Certain Girls - Jennifer Weiner

Certain Girls is the long awaited sequel to "Good in Bed", featuring Cannie Shapiro. When we last saw Cannie she had found happiness after dumping her boyfriend Bruce. Cannie is a writer, but had enough of Bruce when he wrote an article on loving big women. Bruce is also the father of her daughter Joy.

Cannie wrote a novel "Big Girls Don't Cry" fictionalizing her life (and venting her anger) that became a best seller. Since then she has married Dr. Peter Krushelevansky, writes science fiction novels under a pseudonym and dotes on her daughter. Joy is a young woman now, preparing for her bat mitzvah. She ends up reading her mother's bestseller and realizes that it is a thinly veiled autobiography. Joy is horrified as she discovers her mother has not been entirely truthful with her.

What follows is a truly poignant story of mother and daughters, of love, struggle, triumph and family. You can't help but falling in love with Cannie and her family.

Shatter - Michael Robotham

Looking for a non stop psychological thriller? Then you've got to read Shatter by Michael Robotham. Robotham is fast becoming one of my favourite suspense authors.

A woman wearing only red high heels is teetering on the edge of a bridge. The police ask Professor Joe O'Loughlin, a clinical psychologist, to try and help talk the woman down. Joe has retired from private practice as he has developed Parkinson's disease. Joe goes to the scene and finds the woman on a mobile phone. She won't engage in conversation with Joe, but is telling the person on the other end of the phone that she's 'done everything they asked, no no, please......' Then she jumps and is killed instantly.

Who and what could have convinced someone to end their life in this fashion? Joe is asked by the police to help with the case. His personal life is in a bit of upheaval and taking on this case does not help.

Interspersed between chapters are the chilling thoughts and actions of the killer. He strikes again and yet another woman kills herself while on the phone.

This is a real tightwire of a novel. You'll find yourself reading 'just one more chapter' before turning off the light. Robotham's backlist is worth checking out as well.

An Incomplete Revenge - Jacqueline Winspear

I read the first of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series a few years ago. Although I enjoyed it, I didn't seek out the subsequent novels.

When my local library received the latest in the this series - An Incomplete Revenge - in audio format, I decided to borrow it to listen in the car. I'm quite glad I did as it made such a difference to listen to it. The characters came alive. The reader had a wonderful English accent that set the tone and location for this book.

Maisie Dobbs is a psychologist and investigator. All the novels take place in England in the late 1920's. Maisie is asked to investigate a small village for a company hoping to purchase the local brick works. They are concerned about a series of fires and small thefts that have been occurring.

It is hop picking season in the village, so her assistant Billy and his family are also in the village to work, as are a band of gypsies. The villagers do not report the fires and just gloss over them. They are very reticent about some of the history of the village and do not like the gypsies. With patient questioning Maisie unravels the mysteries surrounding this tiny enclave.

The descriptions of society at this time are fascinating. If you're looking for a good cozy mystery, this might be for you.

Island of Lost Girls - Jennifer McMahon

Harper Collins Canada releases Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon April 22. This is McMahon's second novel, but the first I've read. And what a good read it was.

Rhonda Farr pulls into her local Mini Mart for gas before a job interview. She is struck speechless by the sight of a giant bunny rabbit coaxing a young girl out of her car and into the rabbit's car. It happens in the blink of an eye and as they drive away, Rhonda realizes that she has just witnessed an abduction and is horrified that she did nothing to stop it.

The little town is galvanized into action. A small command post is set up by Pat, the owner of the Mini Mart. We get to know Rhonda and her childhood friends, Lizzy and Peter. Their families were inseparable as children. The present day story is just as much about the hunt for missing Ernestine as it is about the relationships and lives of the now grown children.

The story flips from present to past, about 15 years ago. The childhood days of Lizzy, Peter and Rhonda are exposed in alternate chapters. Although their childhood appeared idyllic, there were unsettling undercurrents.

Most chilling are the brief, disturbing thoughts from the rabbit.

Suspicion seems to fall upon Peter and Rhonda is determined to find the real culprit as she believes it cannot be Peter. The more she digs, the more the past seems to be catching up with her.

McMahon's characters are well written and real, crackling with believable emotion. The reference to rabbits could have gone overboard, but doesn't. McMahon handles the flashback stories well, capturing the feelings and sentiments of children.

Island of Lost Girls is a tense thriller, but also a fascinating look at how the past affects the present. McMahon's mystery is straight from today's headlines.

Coming Soon

Well I'm still not feeling good and have abandoned reading for a bit. I admit it - I've been watching movies, but I thought I would share a good link with you. I always want to know what's coming in the world of books and Fantastic Fiction does just that. Okay that's it for today folks!

Compulsion - Jonathan Kellerman

Okay I am sick, like really, really don't want to move sick. So I spent all weekend on the couch, armed with Kleenex, fluids, antibiotics and thank goodness - a really good book. (When my eyes would work)

Jonathan Kellerman's latest novel in the Alex Delaware series is called Compulsion. Delaware is a psychologist who consults with friend Milo Sturgis of the LAPD. This latest case begins with a stolen luxury car that is recovered with a small amount of what may be human blood. It's not a big deal until a murder is perpetrated in broad daylight with another stolen luxury car. Looking into crimes using stolen luxury cars sets Milo and Alex on the right track, hunting a killer who murders on a whim.

The characters are well written and are like old friends from past novels. The plot is tight and the action exciting. My only criticism would be that things get wrapped up a little too neatly in the last few pages. Sorry for the short review but the couch is calling. But check out this series. Kellerman's wife, Fay Kellerman also writes a great series that I will review later this month. His son Jesse Kellerman is also and up and coming author - I'll be reviewing his new on later this spring.

Visiting Life - Bridget Kinsella

I picked this one up based on the subtitle's promise - "Women Doing Time on the Outside".

From the flyleaf - " Why in the world would anyone get involved with a prison inmate?"

Bridget Kinsella is a highly educated woman, an editor at Publishers Weekly. While trying to sort her own life and future out after a disastrous and childless marriage, Kinsella decides to try her hand as a publishing agent. A manuscript from a prison writing class ends up in her hands. She is struck by the writing and on a whim decides to begin a correspondence with the inmate, Rory Mehan. As their relationship progresses (Kinsella is now visiting regularly) the book descends into a self serving missive. I was quite interested in the interviews she did with a few women who are actually living this life, not visiting it for short time as is Kinsella. I wish she had expounded more on their experiences. This is a slim book and didn't take too long to finish. I did read it all, although I found myself skimming past the overly described self discovery passages. I found it difficult to actually believe/feel the connections and healing that she claimed from this relationship.

Killer Year - Edited by Lee Child

Killer Year edited by Lee Child, with an afterword by Laura Lippman is a collection of short stories by new and upcoming young authors. Their specialty is crime fiction. This collection is interesting in that a number of established authors have mentored these new writers. The mentors are all members of the International Thriller Writers organization. Their website is a great place to get updates on new books in this genre. I like anthologies - you always can find five minutes for a quick story!

The Sealed Letter - Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue's latest historical novel "The Sealed Letter" has just been released by Harper Collins Canada.

I first discovered Donoghue back in 2000 when I read one of her best selling novels, Slammerkin. I was struck then by the richness of her characters, so well written that the reader develops strong emotions towards them. Most impressive however is Donoghue's historical research. The fabric, mores, culture and so much more of Victorian England are brilliantly and accurately portrayed.

So is the case with The Sealed Letter. As in previous novels, the story is based upon actual historical facts and persons. We meet 'Fido" Faithfull, a liberal thinking spinster who runs her own printing press espousing her 'Cause'- Women's Rights. She meets up with an old friend Helen Codrington, who detests her older husband Admiral Codrington, and the restrictions society puts upon 'correct' female behaviour. Fido is drawn into Helen's world, but is naive and trusting. She offers true friendship, but due to Helen's machinations, is instead thrust unwillingly into the public eye in Helen's very messy divorce. This divorce case takes place in 1864, but believe it or not features a stained dress (sound familiar?), accusations of rape and a mysterious sealed letter that could decide the case.

Donoghue captures the language, the emotions and the time period eloquently. The Sealed Letter is the third of a loose trilogy exploring Victorian society and life through the eyes of the different classes. Slammerkin explores the poor, Life Mask the very rich and The Sealed Letter the middle class. All are extremely enjoyable reads.

Charly's Web - Joy Fielding

There are legions of Joy Fielding fans. Her novels make best selling lists and I'm sure Charley's Web will be no exception.

Fielding's protagonists are usually female. There is generally some sort of family and/or personal dysfunction going on. Add in a suspenseful situation that somehow solves itself and most of the problems by the end of the novel.

Charley's Web is no exception. Charley (Charlotte) and her sisters are named for the Bronte sisters as well as a 'cute' play on the children's book Charlotte's Web. Their family relationships are in the pits. A convicted female murderer asks Charley to write her story. Charley agrees and soon after she receives death threats against her children. Hmm - connected? Some twists and turns with some romance thrown in and abracadabra, Charley 'grows up' and everything is hunky dory.

I felt the characters were caricatures, the plot contrived and unbelievable.


Okay I did finish it. Lots of readers will. It's not a bad book, just not for me thanks. If you like Iris Johansen or Sandra Brown, you'll like it.

NCAA Track Championships 2008

I'm going to this!!!! With my daughter!!!

http://adcsquad.com/ncaa/achampionship/index.html

Happy April Fool's Day

What are the origins of April Fool's Day anyway? This is a pretty fun link - the top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes ever. Here's a whole website dedicated to April Fool's Day! How about the New York April Fool's Day Parade? Beware!

After River - Donna Milner

After River by Donna Milner was released by Harper Collins Canada on Friday March 28.

It's summer 1966 in British Columbia, a stone's throw from the U.S. border. Fifteen year old Natalie Ward, her parents -Nettie and Gus and her three brothers live on their dairy farm in a secluded valley. Natalie is happiest within the enclave of her family. Their lives seem idyllic, both to themselves and to their friends and neighbours. When the need for a new handyman arises, Nettie hires a young American draft dodger - River Jordan.

"She was expecting him. She wasn't expecting the heartache that would follow like a cold wind".

Milner's masterful use of foreshadowing throughout this novel is never overdone, rather it leaves the reader hungering to follow the story. We are tantalized by some future cataclysmic event, that will change the seemingly perfect lives of the Ward family. River Jordan's arrival seems to be the momentum that begins the change.....

After River tells it's story flipping between the past and the present. We relive the past through Natalie and Nettie's memories. In the present it is 2003 and Nettie is dying from cancer. She needs to see Natalie before she dies. Natalie has been estranged from her family for over 25 years.

"The unnamed resentment I carried with me out the door the day I left. I carried it every day, like some animal clinging to my back that wouldn't let go because I kept petting it, stroking it, enjoying the perverse pleasure of letting it hang on".

What could have happened to this family to create such a rift? I will not spoil the book for future readers by detailing the events that lead up to this rift. Rather, I encourage you to experience this hauntingly beautiful book for yourself. Everyone will be able to relate to and reflect on the complexity of family relationships detailed in this amazing first novel.

Milner's writing is quite simply, beautiful.

"My favourite memory is of my father and brothers working in the fields. I carry a mental picture of them drenched in the golden glow of the late summer sun. I keep this precious gem hidden deep in the dark closet of my mind, behind all of life's stored clutter. I take it out rarely, cautiously. Like a fragile object stored in opaque tissue, I unwrap it with slow trepidation. I turn it this way and that, trying to see more, to see beyond the faded edges of memory".

Milner was a real estate agent until her husband encouraged her to start writing. I'm very glad he did. Milner is an important new voice in Canadian literature. This would make a great book club selection.

Dishwasher - Pete Jordan

It was the subtitle of this book that grabbed me. "One man's quest to wash dishes in all fifty states" How could you not be intrigued by this premise?

"For twelve Years, I was the most prolific dishlicker of them all. From 1989 to 2001 I dished my way around the country, unwittingly searching for direction" Pete Jordan

I was captured - I had to know more about this guy and his adventures.

Jordan as a teen has no great ambitions. He gets into trouble with the nuns in school for listing house painter as his career objective. He falls into dishwashing by accident. At Jack in the Box, he fails as a fry cook, is no better at cashier and is 'punished' by being sent to do the dishes. Jordan discovers that this is far from punishment - he's left alone, has a radio, lots of eats. (Although I did find myself gagging as describes the Bus Tub Buffet - let your imagination fill in the blanks) Thus, Dishwasher Pete is born. Jordan does what we've all thought of. If the job has served it's purpose (enough money to travel to the next state) or he's just had enough,he quits -with no notice.

The book is peppered with references to dishwasher facts and lore. Did you know that George Orwell was a dishwasher in Paris? Along the way, Jordan starts a 'zine' - "Dishwasher" and his name starts to spread in the dishwasher world. Word of his 50 state goal spreads and soon CNN, journalists, even David Letterman, are trying to track him down to interview him. Dishwasher Pete isn't interested and continues on his journey.

He washes dishes in many different environments - cafeterias, restaurants, fishing canneries, oil rigs and the list goes on. The book never bogs down - each tale of every job and the people he meets are fresh. We see glimpses of a yearning for something more - the house prices in Kansas ($12,000!) give him pause. Maybe he could save enough to buy one and have a home base. That pull gets stronger and a blue rimmed plate that keeps showing up in the dishwasher with the plain white ones provides an epiphany for Dishwasher Pete.

Does Pete succeed in his quest? what is he doing now? I'll let you discover the ending of Dishwasher.

Killer Heat - Linda Fairstein

Killer Heat is the 10th eagerly awaited novel in the Alex Cooper crime series.

Fairstein is writing from experience. She ran the sex crimes unit for the District Attorney in Manhattan for over 20 years. Alex Cooper is also a Manhattan DA - sex crimes. Because of Fairstein's experience, the crimes, dialogues, law, atmosphere and characters all ring true.

Fascinating as well is Fairstein's use and accounts of New York's history. Crimes, clues and investigations all happen within parts of New York and it's boroughs that I'm sure many native New Yorkers don't even know about. For a fascinating video of Fairstein telling us about Alex Cooper and real footage of some of the locations used in Killer Heat, click here. Look for the video in the bottom right corner.

"Coop" usually works with Mike Chapman - a homicide detective with a predilection for the TV show Jeopardy's final question. She also works with Mercer - another detective who is the calm voice of reason. The relationships of these three are part of the charm of the series.

Killer Heat takes place in August in New York. A young woman's badly beaten body is found in an abandoned building in the East River. Yet another body is found and it looks to be the work of the same person. Do they have a serial killer on their hands? A third body is found and it appears the answer is 'yes'.

The interaction between characters, the settings, the fast paced action all add up to make Fairstein one of the authors on my "Waiting for the next book" list.

If you like the recurring characters of John Sandford and Jeffery Deaver, you will love Linda Fairstein. I dare you to read just one!

Too many books....

But you can never have enough books right? Or enough books on hold at the library. The Spring and Summer releases are now in the catalogue at my local library. I have maxed out my card with the limit of 40 reserves. Ummm - and my husband's too. That's only 80 books I'm waiting to read. Not so much........
Maybe I should quit working and read full time.... Hmmm

Mudbound - Hillary Jordan

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan is a stunning debut novel.

I was absolutely blown away by this book. The cover art captured me first. The stark contrast of the ramshackle house against the bountiful cotton field intrigued me. I wanted to know the story of that house and it's inhabitants.

Laura has resigned herself to life as a spinster when she meets Henry McAllan in 1939. She eventually accepts his proposal of marriage and they settle down to urban life in Memphis, Tennessee. Family upheaval and Henry's desire to own a farm lands them, their two children and Henry's sly, cruel father in rural Mississippi on a cotton farm. There is no electricity, no running water and when the river rises, they are cut off from the town. There are tenant farmers on the land as well, black and white. Racial tensions and long held prejudices run deep in the Mississippi Delta.

Mudbound opens with Henry and his brother Jamie burying their father on the farm. Jordan's descriptions paint tangible pictures. " The soil was so wet from all the rain it was digging into raw meat". Laura's description of the farm also paints a vivid picture. "When it rained, as it often did, the yard turned into a thick gumbo, with the house floating in it like a soggy cracker"

From that opening scene, we relive how Henry and Jamie came to be burying their father. Each character has a voice in the telling of the story. Henry, Jamie, Laura, Florence and Hap - the black tenant farmers on the McAllan farm and Ronsel - their son. Ronsel and Jamie have both just returned home from the war. Both men have been changed by their experiences and form an unlikely friendship. In the Jim Crow south, this is unacceptable and drives the story to it's inevitable conclusion.

I could not put this book down. The characters,their lives, emotions and upheaval are so richly painted. The historical facts of the deep south in the late 1940's are woven into this stunning debut novel. Jordan's writing captured and held me until the last page. I cannot wait to read her next novel.

Mudbound evoked strong emotions in this reader. The past is still happening.

Jordan won the 2006 Bellwether Prize awarded to literature of social change. This founder of this prize is Barbara Kingsolver.

Unpredictable - Eileen Cook

Okay so after I decided Thursday to sit on the couch with a good book, I did just that. I picked up Unpredictable by Eileen Cook off the new book display at the library.

Sophie Kintock has been with her boyfriend Doug for 6 years. While they are doing laundry, he decides to tell her that he is leaving. Sophie thinks he means to go to the store. He means for good. Sophie knows that Doug is the love of her life and she is determined to get him back. She begins Operation Drive Him Home. Sophie has a spare set of keys and moves his car a few spaces every day. She steals into his new apartment building and takes one sock of every pair. It is during the act of sock appropriation that Doug and his new neighbour Melanie (a drop dead gorgeous, well endowed blonde) appear in the laundry room. Sophie hides under a sink and her heart sinks when she hears Doug ask Melanie out. Once they leave another tenant, Nick, comes in and finds Sophie crying under the sink. Nick is a really nice guy and a psychic researcher. Oh did I mention that Melanie believes in psychics? Sophie decides to masquerade as a psychic to give Melanie some 'good' advice. And so the story begins.....

Honestly, it takes a lot for me to laugh out loud while reading, but Unpredictable has so many humorous moments. It's the way that Cook writes - she is genuinely funny! Cook is a transplanted American now living in Canada (as is Sophie). There is one paragraph where Sophie goes to buy deli meat but has no idea about the metric system. I won't spoil it here but it's on page 20. You can enjoy the first chapter here. Eileen's blog is pretty funny too!

You can predict how the story will end, but that's not important. More enjoyable is the journey there. A thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable read. If you like chick lit authors such as Sophie Kinesella and Jane Green, add Eileen Cook to your list. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Good Friday

Here in Canada Good Friday is observed as a statutory holiday. My daughter and son in law live the US. Interestingly it is a not a federal holiday, but only a state holiday in 16 states. Enjoy the day wherever you live.

Spring is Here?

Okay - so the groundhogs were wrong. I have double checked and all three big names in the groundhog prediction business said Spring would be here soon. They lied. I sit here this morning watching snowflakes happily swirl outside my window. Now mind you the grass is showing through in spots - enough to know that I maybe fed my two dogs a little too much this winter.
I'm ready for Spring! I have plans! I bought my vegetable garden seeds ( that still need to be started) , I have a new porch swing ( that still needs to be put together), I'm planning on looking at my bicycle ( that still needs to be overhauled) and that yard is really going to take a lot of work (and a big shovel and wheelbarrow)
Hmm- okay so another day on the couch with a really good book doesn't sound too bad. Spring will get here soon enough