale moonlight, an older middle-class neighborhood of one-story ranch houses seemed to effloresce out of the darkness. “No streetlamps brightened the night, but the moon silvered the leaves and the creamy trunks of eucalyptuses. Here and there stucco walls had a faint ectoplasmic glow, as if this were a ghost town of phantom buildings inhabited by spirits.” Some of the writing is a bit jerky and choppy with a little too much telling about rather than showing the problems, but Koontz has a way of keeping your interest and ending each short chapter so that you are compelled to turn the page. And then the things hinted at as the story unfolds—the bizarre, the mad, the dark, the impossible—take shape as parallel story lines merge. Most of the characters seemed unreal to me, but perhaps that was the author’s purpose, since the final chapter was also too unreal. I’ve read and enjoyed several books by Koontz, but this one, although it has an intricate plot and leads you scene by scene to the end, was not enjoyable. |
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THE MADNESS OF MARY LINCOLN Jason Emerson offers an interesting look at a first family of the 1800’s, Mary Todd Lincoln in particular, and asks the question, “Was she really crazy?” In his introduction to the book he considers the debate: “… the discussion usually moves toward a juxtaposition of the two theories of her insanity case: (1) she was mentally ill, and her loving son, Robert, committed her to a sanitarium in 1875 because he felt it was his duty, difficult as it was, to keep her safe from herself as well as from others; or, (2) she was the sane victim of a male chauvinist society that sought to shut away her embarrassment to the Lincoln legacy, while the cold-blooded and rapacious Robert was politically and monetarily motivated to incarcerate her against her will.” Emerson bases his work on his research into many newspaper accounts, recently uncovered letters and records as well as the many letters and accounts of people of the time who were close to the Lincolns. He offers a section of unpublished letters written by Mary Lincoln herself. Before Abraham Lincoln was murdered in front of her eyes, Mary Lincoln suffered the loss of many of her family members, most devastating to her the deaths of three of her four young sons. Although this contributed mightily to her “madness,” Mary Lincoln suffered earlier episodes of manic-depressive type behavior. Emerson points out that she had an unrealistic fear of poverty, yet spent money unwisely. Mary Lincoln believed one dead son visited her regularly at night. She turned to Spiritualism in an attempt to reach her favorite son, Willie. It was shortly after her youngest son’s death that her insanity trial was held. Her eldest son, Robert, had her committed. Read this skillfully written book to develop an understanding of how the mental illness that Mary Todd Lincoln suffered affected her as well as her family, especially in a time when such an illness was not understood or treated effectively. |
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SEND It doesn’t seem possible anyone could write a whole book about sending email, but Shipley and Schwalbe thought so and did it. It’s an interesting and informative book. Sending email seems pretty simple. You put in the address, a subject, type in your message, then click “Send.” Down the street or across the country the person you are sending to gets the email on their computer. If the person doesn’t happen to be at their computer at the time, the message stays there until he reads it later. If the person happens to be at their computer at the time, he can reply at once. You can exchange messages like talking on the phone, but you have a little more time to think of a reply or an answer. According to Shipley and Schwalbe, we are “using it and overusing it and misusing” email They give examples. They point out when it is unacceptable to be too familiar, when to hold off on saying something you may later regret, and how the brevity of email can lead to misunderstandings. They give examples. Email, they say, lacks “tone,” They list eight deadly sins of email. They also list seven big reasons to love it. They have other lists as well. According to the authors, it isn’t always necessary to send an acknowledgement of an email you receive. However, they also point out that messages do not always reach their destination, so a brief “ack,” as it is called, lets the sender know the message was received. How difficult is it to hit “Reply” and say, “Thanks,” or “Gottcha,” or some kind of “ack”? There is one person I email that never acks. There is another who never receives my email. I believe in acks. Shipley and Schwalbe offer information about when and how to use the Cc. and the Bcc, the subject line as well as the forward. Other information they cover deals with email etiquette, when it is unacceptable to be too familiar, when to hold off on saying something in your message you may later regret. If you want to know how email got started, how it works, and other interesting things about email, this books has the information. |
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STORIES OF CATS AND THE
LIVES THEY TOUCH This collection of short stories about cats and their people ranges from heartwarming to humorous. James Herrot, veterinarian and writer of several books, begins the “The Right Cat at the Right Time” section of this anthology with a sad story about a stray cat that develops a tumor. It made me think of my cat Connie who recently died of a tumor. Herrot’s story ends, however, with him being amazed by a cat who would retrieve a ball. I was surprised that this surprised him. I’ve had several cats who would fetch. I don’t think it’s all that uncommon, and I’ll bet you readers who have cats have known fetchers. Jaqueline Damian writes more than one story for this anthology, but the one about cat tails is very interesting and informative. She tells how the tail not only aids in balance, but also conveys many messages. Other sections of the book are “Cats and the People They Own,” “Help and Healing from Unlikely Heroes,” “Lessons Learned from Cats,” and “Part of the Family.” Many of the stories tell how a cat arrives at a difficult time in the writer’s life and is instrumental in solving or easing a problem. One of these stories tells how a kitten helps a stroke victim regain his zest for living. I challenge anyone, cat lover or not, to read Ellen Vayo’s story about Molly without shedding a tear. Roger A. Caras concludes the book with a story about one of his favorite cats (or is it his favorite?), Siafu, which means “Little Biting Ant” in Swahili. Several stories deal with strays and, although most have happy endings, some may make you wonder just how cat-loving the writers are. You will shed tears if you’re the type to cry over animals. Ideals Publication also have a second anthology about cats called More Stories of Cats and the Lives They Touch. |
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THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING When I had my antiques/book store, I occasionally had shoppers ask for books on grief and dying. If Joan Didion’s book had been out then, I would have recommended it. Joan Didion’s book begins: “Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. The question of self-pity.” These are the first words, she says, she wrote after it happened. Didion writes with clarity, warmth and passion of the sudden death of her husband, John Dunne, and the year that followed. She also takes you into her life before his death. “Survivors,” Didion writes, “look back and see omens, messages they missed.” She does a lot of looking back and finding presumed omens and messages. Does she rely on 20/20 hindsight to identify these omens? Does she attribute small incidental occurrences to premonition, warnings? Perhaps. But this is not unusual when a loved one passes. Didion compares the “sadness and loneliness” felt at the death of an elderly parent with “grief” felt at the unexpected loss of a child or spouse. She writes about the process of mourning. At the time of John Dunne’s death, their daughter, Quintana, was seriously ill in the hospital on life support and in an induced coma. Didion writes about the “what ifs” that we all ask ourselves when disaster strikes. “Had I not made that call would Quintana ….” “Had I not missed the meaning of ….” “The Year of Magical Thinking” is Didion’s atempt to make sense of the “weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness … about marriage and children and memory ….” She writes about the denial she felt at the time of her husband’s death, about how things like throwing away his clothes would make it final, that he was really not coming back. Since most of the book is in retrospect, the past tense is all too present. I had seen, I had thought, we had gone, he had said, somewhat removes the reader from the action. |
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CANDLES BURNING Michael McDowell, who began this book, left it unfinished when he died. His friend Tabitha King took over his notes and pages and finished Candles Burning. If you prefer novels full of likable characters, Candles Burning probably won’t be for you, as the characters you might care about can be counted on one hand—if it is missing three fingers. The story is told by Calliope, “Calley,” who is seven years old as the book begins, and Calley is about the only one that garners any sympathy or concern. Calley begins her story this way: “My father died unpleasantly. Mama put it that way. ‘My husband died,” she used to say, letting her voice catch before concluding, ‘unpleasantly.’ “Stepping on a wasp barefoot—that’s unpleasant. A mouth full of sour milk—that’s unpleasant. What happened to Daddy was no mere unpleasance. It was murder. And not a cozy one ….” When Mama becomes a person of interest in her husband’s horrible torture, murder and dismemberment, she takes Calley and flees to Pensacola Beach, leaving Calley’s older brother, Ford, with Calley’s grandmother, Mamadee. The majority of the book is Calley’s recollection of that time of her childhood and adolescence and the strange people at Merrymeeting, the vacation spot where she and her mother stayed for years. Calley has the ability to speak in the voices of others. She also hears voices. When she and others at Merrymeeting hear Mamadee’s voice saying she is dead, the others wonder if Calley is speaking or if Mamadee is really dead. During the years spent at Merrymeeting, more strange and intriguing things happen, but it is unclear where the story is going. What has happened to the storyline? What about the murdered father? What has happened to Mamadee and Ford? Will Mama ever get her comeuppance? Has the author(s) lost track? Finally things begin to come together but, closing in on chapters 65, 66, 67, you wonder how all the loose ends can be gathered and tied before the book ends. The ends are gathered and neatly tied. And then you wonder what things you missed as you were reading, and you are tempted to start the book again to see how it all happened. |
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ASYLUM The setting of this novel is in rural England. The story takes place, for the most part, in a high-security mental hospital. Asylum is the story of beautiful Stella, wife of Max, who is deputy medical superintendent of the hospital. They have a young son, Charlie. Stella is bored with her constrained life at the hospital and misses the social life of London. Her problems begin when she is attracted to a patient—or inmate—of the hospital, inmate in the sense that he, Edgar, is unable to leave because he murdered his wife and is considered quite disturbed and dangerous. Edgar, an artist, appears quite sane. He is very perceptive and realizes Stella is interested in him. He and Stella become involved, sneaking about hospital grounds and even into Stella’s home to satisfy their physical attraction. Edgar steals some of Max’s clothes and manages to escape the hospital. Stella is so obsessed with him that she follows him to London with barely a thought of her husband and child. Stella’s involvement with Edgar is related by Peter, another psychiatrist and a friend of Stella and Max. Presumably Peter knows all that has happened and can tell Stella’s story because Stella has become his patient and has told him what happened in London. Since so much of the story is “told” and is told by Peter with such detail it might cause the reader to be bored and to question how Peter could possibly have learned all the tiny nuances he relates, but the writing is skillfully done and flows fairly easily. Twists and turns begin to take place near what seems to be the conclusion of the book but the book goes on. There is tragedy and tension as McGrath lets the reader consider several possible conclusions. One observation is pretty obvious, however: Doctor or patient—are either mentally stable? |
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UNDER ORDERS Dick Francis had vowed not to write another book but he is back on track and back at the track. Under Orders, his first book in six years, delivers a Sid Halley investigation that delves into race fixing, online gambling and the dangers it might pose, DNA testing, and, of course, murder … in this case a couple of murders. He offers interesting details on DNA testing and online gambling. Francis hooks the reader with a beginning that reads: “Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in a single afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than an eyebrow. That only one of the deaths was of a horse was more than enough to bring the local constabulary hotfoot to the track.” Sid Halley, one-armed ex-jockey turned private investigator is at the track when three deaths occur. A later death is considered a suicide by the authorities. Halley is out to prove otherwise. Halley’s lady friend, Marina, becomes the target in an attempt to dissuade Halley from his snooping. Marina works at the “Cancer Research UK London Institute in Lincoln’s Inn Fields.” The author is able to add some hematology and DNA info through Marina’s character. When Marina is attacked, she scratches her assailant and saves the skin under her fingernails to test. She explains: “I can use restriction enzymes like EcoR1 to cut the DNA strands in this sample into what we call polynucleotides. Then I’ll put them in an agarose gel matrix, a sort of jelly, for electrophoresis. The polynucleotides are charged so they’ll migrate, or move, in the electric field …” As usual, the author’s first person approach takes the reader into Halley’s investigation through his mind, his suspicions, his reasoning, his fears and doubts, but he doesn’t share all he knows or all the reasons he does the things he does. The characters are well-rounded and believable, but Francis uses a lot of unnecessary he said and she saids. By the middle of the book the tension begins to heighten and continues to intensify until the end which makes it a good read for fans of this type mystery. |
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MAYFLOWER You don’t need to be a history buff to be mesmerized by this book. You will learn some history you didn’t know, or be surprised by some of the history you thought you knew. Nathaniel Philbrick’s book isn’t simply the retelling of the voyage of the Pilgrims across the ocean, their settling in Plymouth and celebrating a feast of thanksgiving with the Natives. He takes you into the 1600’s and beyond to see for yourself how the Mayflower passengers lived and died. During the first winter at Plymouth two to three people died each day during February and March. By spring of that year, 52 of the 102 who arrived were dead. A wall was built around Plymouth. “Plymouth,” Philbrick writes about the wall, “was now an entity, a circumscribed place … quite ship-like in many ways … like a huge “Mayflower…” Philbrick uses many quotes taken from historic papers. He shows the intolerance the Pilgrims had for new arrivals who had different beliefs, how they were unable to see their own actions were the same as what they had fled to the new land to escape. He tells how they dug up and stole corn from the Natives and robbed their graves, then were outraged by similar acts of the Indians. The book delves deep into the interaction between the settlers and the many tribes in the area, the Pokanokets, Pocosetts, Massachusetts, Nemaskets, Uncas, Mohegans, Nipmucks, Quabaugs, Sakonnets, Narragnasetts and others. Much land was sold to the settlers in the 1600s. Indian leader Philip (he had taken an English name) was pushed into selling 90 parcels of his land. Pushed too far and suffering other indignities at the hands of the English, Philip pushed back in what was called “King Philip’s War,.” a war that united many of the tribes. Those tribes choosing to stay neutral were lumped together in the minds of the Pilgrims into what became more of a race war. A good portion of the book is devoted to “King Philip’s War,” and one consequence of that war was that, when the war ended,, many innocent Indians were executed and an estimated one thousand were sold into slavery with over half coming from Plymouth Colony. You will read many familiar names from that time, but learn of many more who survived the founding of Plymouth. |
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HALFWAY HOUSE Halfway House begins with some interesting characters. Pieter Voorster is the father, Jordana is the mother. They live in New Hampshire with daughter, Angie and son, Luke. Angie is seventeen and mentally ill and, as the story develops, she spends much of her time in a hospital or halfway house. Another young character also has some mental problems. She is obsessed with Luke and she stands in the Voorsters’ yard staring at the house. You may think that the title of the book comes from the fact that Angie spends time in a halfway house, but it appears the house in the title is more likely the house of the Voorsters. Author Katharine Noel delves into the lives of each character in minute detail. In the beginning, the characters in this novel are fascinating. Noel writes in a way that makes them seem real and makes the reader care about them. She writes in a way that receives much praise in quotes from advance reviewers on the back of the dust jacket for this her first novel. Noel gives an abundance of detail about the setting and incidental things happening around the characters. For instance, Angie and Luke in the car: The backseat smelled of old Coke spill, and stuck in the crack were dozens of crumbs like sharp, tiny stars. Pieter, a musician, thinking about his wife: The cello was the instrument that sounded most like the human voice, and to Pieter his wife’s was the human voice that sounded most like the cello, vibrant and rich. …Jordana’s hands moved together and apart and together, as though cat’s-cradling invisible yarn. Noel reveals her characters in their long, ongoing introspection—usually a chapter per character—that makes them seem totally closed in on themselves. Care and concern for them eventually begins to wane as nothing changes, or if it does change it is not for the better but for some other kind of misery. They are unhappy with their lives, unhappy with themselves. The sameness of it all becomes depressing. Not a novel to be read for enjoyment, but well written with fleshed-out characters and rich detail … although anything too rich can be a bit nauseating. |
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THE INNOCENT MAN In The Innocent Man John Grisham turns from his usual fiction to the true story of Ron Williamson who was innocent but convicted of murder. Grisham takes the reader through the early, tumultuous years of Williamson’s life that led to his presumed involvement in the murder of Debra Carter, and he does it in a way that doesn’t bore but holds the interest. Although the book starts and ends with Williamson’s story, it quickly involves many other suspects as well as law enforcement and lawyers. Grisham recounts how Ada, Oklahoma police set out to solve the murder of Carter and the later case of the disappearance of Denice Haraway. Grisham gives the facts of the story in detail as more and more suspects are brought into the two cases. Early on he makes it clear who the likely—and fairly obvious—guilty party was in the Carter case, and how police ignored that man. Yet another man, not a suspect at the time, actually confessed to the murder and was not believed. A former lawyer himself, Grisham says that in cities criminologists may give rise to less professional procedures and conduct. Small town police are often untrained. In an “Author’s Note” at the end of the book, he says that innocent people are convicted monthly for a number of reasons including “bad police work, junk science, faulty eyewitnesses identifications, bad defense lawyers. lazy prosecutors, arrogant prosecutors.” He also explains how and why he got involved in the Williamson case, and he gives some interesting figures on Ada, Oklahoma taxes, such as the estimated $25,000 spent on the incarceration of Ron Williamson compared to the $3,600 paid to his public defender. The words on the dust jacket flap of this book warn you about reading The Innocent Man. They state: “If you believe in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.” A great read by a great writer and one that lives up to the warning. |
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LEWIS AND CLARK
THROUGH INDIAN EYES Written by nine descendents of Indians who lived in the areas traveled by the Lewis and Clark expedition, this book offers a different view of history during that time. The question posed to the nine writers for the book was: What impact, good or bad, immediate or long-range, did the Indian experience from the Lewis and Clark expedition? In part one of the book the essays by Vine Deloria, Jr., Debra Magpie Earling, Mark N. Trahant, Bill Yellowtail and Roberta Conner deal with the present day Indian. Trahant, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, writes “Who’s Your Daddy?” Trahant grew up hearing he was a descendent of Captain William Clark. “We are all Clarks,” his grandmother would say. Trahant researched this claim and came to the conclusion that it was not likely William Clark was an ancestor of his. He writes of this search into the history of his family, but also writes about the misconceptions left by statements made by whites. For example, Lewis wrote in his journal of the “extreme poverty” of the Shoshone. That impression still exists, yet he also wrote of the “fine horses,” and the “elegant dress,” of the tribe, not signs of extreme poverty. Trahant tells of a historical marker near the Nebraska Bluffs that marks August 22, 1804, as “the first election held west of the Mississippi.” He then goes on to explain that an Indian chief “is not a hereditary post,” leaving the question of how a chief and other Indian leaders of that time were chosen. Part two, written by Gerard A. Baker, Allen V. Pinkham, Sr., Roberta and Richard Basch, speaks more to the history and tribal traditions of the tribes. N. Scott Momaday is a Kiowa. He is also a poet, painter, playwright, professor, novelist, and the founder of the Buffalo Trust, a nonprofit foundation for the preservation and restoration of Native American culture and heritage. Momaday’s concluding piece is, “The Voices of Encounter,” In it he says, “For the men who entered the unknown and returned, and for those who knew the land and watched from the heart of wilderness, nothing would be the same ever again.” A fascinating book for anyone interested in the history of our nation and how our two cultures differed. |
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THE RELUCTANT COWBOY Fort Wayne writer Ann Staadt’s latest book takes you to Colorado for a visit at a dude ranch. Anita Kinsmore, in need of a job, accepts the position of “ranch manager” at Harmony Valley Guest Ranch. Although she knows nothing about running a dude ranch, Anita has a B.A. in Hotel Management and owned and ran an inn for some years. What she encounters at Harmony Valley is more than managerial work. Joe Harmon is a veterinarian and owner of the ranch. He is widowed with three grown children. Tall, handsome, gruff, and quick-tempered, Joe piles more and more work on Anita. He wants only to have Anita “keep the dudes out of my hair” so he can tend to his veterinarian practice. Staadt includes much information about the running of a dude ranch from the ordering of sheets and pillow cases to decorating, from the food consumed, to handling difficult ranch guests. Along with Anita, you learn about all this entails and about the weather in Colorado state. On the ranch, Anita is left to do it all except the cooking, and more and more work is delegated to her. As the dude ranch season nears an end and Anita must find other work, she comes up with an idea to extend her job past the dude season through the skiing season. She tends to the sick and injured and even takes on the task of planning the wedding of Joe’s oldest daughter. Joe shows little appreciation for Anita’s initiative and accomplishments. He seems always ready to blow up over minor details. Still he realizes he is falling in love with the great looking redhead, and neither he nor Anita can deny the attraction that flows between them. Staadt has three other romance novels in print and is working on her next. |
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DIGGING TO AMERICA Two baby girls arrive from Korea, one for an American couple, Brad and Bitsy Donaldson; and one for an Iranian couple, Sami and Ziba Yazdam. The Donaldsons name their new daughter Jin-Ho. The Yandams call their baby Susan. The two couples meet at the airport as their daughters arrive and a friendship begins. Anne Tyler doesn’t write a book every month or so as some popular writers do. You have to wait for her books, and usually it’s worth the wait. The titile of this book didn’t catch my interest. What I read about the book didn’t sound like Tyler’s usual at times painful, at times humorous, yet always insightful family-oriented works. But, hey, it was Anne Tyler, one of my favorite writers. Tyler takes the reader inside the lives and minds of the characters beginning with Maryam (pronounced Mar-yam), who is Sami’s mother. She appears cool, aloof, and distant. She feels very much the outsider, and she sees something in the baby Susan that reminds her of herself. “… something around the eyes, some way of looking at things, some onlooker’s look: that was what they shared. Neither one of them quite belonged.” The two families begin a tradition of an “Arrival Day” celebration, and the book revolves mostly around these yearly gatherings. At each celebration, Tyler takes the reader into the minds of a character or two. You read much about the different cultures and the cultural differences. At one point Brad comments, “One day not too far off, immigrants are going to be the new elite in this country. That’s because they bear no burden of guilt. Their forefathers didn’t steal any Native American land and they never owned slaves. They have perfectly clear consciences.” A tape of the arrival of the baby girls at the ariport is always played at the celebrations, and Bitsy’s father, Dave, thinks about his dead wife during one of the viewings: Yes, there she was, smiling beautifully and clasping her hands in front of her chest as if she were praying. GRANDMA, her lapel button read. It was true that she wore a baseball cap—already she was ill—but how full and rosy her face seemed! How sturdily she stood, next to him but not leaning on him! He kept forgetting that this was how she used to look. When he pictured her nowadays, she had the papery-white skin and jutting bones of a dying woman. … He wondered, as he had the year before if he could somehow spirit this tape away and take it home to watch in solitude He would play just the frames with Connie in them over and over and over. He would dwell on the dear slope of flesh beneath her jaw and the cozily embedded look of the wedding ring on her finger. Can Tyler write? And there is a love story in this book too. |
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DON’T LOOK DOWN Two well-known and best-selling authors team up for this (according to the flap) “nonstop and fast-paced dialogue” novel, and give the views of the characters of both genders a sense of genuineness. Crusie’s humor begins in the first chapter as does the nonstop and fast-paced dialogue. Mayer is an ex-Green Beret and lends credibility to the character, J.T. Wilder. A number of characters are introduced in the first chapter. The use of first names some times and last names at other times didn’t help cement the characters in my mind, but the characters are all well defined as the story progresses. Pepper is memorable, however. Pepper is a precocious five-year-old, the niece of Lucy Armstrong. Pepper would be precocious even if she were nine, maybe ten.
Main characters Lucy Armstrong and J.T. Wilder
make up the love interest and most of the action. Lucy is just trying to
shoot the final scenes of a movie she was handed at the last minute.
Wilder is a Green Beret captain who has seen it all. He’s there to stunt
double for Bryce, the lead actor. Lucy’s ex, Connor Nash, is the stunt
coordinator. The “nonstop and fast-paced” repartee continues throughout. There is also a expletive that is everyone’s favorite and is used constantly either in their speech or in their thoughts, and it appears on almost every page. As the plot thickens, J.T. tries to explain to Lucy some of the what has been happening behind the scenes of the movie. Lucy responds: “I just don’t understand how you guys got control of the world,” Lucy said. “Half the time there’s no blood in your brains, and you’re still in charge of most of the governments in the world, most of the companies, and all of the military.” She blinked. “Which actually explains a lot, now that I think of it.” Lusty romance, mystery, suspense, a cute little kid, a lot of idiocy and humor, an extremely evil villain, and a one-eyed alligator, all keeping you in suspense until the final chapters. What more could you want? |
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ANIMALS IN
TRANSLATION According to Temple Grandin the fact that she is autistic gives her an edge in understanding animals. In a previous book, Thinking in Pictures, Grandin explained how she, as an autistic person, thinks in pictures the way animals do, rather than in words, and how this helps her see and think the way animals think. Who is Temple Grandin? She has published over 300 scientific papers on animal behavior, she gives more than 35 lectures on animal behavior and autism a year. She has worked with the USDA to design humane slaughter systems used by meat packing plants to reduce the pain and stress cattle must go through. She has worked with breeders and has some definite views about animal breeding, especially horse breeding, which she feels is “disgusting” and “terrible.” Grandin is as interested in neuroscientific research on the human brain as she is in animal research. Catherine Johnson, who wrote Animals in Translation with Grandin, says that in college Grandin taught herself to “find the basic principle” so she could remember details. Johnson says of Grandin, ”Today she can read through vast and conflicting research literatures on the brain, on memory, on emotion, on animal behavior and cognition … and see the One Principle that ties all these works together.” This book is filled with fascinating facts and discoveries about animals and about the things Grandin has learned from her own observations. She compares the similarities between animals who lack the skill of recognizing other animals by sight, even their own offspring, with the problem she and other autistics have with face recognition. She sites numerous studies done on animals by scientists, gives her opinion based on her observations and studies, and also tells how these conclusions do or do not coincide with herself as an autistic person. She writes about pigs, horses, cattle, dogs, cats, birds, and even fish. Animal lovers will like the many and often funny anecdotes about animals in the book and appreciate the way Grandin sees the problems animals have. Those interested in the behavior of animals or the workings of the brain will find it fascinating. It’s simply a great read. |
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MARLEY AND ME “Life and love with the world’s worst dog,” it says on the cover of this book. Dog owners around this world might question this claim, since there are a lot of dogs like Marley, dogs that can try patience to the very limit, yet are so sweet and lovable, all is forgiven. Marley, a Labrador Retriever, may not be the world’s worst, but it appears he is in the running, and running is one of the things Marley does best, along with being totally captivating, and Grogan tells Marley’s story with humor and pathos and a lot of love. Anyone who has had a gun shy dog will sympathize with Marley’s reaction to thunder storms, and there are many thunder storms in Florida where Marley lived the first years of his life. Grogan describes the garage where Marley stayed during a day when there was a storm: “Throw rugs were shredded, paint was clawed off the concrete walls, and the ironing board was tipped over, its fabric cover hanging in ribbons. Worst of all, the doorway looked like it had been attacked with a chipper-shredder. Bits of wood were sprayed in a ten-foot semicircle around the door, which was gouged halfway through to the other side. The bottom three feet of the doorjamb were missing entirely and nowhere to be found. Blood streaked the walls where Marley had shredded his paws and muzzle.” Grogan, a columnist and journalist originally from Michigan, also writes about his marriage and children, a little about his newspaper work in Florida, and about taking the job of editor of The Organic Gardener after their move to Pennsylvania. Early in Grogan’s marriage, his wife had a miscarriage. When Jenny came home from the hospital, Grogan found Marley, who usually had a “vacant, crazed look on his face,” and had the canine equivalent of ADHD, sitting with Jenny. “Our rambunctious, wired dog stood with his shoulders between Jenny’s knees, his big, blocky head resting quietly in her lap. His tail hung flat between his legs, the first time I could remember it not wagging whenever he was touching one of us. His eyes turned up at her, and he whimpered softly.” A great, entertaining, and touching book for anyone who has a dog or who loves animals. |
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There are fans of mysteries who like to test their skill in figuring out the “whodunit” of the novel they are reading. If testing is all that’s important, this book will work. It will test. If solving the mystery before the end is important, this book ranks as one where the mystery will not be solved. Coben keeps you confused and guessing until the very end. The Innocent begins with a prologue, which at first is pretty dry. Although the first line, “You never meant to kill him,” certainly grabs attention, the rest of the prologue merely describes the main character: “Your name is Matt Hunter. You are twelve years old. You grew up…” etc. Get past the prologue and into the first chapter and the heat turns on. However, Coben gives a lot of back story and character description in big hunks, which at first tends to slow the action. But it is needed. There are numerous characters to keep in mind and (solvers take heed) the character histories are needed if you are to come close to solving this mystery. Corben’s description of his characters brings them to life. They don’t just appear in the story to fill a role, they live. Even the dozen or so minor characters—or ones you think are minor—are important in this novel. Don’t count them out as you try to solve this mystery. The questions, the mysteries pile up. Who is following Matt Hunter and why? What does he have to do with Matt’s wife Olivia? Is Olivia cheating on Matt? What does the death of a nun with breast implants that Loren Muse is investigating have to do with all this, if anything? Although Coben uses a lot of description, he also uses a lot of dialogue, but he doesn’t resort to the use of four-letter words the way many writers of the mystery/ investigative/suspense genre use in abundance. There is a flaw in Coben’s story that the female whodunit fans will probably catch. Read the book. See if you catch it. Let me know if you do. Read the book if you enjoy a good mystery. Read it if you want to be puzzled, perplexed and surprised. Hats off to anyone who can solve this mystery before the final pages. |
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A quick read, but beautifully written. Elizabeth Berg knows how to tell a story, how to make the characters live, and how to draw the reader into the lives of the characters. This novel is a fictionalized version of real people told from the view point of Diana, the daughter of a single mother who, the victim of polio, can move only her head. Berg takes you to Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1964, and into all that was happening in the South at that time. The novel is partially a coming of age story, partially about the struggles of the single mother, but all about family love whether a family is a conventional one or not. The mother, Paige Dunn, who breathes by the aid of a respirator, gave birth while still in an iron lung, a rare but factual occurrence. She tells her daughter, “I promised myself that I would raise you, though everyone advised me against it. I promised myself I would pay attention to the world and keep on learning, maybe go back to school someday, though I knew how hard it would be….” Paige becomes ill and is hospitalized. Diana worries: Something dark began to flower inside me; I had to talk against the feeling. “Peacie,” I said. “Is this the worst you’ve ever seen my mom?” She looked over at me. Then, regretfully, she said, “Yes.” I swallowed dryly. “So … is she going to die?” “No! No, she ain’t gon’ die, foolish! She young and she a fighter… She can’t die, she got to finish raising you up….” I realized for the first time how alone I would be if my mother did die. How I would turn around and turn around and no one would be there. And all along I’d thought it was my mother who so much needed me. Paige recovers but later their social worker discovers that, among other things, Paige does not have the round-the-clock care she has claimed, and that Diana provides her care much of the time. The caseworker says Diana will have to go to a foster home. Without Diana, Paige will have to go where she can get proper care. It appears there is no solution to their problems. A solution does come, and it comes as a complete surprise—although alluded to earlier—and you think, Of course! The perfect outcome. If you read this book, you may wish it were longer. You may want to read it again. |
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Oblivion is fiction. It is a collection of short stories. The short stories are long in description. In fact, most of the stories seem to be entirely description. The description covers the setting in minute detail, as well as the characters and their lives and pasts, and sometimes the lives and pasts of the friends and/or associates of the characters. It sometimes veers off to describe things that have nothing to do with the story. This is not to say there is no point to the stories, but it does take a bit of concentration to stick with this style of writing. After finishing a story, it might take a second read—or a third or fourth—to catch the essence of it. In this book Wallace writes in a stream of consciousness form. Sentences can run on for complete paragraphs. It almost seems as if he is trying to see how many words he can fit in one sentence, and he often hits 250 words or more. Paragraphs regularly go on for several pages, and by several pages, I mean 20 or more.. One story is told in a single paragraph of about seven pages. “Mister Squishy,” the first story ends—and this will in no way spoil it for potential readers—with this sentence. “Laleman sat there smiling at it, his mind a great flat blank white screen.” That is just about how I felt when I came to the end of “Mister Squishy.” I wasn’t sure what I’d just read or what it was all about. Although written in much the same style, one of the shorter entries, “Incarnations of Burned Children,” a two-and-a-half page one-paragraph story is total action. It is blunt, chilling and crushingly honest. Wallace has written several books—Infinite Jest, and Girl with Curious Hair are a couple you may have heard of or read—and he has received many awards for his writing. If you want to test your ability to stick with some difficult reading, try this book. |
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