Book Rater's Literature Reviews

The Helsinki Institute of Religion

2012-01-31T01:48:00.004-07:00

Elder and Sister Roberts are the missionaries assigned to work with the young adults in Helsinki in the seminary and institute program. Both of them are eager and dynamic. Sister Roberts is so bubbly that I feel as if I am going to float away on an effervescent sea.

A few weeks ago, they asked the professor if he would be willing to speak to the young adults who come to the institute. He agreed and we invited them to come to our house. Very selfish on our part because that meant that we did not have to go anywhere after dark in the cold.

Last night fourteen of them arrived at our apartment. Of course, the apartment is so big if feels as if it was meant for entertaining. As always the professor gave a very good presentation on the current presidential elections in the United States with a focus on Mitt Romney. The audience had a lot of questions and were eager to discuss the subject.

Afterwards we served store bought cookies and soda pop and water. Then the young people bundled up in their winter clothing and went off into the cold dark night.

Overall, a success with no stress for this blogger. I would be willing to have them over again with a guest speaker provided by the Roberts.

Withering Tights

2012-01-30T12:43:00.001-07:00

As a super-fan of Louise Rennison’s now complete Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series, I was thrilled when the author published a new book. The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey series premieres with Withering Tights.

Fourteen-year-old Tallulah just happens to be Georgia’s younger cousin. She has been accepted into a summer workshop at a performing arts academy, with the possibility of full-time acceptance in the fall. Over the summer, Tallulah experiences several “misadventures” as she makes friends, meets boys, and struggles to find her individual talents.

I wanted to rave about this series. I wanted to love it like I love Confessions. I wanted to laugh out loud for hours. Sadly, Withering is, as Georgia says, a mere “facsimile of a sham.” It reads like someone trying to copy, unsuccessfully, the style and charm of Confessions.

Tallulah needs to develop her own voice and her own style, instead of simply piggybacking on her cousin’s. I’m not ready to give up on her yet, and I hope Rennison isn’t, either.

Death Comes to Pemberley

2012-01-06T16:07:00.002-07:00

P.D. James’s Death Comes to Pemberley suffers from overhype. Based on rave reviews and all the Top 10 lists the book appeared on, I was expecting nothing less than the reincarnation of Jane Austen herself. Of course, I set myself up for disappointment.

Death takes place several years after Austen’s Pride and Prejudice concludes. Darcy and Elizabeth are happily married, living a life of peace and satisfaction at Pemberley. That is, until Lydia Wickham, Elizabeth’s youngest sister, breaks that peace by appearing unexpectedly at their doorstep, declaring her husband has been murdered.

The book follows the case, and subsequent trial, and its effects on the residents of Pemberley. The mystery is interesting, although somewhat predictable, but James often gets bogged down in the legal procedures of 19th-century England. I often felt like I was reading a law textbook, not exactly my choice of pleasure reading.

I've never been a proponent of fan fiction, and I'm not sure why James, who has no need to piggyback on Austen's reputation, chose to write this sequel, particularly since the story could easily have been told without the aid of Austen's characters. (That said, I was also surprised James paints Elizabeth's character, at times, in a rather unflattering, mercenary light.)

Death does attempt to emulate Austen’s style, often dwelling on details and meandering through descriptions. What delights me in Austen’s novels, however, frustrates me in Death. If I want to read an Austen-esque novel, I will read an actual Austen novel.

If you don’t expect a great read, Death is a satisfactory mystery. If you buy into all the hype, you’ll just be disappointed.

Sunstroke and Other Stories

2011-11-03T09:46:00.000-06:00

I can’t remember what I read about Tessa Hadley’s collection of short fiction, Sunstroke and Other Stories, that inspired me to check out a copy. And after reading the collection, I still have no idea.

Hadley is a fine writer and carefully crafts her short stories, which take place in Britain, often in the 1960s and 70s. I enjoyed her writing, but her perspective on life was overall much bleaker than I subscribe to and enjoy.

The stories take an unromanticized look at life, love, relationships, and family. For example, many characters appear to unblinkingly engage in extra-marital affairs as if it is a natural, and not altogether pleasant, part of life. Other characters keep painful secrets from their loved ones. Even the characters who lose themselves in fantasies seem unsatisfied by their imaginations. Reading the stories, it was easy to feel pessimistic about life and the possibility of happiness.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

2011-10-30T08:56:00.000-06:00

After years of listening to his grandfather’s stories of children who can float or make fire, sixteen-year-old Jacob travels to Wales to visit the orphanage his grandfather grew up in.

Who wouldn’t be intrigued by Ransom Riggs’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children? Not only is the book a bestseller, but it’s full of the creepiest old pictures I’ve ever seen. I had to read it.

And I did read it, although slog through it might be a better description. The premise is intriguing, but the execution is often excruciating. Riggs’ prose is dense and lacks any character or spark. The story oftentimes feels unnatural, as if Riggs is trying to craft around the pictures he found rather than use photos that fit the story. Not until 200 pages in did I feel invested enough in the story that I actually wanted to finish the book.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered this book is only the first in a series. There was no resolution, no conclusion, no payoff for all my time and hard work. I felt downright cheated, and I definitely will not be tuning in for the sequel.

The Most Beautiful Walk in the World

2011-10-07T17:53:00.001-06:00

The few months I lived in Paris were the most ideal of my life. I was completely content—surrounded by beauty, history, and life—and still consider Paris my favorite city in the world. Naturally, I gravitated to John Baxter’s The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris.

Walk is a combination of personal narrative and scholarly essay. Baxter relates experiences (sometimes non-walks) from his native Australia to Los Angeles to Paris and interweaves them with historical incidents, particularly from early-20th-century-literary Paris.

At times, Baxter, who lives in a post-Hemingway-post-Fitzgerald society, comes across as elitist. Some of the historical passages also read too much like a university assignment and tend to drag. Only when Baxter backs away from the history and prestige to share his own experiences does the narrative really glow with Paris’s energy.

Anya's Ghost

2011-09-12T15:37:00.001-06:00

I enjoy graphic novels, though I’m certainly not a fanatic, and I was pleased to read Vera Brosgol's Anya’s Ghost, an interesting addition to the genre.

Anya is a teenager originally from Russia. She has worked hard to put her immigrant status behind her but still struggles to find her place in a private high school. Everything changes when, after an accident, she meets a ghost who appears to have the answers to all Anya’s problems.

Immigration and identity are nothing new to graphic novels (think American Born Chinese), but Brosgol brings an unexpected twist to the theme. The book is a fast read, with several turns, and quite enjoyable. Anya is only a semi-likable heroine, though I suspect most real teenagers are only semi-likable, but her interaction with the ghost helps her to mature in an intriguing way.

Vaclav & Lena

2011-09-12T15:34:00.002-06:00

The only (free) copy of Haley Tanner's Vaclav & Lena I could get my hands on was the audio book. I’ve never been a fan of audio books outside of road trips. I have a hard time staying focused on the story and often find myself irritated with the choice of reader.

Vaclav & Lena was no exception. The reader, Kirby Heyborne, is a local “celebrity,” and I found his voice both distracting and annoying. Yet, I also found myself looking for opportunities to listen to the book. Generally, cooking/cleaning is my NPR time, but I forfeited my news to listen to Vaclav and Lena’s epic love story.

The book encompasses a lot and a little at the same time. It takes place over a brief time when the title characters are children and again when they are teenagers, but what those times represent is significant in both their struggles for identity. Vaclav and Lena are immigrants to the US from Russia and meet in ESL class: Vaclav’s parents brought him to the US for a better life; Lena isn’t even sure who her parents are.

I was attracted to this book because of my experience in Eastern Europe and as an ESL teacher, but anyone who has experienced love, change, and hurt can certainly relate to these characters.

Sisterhood Everlasting

2011-08-17T18:17:00.001-06:00

Ann Brashares brings back the four young heroines from her popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series in Sisterhood Everlasting—except this time, it is ten years later, and the girls are no longer teenagers. Instead, they face problems common to young professionals on the brink of 30.

At first, I was put off by the book. I knew many fans might consider the novel a betrayal to their loyalty, and I wondered why Brashares found it necessary to return to these four characters instead of letting them rest peacefully in readers’ imaginations.

As I continued reading, though, I came to terms with this new edition. I haven’t felt so compelled to ignore life and read a book for a long time (i.e., since having my son). As a 30-something myself, I could relate to some of the struggles these women face in terms of relationships, work, and parenthood. I found myself emotional on more than one occasion.

Brashares does of good job of tying up loose ends from previous novels. That said, I wish some of the characters had matured more in ten years than they had. Carmen is still a whiner; Lena is still pathetically inert. I just hope I’ve changed more in the last decade than these women.

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party

2011-05-11T08:09:00.001-06:00

Some series are like old friends. They are comfortable, lack surprises, and just make you feel good. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is one of those series. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party is the newest entry. This time, detective Precious Romotswe helps one of her husband’s apprentices, Charlie, with a personal problem and investigates for a man whose cattle is being killed. Like the other books, Saturday addresses real problems but in such a mild, inoffensive way that it is like coming home to a good friend.

Hunger Games

2011-05-11T08:02:00.002-06:00

I am definitely behind the times. I lived internationally for a few years and then had a baby—both things severely curtailing my pleasure reading. But I’ve finally finished Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games series, months after everyone else.

I can see the initial appeal of the series. Hunger Games swept me in. Although I never really related to Katniss, who is rather abrasive and unlikeable, I was interested in the plot and felt attached to her fellow Hunger Games competitor Peeta. I’m not sure why so many authors insist of creating such unattractive (I don’t mean physically) female protagonists (think Bella Swan) that are inexplicably the center of male attention.

Hunger Games was plot driven, and I accepted that, going along for the ride. Catching Fire wasn’t quite as compelling, since the initial horror of what the Hunger Games are was long since revealed, but the plot was again interesting enough to keep me going.

The final entry, Mockingjay, though, failed to capitalize on the momentum of the first two (I know I’m not alone in these feelings). Moving from the Games to actual war lost much of the excitement and uniqueness of the series. Instead, the reader had to feel committed to Katniss and her success, and I struggled to care. She was often so weak, unlikable, selfish, and unfeeling that I wished someone else was the main character. I was also disappointed that Collins so casually disposed of so many characters. I felt particularly manipulated by the death of one whose life was the catalyst for the whole series. It made the entire series feel, in some ways, quite pointless.

Hunger Games was far from perfect and probably undeserving of much of its adoration and success. However, I am all for books that make young people read, and Collins definitely succeeded in inspiring a large following.

The Cellist of Sarajevo

2011-04-05T20:38:00.000-06:00

The Cellist of Sarajevo was inspired by real-life events. After 22 people were killed by mortar fire while waiting in a breadline during the Siege of Sarajevo, a cellist who witnessed the event commemorates their lives and deaths by playing at the site for 22 days, one for each victim.

Steven Galloway’s novel gives a glimpse into the lives of four characters during just a few days of the siege, days surrounding the cellist’s performance. One man makes the life-threatening trek to collect water for his family. Another seeks his daily ration of bread. A third is a reluctant sniper, recruited to fight the city’s attackers and protect the cellist. All try to adjust to life in a warzone and question how they can maintain their humanity in a world of sniper shootings and shellings.

Cellist is a moving, well-written novel. It is particularly thought-provoking considering recent political upheavals and violence. It’s hard to understand how the international community reacted so slowly to almost four years of genocide in Sarajevo, yet the debate continues today over if, when, and where peacekeepers should step in to prevent further violence.

Death of a Chimney Sweep

2011-03-26T10:30:00.002-06:00

In the isolated villages of northern Scotland, the residents rely on chimney sweep Pete Ray. After Police Constable Hamish Macbeth finds a dead body stuffed inside a chimney, the entire town of Lochdubh suspects Pete. Then Pete’s body is found on the Scottish moors, and the mystery deepens.

I have a crush on Hamish Macbeth and look forward to every new book in the series. Since I long ago reconciled myself to the idea that Hamish will never progress in either his personal or professional life, I was able to enjoy Death of a Chimney Sweep without expectations. I found this 27th entry to be as light and charming a read as its predecessors.

My passion for Hamish lives on.

Beowulf on the Beach

2011-03-22T17:44:00.002-06:00

With Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature’s 50 Greatest Hits, writer and professor Jack Murnighan says it’s time to give literature another look, but this time you’ll enjoy yourself. He claims that with a little help, you’ll see just how great the great books are: how they can make you laugh, moisten your eyes, and leave you awestruck and deeply moved. Beowulf on the Beach is your field guide for helping you read and relish fifty of the biggest (and most skipped) classics of all time. For each book, Murnighan reveals how to get the most out of your reading and provides a crib sheet that includes the Buzz, the Best Line, What’s Sexy, and What to Skip.

This book is probably most appealing to people who are already lovers of classic literature and would be little help for a non-reader looking for a quick summary of storylines. Although I rarely agreed with Murnighan’s What to Skip recommendations—the first chapters of Jane Eyre? the last chapters of Pride and Prejudice? really?—I did enjoy reminiscing over my favorite classic literature, and learning more about books I haven’t yet read, with someone who clearly enjoys reading the classics as well.

All in the Family: A Look-It-Up Guide to the In-laws, Outlaws, and Offspring of Mythology

2011-03-18T11:52:00.002-06:00

What would Apollo's online profile look like? What would Aphrodite say if she had her own blog? Greek mythology hall of famers meet the modern age in a new series that brings the superstars of Greek myth to life with stories that put them in the pantheon. Complete with profiles, headshots, family trees, fascinating sidebars and irreverent surprises, Mythlopedia is for readers who love action, romance, power struggles and more.

This entry in the Mythlopedia series isn’t quite as exciting as the above promotional material makes it out to be.

All in the Family is directed at a young adult audience and profiles the lives (and usually deaths) of several non-Olympian heroes and mortals. At times, Otfinofski tries so hard to sound hip (Midas: “Aw, snap! Check this out, player—anything I touch turns to gold!”) that I found the narrative both irritating and distracting. Most of the relevant information, though, is provided in a concise, easy to understand format.

This book is a good resource for anyone trying to understand basic plots of Greek mythology, but despite its attempts to make family connections clear, I still find the Olympian family tree a muddled mess.

There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby

2011-03-01T19:19:00.003-07:00

I had high hopes for this short story collection. For one, I couldn’t resist its title: There Once was a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales. I also have an affinity for Eastern European literature.

Sadly, the first few stories left me disappointed. Although the author is Russian and the stories take place in Russia, I felt like I'd heard many of them before. In fact, some read like a rehash of scary stories I heard at sleepovers as a child. I also felt no spark in the writing—which, granted, might have been a problem with the translation.

The more I read, though, the more interesting the narratives became. I got into Ludmilla Petrushevskaya's rhythm and found the stories fascinating although traditional. I wouldn’t describe the book as scary, but it definitely leans towards the macabre.

Crossfire by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

2011-02-23T12:18:00.006-07:00

I haven't read the last few books by the father and son pair. I think I started one and never got very far. I was slow to get into Crossfire by Dick Francis and Felix Francis also, but once hooked I had a hard time putting it down.

Like all of Dick Francis' books this one is centered around steeplechase racing. In this novel, Tom Forsyth who is a career army officer loses a foot in an IED explosion in Afghanistan. After months in the hospital he realizes that he has to face a future far different from the one he had planned. When Tom goes home to his mother's house and horse training stables, he discovers that his mother is in serious financial trouble and is being blackmailed.

Like all good Francis novels, the hero faces pain and death. He not only survives but Tom goes on to uncover the secrets behind his mother's problems. I particularly liked a paragraph at the beginning of the chapter when he finds himself bound and in darkness. "Whoever thought too much pain brought on unconsciousness was an idiot. My brain, now awake, clearly had no intention of switching off again. How much pain does it take to kill, I wondered. Surely it was time for me to die?" (Crossfire, p.179)

I have never been a soldier, have never been a hero, but I have woken from surgery without any medication to take the edge off the pain. Felix Francis has echoed my thoughts exactly. If he has not experienced the jarring pains of being a "jump jokey" like his father, he has certainly learned from his parent's tales of agony.

I like this book. It is up-to-date and deals with issues that many of us are aware of in our world around us, particularly if you have someone in your family who serves in the military. Computers, cell phones and war against terror are all part of our lives.

I wonder if Felix is going to continue to write under his own name and how he will do. He certainly has the ability to carry on his father's legacy, but will that be enough in the mystery writing world? I'll have to keep an eye on him.

Guest Blog - A Study in Valor

2011-01-18T17:09:00.004-07:00

In the last few weeks, I have overheard at least two women recommend that their friends read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. It is a story of courage and hope. The Ten Boom family in the Netherlands sheltered Jewish people during WW II. Eventually the hiding place was discovered and the two sisters were sent to German concentration camps. It really is an amazing story. It has been years since I last read Ten Boom's book. I don't remember all of the details but I still remember the effect that it had on me. I had the same feeling when I read Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning, about his survival in a German concentration camp. I felt reverence and awe for these individuals who faced one of life's most horrible nightmares but retained their integrity and dignity. And in the case of the Ten Boom sisters, their faith.

Perhaps my curiousity about how people face unthinkable adversity and survive is what prompted me to read A Study in Valor: the Faith of a Bataan Death March Survivor. The story of Clarence Bramley's experience during WW II is retold by William T. Garner. Bramley actually was able to keep a small journal and his parents kept his letters. The book also has historical pictures that bring the reality forcefully to mind.

Bramley joined the Army anticipating that he would go to flight school and learn to fly an airplane. When he returned to the US, he found out that he had passed his tests and was accepted for training. However, he arrived in the Phillipines only about a month before Pearl Harbor and the susquent attack upon the Phillipines by the Japanese. Only a few months into the Japanese assault, McCarther left the island and left the men he could not evacuate to surrender to the Japanese.

Clarence was one of the men who was forced to march and to do hard labor in camps in the Phillipines. Although the narrative does not go into detail about fellow soldiers being killed by being beaten with a rifle or at the point of a bayonette or even beheaded as they struggled to walk next to Clarence, it takes little imagination to visualize the agony of these soldiers. Clarence was one of those who against all odds survived. When McCarther actually did return to Bataan, a peninsula in the Phillipines, Clarence was one of the captives who was put on a ship and transported to Japan. Although he had heard the sweet sound of American planes in the air, he was not there to be rescued from his prison.

The continuing faith of Clarence is inspiring. Throughout his imprisonment, he always believed not only that the US would win the war but that he would survive. Probably that faith is what motivated him to continue struggling against enormous odds.

One lesson I learned from this book was a greater understanding of why the US resorted to destroying two cities in Japan with atomic bombs. The devistation was so vast. Sixty-five years after the end of the war, one can easily weep for the loss of life of those people.

Garner tells of an incident early in the book when several Japanese soldiers who had surrendered to the Americans were returned to their company. There was no trial. No words were spoken. The soldiers who had surrendered were immediately executed. There was no shame greater than surrender. Clarence came to realize that his Japanese captors held the Americans in great contempt because they had surrendered instead of fighting to the death. They treated their captives accordingly.

Reading this book, was probably the first time that I understood why Truman felt that the only solution was to drop bombs on Japan. The US was convinced that Japan would never surrender otherwise and the human cost of the war in the Pacific was so staggeringly high already. Truman did not want the war to drag out for months with young Americans dying in such great numbers. He wanted the killing of American soldiers to stop.

Somewhere along the way in my life, I discovered that history does not remain the same. As years pass, history is reinterpreted as new facts are learned or perspective is altered. This is true whether the history is of a nation, the world or your personal life. It should motivate all of us to leave a bit of our history behind.

Guest Blog - A Comrade Lost and Found: A Beijing Memoir by Jan Wong

2011-01-03T08:17:00.004-07:00

Several years ago I heard an interview with Jan Wong on the radio and became interested in finding out what happened to the comrade whom she betrayed while she was a student in Beijing. However, it was a long time before I came across a copy of her book A Comrade Lost and Found: A Beijing Memoir. In a couple of libraries the copy was missing.

In early December I had the chance to read the book. Note that I have not read Red China Blues. Both books are biographical. I found the experiences and the glimpse of Beijing in the pre-Olympic years interesting. Not to give away too much to those of you who might read this book - when by a series of chance encounters, Wong does find her fellow student, the resolution is so simple that I am disappointed in myself that it did not cross my mind.

I have not felt spurred on to check out Red China Blues even though it is presumably a good account of the tragedy at Tiananmen Square. Do I really want to know? However, I enjoyed this glimpse into Beijing during and after the Cultural Revolution. I could do worse than to take a bit of time to learn more about this rapidly emerging power. I have to admit that the mysteries written by Lisa See are more up my alley, square, sidestreet....

The House of Dead Maids

2010-11-13T15:17:00.001-07:00

In Clare B. Dunkle’s young adult novel The House of Dead Maids, orphaned Tabby Aykroyd arrives at Seldom House to be a caretaker and playmate to the young “master.” She is immediately haunted by ghosts of her predecessors and tries to save herself and her young charge from a similar fate.

Dunkle’s novel is a fast, enjoyable read and maintains a consistently unsettling atmosphere throughout. The book cover is one of the creepiest I’ve seen, but it also claims the novel is “A Chilling Prelude to Wuthering Heights.” Dunkle ties the story to the Brontë family in the last few pages; however, I found this maneuvering unfortunate and gimmicky. The book could easily stand alone as a dark glimpse into a pagan Victorian England and only loses credibility by trying to piggyback on the Brontës’ fame. Enjoy Dead Maids what it is and not for what it is trying to be.

Room

2010-11-05T19:32:00.001-06:00

Five-year-old Jack in Emma Donoghue's Room has lived in the same room since his birth. His mother, Ma, has lived there for seven years—ever since she was kidnapped by “Old Nick.” The story of their captivity is narrated by the young Jack.

A lot of buzz has surrounded Donoghue’s latest novel—I first heard about it on NPR—mostly because of the young narrator. Jack’s voice is definitely unique. However, it is also often jarringly inconsistent. At times, Jack sounds like a caveman. At other times, he has the vocabulary of a PhD. Many times, Jack’s narration distracts from an otherwise interesting story.

If you can get over Jack’s voice, the story of what Ma does to survive and to protect her son, and the consequences of their captivity, is an intriguing one. The reality of teenagers and children held captive for years seems to be becoming more prevalent, and I appreciate Donoghue’s attempt to tackle such a sensitive topic without being overly sentimental.

Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure

2010-10-26T07:47:00.000-06:00

“Your name: Elizabeth Bennet. Your mission: to marry both prudently and for love, avoiding family scandal. Equipped with only your sharp wit, natural good sense, and tolerable beauty, you must navigate your way through a variety of decisions that will determine your own romantic (and financial) fate. Ever wonder what would happen if Elizabeth accepted Mr. Darcy’s proposal the first time around? Or ran from his arms into those of Persuasion’s Captain Wentworth? Now is your chance to find out.”

How could I possibly resist this blurb on the back of Emma Campbell Webster’s novel Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure? As a child, I was a huge fan of the Choose Your Own Adventure series (and still lament its demise) and eagerly jumped into this grown-up, literary version.

Although the book is essentially a retelling of all Austen’s novels, Campbell Webster adds clever commentary and re-imagines what would have happened if Elizabeth Bennet had married Willoughby or Mr. Knightley rather than Mr. Darcy. Her portrait of other Austen heroines isn’t always flattering, and Elizabeth’s fate often ends in marital failure (or worse), but the novel is meant to be all in good fun.

Guest Blog - 61 Hours

2010-10-25T10:07:00.003-06:00

I have had so so feelings about some of Lee Child's Reacher novels. 61 Hours in not one of them. Decidedly one of Child's better books. I cannot top the NY Times review of the book. It was very enthusiastic and points out that this mystery ends with a cliffhanger. The new book, Worth Dying For, which picks up where this one leaves off is already out. But you know me. It is so hard for me to part with the price of a hardback novel even from Amazon. Especially if it is one I am not likely to read a second time. Reacher is good the first time around but I am not sure Child's books are the read over and over again variety.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

2010-10-20T08:46:00.000-06:00

I’m a year (or two) behind the times—but, hey, I’ve been living in Turkey—and finally read Alan Bradley’s Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce resides in an English country manor with her widowed father and two older sisters. Despite the seemingly-idyllic location, Flavia lives in a post-WWII society and family that struggles with the effects of war and the loss of its mother. She also happens across a dead body outside her bedroom window.

Flavia is a precocious crime solver who meddles in the police investigation and isn’t afraid to go anywhere or talk to anyone in her pursuit of answers. This cozy mystery is as charming and inoffensive as a murder mystery can be, and I can understand why it’s a bestseller.

Flavia, however, has some nastiness to her that I found rather off-putting. She deliberately destroys her dead mother’s pearls and sets out to poison one of her older sisters. I don’t expect—or want—a perfect lead character, but I prefer flaws that I can relate to rather than sociopathic tendencies.

Overall, the novel is enjoyable and held my interest. Yet, despite Sweetness’s popularity, I’ve noticed the sequel, The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag, doesn’t seem nearly as in demand, which might really reflect readers’ feelings about the series.

The Best Birth

2010-10-19T09:09:00.000-06:00

The title of this book, The Best Birth: Your Guide to the Safest, Healthiest, Most Satisfying Labor and Delivery, caught my attention since most expectant mothers, like me, must decide whether or not to have a “natural” childbirth or one using “medical pain-management options.” However, the introduction to the book might scare off many readers as it promotes the “McMoyler Method, the childbirth method for the twenty-first century.” Who is McMoyler of the McMoyler Method? Sarah McMoyler, the author and a labor and delivery nurse.

Ultimately, the book is less about promoting a certain method and more about providing a good discussion of what to expect during a natural, medicated, or cesarean childbirth. The author also includes helpful tips for what to bring to the hospital, how the husband or partner can be more involved in childbirth, the role of each member on the hospital staff, and even some of the nitty-gritty details women may not know about the birthing and recovery process.

This book is a manageable length, about 250 pages, and can be a helpful resource for any woman expecting a baby and looking for more information on the process.

Guest Blog - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

2010-10-18T08:22:00.003-06:00

I just finished Stieg Larsson's last book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Once again his book was extremely difficult to put down to pay attention to real life. Definitely his best book. It is a loss to readers that he wrote only three books before his death.

Spoiler Alert: At least this book has a feeling of resolution and does not have a cliffhanger ending.

Thank you Larsson for hours of "sitting on the edge of my seat" worried about what is going to happen next.

Guest Blog - Double Play by Robert B Parker

2010-10-11T09:15:00.006-06:00

Several years ago I heard a program on NPR which talked about Hank Aaron. Aaron was the man who broke Babe Ruth's home run record. The program recalled the many threats that Aaron received. Some of them were from fans of Ruth who did not want to see his record broken. Most of them were race related.

Double Play (2004) is about another courageous man who broke "the color" barrier in major league baseball; Jackie Robinson. In 1947 Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. The novel is a piece of historical fiction. It follows the path of Joseph Burke, a returning WW II veteran, who eventually ends up being Robinson's body guard.

A parallel story runs through the book. It is the story of Bobby Parker who was 9 when the United States entered the war. He was 15 when Robinson became a major league ball player. As most American boys of that era he was an avid baseball fan. He followed the statistics in the paper and listened to games on the radio.

The story is interesting, but examining the racial tension of that era is more intriguing. Both the white and the black fans and players felt threatened by this change. Robinson was in a position where no matter how angry he might feel about some of the abuse he received, he had to remain calm and ignore it. He had to be the perfect gentleman so that this experiment in crossing racial borders had a chance to make it.

Reading the book was a good reminder that we have come along way since 1947 in how Blacks are treated in the US. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go before we accept all minorities as fellow citizens.

Guest Blog - Bury Your Dead

2010-10-05T10:35:00.003-06:00

Bury Your Dead is without doubt Louise Penny's best book yet. The story and emotions are complex. In fact there are three different story lines in this novel. Both Chief Inspector Gamache and Inspector Beauvoir are dealing with the wounds and scars left from an ambush only two months earlier. Both of them are on leave still recovering from the physical damage they incurred in the shoot out. Gamache is visiting his old friend and mentor in Quebec City in February, the month of the annual winter carnival. Beauvoir is back in Three Pines. He is supposed to be relaxing but is actually there at Gamache's request to look at the murder of a hermit. In Penny's previous novel, The Brutal Telling, the team investigated the murder of a recluse who lived in the woods outside the town.

I am not sure if you need to have read any of the previous books in order to enjoy this one. It is hard for me to be objective since I have read and liked all of Penny's mysteries. Although I think some type of acquaintance with her characters probably would help with understanding this novel, I don't want to discourage anyone from opening it up to read. The issues of dealing with change, tragedy and a need to belong are ones that all readers will identify with. How do you move on after loss or tragedy? Where do you fit in society at large or within a small circle?

This tale is not only thought provoking, it is an edge of the seat thriller as well. What really happened when one of their own was kidnapped? Is Olivier who is in prison a killer or not?

Probably adding to my enjoyment of the book, I have been to Quebec City in the winter although not for Carnival and there were so many sites that I recognized as Penny talked about them. I much prefer Quebec in the spring or fall. I found myself very interested in the history. I had no idea that although Samuel de Champlain died in Quebec that no one has any idea where he is buried. Other historic figures she talks about are genuine as well.

I have found that the books I enjoy most are often the ones that cause me to look up information online or lead me to read another book. This book certainly falls in that category. If you are only looking for a good mystery be sure to try Louise Penny. She has only a few books, but is well worth looking for. Fortunately Penny's novels are available in the US as well as Canada.

If you click on Louise Penny above, you will be connected with her personal page which includes some great pictures of Quebec City.

Heist Society

2010-10-03T10:25:00.002-06:00

As a fan of Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series, I eagerly read Heist Society. If possible, I actually enjoyed this book more than the series.

Katarina “Kat” Bishop tries to escape the “family business” and experience a normal adolescence by entering a prestigious boarding school. She lasts only a few months before being wrangled back into the fold, this time to save her father who has been accused of stealing five paintings from an unsavory collector.

In order to help her father, Kat gathers together a group of teens with special, if not necessarily legal, skills in order to pull off an impossible heist. Rather than let their age and experience handicap them, the characters use their teen status to their advantage.

Overall, Heist Society is a fun and fast read. Underlying the clever mayhem, though, is a surprisingly serious storyline about stolen artwork and restitution, as well as a hint of pedophilia. I was a bit disappointed that Carter doesn’t dwell more on these truly somber aspects and instead focuses on the fun. And this book is definitely good fun.

Fly on the Wall

2010-10-02T14:51:00.001-06:00

Gretchen Yee, in E. Lockhart’s young adult novel Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything, is a sophomore at the Manhattan School for Art and Music. When she wishes she were a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room, she never expects her wish will come true in such a dramatic way.

Gretchen isn’t exactly an average teenage girl, so some readers might have difficultly relating to her. She attends a special high school for artistic students in New York City and spends her time reading and illustrating comic books. Ultimately, though, she deals with family problems, boy troubles, and friend issues, like any other teen.

Since Gretchen spends much of the book hanging around a high school boys’ locker room, some readers might also find her experiences uncomfortable or offensive as she frankly describes both what she sees and hears.

Lockwood’s novel has a unique premise, although the execution leaves something to be desired. The ultimate message, though, is a good one: high school boys aren’t that different from high school girls. They also struggle with body image, identity, and relationships.

Guest Blog - Paper Doll by Robert B Parker

2010-09-28T15:43:00.003-06:00

Since I have read all of the Jesse Stone novels and a good share of the Sunny Randall ones, I thought it was time I tried a Spenser book. When Spenser for Hire was on television, I caught glimpses of it when my husband watched. I knew that Robert Urich played the lead and that Spenser had a friend named Hawk. That was about it.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this 1993 novel. In Paper Doll Spenser looks into a murder that looks as if it was random street violence. When the police can go no further, the husband of the victim hires Spenser to solve the cold case.

Paper Doll has lots of surprises. Nothing about the victim is as it seems at first glance. When Spenser starts asking questions, someone in a powerful position tries to keep him from asking any more.

I thought this was a good mystery. A little more rough language than I prefer but other than that I felt comfortable trying out a whole new world with lots of books by Parker.

Something Wicked: A Horatio Wilkes Mystery

2010-09-20T12:22:00.002-06:00

I can't remember the last time I wrote a review, but now that I'm back in the US and have access to an English-language library, I have no more excuses. I'll start with a short one to ease myself back into the routine:

Something Wicked is the second entry in Alan Gratz’s Horatio Wilkes Myster y series. In this retelling of Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Horatio attends the Scottish Highland Games with his childhood friend, Mac, and Mac’s demanding girlfriend, Beth. When Mac’s grandfather is murdered, Horatio joins forces with the local police to solve the crime.

Horatio is a bright and witty hero, but sometimes he reads much older than a junior in high school—particularly when he casually throws off references to Shakespeare and Freud. Perhaps this maturity is why his parents allow him to go alone to the Highland Games for the weekend, rent a room in a seedy motel, and solve murders. Overall, Something Wicked is a fast and entertaining read, but the light tone does mean the murders can come as a bit of a shock.

Guest Blog - Candle for a Corpse

2010-09-18T11:02:00.006-06:00

At the moment, my husband and I are living in a huge apartment/condominium complex in Northern Virginia. One of the minor amenities is a small library in the "commons" area. It is completely borrow and return on your own. No oversight whatsoever. Recently I picked up a few mysteries to read. I started a very promising little one by a Canadian author I did not know. However, I was not stealing time from other responsibilities to read it. That really is my measure of how much I am enjoying a book.

I picked up another book and started reading it and didn't want to put it down after the first few pages. I have heard of English author Ann Granger but don't think I have ever read anything that she has written. This one, Candle for a Corpse, is a cozy mystery. Right up my alley.

When a grave is opened to bury an elderly woman with her long gone parents, the grave diggers discover the bones of a young woman. Superintendent Alan Markby and his friend Meredith Mitchell become involved in trying to find out who the young woman was and how long ago she was killed and buried. It is a satisfying mystery with plenty of interesting characters and complications.

The book had another intriguing feature. Periodically all of the way through the book, words were underlined. Perhaps only one on a page. Some pages had no underlining. At the beginning of the book little notes had been made next to the highlighted words. The notes were in Chinese characters. Of course, I was interested in the mystery of the paperback book itself. I noticed that the underlined words were usually ones that were idioms. Some word that an English as a Second Language reader might be completely unfamiliar with. In fact an American reader might wonder at the usage of a word by the English author. What is chutney or daft? What does "twelve years back" mean? The notes in Chinese ended after about page 95 but underlined words in pink highlighter continued to the end of the book. Did the original reader finish the book? Was it someone else who underlined the occasional word on the remaining pages? I will never know. However, the previous reader added to my enjoyment of reading the mystery. I wonder if I will find another book with marginal notes in Chinese. I hope so.

By the way, I have been wondering if small English villages still have a grave digger who uses a shovel to prepare the ground for a funeral. I am pretty sure that here in the U.S. a grave digger operates a backhoe. According to Granger in the early or mid 1990s, England made it mandatory for people to be buried or cremated in biodegradable material. I don't think I have anything that is all cotton or linen to be buried in. I had better hang on for a few more years.

Guest Blog - Hard Row by Margaret Maron

2010-09-07T08:57:00.004-06:00

Hard Row came as a bit of surprise to me. I thought that I did a fairly good job of keeping up with the latest books by some of my favorite mystery writers. I don't know how I missed this one by Margaret Maron. It was actually published in 2007. It is a Judge Deborah Knott mystery. She is recently married to Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant with his son a part of their family. On the domestic side Knott is cautiously feeling her way through her new role as a stepmother but loving being married to Dwight. On the legal side, there are still lots of glimpses into the crazy cases brought before Judge Knott.

I think I liked Hard Row more than any of Maron's other mysteries set in North Carolina. This time we got to see the information not just from Knott's view but also from her partner in life and crime solving, Dwight Bryant. In the past Knott has been a bit of a pain, sticking her nose in where it really didn't belong. Now their partnership makes a logical and complete working relationship. They pool their information and find the killer who cut up a body and distributed the parts along the banks of the river.

You don't have to have read other books about Deborah Knott to enjoy this one, but it does make it a bit easier if you have already been introduced to her extensive family and bootlegging father. Maron does a good job of filling in the gaps though if you are a first time reader of her mysteries.

The first Margaret Maron I read was located in New York City with Sigrid Harald, a police officer. I met her in Corpus Christmas and really liked this heroine. I wasn't sure whether I would like the Knott mysteries but am well hooked. There are two more recent books out there that I have not yet read. I'll be looking for them so that I can catch up the the Knott-Bryant saga and a good mystery.

Guest Blog - Split Image by Robert B Parker

2010-09-03T08:53:00.006-06:00

Much to my delight, I discovered that before Robert B Parker died in January, he had finished a book about Jesse Stone and sent it on its way to the publisher. After reading Split Image, I felt that Parker must have known it was the last Jesse Stone mystery that he would ever write. It has a very satisfactory ending in Stone's personal life. The novel left me with a feeling of completeness and appreciation for the author.

Split Image is a bit of a strange premise for the murder mystery but it is a good read. Of course, for every 'yup' that Stone says, I can see and hear Tom Selleck. Which doesn't hurt my perception of Stone one single bit.

If you have never read one of Parker's Sunny Randall books, I highly recommend them. Especially since Randall shows up in this final story about Stone. I found a Randall mystery, Melancholy Baby, at the Goodwill bookstore and read it just after I had finished reading Split Image. I am a Sunny Randall fan and liked this novel. Randall and Stone have a lot in common. Both of them are struggling to get passed their attachment to their ex-spouses. In Melancholy Baby, Randall's ex remarries. That leads her to seek someone new to see for counseling. This is a good look into a therapist/client relationship besides a very good mystery.

I am sorry that there will be no new Jesse Stone or Sunny Randall novels to enjoy. I have read that Tom Selleck is going to do more stories about Jesse Stone despite his new series premiering this fall. I am delighted.

Guest Blog - Appointment with Death

2010-08-08T18:40:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, we watched the new Poirot on Mystery. Of course, my problem with Agatha Christie stories is that I keep saying "it didn't happen like that in the book." I have really tried to contain myself and not bore my family to death with such comments. I found it interesting the next day that one of my daughters sent me an email message saying that she found the show disturbing. I didn't hesitate to tell her that my memories of the book were that it was quite different. I don't think that Agatha Christie was into child abuse. Manipulative people and controlling people but not ones who enjoyed the physical punishment of children.

By chance I came across a 99 cent copy of Appointment with Death at the Goodwill Bookstore. Naturally I had to reread it. This time I really do think that Christie got the story right and the recent production of her book got it wrong.

Christie's second husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist and she traveled with him frequently to excavation sites in the Middle East. Appointment with Death is set in Jerusalem and Petra. The mystery is center around an American family that is controlled by a power hungry matriarch. As in many of Christie's mysteries, the person you 'love to hate' is the victim. Since Poirot has no tolerance for murder he feels compelled to investigate.

If watching the recent PBS show disappointed you, I really encourage you to try the book. It has a satisfying ending that puts the problems of all of the characters into perspective. Much more satisfying than this Mystery.

Guest Blog - The Double Comfort Sarari Club

2010-07-28T15:02:00.003-06:00

During the last several summers, I have stayed at the "cottage at the beach" and have read all summer long. This summer, I am just not reading as much. In fact I feel as if I have read very little this year.

However, I recently finished Alexander McCall Smith's last book about Promise and Grace. I frankly have to think of the two of them that way, because I have far too difficult a time with their surnames. The Double Comfort Safari Club proved to be an enjoyable encounter with old friends. Life continues to have its challenges and ups and downs but the people I have become fond of over the years are doing well. If you are a fan, I think you'll enjoy the book. It was a comfortable afternoon past time.

Guest Blog - The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple by Anne Hart

2010-06-29T19:51:00.004-06:00

While looking for a book by Agatha Christie, I came across an enjoyable little book written by Anne Hart. Published in 1985, The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple is in fact a biography of that well known sleuth created by Agatha Christie.

When I started reading the book, I wondered what Hart could have found to say about a fictiticious character. Miss Marple made her debut in short stories and went on from there to to be featured in several novels. Hart identifies Miss Marple's family, friends and collegeaus. We learn about St. Mary Mead as well as the furniture in Miss Marple's drawing room.

The one regret that Christie spoke of regarding Poirot and Marple was that they were so old. In essence she said that if she had known she would have been writing about them for so many years, she would have made them younger when she created them. Miss Marple spent about forty years hovering around 60. In At Bertram's Hotel, Lady Selina Hazy comments, "Why I do believe that's old Jane Marple. Thought she was dead years ago. Looks a hundred."

I have no idea how difficult it is to find Hart's little book, but I found it a delightful addition to my Agatha Christie reading. I am more attached to Miss Marple than I have ever been.

Guest Blog - The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

2010-06-24T19:17:00.004-06:00

When I was about thirteen, I read my first Agatha Christie novel. That first book by Christie was The Mystery of the Blue Train. I have been a Christie fan ever since and the Blue Train remains one of my favorites.

Last Sunday my husband and I watched a new dramatization of The Secret of Chimneys on PBS. The mystery was solved with the combined efforts of Chief Inspector Finch and Miss Marple. I do like Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple. She is neither flirty nor frumpy. Just an intelligent woman. A pleasant change. However, while watching I puzzled over the story. Why was it that I did not recognize this story?

At the first opportunity, I checked the novel out from the library. And it was not at all surprising that I did not recognize the story. I am sure I must have read it at some point in my long, long life, but I certainly do not remember it. For one thing, the original story does not include Miss Marple. It is one of those rare novels that does not include any of Christie's well known sleuths. In fact the original book bore little resemblance to the television production. I will commit heresy and confess that I thought the story was much improved by this new production.

Christie has just a few mysteries that are based upon stories of political intrigue or organized crime. In my opinion, she does not do them well. Her forte is definitely the small village or snowed-in cottage mystery with few complications beyond love and hate and greed and fear of exposure. The Secret of Chimneys has political intrigue occurring in some fictitious Balkan country with a mastermind jewel thief thrown in. The characters are likable but the story is too heavy. It is bogged down in contrived rebellions of post WW I Europe and royalty with unpronounceable names.

Watch the new version of Chimneys and enjoy but don't bother with the old novel. Christie has much better books to reread and enjoy than this one. (By the way, click on the previous word "chimneys" and watch the PBS mysteries for a limited time online.)

By the way, I do highly recommend The Complete Christie by Matthew Bunson. He does not give the plots away but he has a great encyclopedia of characters and preludes to plots that is a handy addition to the personal library of any Christie fan.

Guest Blog -6 1 Hours by Lee Child

2010-05-27T19:36:00.002-06:00

The Friday, May 14th Weekend Arts section of the NY Times had an article about the new novel by Lee Child coming out later this year. Janet Maslin and I seem to like the same kind of page turners. I recently read two books about Jack Reacher and I'll actually write more about them when I quit digging my garden.

Guest Blog - Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

2010-03-30T20:35:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, my sister told me that all of the readers in her family, had laughed while they read Dog On It by Spencer Quinn. I listened politely but was a little skeptical when she told me that this mystery solved by partners Bernie and Chet is narrated by Chet. Chet is the canine half of this detective duo. (I don't know how reliable my link for Spencer Quinn is, but if it is correct, the author himself is a mystery).

It did not take me long to get attached to Chet. Fortunately I got to read the mystery about a teen who vanishes while I was traveling. If you haven't flown lately you might not know that waits in airports can be longer than the flight. Chet turned out to be very good company.

I am not sure that being a dog-lover is a prerequisite to enjoying Quinn's book, but it might not hurt. I suspect though that anyone who has seen a dog with its head hanging out the window of a car will know just what Chet is talking about. I noticed that Quinn has a new hardback out. Thereby Hangs a Tail was published in January. Do I wait for the library or splurge on Amazon? Chet really stole my heart.

Guest Blog – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2010-03-25T13:04:00.004-06:00

When my daughter suggested that I read a fantasy or futuristic book, I told her that I didn’t think so. However, she had enjoyed it so I decided to try it before she returned it to the library. Much to my surprise I was hooked by the end of chapter one.
Probably you have encountered stories similar to The Hunger Games. Two stories with the same theme are a short story The Lottery and the movie or novel The Wicker Man. Both of them are centered on seemingly normal towns where once a year a person is chosen to die to appease some greater power. Essentially that is the idea behind The Hunger Games. At some future time in North America, the people are kept in line by an annual sacrifice of an adolescent boy and girl from their district. From 12 districts the 24 youth come to fight on a televised set until only one survives.
Sounds pretty grim and Collins does a good job of portraying both the tender and the violent youths who have been selected at random. Katniss is one of the two sent from District 12. She also is the narrator. The story starts with the hope that this will mean that she survives until the end of the story.
The Hunger Games finishes with the closing words “End of Book One.” I’ll have to let you know if I decide to look for book two. This story pulled me in and I actually found myself crying around page 250. But do I really want to read more about this group of people who seem so powerless? We’ll see. For those of you who are waiting to see the movie, there is one in the works.

Guest Blog – Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

2010-03-24T11:51:00.001-06:00

Recently I heard part of a discussion about books on the radio. The speaker concluded that rather than isolating you, a book brings you closer to understanding people. Only in a book do you know what the characters are thinking. Motives are very clear.
I mention this because I recently saw the movie version of Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont written by Elizabeth Taylor. My local library did not carry the book, but it did have the DVD. The movie enchanted me. It is the story of a widow who has moved into a hotel in London that rents rooms by the month. The other long term tenants are also elderly individuals who are on their own after losing their spouses. By chance, Mrs. Palfrey meets a charming young man who is living on practically nothing while he endeavors to write his first novel. A warm relationship develops between the two of them as Ludo pretends to be Mrs. Palfrey’s grandson.
Just a few days ago, I found the book and immediately began to read it. The story and the characters are essentially the same as in the movie. However, when you are able to read about Ludovic Myers’ thoughts and motives much of the enchantment disappears. The movie with Joan Plowright as Mrs. Palfrey captures Taylor’s tenants at the Claremont so well. The movie is definitely a feel-good show. At the end of a long and productive life, Mrs. Palfrey faces loneliness without her husband. Instead she meets Ludo and develops a relationship that rescues both of them from isolation in a big bustling city.
The book is a more accurate picture of what old age can be. We get to see the small lies that sustain the dignity of the residents of the Claremont. Although there are few of them, it is important for them to save face among their peers. Mrs. Palfrey values Ludo’s friendship much more than he values hers. In reality his interest in her is for information to use in writing a novel about old age.
I turned 60 last summer. Reading about Mrs. Palfrey and the small group at the hotel, has reminded me of how challenging growing old can be. I hope that in my old age, I will somehow escape the long empty days that Taylor so vividly describes. The edition that I read has an interesting introduction by Paul Bailey. Since most of us will either have elderly relatives or be elderly relatives ourselves, I recommend what Bailey calls Taylor’s best novel. It is not an unkind portrayal of being old and alone and perhaps forgotten.

Guest Blog – Max and Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery

2010-03-23T20:58:00.004-06:00

Guest Blog – Max and Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery

A trip to the library with my three young granddaughters is an adventure. My daughter has a very large recyclable shopping bag that soon fills up with a book from here and a book from there. I am not quite sure how many books they came home with. The advantage is that they are probably books I have never read so it is interesting to read the new stories or have them read to me.
Recently my daughter found a book in the bag written by Alexander McCall Smith. Since both of us are fans of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, we were interested in this children’s book we had stumbled across. The local library has Max and Maddy and the Bursting Balloons Mystery listed as Juvenile and a First Chapter book. This one is the second in a series of mysteries that are solved by a brother and sister. The arch villain is Professor Sardine. I am sure that he will show up in the next story about Max and Maddy.
I have decided that I know next to nothing about what would interest a child. This book has seven chapters and an easy vocabulary. I am not convinced that some of the aspects of the story are scientifically accurate. For example if a hot air balloon is hit by an arrow, does it pop? I am a bit dubious about that and other aspects of the tale. However, this might be a great introduction to mysteries for someone in first or second grade. The mysteries that we got involved with when my daughters were small were the stories about the Box Car Children and Encyclopedia Brown. Even as an adult, I enjoyed reading them to my girls despite the fact that they were vintage at that time. I am not so sure that Max and Maddy would capture our imagination in the same way.

Guest Blog - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2010-03-21T21:43:00.006-06:00

Just a quick note. When I wrote the review about Larsson's book, I did not mention all of the financial intrigue in the novel. Today I received this link in an email. For those of you who have been attracted to Larsson' book, I hope you will take the time to read this New York Times op-ed. The first part of the book refers to the court case against Blomkvist who is being sued for libel. He specializes in investigating financial entities. The book concludes on the same theme. I found it fascinating because of course, we have been going through a similar crisis in our nation...several years after Larsson, a journalist himself, wrote about the corruption he saw in Sweden's financial world.

March 23 - This morning I read a review of the Swedish movie in Entertainment. Critic Lisa Schwarzbaum says of the movie: "I don't know why Lisbeth is the magnet for so much male rage. Nor why Larsson and director Niels Arden Oplev linger on the sight of Lisbeth being hideously raped - and later punishing her tormentor with even more sadistic acts of violence." It can only be hoped that the American version will dwell a little less on the sadistic aspects of the book.

Guest Blog - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2010-03-17T10:13:00.006-06:00

A friend recommended The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He was the one who introduced me to Donna Leon so I listen when he sends a note suggesting a book. In no time at all I was caught up in the story of journalist Mikael Blomkvist who is being sued for libel. When the judgment comes and he is sentenced to some jail time, he decides it is time to distance himself from the small journal that he has been publishing. Wealthy Henrik Vanger has a temporary job for the investigative reporter. He wants Blomkvist to look into the death of his granddaughter Harriet forty years earlier.

The characterization is excellent and I had no trouble avoiding real life and being swallowed up by the novel. I casually mentioned to a friend that I had started reading Stieg Larsson's book and was enjoying it. As I got further into the book, however, I sent an email to her telling her that I didn't think she would enjoy the book. The sex and violence in the book is not described in detail, however, most of my circle of friends are on the conservative side. There are no titillating sexual descriptions, however, I soon realized that this was not a book that I would be recommending to anyone for her book club.

The girl with the dragon tattoo is a brilliant researcher who eventually comes to work with Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander has a dark past and an even darker present.

The entire book centers around the victimization of women. Not one of my preferred topics. As the mystery unfolds you discover that the some of women are sexually abused not only be strangers but by the men in their lives whom they should be able to trust. As Blomkvist continues his investigation, he finds that Harriet's disappearance seems to be linked to a series of violent murders in the past.

I enjoyed the peek into Swedish culture. From all that I have heard from people who have lived in Sweden, casual sex is an accepted lifestyle as is homosexuality. Reading this book, I discovered that I am a very old fashioned woman. If you are too, this mystery is probably not one that you will enjoy. However, Larsson had a very short writing career. He died in 2004 from heart failure and his books were published posthumously. Despite the grim topic, I am looking forward to reading his other two novels. Hopefully these books about Salander are not about the victimization of women or children.

Guest Blog - Death of a Valentine

2010-02-22T13:31:00.003-07:00

My husband and I have several police/procedural television shows that we watch on a regular basis. Frequently we find ourselves asking each other if we have seen this “repeat” that we have taped. Often we don’t remember the mystery in the story but we recognize the episode from the story line in the lives of the regular characters. We’ll say, “Oh yeah. We’ve seen this one. This is the one where Tony thinks he has inherited a lot of money. Or this is the one where Tempe sees her father again.”
I have just finished reading M. C. Beaton’s latest Hamish Macbeth mystery and I have discovered that I have the same relationship with novels that I do with current TV series. I enjoy the back and forth of Hamish’s relationships with regular and new characters in the novel just as much if not more than I do the mysteries themselves. When I asked the Blogger what she thought about Death of A Valentine, she replied , “Well, you know. It is a Hamish novel.” I suspect that she feels exactly as I do. On one hand you would like Hamish to get on with his life but then maybe you really do like the story better when he is devoted to Lugs and Sonsie, his two beasties, and is content not to have a woman in his life.

So really there is no point in writing a review about Beaton’s latest novel about Hamish. I am attached to Hamish and it was a delight getting acquainted with him again. The only problem was that the end of the book came too quickly. I suppose that is why I keep rereading some of my favorite books. The pleasure of their company.

Guest Blog - Good-bye to some of the best

2010-02-15T09:39:00.002-07:00

With the death of Dick Francis, I have come to the conclusion that I have to start looking for younger authors to read. I am not at all sure though that there are too many who can live up to the writing standards set by Francis, Parker and Hillerman. Gentleman, I will miss all of you. Thank you for many hours of reading.

Guest Blog – My Life in France by Julia Child

2009-10-27T19:10:00.003-06:00

The movie I enjoyed most this summer was Julie and Julia. I thought Meryl Streep was brilliant. I came away from the movie so interested in Julia Child that I wanted to know more. Of course, I knew who she was and I have seen her kitchen at the Smithsonian, but I had not known much about her personal life. When I saw My Life in France at a local bookstore I bought it and packed it in my bag to read on my trip to Turkey to visit the Blogger.

The book was co-authored by a great nephew of Child’s, Alex Prud’homme, and came out after she died. Child lived at a time when the only practical and economical way to communicate with family and friends was by the mail. Both she and her husband Paul wrote long letters that their family and friends were wise enough to save. So it is not surprising that Child was able to tell us what they had for dinner on a certain important occasion.

The book is delightful. I fell in love with Paul Child. The world should be populated with men like Paul. He was devoted to her and supported her efforts while having his own successful life and career.

This was not a fast read. It is biographical and is full of talk of food and wine and French phrases. I wondered if part of my enjoyment of the book was that I knew where rue Lepic was and have my own photograph of the restaurant Lapin Agile from our recent sojourn in Paris.

My French is not very good, so it is a good thing that usually Julia translated her phrases. But not always. She is polite enough to leave some of the French “swear words” in their original French. I don’t suppose I will ever cook any of her recipes that she made simple enough for an American housewife to cook, but I really appreciate what an exceptional woman she was. I was glad to get to know her a little better even though she is no longer with us to wish us Bon Appétit.

Guest Blog - A Nation of Immigrants by John F. Kennedy

2009-10-23T08:40:00.002-06:00

While visiting the Blogger in Turkey, I picked up A Nation of Immigrants in her office and took it back to her apartment to read. I was familiar with Profiles in Courage by the late president, but had not come across this small book. It was actually published in 1964 a year after President Kennedy’s death. His brother Robert wrote a forward for the book and had it published.

Kennedy emphasized the fact that each new wave of immigrants coming to the United States of America met with prejudice and rejection beginning as far back as Quakers and Catholics in the northern colonies. Whether the immigrants were Irish or Polish or Italian, the established inhabitants saw them as a threat. The newcomers were seen as a threat to jobs and to political balance. Does that sound familiar? Kennedy did not live long enough to see the cruelty shown towards incoming Vietnamese or the present day anger shown by many towards Hispanics or Middle Easterners.

The only group of people who were excluded from any immigration at all is the Chinese. The laborers were welcomed when they quietly came and endured abuse while building the railroads heading east from California. However, when the railroad was finished, the population descendent from Europeans expressed their fear of foreigners by enacting an exclusionary clause. The only group of people who have ever been completely prevented from immigrating to the US have been the Chinese.

Kennedy pointed out that in order to keep the majority of the population not only Western European but predominantly from the British Isles, quotas were established limiting the number of people coming into the country from other nations.

Unless you are a Native American/Indian, if you are an American you are descended from immigrants. I think that part of the success of our nation is based on its immigrants who came with dreams of improving their lives. Our forefathers or perhaps parents came here eager to make a better world for their families. For the most part they have succeeded. I hope that those of us who have benefited from our ancestors’ dreams will feel a little more compassion for the latest wave of immigrants.

Guest Blog - Yankee Stranger by Elswyth Thane

2009-10-17T15:59:00.003-06:00

Not long ago my husband and I stopped in Chancellorsville, Virginia to see a memorial to Stonewall Jackson. Jackson was mistakenly shot by someone on his own picket line. He lost an arm and developed pneumonia. He died about a week after the battle between the Confederate and Union forces at Chancellorsville - killed by friendly fire.
About twenty years ago, I read the entire seven book series of historical novels about a Williamsburg family written by Elswyth Thane. After visiting Chancellorsville, I got out an old copy of Yankee Stranger to read the story of a Yankee who fell in love with a Southern beauty on the eve of the Civil War. The recounting of the siege of Richmond is well written. Thane describes a city caught with little food and no drugs to deaden the pain of wounded Confederate soldiers.
I enjoy historical novels because it is such a painless way to gain a little knowledge of days gone by. This novel by Thane is my of the series about Williamsburg that she wrote. Reading this book a few weeks ago, I was surprised by some of the very politically incorrect references to slaves. I had forgotten all of the negative language used in the book when speaking of African Americans.
Yankee Stranger is a good romance and a good historical novel. It is well worth reading but you need to take into account the fact that it was published in 1944. Hopefully we have become more sensitive in the years since then, but I suspect we have a very long way to go.

Guest Blog – Deadly Décisions by Kathy Reichs

2009-10-16T04:04:00.003-06:00

I have been traveling in the last few weeks, so that means that I have been sitting on airplanes as well as sitting in airports waiting for or between flights. Before reaching the Chicago O’Hare airport I had finished the book I was currently reading and picked Kathy Reichs’ Deadly Décisions out of my backpack to read on the rest of my journey. Fortunately Reichs is excellent reading for long trips. She had no trouble keeping my attention and helping the long hours to pass quickly.
Deadly Décisions is about war between opposing motorcycle gangs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tempe is in Montreal to try to sort out the parts of two bikers who were blown up by their own bomb. Shortly after her arrival, a nine year old girl is killed in the street, shot by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. Determined to find the person responsible, Tempe joins the special police group investigating the bikers.
Along the way, she discovers that Ryan is on suspension from the police force because stolen property and drugs were found in his apartment. How can this be? This is a man she trusts.
Deadly Décisions is another of Reichs’ excellent procedural novels. However, I wonder if she is a bit naïve about some police procedures. In the story the police stake out an internment at a cemetery. They are on the watch for one gang planning to take revenge on the mourners. However, no one who is watching out for the marauding bikers is on a SWAT team or is even carrying a rifle. They are all armed with weapons that are only accurate at close range. Of course, if someone had a sniper’s rifle it would ruin part of her story. However, it simply felt all wrong to me to have a police force watching for violence in a cemetery at 10 in the morning without anyone ready to pick off a fast moving motorcyclist determined to kill people at the funeral.
I have recently spent a couple of months in the last few years in Montreal. I do not recall having at any time seeing anyone on a Harley. If I was a reader who had never traveled to Canada or Montreal, Reichs’ books might frighten me into never leaving home. Thank goodness I am already enchanted with Montreal and Quebec City and look forward to visiting them again soon.
Despite what seem to me some obvious flaws, I am a "Bones" fan. I look forward to reading more books and catching up with the series on TV.

Guest Blog - Fables by Arnold Lobel

2009-09-09T14:30:00.005-06:00

Arnold Lobel has for many years been one of the children’s authors I most enjoy. His series of Frog and Toad books are among my favorites. I was not familiar with this book of Fables written and illustrated by Lobel although he received the Caldecott award for it in 1981.

Of course the illustrations are delightful. Easily the most charming part of the book. However, a few of the fables with their one line moral written at the bottom of the page frequently hit me just right too. I was delighted with the illustration and the fable in which the elephant son points out to his father who is absorbed in his newspaper that his slippers are on fire. I liked the ostrich who was happy simply loving from afar. The hippo who ate too much at dinner reminded me of a favorite tale of Winnie the Pooh. The hippo cannot get out from behind the table at the restaurant because of his gluttony and Pooh becomes caught in Rabbit’s doorway after eating all of Rabbit’s honey.

Naturally I read the book all at one time, but I think this would be a fun book to read to a child one or two fables at a time. Of course, they would have to look at all of the great pictures from beginning to end the first time they saw the book.

Guest Blog - Kathy Reichs

2009-08-28T15:19:00.003-06:00

This spring I read a Kathy Reichs’ procedural mystery for the first time. I enjoyed reading it and have read several since then. Reading her mysteries also led to me watching the Bones television series.

The first difference that you notice between the books and the series is that in Bones, Tempe Brennan is not a woman in her forties with a daughter in college and an ex-husband. There are lots of other differences. In fact the series is almost unrecognizable. Kathy Reichs says of the series that she thinks of it as Tempe when she was young. It is entertaining but don’t base your ideas about the novels upon the series.

Just a few weeks ago at the local library, I picked up Deja Dead, Reichs first novel. I was delighted that I was acquainted with most of the characters and enjoyed reading her award winning first mystery. When I began reading Death du Jour though, I ran into a personal stumbling block. When it was discovered that the twin babies’ hearts had been cut out of their chests, I reevaluated whether I wanted to keep on reading the book. In Reichs' novels there are often grotesque and unlikely reasons for the deaths of several people. In one book the reason for the killings turns out to be a rite involving cannibalism. Part of the way into Death du Jour, I thought, “if this is going to be a book about Satan worship, I don’t think I am going to read it.” Does the fact that I put the book aside tell you anything?

I haven’t given up on Reichs but I am going to approach her with caution. I feel that there are too many books and television programs that are looking for something new and unusual and reach for something shocking instead. I am quite happy with an average old mystery where the person who dies is the rich old uncle or the innocent person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something that condemned her to death.

In the meantime, although Bones is not a lot like the novels, I am still enjoying viewing the reruns.

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover

2009-08-13T17:25:00.003-06:00

Cammie Morgan, spy-in-training, is back in Ally Carter’s Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover. Along with her three best pals at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women (i.e., spy school), Cammie must try to stop a potential kidnapping. This time, though, the intended victim appears to be one of their own.

Macey, one of Cammie’s bffs, is on the campaign trail with her father who is running to be the next vice president of the United States. Macey becomes a target for the media, as well as another nefarious group. Cammie must help her friend, deal with the sudden return of her Aunt Abby, and try to figure out Zach, spy-in-training and boy of her dreams—not a small feat for a high school junior.

Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover is as light and entertaining as the previous two entries in the series. What girl (and 30-ish woman) doesn’t fantasize about being a brilliant spy? And what girl (and 30-ish woman) isn’t utterly confused by all male behavior?

Of course, Cammie and her gal pals still frustrate me with their sometimes lack of spy-itude. For being so brilliant and so well trained, they sure make some dumb moves and get caught off guard on a few-too-many occasions. But I will forgive them because they are high school juniors.

Carter clearly sets up the next book in the series, and I will willingly join Cammie for another adventure.

The Holocaust by Bullets

2009-08-09T20:57:00.003-06:00

In fall 2007, while living in Paris, my mother and I visited the Mémorial de la Shoah. The Jewish Holocaust museum was hosting a temporary exhibit called “The Holocaust by Bullets.” The exhibit featured a French Catholic priest’s project to collect the memories of “witnesses” to the massacres in Ukraine. The eyewitnesses, who must have been children at the time, are now extremely old, and Father Patrick Desbois is racing against time to record their accounts.

The exhibit had an overwhelming amount of information to process, and I struggled—and still struggle—to reconcile the country I love with such unthinkable brutality.

Last week, I happened upon Father Desbois’s memoir: The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest's Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews. He details his experiences recording the witnesses’ testimonies all across Ukraine. He talks about his grandfather’s own internment during WWII, his research team, and the process that team uses to record the testimonies.

Father Desbois’s story is interesting, but I was most intrigued in the witnesses’ accounts. I felt impatient reading about his life when what I really wanted to read was more transcripts. Despite attending the exhibit, despite reading countless memoirs and biographies about Holocaust victims, I continue to be surprised by the depths of “man’s inhumanity to man.” Father Desbois interviews one woman who as a child was “requisitioned” by the German army to walk across corpses in mass graves. Multiple eyewitnesses recall how the graves moved for three days with the wounded buried inside.

Holocaust by Bullets is not an easy read, but Father Desbois’s project is vital as very few eyewitnesses to the Jewish Holocaust remain.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

2009-08-06T09:27:00.002-06:00

I’d heard that Mary Ann Shaffer's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a must-read for the summer, so I jumped into the long library queue. Once I actually got my hands on a copy, I had no idea what to expect.

Guernsey is written in epistolary form—not my favorite literary devise. Most of the correspondence involves Juliet Ashton. A successful wartime (WWII) columnist, Juliet unexpectedly becomes involved with the titular Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Intrigued by the organization, Juliet exchanges letters with members of the society.

Through these letters, Juliet discovers more about the society, the German occupation of the island, and the fate of many inhabitants. Meanwhile, she also corresponds with a girlhood friend, her publisher, and a would-be suitor.

Despite the seriousness of the subject matter—German occupation, prison camps, wartime casualties—the book has a light tone. It is a fast, entertaining, and easy read. Although Juliet is the main character, I—like Juliet—was more interested in the fate of one of the island’s inhabitants, Elizabeth. To be perfectly honest, I would have preferred to read a straight story about Elizabeth than Juliet’s letters. On the other hand, my interest in Elizabeth shows Shaffer succeeds in many respects.

Although far from a literary masterpiece, Guernsey is a book group favorite, and I can see why. It is an effortless read but also fodder for much discussion.

Guest Blog - Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer

2009-08-05T12:33:00.009-06:00

If I had not recently read Archer’s book A Prisoner of Birth, I probably never would have picked up Paths of Glory. When I read the jacket teaser, I was hooked. I am not at all familiar with mountain climbing. In fact I have felt mystified when I have heard news that another mountain climber has died on his way up or down a mountain. Why put your life at risk for something that seems of no real merit.

Of course, I had heard of Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first man to stand on the top of Mount Everest, but I had never heard of George Mallory. I soon began to learn more.

Archer started doing the research and writing of Paths of Glory while he was in prison. As he said, he didn’t have much standing in the way of reading all day long. After doing extensive research, he wrote a fictionalized version of Mallory’s life.

I will not spoil it for you by telling you that Mallory might have reached the top of Everest in 1924 and died during that attempt. It is a matter of record that he was last seen only about 600 feet below the summit. Mallory and his climbing companion, Andrew Irvine, never returned from their effort to "stand on the top of the world." In 1999 a search party found Mallory’s frozen body. The label on the back of his shirt clearly said, “George Mallory.”

I spent a lot of time reading the book wondering what was fact and what was Archer’s imagination. The book is engaging and easy to read, but I wondered if Mallory really was arrested while climbing the Eiffel Tower one night. After reading odds and ends on the internet about Mallory, there seems to be no doubt that he was a charming man who had a gift for climbing, a burning desire to "conquer" Everest, and an extremely supportive wife.

You can’t go wrong reading this novel/biography. It took me longer than I expected to read it simply because I had to stop and look up information on the internet, including some interviews with Archer. Archer may be of questionable character in real life but he certainly knows how to tell a story. My one disappointment was that Archer did not include a bibliography. I would have enjoyed being able to look at some of his sources.

Censoring an Iranian Love Story

2009-08-03T16:54:00.003-06:00

The premise of the Shahriar Mandanipour’s novel Censoring an Iranian Love Story is intriguing. The narrator is an Iranian author, and the book alternates between the narrator’s thoughts, the story he is writing, and the story he wishes he could write. Everything the narrator thinks and writes is influenced by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which must approve (and will censor) the novel before it can be released for publication.

The narrator’s protagonists are Dara and Sara. Dara is a former political prisoner. Sara is a university student. They develop their relationship over banned books and try to navigate a romance under the restrictions placed by the Ministry.

As it progresses, the novel deconstructs. The line between the narrator and the story he’s writing, or wishes he was writing, blurs. Considering the restrictions Mandanipour, himself, is under as an Iranian writer, the novel is quite remarkable.

After living in eastern Turkey for a year, I was fascinated by the novel and often panicked by the possibilities. I struggle to thrive in a conservative Turkish society. I can’t even imagine life under the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and I hope I am never forced to find out.

Dark Summer

2009-08-01T22:16:00.001-06:00

I’ve been reading Iris Johansen’s thrillers for years. I find, though, that I am liking her books less and less as time goes on. I don’t know if my taste in reading has matured or if Johansen’s writing has deteriorated.

In Dark Summer, Devon Brady, a veterinarian, is thrown into turmoil when she meets Jude Morrock and his dog, Ned. Devon reluctantly joins forces with Morrock in order to protect Ned from danger.

Ned is not the only dog in the novel. In fact, the book is full of animals. I can admit that I am not a huge animal lover, but I am certainly not an animal hater, either. I enjoy my sister’s dog/child. And I love my pet hamster, Handsome. However, I almost quit reading the book after the first few chapters simply because there was just too much animal love, adoration, and focus.

Like any good thriller, Dark Summer has action, violence, and sex. It follows the prescribed formula I am used to, but for some reason, the story left me cold. Maybe, though, the book isn’t at fault but a too-picky reader.

Sworn to Silence

2009-07-30T12:15:00.002-06:00

I first read about Linda Castillo’s novel Sworn to Silence in USA Today. According to the review: “Lovers of suspense will find no better novel to read this summer . . . a teeth-chattering debut thriller.” How could I resist reading it?

Kate Burkholder is the chief of police in small Painters Mill, Ohio. When Kate was a 14-year-old Amish girl, a serial killer terrorized the town. Now, sixteen years later, the killer appears to have returned, and Kate is called on to solve the crime.

I’ve never been a hardcore thriller fan (Iris Johansen and Catherine Coulter are as far as I go), so I wasn’t prepared for the graphic details of the murders. If you are a fan of the cozy mystery, this may not be the book for you.

The story alternates between a first-person narrative (Kate’s perspective) and third-person. I’ve seen this tactic employed to show the killer’s perspective, but that is not the case in this novel. As such, the shift seems unnecessary and distracting. Nevertheless, the story is engrossing and a definite pageturner.

Kate isn’t my ideal heroine. For a chief of police, she seems weak and not always intelligent. Perhaps she is meant to be more human, but I like my popular fiction females strong, smart, and superhuman.

Sworn to Silence is a fun read. But if you are looking for anything beyond the typical popular thriller, you are in for a disappointment.

Guest Blog - The Diary by Eileen Goudge

2009-07-29T21:13:00.004-06:00

I was pleasantly surprised by this little novel by Eileen Goudge. Once in awhile I break away from mysteries and read something romantic. The blurb on the jacket of The Diary caught me. Two sisters, Emily and Sarah, find an old diary belonging to their mother in the attic. All of their lives they have heard about how their father, Bob, was the only man that their mother loved. As they begin to read her diary from 1952, they discover that she had a passionate romance with a man named AJ. Who is this mysterious man? And why did she marry Bob instead?
When I picked up the book and started reading I thought, “Oh no. Do I want to read this? Is this going to be another The Bridges of Madison County?” I never could believe Robert James Waller’s assumption that children would be touched deeply and feel sympathetic when they discovered that their dead mother had an affair years ago and only stayed with their family out of a sense of duty.
The Diary did not fall into the unbelievable pattern of Bridges. It has a life and story of its own. I will not ruin the ending for you. I will simply say that this is a romance that was a delightful break from my usual who-done-it.

The Graveyard Book

2009-07-23T14:31:00.002-06:00

Newbery Award-winning The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was on the top of my reading list once I returned to the land of libraries (or rather, English-language libraries). I haven’t always been impressed with past Newbery winners, and Graveyard left me a little bit disappointed.

The book begins with a murder (actually, three murders). Although the murders’ description is not graphic, I found the deaths disturbing, and I am an adult reader. I can’t help but wonder what affect such details would have on a young mind.

One person, a child, escapes the murders by wandering into a graveyard. The child, Bod, grows up in the cemetery with other-worldly companions as his guides. The murderer, though, never forgets that Bod was the one who got away.

The murder mystery is intriguing, and the book begins and ends with this element. Yet, the middle of the book wavers from the mystery. Instead, the story meanders through anecdotes about Bod’s childhood and the graveyard inhabitants’ lives. Although some of these tales are charming, and they later play a roll in the novel, I felt frustrated at the book’s apparent lack of focus.

The Graveyard Book is well written and certainly creative. It is a fine book, worthy of reading, but I am just not convinced, in terms of organization and plot structure, that it was the best children’s book of the year.

Guest Blog - Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich

2009-07-22T14:00:00.003-06:00

Evanovich is another author I had never read before. My sister has been encouraging me to try her novels for several years. She has qualified the recommendation by saying that it is not an author she would recommend to all of her friends. The books contain both language and sex.

At Clics I found several of her books and picked up the one that indicated that it was not necessarily part of the series. Plum Lovin’ falls “between-the-numbers.”

In this tale, Stephanie Plum can claim the woman who has jumped bail, if she will do some “relationship” work first. She sets off to bring some couples together before Valentine’s Day. Along the way, she meets some good guys and some bad guys. Overall it is a light hearted tale with lots of laughs. And yes, some bad language and lots of references to sex.

When I tackle one of the ‘numbered’ novels, I’ll let you know if it is funny or not.

Guest Blog - A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer

2009-07-21T09:29:00.003-06:00

While browsing through the new novels at Clics, my husband asked me if I had ever read anything by Jeffrey Archer. I had not. Archer is not only a novelist but has spent time in both the British government and the British penal system. I checked out the two novels on the shelf written by him and brought A Prisoner of Birth home to read. When I started reading, it was difficult to put it down to attend to other responsibilities in my life. Fortunately, I am on vacation so there are not too many of them.

In the novel, the protagonist Danny Cartwright thinks about Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo, but once sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment for killing his best friend Bernie, he sees no way that he will ever be able to escape the high security prison where he is incarcerated. Fate has other plans for him, however.

The novel has quite a few court scenes. I thought that I would be bored and have to slog my way through those pages. I was surprised to find that I found Danny’s moments in court interesting. Of course, the story is totally implausible but it did not make it any less enjoyable.

England remains very much a society with clear class lines. Here in the US the lines are a little more blurred. But the reality is that most of us are in fact, prisoners of birth. Where we are born and who our parents are still make a huge difference to most of us on the planet. Often I forget how fortunate I am to have been born in North America to a good family.

Prisoner is not a conventional who-done-it, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to exploring more Archer in the future.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Koran

2009-07-20T00:18:00.003-06:00

I promised my friends (and boyfriend) in Turkey that I would read the Koran this summer. They are very concerned about the fate of their Christian friend’s soul. I appreciate their concern, so I agreed to study about Islam to alleviate some of their fears.

My first step, of course, was to buy an English translation of the Koran. I realized immediately, though, that I was entering into complex and confusing ground. My next step, then, was to put the Koran down and read, instead, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Koran.

This was my first foray into The Complete Idiot’s world. The book is clearly organized and easy to read. However, I never felt as if I was actually an idiot or that the book was written for a child or an adult with below-average intelligence. Instead, it has an easy-to-follow layout and stays with the basics.

I was expecting an explanation of the Koran itself, but the guide provides background information on the prophet Muhammad, the origins of the religion, and even addresses modern Islam. Although it makes many references to the Koran, most of the content deals with issues outside the book.

I believe I am approaching the Koran with an open mind. I live in an Islamic country. All of my friends there are Muslim. My boyfriend is a believer. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel slightly manipulated by The Complete Idiot’s Guide. Rather than provide a subjective discussion of the Koran, the guide almost feels like a missionary tract—or something produced by a PR firm.

Shaykh Muhammad Sarwar, the author, is clearly concerned with Islam’s bad rap in Western countries, and justifiably so. I know from firsthand experience that much of what I hear about Islam in the Western media and popular culture is absolutely false, and Sarwar does his best to reverse and explain these misconceptions.

Yet, he paints an almost too rosy picture of the religion. No culture is perfect. I also know from firsthand experience that the culture (though not specifically the religion) can be deeply flawed (the same, of course, can be said of most religious cultures). I hoped for a more balanced view of the religion and culture. I wanted to know the good and the bad. I turned to the guide to learn the basics of the Koran and not to be proselyted to.

In the end, Sarwar invites the reader to pick up the Koran and decide for herself if it is really the word of God. I should have just done that in the first place instead of relying on The Complete Idiot’s Guide for background information.

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

2009-07-15T11:47:00.002-06:00

Precious Ramotswe is back in Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, the latest installment in Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. This time, she is investigating a flagging football (soccer) team and facing the possible demise of her little white van. Meanwhile, her assistant, Grace Makutsi, has a rival for her fiancé’s affection.

Tea Time is a fine addition to the series. Like the other novels, it has a gentle, relaxing, and rhythmic tone and pattern to it. Smith unravels the tale at a leisurely pace that never seems to drag and rarely fails to entertain. However, the conclusion feels rushed. Within a few pages, most questions and problems are resolved. Such haste is unnecessary and inconsistent with the previous 200 pages. The series is enchanting, and most readers would be willing to invest time in an extra 20 pages.

In another twist, at one point in the novel, Smith hints at darker possibilities for the future. This foreshadowing leads me to wonder if the next novel may have a shift in tone. I am not sure whether I am for such a move or not. The reason I like the series so much is because it is light and easy, yet still realistic-ish. I see enough tragedy in my actual life—I have no need for it in my pleasure reading. For now, though, Tea Time is exactly what I needed for my summer reading.

Guest Blog - Ghost at Work by Carolyn Hart

2009-07-09T12:34:00.003-06:00

I have enjoyed Carolyn Hart’s mysteries for years. I really like her character Henry O who is a retired newsperson. Henry O is a seasoned report who has worked all around the world. Her other leading lady is Annie Darling from the Death on Demand series. I am not a big fan although I have read a few of them. This series of books predates the television series on Hallmark called Mystery Woman about a book store owner who can’t resist getting involved with local homicides. I find Annie just a little irritating. It is really hard to justify her sticking her nose into every murder on the island. The population must be getting small.

Ghost at Work is a whole other approach to solving mysteries. Bailey Ruth is a feisty red head who has been dead for many years. She is sent on an assignment back to her home town to aid a woman who is likely to be accused of murder. A body is about to be discovered in the back porch of the rectory. There’s a little of a feeling that she wrote this one over Christmas after watching It’s a Wonderful Life, but it is entertaining. The characters are interesting and well described. I truly did not anticipate the solution to this murder. . . I have decided that my detecting skills are at an all time low. However, I like a mystery that tempts me to look at the final chapter, but I resisted.

It is unclear in which decade Bailey Ruth died. Possibly the sixties. There is no doubt that she is visiting earth in the 21st century. She is puzzled by cell phones and computers. However, I am not sure if Hart has looked at what anyone is wearing in the last few decades. The ghost has the ability to imagine what she is wearing and it is so. One of her outfits is a purple velour jacket and pants. Are women over 80 still wearing those? Is it possible to buy a set like that? Another anachronism is that the mayor of Adelaide is wearing a beehive hairdo. Maybe Hart needs to get out more.

The book ends with the feeling that there are more Bailey Ruth stories in the making. And sure enough Merry, Merry Ghost is due out on October 27, 2009.

Death of a Witch

2009-06-24T16:43:00.002-06:00

I've had a very lazy reading year (might have something to do with teaching 28 university class hours), but now I'm on summer vacation, I'm back in the U.S., and I have nothing more pressing to do than read.

What was my first choice? An old favorite and friend: Hamish Macbeth. M.C. Beaton's latest, Death of a Witch, did not disappoint. Hamish is as charming as ever as he tracks a serial killer in Lochdubh, Scotland.

Catriona Beldame moves to Lochdubh while Hamish is on holiday in Spain and immediately trouble follows. The village men are spotted visiting the “witch,” and not-too-surprisingly, murder results—in fact, multiple murders.

Despite chronically a killing spree, Death of a Witch is a light and enjoyable read. Hamish is brilliant, and his love life is as tangled as ever. Marion Chesney (aka M.C. Beaton) is now in her 70s, and this is the 25th book in her series. I just hope Hamish finds some sort of romantic happiness before it is too late.

The Shack--The Popular Book That Lacks

2009-06-13T06:42:00.002-06:00

The Shack, by William Paul Young, has earned itself incredible and unexplicable media exposure. Young wrote the book for his children to explain his ideas about God. Young's friends published the book by creating a publishing company after legitamate publishers rejected the work. I know why they rejected the work.

The book has a compelling story that sucks you in and then leaves you floating in a hundred pages of philosophy about God. The compelling story involves a tragedy around Mack's youngest daughter. Mack, turning from God and carrying great sorrow, ends up spending a weekend with the Trinity as he learns to deal with his pain.

The Trinity are portrayed as three beings (who can change appearance) but are somehow linked into one. For example, Mack meets God as a huge, African-American woman with a sense of humor and a love of coooking and a great love for her "boy" Jesus. Mack then spends the weekend learning how God's plan is about love and forgiveness and not about institutions (like religion or commandments).

Youngs's philosophy is often contrary to my own, but that's not what irks me about this book. What irks me is the poor writing, the skimming over of important healing processes, and the complete boredom I found trying to slog through the weekend of philosophy. I'm glad to know what's behind all of the hype, but I really had to force myself to finish this book.

On the positive side, I have to give Young credit for a few things. His message of tolerance and love and forgiveness is positive. His message of a personal relationship with God and Jesus is also wonderful. And if Young had to choose between simply writing his opinion about God vs. encompassing it in a story, I give him credit for choosing a story.

Guest Blog - Sorrow on Sunday by Ann Purser

2009-06-08T08:12:00.010-06:00

For as long as I can remember Canadians have been paying quite a bit more for books than Americans have. If you look at the back of any paperback you will see what I mean. They are pre-priced and often the Canadian price is about three dollars more than the US one. During the past six months, the US dollar has lost its value internationally. At one point the Canadian dollar was on a par with the American dollar. When this happened, I asked the encyclopedia to whom I am married if this was affecting the cost of books in Canada at all. He told me that distributors were complaining about the price of books in Canada. If the dollar was on a par why should Canadians pay more for books?

During our recent stay the Canadian dollar was not par with the American but it was worth 90 American cents for a few days. Because of all of this, I was not totally surprised when I bought a paperback in Montreal that cost only C$7.50 when the American price was $6.99. The truth is I was delighted. I have always felt that publishers were really penalizing their Canadian audience.

The book I bought at the new lower pricing was Sorrow on Sunday by Ann Purser. It has been a long time since I have read one of her books. Of course it is a mystery. It is set in a small town in England and the heroine is a bright woman who is probably around forty. Purser started the series with Murder on Monday in which Lois Meade sets up her own business called New Brooms. She is an efficient and thorough house cleaner and soon discovers that she is just as good as a business woman. Because her job takes her in and out of local homes, the local police detective Hunter Cowgill decides that it is to his advantage to have Lois work with him on a few of his cases.

By Sorrow on Sunday Lois is a well established undercover agent for the police. However, she soon discovers that her work with Cowgill is no longer a secret when she becomes the target of a local crime syndicate. This mystery moves along at a good pace. It is uncomplicated and an easy and entertaining novel. I cannot decide whether I like Lois or not. She probably would have me totally intimidated if she and I were to meet. I am neither sassy nor outspoken.

Since Purser has made it all of the way through the week, her book that came out last November has a new theme, Warning at One. I’ll have to see if I can find it at my local library now that I am on my way back home.

Guest Blog – The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

2009-05-27T15:32:00.002-06:00

The end of the month is drawing near and soon I will be traveling again. Away from Montreal and the McGill library. Therefore I have been trying to read all of the Louise Penny books that I can before leaving. I just finished The Cruelest Month and liked it more than her other mysteries.

Penny’s characters are vivid and believable. They remind me of people that I know. Penny though gives us a brief look at their thoughts and secrets. In the third Three Pines mystery, Clara Morrow still is going unrecognized for her art. Gamache is still being attacked personally from within the Sûreté. This book will bring to close some of the problems that he faces from his own comrades in the police force. Jealousy and revenge are major themes throughout the book. Jealousy of other people’s success and of others’ personal peace and contentment with life.

In life it is often difficult for each of us to find joy in other people’s accomplishment and success. In many ways, I think that is a mark of true friendship. It is not so difficult to commiserate with a friend over the struggles and challenges of life. Too often we discover within ourselves the reluctance to find joy in someone else’s joy or abundance in her life.

Basically that is what this story is about: the husband who is afraid that his wife is more talented than he is, the friend who can’t understand how his life long friend could find such happiness and contentment, the friend who thinks that other people like someone better than themselves. All people that you and I know. Thank goodness Penny manages to have good triumph over evil by the conclusion of her stories. I never have liked those stories where the protagonist dies on the last page.

Guest Blog – Dead Cold by Louise Penny

2009-05-25T07:56:00.003-06:00

I have read only two mysteries written by Penny, but already I am attached to her detective, Armand Gamache. In fact at the end of Dead Cold when I discovered that someone in the Sûreté is out to get Garmache, I was really alarmed and concerned for him. My concern was connected to the fact that it was apparent that this antagonism towards Gamache would continue into the next novel and perhaps the one after that.

Not too surprisingly Dead Cold takes place in the small village of Three Pines at Christmas. The cold atmosphere was so vivid that I decided that I never want to be in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in the winter. Well, let’s make that all of Quebec. I did spend a few days in Quebec City in November several years ago and for the first time in years bought a hat to try to protect my head and ears from the biting cold wind. I haven’t worn the hat again. There has not been a moment since then when I have been exposed to cold as bitter as on that snowless winter day in Quebec City.

In the novel, a woman is electrocuted while sitting by a frozen lake watching a curling match. The first mystery in the story was ‘how could this have happened?’ Despite the fact that it is a murder mystery, Penny had me laughing out loud while reading. I had to struggle to resist boring my husband with another really funny incident in the novel just as the police officer had to fight the urge to blow on his hands to warm them while sitting inside the very cold house of Ruth Zardo.

Dead Cold was amusing and at the same time sad. Not all of the characters I grew fond of while reading made it to the end of the novel. I hope that Louise Penny finds readership south of the border. She is well worth reading. I am grateful to a friend in the United States who suggested that I look for her books.

Guest Blog - Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs

2009-05-23T10:10:00.003-06:00

I learned about Kathy Reichs last summer while I was staying in Toronto and reading crime mysteries written by Canadian authors. I mistakenly thought that Reichs was one since she works out of Montreal as well as North Carolina. However, she is actually a native of Chicago and received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. However, her first book Déjà Dead won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel in 1997. The television series Bones is based on her novels. Although I have not actually watched one of the episodes, after reading Grave Secrets I have an incentive.

Grave Secrets is not centered around deaths in either Montreal or Raleigh. The main character and voice in Reichs' mysteries is Temperance Brennan who like Reichs is a forensic anthropologist. The story begins in Guatemala where Tempe is volunteering her time to help identify the remains of Mayan people who were killed during the civil war that lasted from 1962 to 1996. The remains of twenty-three women and children have been lying at the bottom of a well since 1982. Tempe and her team are there to retrieve the bones and identify them so that they can be properly buried by their families.

The mystery is intriguing and the story moves quickly. It never gets bogged down anywhere, but if you have too much imagination, the retrieval of a decomposed body from a septic tank may be too graphic. Since I am in Montreal at the moment, I was pleased that Brennan returns to Montreal for a part of the novel. It was fun to be able to recognize where her neighborhood is located and where the holding cells are.

I thoroughly enjoyed Reichs and am looking forward to reading other mysteries written by her. However, there was one aspect of the story that nagged at me. Throughout the book, Brennan asks herself again and again and again, “Will the killing never end?” She is so tired of death. I wanted very much to yell at her, “Get a grip, woman! If you are tired of dead bodies, change your profession!” I’ll let you know if in Reichs' later novels, Brennan is less likely to bemoan the fact that she is surrounded by dead bodies.

Guest Blog – Dragon Bones by Lisa See

2009-05-18T08:48:00.003-06:00

Two years ago I read Flower Net, the first mystery by Lisa See. The protagonists are David Stark, an American attorney from San Francisco, and Liu Hulan, a top investigator in China’s security force. Liu is from a prominent family in Beijing but was actually educated in the United States. She and Stark first met when they were attorneys in the same firm in San Francisco.

In Dragon Bones the two are married and mourning the lose of their daughter who died from meningitis when she was three years old. Liu is dealing with the lose by isolating herself and seldom interacting with Stark. Liu’s old mentor Zai sends the two of them off to investigate the death of an American archeologist on the Yangzi River close to the Three Gorges. A huge dam is under construction that will flood the Three Gorges and displace millions of peasants. Archeologists are frantically digging and searching for artifacts before the dam is completed and the area is flooded permanently.

Dragon Bones was published in 2003 before the dam was completed. Needless to say one of my first breaks in reading was to look at the Three Gorges dam on the Internet. It was completed in part in 2006 but is not scheduled to be fully operational until 2011 . The dam was created to supply China with energy that is so badly needed as the country becomes an industrial nation.

The book is filled with discussions about Chinese history and folklore. If you are interested in the ancient history and folk tales of China, the book is filled with information. If you are a casual mystery reader like myself, you will need to be patient and determined to make it through the information. I have realized that I have only a very basic knowledge of the nation and know even less about China’s creation stories.

Overall I am glad that I read the book. I certainly have learned a lot more about China and its ancient civilizations. Part of the book involves the dead archeologist’s interest in the development of written language. I found this interesting since I was aware that all of the Asian languages with characters owe their roots to China. Japan although it has an ancient history had no written language until it started having commerce with China.

If you are looking for a good book about the early Chinese immigrants to the United States, I highly recommend See's book On Gold Mountain. I found the early history of See's ascendants fascinating. I came away from reading it with a much greater respect for those determined and hard working men who came to a hostile environment to help better the lives of their families in China.

Guest Blog – Still Life by Louise Penny

2009-05-14T07:52:00.006-06:00

Canadian author Louise Penny is relatively new on the mystery writing scene. Her first book, Still Life published in 2005, won the New Blood Dagger in Britain and the Arthur Ellis Award in Canada for best first crime novel. Since then she has received more awards for her writing. Her novel, The Cruelest Month, won the Agatha Award..

It was by chance that I picked her first novel off the bookshelves at McGill’s library. It was a good introduction to her inspector, Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec and the small town of Three Pines.

Penny lives in a small town south of Montreal close to the US border. That is the setting of Three Pines. Still Life is a very comfortable cozy mystery and I enjoyed it very much. I decided early on who the murder was and was surprised when I discovered that I was wrong in the last few pages. Of course, if I had been thinking while I was reading, I would have seen the clues leading to the revelation of the killer. I am not sure whether Penny is available in the US. Probably not at my local library. I might have to try to read more of her novels in the next few weeks before I head back to the United States. I liked her inspector and I liked her character Clara Morrow in this first novel. When I read about Penny on the Internet I was delight to find that both Gamache and Clara appear in later books. Another good reason to read more Penny.

Guest Blog - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

2009-05-13T19:09:00.002-06:00

If you have not had a chance to watch the new HBO television shows from Alexander McCall Smith's series of books about Precious Ramotswe and her friends, I hope you will put it on your list of DVDs to rent when they come out. Both my husband and I have enjoyed watching the unfolding tale of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. We look forward to Sunday night and are grateful that we can watch missed episodes on HBO On Demand.

This is such a great adaptation of the books. And if you have not discovered the books, I highly recommend that you read them. They are more than good mysteries, they are a gentle and frequently amusing look at the strengths and failings of man/womankind. Happy reading and watching!

Guest Blog – Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

2009-05-11T07:34:00.005-06:00

Nothing to Lose was released in the paperback edition this spring. Child’s novels are usually around 400 pages long. This one had another one hundred. And I got bogged down in the middle. Probably largely motivated by the fact that my reading materials were limited, I slogged on.

The villain in this story is a man who owns the metal recycling plant in a small town called Despair in Colorado. Thurman not only owns the only place of employment but he owns his employees' homes as well. On top of that he is the local preacher at the only church in town. Thurman is a believer in the rapture and in Armageddon. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that he is a fanatic.

I am not exactly sure why I enjoyed Tripwire (see an earlier blog) so much and struggled through Nothing to Lose. Perhaps it was because in Tripwire, Child allows us to see what the antagonist is doing while Reacher is slowly gathering facts and information. I had a sense of two forces building and getting ready to collide at the end of the novel.

Nothing to Lose is well constructed but there was just something that rubbed against me. Perhaps it is the fact that although I don’t believe in ‘the rapture,’ I do believe in respecting other people’s religious beliefs. I am aware that there are extremists among all followers of religious or philosophical thought, but the small town in the middle of nowhere that was a fortress against the world did not sit well with me. I have never been a fan of the story where the stranger walks into a small town and discovers that the whole town is evil and out to get him. Nothing to Lose just didn’t work for me.

Guest Blog – A Murder of Quality by John le Carré

2009-05-09T08:45:00.004-06:00

When I was a teenager, I saw The Spy Who Came in From the Cold with Richard Burton. I have not seen it since but I still remember Burton’s performance and the chilling ending. The book itself established le Carré as an author. Since then I have seen George Smiley played by Sir Alec Guinness on Masterpiece Theatre. He is quiet and unobtrusive with a very sharp mind. But I have never read any of le Carré’s books until now.

With small tight type, A Murder of Quality is only 150 pages long. When I picked the book up, I hoped that it would be a satisfying read. It didn’t disappoint me. It had a few conversations between its characters that left me feeling as if I was an uneducated participant on the sidelines. However, I am used to that from reading authors such as Dorothy Sayers. British authors of a certain period seem to have this desire to show off their education by quoting Latin or spouting intellectual piffle. 'Piffle,' by the way, is a good Lord Peter Wimsey word if I remember correctly.

I found the book interesting largely because the victim of the book is describe by various acquaintances in very different terms. Some say she was gauche, some say she was kind and went out of her way to help others. It isn’t until the end of the book that the reader discovers what Stella was really like. The discovery changes one’s perspective completely.

I don’t think that John le Carré is reading for everyone. Younger readers might find him stuffy and dismiss him. However, this is only his second novel. I am interested in reading something more recent. In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoyed A Murder of Quality. It was certainly a very nice and sophisticated break from reading Lee Child.

Guest Blog – Eyes of a Stranger by Rachel Ann Nunes

2009-05-06T09:24:00.004-06:00

I have a friend who seems to read only fiction written by authors who are LDS. She reads mysteries. Obviously there is a market out there and my friend and co-worker helps support it. She frequently gives me books for my birthday or eagerly lends one to me saying, “This is so good. You’ll love it.” Being a loyal friend, I reluctantly accept her offerings. One of the more recent loans was Eyes of a Stranger.

Some of the authors I have read in this niche of books, are not much more skilled than a senior in high school. Rachel Ann Nunes is better than that. Her mystery takes place in Portland, Oregon and is centered around the destruction of the Hawthorne Bridge. It has never actually collapsed in "real life." It did burn down in 1902 and was replaced by the current lift bridge. The novel has romance and mystery. And a bit of a twist at the end.

I don’t think I am going to give up reading mass market paperbacks, but it was a pleasant excursion into a gentler area of fiction. By the way, this book has no references to religion. Possibly Nunes was hoping to bring in a wider readership.

Guest Blog – Tripwire by Lee Child

2009-05-04T07:41:00.003-06:00

I keep telling myself that I am going to start reading best sellers, classics or something intellectually stimulating. So far it hasn’t happened. When I was looking for something to read on a cross country flight, I bought a Lee Child mystery/thriller. It took no time at all for me to become engrossed in Tripwire. In fact, I wanted life to quit getting in the way of reading.

Tripwire is a story that has its roots in the Vietnam conflict. Therefore the villain is from my generation. Every time that I read a Lee Child I feel certain that the next book cannot possibly have a bad guy worse than the one in the novel I am reading. Somehow though they always manage to horrify me with their evil deeds. Hobie in Tripwire is certainly no exception. He has a scarred face from severe burns and has lost his right hand. In place of the hand he has a hook that has a razor capability. He uses the hook to intimidate and injure people who get in his way.

It takes the entire novel for Reacher to come face to face with this evil man. And the ending is surprising. I will tell you that Reacher meets the love of his life and I am curious to know how and why he goes back to wandering the country leaving her behind. I guess I will have to check out the next book in the series, Running Blind.

Child is enthralling but he does have his flaws. Of course, this is not great literature, but that doesn’t bother me. This time he totally gets it wrong by saying that the guys going to Vietnam all wanted to be Frank Sinatra. I wonder how he got his timeline and wars so mixed up. Sinatra was the idol during WW II. Who do you suppose guys wanted to be in the late sixties? I have no idea. Certainly in Good Morning, Vietnam no Sinatra recordings were played.

Guest Blog - Shrink Rap by Robert B. Parker

2009-04-16T19:21:00.004-06:00

I just finished my second book about Sunny Randall. This one was slower going for me. I actually did the laundry and loaded the dishwasher instead of throwing all responsibility aside to read the book.

In Shrink Rap, Sunny Randall is hired as an escort and bodyguard for a woman novelist who is being stalked by her ex-husband. Her ex turns out to be a psychiatrist who became her lover while she was still his patient. Sunny decides that she is going undercover to learn more about the stalker, John Melville, and ends up putting herself in peril in order to trap or entrap the "shrink."

There is not a lot of sexual detail. Parker stays true to his past form. However, as Sunny places herself in a situation where she may be "gang" rapped by men in monogrammed shirts and suits, I felt really uncomfortable. Parker was able to convey the concern that Sunny and her close friends feel as she contemplates putting herself at risk. But being a cynic, I could not help but wonder if there were men who read the end of the book and felt excited about the dramatic scene while I was feeling panicky despite knowing it was "only" a book. Fortunately, I will never know. I would hope that the male portion of the population felt sympathy for the victims. Overall there was just a little too much mental illness or just plain weirdness in this novel for my liking.

Guest Blog- Perish Twice by Robert B. Parker

2009-04-09T12:09:00.003-06:00

I had no trouble finding some of Parker's novels about Sunny Randall. And no trouble getting lost in the pages and finishing the book in a very short time. In this story, Sunny's sister comes to her to have her shadow her husband to find out if he is cheating on her. Sunny's best friend is bored with her marriage and having an affair. Sunny herself is recently divorced but keeps on seeing her ex-husband Richie. A powerful women's rights advocat comes to Sunny because she is being stalked by a man who talks about "slapping bitches." Soon someone turns up dead.

I am not sure that Sunny sounds very different from Jesse Stone. I am not totally sure that she really has a woman's voice, but she is enjoyable and the book was absorbing. This particular book had just about every type of sexual relationship that women have except a healthy marriage. The relationships ran the gamut from prostitution to unhappy marriage and lesbian commitment.

Like the Jesse Stone books there is just a sprinkling of rough language and sexual relationships are conducted off the page. I like both of these factors. In Perish Twice, Sunny ably solves the mystery. And I am ready to try another book featuring this feisty female detective.

Guest Blog - Die Trying

2009-04-02T10:35:00.003-06:00

I really did not plan to stay awake half the night finishing Lee Child’s Die Trying. If my husband was not out of town, I am sure I would have been sensible and would have closed the book with 200 pages left to read instead of reading all of the way to the end. By the way, I am handicapped by being a very slow reader.

Ironically I got halfway through the book and wondered whether I really wanted to read it all or just skip to the last pages. The story is about the kidnapping of an FBI agent in Chicago. Jack Reacher is in the wrong place at the wrong time and he gets picked up and pushed into the car with Holly Johnson. So many of their attempts to escape fail and when they finally do escape but are quickly recaptured, I was about to give up on the novel. If I had, I would have missed out on a lot of action and on Jack managing to outwit the head of the militia.

Just a few days ago I watched a repeat of NCIS where weapons stolen from the Marines were being bought illegally by a right wing militia group. The buyers drove up in their Humvees dressed in military uniforms. It took a moment for me to realize that these men in uniform were not a legitimate military group. It was easy to carry that image over to Die Trying. The kidnappers turn out to be a militia group that is determined to establish a new independent nation within the United States with a government like the Founding Fathers intended.

At over 400 pages of small print, Lee Child is not a fast read for me, but I keep going back to read about this loner’s action-packed adventures. I am learning a lot about military weapons. Since I am definitely a pacifist at heart, I am sure the knowledge will really pay off in the future.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

2009-03-29T17:24:00.004-06:00

Just a quick note. Thanks to my review reading children, I am aware that tonight HBO will air a pilot for The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. Most of the media has good things to say about it and imdb.com already has a page about it. I am ready to enjoy the series and to be beguiled. See you tomorrow morning to see what you thought about it.

Guest Blog - Night and Day by Robert B. Parker

2009-03-29T17:07:00.002-06:00

It feels as if I haven’t read anything in weeks. I have started several books and have not got beyond the beginning chapters. Then I got notification that the new Jesse Stone was available for me to pick up at the local library. I was caught from the first page and before I knew it I had finished Night and Day.

As usual, I could see the whole story played out with Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone. And I could hear his voice with every line and I could see Kathy Baker and Kohl Sudduth as his two sidekicks. For some reason on the TV series Molly played by Viola Davis has morphed into Rose. She is still Molly in the books but I now have Baker in my head.

Will I spoil the story for you if I tell you that this is not a story about a murder investigation? Instead it is a tale of obsession. Obsession on many levels afflicting various people and destroying their lives or preventing them from moving forward with their lives. It is a good story and a quick and enjoyable read.

Sunny Randall is back in this Jesse Stone story. I like her. She too has an obsession with her ex that is keeping her from moving on. While browsing, I discovered that Robert B. Parker has several books that are about her. I will have to check the library and find out if any of the books featuring Randal are carried there. I have never got into the “Spenser for Hire” ones, but I would like to read about her. I wonder if Jesse Stone shows up in the pages.

So if you have run into a reading block, I recommend this new one by Parker. He might get you past the beginnings of the best sellers or biographies that you have been trying to read and back into the middle of a book.

Guest Blog - Killing a Unicorn

2009-03-15T17:00:00.004-06:00

I spent last week visiting three of my granddaughters. The youngest who is not quite three years old had me read some witch stories again and again. I don’t remember being attracted to witch stories when I was little. However, I did notice that at the end of all of the tales, the wicked witch received a just punishment. Maybe Camille’s enjoyment of reading witch stories gives her the same reassurance that justice can prevail as a good mystery with a satisfactory ending brings to me.

I did find time to read Killing a Unicorn by Marjorie Eccles on my trip. I still have not read any of Eccles’ books about Gil Mayo. Killing a Unicorn is a cozy murder mystery where it doesn’t take long for the police to realize that the murder of Bibi must have been committed by someone in the family.

The story was satisfactorily interesting and so were the characters, but I did not feel comfortable with the author’s shifts from past tense to present tense throughout the story. “Forty minutes later, Fran steps off the train...” just does not feel comfortable to me as a reader. The use of the present tense did not give me any sense of being right there in the action of the story. The words were still there on the page that was apparently printed in 2002.

Other than that quirk of the author, it was an enjoyable novel with a few twists that I did not expect. The wicked were punished and the innocent resolved their problems. A comfortable ending.

However, I never quite understood the title of the novel either. I have always associated the killing of a unicorn to an act of wanton violence. The dead woman in the story does not turn out to be the kind and caring person that she seemed at first glance. Definitely not a person who is gentle and good like a unicorn or without enemies.

Guest Blog - The Unexpected Guest

2009-03-05T16:03:00.004-07:00

The Unexpected Guest is the adaptation of an Agatha Christie stage play by Charles Osborne. According to an afterword by Osborne, the play was written in four weeks by Christie. It opened in Bristol in 1958 and played successfully in London for 18 months. The adaptation by Osborne was copyrighted in 1999.

I was hoping for another Agatha Christie novel. The Unexpected Guest does not fulfill that wish. It reads very much like a stage play despite the fact that Mr. Osborne takes some of the action outdoors. Like a good Christie work there is no unnecessary conversation. All of the information you are given leads to the solution of the mystery. However, the solution became apparent to me early on in the story. Have I read her mysteries too often? Is it the fact that I am an older reader? I am not sure if someone less aware of Christie’s stories would be deceived or not.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I would love to hear if anyone else was unsurprised by the conclusion. Do not read Wikipedia's information on the book because it gives away the ending. By the way, Charles Osborne seems to be a bit of a mystery man himself. The internet does not seem to have the final word on him. In a site mentioning that he has written several books about music, it makes no mention of his adapting several Christie plays into novels. The best information I could find on him was inside the back cover of the paperback I just read.

Guest Blog - The Camomile Lawn

2009-03-01T18:51:00.004-07:00

I am so glad that the Bookrater’s blog is subtitled “or what I'm reading now.” I am not reading anything intellectual. In fact it was several years ago that I read The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley. However, I came across the DVD of the novel the other day at the library and just had to check it out. Needless to say, there was way too much sex for my taste when I read the book. I should not have been surprised that the televised version was the same. I think I saw more nudity in this series than I have ever encountered before. Perhaps that is partly due to the fact that it was a mini series produced in the UK with five episodes. But I kept on watching even though I resorted to fast forwarding through a few conversations between individuals in their all together.

I was attracted to the novel in the first place because it is the story of an English family. The story covers the summer of 1939 and continues into the years that Britain was at war. All of the young people who are carefree while visiting their Aunt Helena in Cornwall with the lawn planted in camomile find themselves dealing with the world as it changes when their nation goes to war. Of course all of the young men join the military. One of the girls goes to work for the war office.

This looked like my type of book until I got into it a bit. I did not read about Mary Wesley until I watched the DVD this past week though. She was born in 1912 but did not have her first adult novel published until she was 71 years old. Over the next twenty years she had several best sellers. I noticed that the Sunday Times obituary writer seemed to be sympathetic with my view of her novel. “But the vast amount of time her characters spend thinking about bedroom matters was, perhaps, both her selling point and her one shortcoming as a writer. Occasionally, one could not escape the suspicion that she was going out of her way intentionally to shock.”

By the end of The Camomile Lawn I had come to the conclusion that not one person in her novel had any sense of sexual morality. The uncle put his hands up the skirts of little girls, the young adults slept with everyone they met and even the ten year old in the story confesses at a funeral forty some years later that her first sexual encounter was with a family friend who was about forty years her senior.

In a depressed mood, I picked up D.E. Stevenson’s novel about post WW II at the library. Mrs. Tim Gets a Job is the story of an army wife who decides to get a job while her husband is stationed in Egypt and her two children are away at school. Hester ends up assisting the owner of a bed and breakfast in Scotland. On one occasion Mrs. Tim and Erica discuss the behavior of a Mrs. Ovens whose husband is still posted aboard in the military.

“About that lady.”
“Nasty piece of work!”
”Erica,” I say in a lower voice, “There’s something odd going on between her and Mr. Wick. Perhaps I should have told you before but...”
“Something odd!” exclaims Erica fiercely, “What a way to talk! I hate mimsey-mouthed people - why can’t you call a spade a spade!”
I am so roused by the accusation of euphemisms that I tell Erica in Elizabethan language exactly what I suspect (Stevenson, p 138-9).

This exchange recorded by Stevenson is exactly my kind of reference to sexual encounters on the page. She left no doubt of what was going on and left me chuckling over their conversation.
Undoubtedly because of authors like Wesley, I keep on reading mysteries. Even with mysteries I prefer discreet references to the characters' love lives and sketchy information about violence. There is a long list of best sellers by Mary Wesley but I don’t think I am going to be checking them out at the library or looking for them on Amazon.com.

Guest blog - Reflex by Dick Francis

2009-02-24T12:45:00.006-07:00

I thought that I had read all of the mysteries written by Dick Francis. However, I picked up a novel at the local thrift store for only 50 cents and soon discovered that it was a new story to me.

Reflex has all of the elements of a Francis novel. Philip Nore is a jump jockey as Francis was in his own life. That makes him medium height but still constantly watching his weight so that he is not too heavy to ride. Steeplechase jockeys ride on courses about two miles long and encounter ditches, fences and hedges along the way. In all of the Francis novels I have read, steeplechasing is described as a dangerous sport. It is not uncommon for rider and horse to come down after misjudging a gate and subsequently be trodden on by the horses following. This by itself makes for a tough hero well acquainted with pain. Usually in a Dick Francis mystery the ability to endure pain pays off because each hero is at some point beaten by the bad guys. However, unlike a few writers I have read, Francis always has a satisfactory ending. And I am definitely addicted to the just if not legal ending for a mystery.

In this story the death of a photographer happens before the story opens. It is not until you are well into the novel that it becomes apparent that the death was not an accident. Philip Nore becomes entangled in clues left behind by the photographer and soon finds himself in danger. Of course, there is a sprinkling of romance as well. This is an older novel written when I think that Francis was at the height of his career. Definitely an enjoyable tale.

Guest blog – 13 For Luck

2009-02-16T13:18:00.004-07:00

A few evenings ago, I found myself waiting for my husband who was in a meeting. Reading a collection of thirteen short stories by Agatha Christie was the perfect way to pass the time. My battered paperback copy of 13 For Luck was published by Dell in 1968. The spine says that it sold for 50 cents. It is probably still available at your local library or perhaps at a used book store. I think that it is only available as a used book. Agatha Christie’s books featuring Poirot or Miss Marple keep turning up in new publications at the local bookstore. However, this group of stories features problem solvers that many Christie fans might not have heard about before.

Not too surprisingly there are 13 stories in this collection. Several of them feature Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Tuppence and Tommy Beresford have one story while Christopher Parker Pyne and the invisible Mr. Harley Quin have two each. Inspector Evans seems to have appeared in one short story only.

I think this is a great little collection of stories. Each detective is introduced in a short paragraph or two on the page before the first story. In about 20 pages each of the mysteries is presented and resolved by one of Christie’s brilliant solvers. Good short mysteries and perfect for sitting in the doctor’s office or waiting for half an hour for someone to finish a meeting. However, be forewarned, once you have read one, you will want to finish all of the stories. And probably go check out an Agatha Christie that you haven’t read for a few years. I recommend the Tommy and Tuppence stories. They haven’t been on television recently so they might feel completely new even to an old fan like me.

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

2009-02-13T07:09:00.001-07:00

Oscar is overweight, a sci-fi aficionado, and a sucker for beautiful—and not so beautiful—women. Not too surprisingly, he lacks the “mojo” emanating from all his Dominican relatives and neighbors and suffers because of his quirks.

Oscar's ups and downs are detailed in Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The novel jumps between Oscar's life and those of his older sister, Lola, and mother, Beli. Though they live in New Jersey, their fates are inextricably tied to the Dominican Republic and their ancestors there.

I was not overly drawn to or sympathetic with either Oscar or Beli. The only family member I truly cared about, was interested in, and related to was Lola, a loyal, loving, and patient sister.

In fact, perhaps the most intriguing and involving character in the novel is the Dominican Republic itself. Using mostly footnotes, Diaz explains the tragic politics in the DR's not-so-distant past. To my shame, I knew very little, if anything, about the area and had never even heard of the despot Trujillo before reading the novel. Oscar Wao gives an enlightening yet entertaining education on DR history and left me with a desire to research (and verify) more about these historical events.

Diaz has a casual writing style. The narrator relates Oscar's tale in a conversational, and thus often vulgar, tone. I found the storytelling comfortable and inviting (like listening to one of my male colleagues), but some readers may be turned off by a free use of profanity and sexuality.

Oscar Wao is an absorbing novel. Though I certainly would not have declared it the best book of the year, it is a good read for anyone interested in contemporary literature or Caribbean history.

Guest Blog - Bad Luck and Trouble

2009-02-12T13:58:00.008-07:00

In Bad Luck and Trouble, it is through a deposit into his bank account that Jack Reacher finds out that one of his ex-army colleagues wants to speak to him. When he meets with Neagley, he discovers that one of the special team of investigators that they belonged to has been murdered. Together with two other former MPs, Reacher and Neagley set out to discover who was responsible for their friend’s horrible death. Unfortunately, they discover that he was not alone. In fact, he was not the first of their friends to be thrown alive out of a helicopter at 3000 feet.

In the end, the four friends discover the treachery that led to the deaths of their old friends. The build up to the story seemed a bit slow to me, but the novel has a fast action and violent finish. When Reacher meets up with the men who killed his friends, he discovers that revenge holds little satisfaction. There is no way to compensate for the loss of those you love. Nothing can bring them back.

Despite the fact that Reacher regrets the passage of time without seeing his old friends, it seems likely that he is not going to schedule time with his remaining friends any time soon. I wonder where Lee Child will place him in his next novel.

Guest Blog - One Shot

2009-02-08T14:50:00.005-07:00

Lee Child does not write cozy English mysteries and Jack Reacher is not a conventional hero. He is an ex-military police officer who has left the army and convention behind. After living a life regulated by Army rules, Reacher has chosen a life of wandering. He not only doesn’t own a home, he doesn’t own a suitcase. When the clothes he is wearing become dirty or torn, he simply purchases new ones and discards the old. He puts his clothes under the mattress at night so that they will look pressed in the morning.

This unconventional hero does have qualities that make him larger than life. He is a smart and meticulous investigator. He has an uncanny sense of survival. Despite the clothes under the mattress and the disposable razors, Reacher has appeal.

One Shot begins with a sniper shooting five people as they leave their office building after work. Everything leads the investigators to a former US Army sniper. When arrested, James Barr says little in his defense. He asks the DA to “Get Reacher for me.” In Miami Reacher hears about the slayings and immediately gets on a bus headed for Indiana and what looks like an open and shut case.

I could hardly put down the book. Life just kept getting in the way of reading the next chapter. Now that I have finished the book, I am not really sure whether Child is a good writer or not. Was it just the action? Was it the plot? Was I attracted to the characters? It is pretty obvious that no one from this novel is going to make it into the next book I read by Child. After all, Reacher just got on another bus and headed for a different city.

One Shot had a very satisfying if violent ending. Reacher found the bad guys and rescued the innocent victims. There was a sense of justice that brought me satisfaction. I am looking forward to reading another of his mysteries and meeting Jack Reacher again. Even if he is wearing the same clothes he had on three days ago.

Guest Blog – Death Cap by June Thomson

2009-01-25T16:49:00.004-07:00

During the extremely icy and snowy first weeks of this month, I returned all of my library books and did not check out any others. Because of that I had to resort to going through the old paperbacks around my house. When I do that, I frequently find books I have read before but can remember nothing about. This time I picked up an unknown author, June Thomson. Thanks to the internet I have been able to discover that she was born in 1930 and published a new novel as recently as 2006. Death Cap was her second mystery and it was published in 1971. As I was browsing the Internet, I kept coming across information saying that she has written mystery novels about Sergeant Tom Boyce and Detective Chief Inspector Jack Finch. Well, DCI Finch did not feature in the novel that I read but Death Cap was there clustered among those with presumably these two leading characters. Finally I came across a site that explained the conflict. Apparently for some reason Finch became Rudd in the novels when they were published in the United States. At the time the novels flew across the Atlantic, was Jack Finch a well known name in other circles? I don’t know.

Death Cap typifies the cozy English novel. It has all of the elements of a good “home by the winter fire” read. Small town. Just a handful of suspects. In fact I have realized that there is very little difference between a cozy mystery written in 1971 versus one written in 1931. Technology had yet to burst upon the scene. Is it the 1990s before DNA testing and computers and cell phones changed how every mystery would be written? I love mysteries but am not an expert in the genre. Even at that, do you realize that 1990 was almost 20 years ago? I think that mysteries will never be written the same as the days when Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie were writing.

Death Cap is the investigation into a seemingly accidental death from eating a poisonous fungus mixed in with mushrooms. The tedious police procedural is well defined. It becomes apparent that it was no accident that the amanita phalloides found its way into the farmer’s field of mushrooms, but is there any way to discover who is responsible for putting them there or of finding enough evidence to arrest that person? That is the real mystery in this novel. Thomson manages to produce a very satisfying ending to this bucolic puzzle.

Although there were times when I felt that the novel was moving slowly, I will be checking to see if some of Thomson’s more recent mysteries are in my local library. I will also be interested to find out whether it is Finch or Rudd who is the DCI.

Guest Blog - Dewey

2009-01-11T14:19:00.003-07:00

At first glance Dewey may appear to be a book that only cat lovers and owners would enjoy. However, the book is more than the biography of an orange cat who came to live in the library. Vicki Myron with Bret Witter also tells the story of her own life with its many challenges and successes. Besides her story and Dewey’s, she relates the struggles of small towns and family farmers in the Midwest.

On a cold morning in January 1988, Myron and a co-worker found an abandoned kitten in the metal book drop box of their library in Spencer, Iowa. He was a fragile little animal with frost bitten paws and so filthy they had no idea that he was a long haired marmalade cat. The staff of the library decided to keep this tiny stray and soon called him Dewey (as in the library numbering system) Readmore Books. It also is a good question for a librarian to ask.

Since the Blogger happens to be a librarian, I found it interesting to read about Myron’s own journey to become a librarian and to read about her strong feelings about what role a library should play in a community. For example, she told about a neighboring town whose library loaned cake pans in different shapes and forms. You could check out a pan that looked like Garfield or a school bus, I suppose. Dewey himself turned out to be a draw that brought people who had never visited into the library. In fact he turned into a national celebrity.

Even though I knew the outcome of this story (after all cats rarely live to be twenty), I enjoyed following Dewey’s and Myron’s progress through the years. I also appreciated the intimate look at the demise of farms, small schools and even small towns as the nation moved from a rural society to an urban one. I have traveled past cornfields and sunflowers for as far as the eye can see while crossing our nation by automobile, but I have never got out to really look at the corn. Myron says it grows to be ten feet tall in Iowa.

By the way, we happen to have two cats. One we rescued from a shelter. The other is a throw away cat that no one wanted. They have very different personalities. One is a bully who nips at me. The other is a snuggler who touches his nose to mine. Dewey reminded me a lot of the cats I have known in my life. Thank goodness none of them had an addiction to eating rubber bands as Dewey did. You’ll have to read this feel good book to discover more about him. This is not a classic but I think you might enjoy it.

Guest Blog – Secret Santa: A Novel

2009-01-02T21:17:00.004-07:00

About two years ago I read several Christmas stories. I read John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas, David Baldacci’s The Christmas Train and Robert Tate Miller’s and Beth Polson’s Secret Santa: A Novel. By far the story that I most enjoyed was Secret Santa. It is the story of a young reporter who constantly ends up doing the fluff pieces for the newspaper. More than anything Rebecca Chandler wants to be taken seriously as an investigative reporter. When her dreams of the future and for Christmas fall through, she sets out to prove that she can unearth the truth behind a small town’s secret Santa. Every Christmas for several years someone has given a much needed gift to a town resident during the holiday season.

As Rebecca tries to unearth the identity of the town’s benefactor, she falls under the spell of the little community and the kind people who live there. I will not be a spoiler and tell you how the story ends. That is part of the mystery. As I read the novel, I felt certain that eventually she would find out who the generous individual was, but the question was what would she do with that knowledge. I will just tell you that Miller and Polson do not disappoint. They keep the Christmas magic going until the last page.

I recently had the chance to see the television production of Secret Santa and was not disappointed. On imdb.com the only review said that it was apparent who the Secret Santa was early in the show. I did not have the same experience reading the book. The end was a delightful surprise.

Now that Christmas is over, I guess I will have to put my decorations and seasonal story books back into their boxes. I feel a little sad about doing so. There is nothing I enjoy much more than a good holiday story. Now where did I put that mystery I put aside at the beginning of December?

Guest Blog – A Christmas Dress for Ellen

2008-12-25T12:41:00.004-07:00

Along with the Christmas decorations stored in the basement, I have a basket full of favorite Christmas books. One that I recently acquired is A Christmas Dress for Ellen. This is a charming story retold by Thomas S. Monson who is now the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The story is about the Jeppson family living in Southern Alberta in 1927. After two years of failed crops, the family is facing not only a bleak Christmas but a cold hard winter with little fuel or food to feed the family. The miracle occurs when a courageous mail carrier braves a winter storm to travel to the tiny town of Hillspring to deliver presents to the forlorn family.

It is a good Christmas story but a great deal of its appeal for me is that my father, Bob Fisher, was born and raised in Hill Spring, Alberta. In a small self-published book, Reflections at Christmas, my father told a couple of Christmas stories that tell about the perils of winter in Southern Alberta. One of the stories is similar to the one told by President Monson. In the Fisher story a neighbor comes to the rescue and battles his way through the snow to deliver the family’s Christmas package on the eve of that important day. Without his valiant efforts, the stockings of all the children would have been empty when they woke in the morning.

Another winter tale that Bob tells is about his father Peirce Fisher traveling by horse drawn sleigh in a storm that became increasingly severe. On the Blood Reservation he had to cross a gully that had only one bridge spanning it. As weariness settled in, Peirce walked more slowly with every step. Finally he gave in to the bone tiredness that he felt and leaned against his horse and fell asleep. Out of the blizzard a voice spoke to him, “Wake up, Wake up. You die.” This Indian angel who came in answer to Pierce’s prayer led him across the bridge. With his help, the horse and Grandpa Fisher made it home safely. For years afterward, Peirce looked into the face of every Blood tribe member that he saw, but he never recognized his savior from that winter night. However, he always treated each person with kindness and consideration.

I love the tales of Christmas miracles and of people’s kindness towards each other. This season leaves me with the desire to keep a bit of Christmas with me all through the year. And like my grandfather treat each person I meet with dignity and kindness. May this holiday season leave you with a touch of the season’s magic and kindness.

Guest Blog – Touching Spirit Bear

2008-12-17T09:55:00.004-07:00

Once in awhile I am ready to take a break from mystery novels, so when this book was recommended to me, I thought I would read it. After all I have been reading all of the James D. Doss books at the local library featuring Charlie Moon who is a Ute.

If I had a young son who was struggling to read, Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is a story that I would urge him to try. The novel is about Cole Matthews who is a 15 year old juvenile offender. Cole has always been in trouble and has always been angry. When a fellow classmate reports to the police that Cole has bragged about a break-in and robbery, Cole seeks revenge on the tattle tale. He attacks Peter and in his rage beats Peter’s head against the sidewalk. Only the interference of someone else prevents him from actually beating Peter to death.

While awaiting trial, Cole is assigned to Garvey a Tlingit tribe parole officer. It is likely that Cole with his long record of violence and larceny will be tried as an adult. Garvey intervenes and believing that the smooth talking Cole might actually be ready to change his life, recommends Cole for Circle Justice. Circle Justice is a community effort to rehabilitate offenders. The process of this system is a bit on the long side in Mikaelsen’s novel but it does give crucial background for the story. We discover that Cole has been beaten and neglected by his alcoholic father with the quiet acquiescence of his submissive drinking mother. He sees his world as a place where the only control he can have is through intimidation of others.

After months of waiting, the Circle of Justice determines that it will allow Cole to participate in their plan for healing his anger and abusiveness. He is to spend a year alone on an island just off the coast of Alaska. Shortly after arriving there, Cole sees the large white bear known as the Spirit Bear. In his anger and rage, Cole attacks the bear. Of course, the bear in defense of himself lashes out. For several days, Cole lies in the continuous rain with broken ribs and pelvis and multiple fractures in his right arm. Mosquitoes prey upon the torn flesh in his chest and rodents and seagulls come to participate in the feast. Broken and fragile, Cole struggles to remain alive despite his injuries.

The attack by the Spirit Bear happens early in the novel. The story is about Cole’s gradual acceptance of responsibility for his behavior and the slow process of healing and finding hope. Mikaelsen is able to make the angry and defiant Cole very real without resorting to using the kind of language that as a reader I have no doubt that he used. There is a sense of hope to the story despite the fact that the author makes it very clear that cycles of abuse are often passed from one generation to another. The abuse affects all of the community and there are no simple answers for healing violent and broken souls or healing the neighborhoods they have affected. Definitely a worthwhile read for the young reader and for adults.

Guest Blog - Death's Half Acre

2008-12-11T13:39:00.005-07:00

Since I started reading the Hardy Boys and the Dana Girls mysteries when I was about 11 years old, I have been hooked on the genre. Christmas stories of any type always appeal to me. The first Margaret Maron novel that I read was a Sigrid Harald story, Corpus Christmas. Harald is a New York City police officer. I liked Harald and tried to find more novels about her. However, when I first saw Bootlegger’s Daughter about Deborah Knott living in North Carolina, I was not really interested. An attorney in a small town in North Carolina. Hmmm. I am both a Westerner and a Northerner. Was I interested in reading about someone in the rural south? Finally I gave in and read the first of many Deborah Knott mysteries.

I just finished Death’s Half Acre, the latest of Maron’s books about Judge Knott. As I read it I realized that it might be difficult to read this book without some background on the Knott family despite the fact that a family tree has been included at the front of this book; however, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the latest antics in the lives of Deborah’s huge extended family. I noticed that on her website Maron expresses concern about new readers picking up a book in the middle of the series. Maron’s books are always populated with interesting characters. This book is no exception. In fact at times, I wondered whether I could keep up with all of the characters in the novel. Would I recognize the murderer when I got to the last chapter? Maron played the game entirely straight. I had all of the information in front of me and I still did not know who it was who shot Deborah in the arm in one of the final chapters. When all was disclosed, all I could say was, “Why didn’t I see this?”

Needless to say, I am looking forward to reading Maron's new book Sand Shark in 2009.