This is a love story in the midst of moments of tragedy and comedy, and a damn fine read. Not many books make me cry, but there was more than one moment that I had tears in my eyes.
The Day We Met centers around Claire, who has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's while in her early 40's, although the story is told from several perspectives. There is also Greg, her current husband of only a couple years; her oldest daughter, Caitlin, who is twenty; and her mother, Ruth, who has moved in with them to care for Claire and Claire's youngest daughter, Esther. The story marches backwards and forwards in time, revealing snippets of the past that are slowly fading from Claire's memory as the Alzheimer's grows more pronounced. In addition to the problem of Claire's disease, the main characters also face personal crises of their own. Caitlin has secrets she is hiding from her family, Ruth lost Claire's father the same way she is losing Claire and seems unable to let go of her anger at the situation, and Claire herself meets a strange man who seems to understand her in a way that Greg is increasingly unable to. As she and her family struggle to come to grips with the disease that is defining her days, Claire tries to find out who she is in the midst of losing what she thought has always defined her life. This is a beautiful and touching story, and I would definitely recommend it. As soon as I am done writing this post, I am off to pick up more books by Ms. Coleman! I've enjoyed other short stories by Edward Ahern in various magazines, and so I was pleased to pick up his newly released book, The Witch Made Me Do It: Modern Fairy Tales. The book is composed of fifteen stories previously published in a variety of magazines, gathered together for the first time in a collection. These stories are in Mr. Ahern's usual very readable style, and I finished the book in about a day.
The retold fairy tales are taken from a variety of sources - some Russian, some European, some Native American. Some are set in classical settings in the past, some are adapted for the modern day. They highlight a number of traditional dichotomies, such as good versus evil, men versus women, hard work versus laziness, poor versus rich. I'm a sucker for fairy tales, and I thought this was a very nicely composed collection. I'm sure that my kids would enjoy them as much as I did, although some of the stories have more grown-up themes that might pass over their heads right now. While the tone of the stories is generally straightforward, there are some instances of tongue-in-cheek humor that elevate them just a touch and gives them an added layer of meaning. I enjoyed the collection as much as I've enjoyed Mr. Ahern's previous stories, and would definitely read more work by him. For fans of fairy tale retellings, I think this is a great collection, and I'd recommend it. This is one of those books that I picked up to start to read... and couldn't put down. Nobody Home is a memoir written in a very personable style that invites the reader inside Ms. Masumian's life growing up with her divorced mother in rural Ohio. There are strange events, such as her mother's over-the-top Easter gift of a pet lamb to her two youngest children, which then ends up having free run of the house during a dinner party, much to the amusement of the guests. There are Christmases at her grandmother's which she calls "bedlam" with all the extended relatives. There are awkward dinners with her distant father when he takes them out to eat at restaurants and can't help but tease the waitstaff, to the embarrassment of his children.
A collection of vignettes and reminisces seamlessly strung together into a cohesive narrative, this book kept me completely engaged, extending through Ms. Masumian's adult life and troubles with her aging parents' health while she undergoes her own personal difficulties. It's not a long book - only 144 pages. The one disappointment I had is that I would have liked to see more - more anecdotes of growing up on the banks of the Chagrin River, wandering through the woods, dealing with her mother's bouts of frantic depression and eclectic relatives. More about her adult life and problems. But despite dealing with some very serious issues, the book ends on both a wistful and hopeful note which left me wanting more. I'll definitely look out for new work by Ms. Masumian in the future. A Whisper of Leaves is a novella that tells the story of Riko, a twenties-something girl who was raised in Australia, but whose parents are Japanese. She is currently living in Japan on a work visa, although she has just lost her teaching job because of a false sexual assault charge leveled at her by a government official's son. If she doesn't find a new job, she will be deported back to Australia. To get her mind off her problems, she decides to go hiking in the national park by Mount Fuji with her friend and roommate, Kiyomi. The mystery begins when they leave the hiking path at the smell of smoke and discover a strange old man kindling a fire in the woods. When they try to return to the path, Riko trips over something and discovers an old journal partially buried in the earth. She takes it with her and starts to read it, and as the story in its pages unfolds, strange things begin to happen to her. She can't decide if perhaps she is going crazy or if perhaps there is a supernatural explanation for everything that is happening to her. As her situation grows more dangerous and she becomes haunted by inexplicable events, she has to get to the bottom of the mystery quickly – or she might not survive long enough to be concerned about finding a new job.
I felt that this story started out a bit slowly for me. Although some explanation was necessary to establish the backstory of the characters, I probably would have liked to have a little less explanation at the beginning and more of a jump straight to discovering the journal. Having said that, the story does pick up quickly after that, and I especially liked the incorporation of poetry and journal passages into the text – it provided a nice contrast with the straightforward narration. The voice was very accessible to read and I think it would appeal strongly to a YA audience. It never gets too graphic, as a lot of modern horror tends to do, and it reminded me of classic teen horror stories I read when I was younger, à la R.L. Stein and Christopher Pike – hinting at danger, but never stepping too far over the edge and out of my comfort zone. I also enjoyed the exploration of cultural differences within a Japanese setting and incorporating Japanese beliefs/superstitions. The passages from the journal are particularly poetic and poignant, as they recall an earlier time in history, for example: Mother still wore the Mofuku, the black of her hair was lost in the fabric when she bent to pour tea, but I remember one day, right after Father died, she smiled. I had woven a scarf. She smiled and stroked my head. Was it the last time she truly smiled? I don't know." So for those readers who enjoy horror that is not all blood and guts, but incorporates more of the traditional elements of true suspense, this would be a good novella to pick up. I've read other work by Ashley Capes before, and I'd read more by him in the future. Fire from the Overworld is a complex story that follows the lives of three young protagonists as the structure of their world falls apart. The three main characters live in a rural town reminiscent of historic India. Yuvali and Héyowan are mystics and close friends who have grown up together, and Pradah is Héyowan’s older brother who will eventually take over for their father as chief of the village. The natural world has gone crazy--animals and men behave erratically, the crops are dying, and attack from roaming bands of tribeless warriors threatens the very existence of the village. It is a fight taking place on both the physical plane--Pradah is training to be a warrior to defend the village from attack--and the spiritual plane--Yuvali and Héyowan appeal to the very highest of the gods for rescue. But when the line between good and evil blur, the three children must grow up quickly and make adult choices that will change not only the course of village life, but perhaps change all the infinite worlds ruled by the gods.
Lowry’s writing style has beautiful passages of description that easily transport the reader to the kingdom of Raiya. Here's a brief snippet, when Yuvali is using the mystic powers of an ayur to travel outside her body: The sand beneath her was liquid, or blowing in the air across the big world, skins on the surface of a great creature who was a ruler herself, and Yuvali was like the dust in the wind around her, blowing everywhere and mixing with the world’s winds. She loosed herself to the four directions. Hands caught her, held her together so she could go on. Someone with her, keeping her whole. The tree grew closer; a branch caught moonlight as a covering cloud broke apart. Buds lined the branches, and spiky clusters of leaves. The silvery mound had a dark patch within it. It was a cave. Interspersed and inspired by mythology and oral storytelling, the book’s world has a richness that is the perfect backdrop to an epic story of good and evil. If you’re a fan of Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy or are looking for a YA story similar to the atmosphere of Alexander's MG-level The Iron Ring, you would enjoy reading Fire from the Overworld. It's been a while since I've read a good science fiction book or a collection of short stories, and so I was happy to open up Third Flatiron's new anthology, The Time It Happened. There are fifteen short stories in the collection with an eclectic variety of styles. Some are told with a rich, poetic language, some in modernistic terms, and some harken back to classic tales from the golden age of science fiction, so there is really something in this anthology for everyone.
In the feature story, "False Footfall" by Martin Clark, the protagonist is diagnosed with Temporal Psychosis after prolonged exposure to radiation through his job - which means he has a different understanding of the past than everyone else. Or is he right about the past and everyone else wrong? This was less a style of story that drew me in, as I felt the action moved a little too fast for me – one of the problems when reading a short story rather than a longer piece. But an interesting idea. "Lincoln's Watch" by Atar Hadari is fascinating and poetic. It details a man, Joe, who is obsessed with President Lincoln's pocket watch to the exclusion of all else in his life. One of my favorite stories of the collection. "Going Viral" by Dan Koboldt is a real page-turner of a story about a miracle virus that cures cancer, and follows the lives of the scientists who discover it. Another favorite story of the collection for me, with a dose of humor running through it that made me smile. Ellen Denton writes about a world stopped in "Stilled Life," and the few people who are remaining to figure out the mystery. I especially liked how there are a series of vignettes strung together at the beginning of the story to show the universal nature of the problems the protagonists face; I felt it worked really well to show the reader the set-up of this alternate reality. In "Kin Carriers," Jason Lairamore shows the reader the destruction of a space colony by a military ship sent from Earth. But does the one survivor have a last message of hope for the captain? Like the intro story, I felt this one was too brief for me – I would have liked to see more. In a heartless city where only the strong survive, Yvan has lost both his mother and brother. But Larry C. Kay's "What Was Lost" shows the reader that death isn't always the ending it is supposed to be. I liked the decided change of tone in this story compared to the others – much darker, yet with a hopeful message. Richard Mark Ankers' "Armada of Snow" reveals a post-apocalyptic world in which Earth has already survived one alien invasion. When the alien ships fill the horizon for a second time, will it mean the end of the world? The tone of this one takes me back to classic sci-fi, Twilight Zone era. "Puppy Love" by Thomas Canfield is filled with Russian spies, the FBI and a major international conspiracy… or perhaps only two kids in love? What would happen to all of us if the world's coffee supply suddenly disappeared? "Good to the Last Drop" by Wendy Nikel explores that concept in an exaggerated doomsday world without our most beloved beverage. I got a good chuckle out of the silliness of the idea of a world without coffee used as a serious idea – a good juxtaposition. "With Gilded Wings" by Evan Henry is a beautifully told story about alien whales that fly through space, reminiscent to me of one of Bradbury's short tales. Another favorite of the anthology for me. Elliotte Rusty Harold's tale, "Net War I" talks about the new frontier of war, which is fought through technology and intellect instead of on the physical plane. This tale has a more modern feel to me, with a tone that reminds me of the writing of Charles Stross. A combination of alternate history, science fiction and love story, "A Rock in the Air" by Neil James Hudson is a tale that will linger with the reader. Definitely one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite of the anthology, it's a story about Hideyoshi Kita, who miraculously survives the atomic blast at Hiroshima. But he learns, in the end, that there are many different types of survival, and perhaps living with the mistakes of his life choices isn't enough. I love this story and will definitely look out for more by this author. A silly and fun story, "Blargnorff Industries New Employee Handbook Human Edition" by Dana Schellings makes any other job choice look positively wonderful by comparison. I got another chuckle out of the "The Zzzombie Apocalypse" by Mark Hill, which makes one wonder – what if the zombie apocalypse wasn't all that bad, but only hyped up by mainstream media? "Xenofabulous" by Amanda C. Davis is a unique take on alien contact and how it would influence human culture. Another fun flash fiction piece to end the book. This anthology offers up a great mix of stories in a variety of styles, enough for any fan of science fiction. Some are more hard science fiction, some on the softer science side. I had a few particular favorites and a couple that weren't to my tastes, but overall the quality of this anthology was very high and I really enjoyed the read. I would recommend it to any fans of science fiction short stories. I'm a fan of Janet Evanovich. She does to thrillers/crime solvers what Terry Pratchett does to fantasy. She writes laugh-out-loud comedy, but still can get you to root for the characters. However, her work is a bit formulaic - take a kick-ass girl, a bad boy guy who she's attracted to, and plunk them right in the middle of an unsolved crime that they need to solve without going to the authorities for some reason. That would sum up the plot of every single one of her books. So you know what you're getting into when you pick up a book by her.
I started out by reading Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, but saw she had two other series on the shelf and picked them up also. In The Fox and O'Hare Series, there are three books: The Heist, The Chase and The Job. FBI Special Agent Kate O'Hare is teamed up with international thief Nicolas Fox to solve crimes. Things go wrong and hijinks ensue. If you're a fan of Evanovich and/or thriller comedy, I'd recommend this series. It is written like stock romances - nothing seriously bad ever happens to the main characters or their families, and you know the good guys are going to win, usually in a ridiculous and silly way. It's not quite as over-the-top humor as her Stephanie Plum series, but I'm guessing that's probably the influence of her co-author, Lee Goldberg. I think it's probably my least favorite of her series, since one thing that I like best about Evanovich is her over-the-top humor. This series is "Evanovich lite." Then there's the Barnaby and Hooker series composed of two books: Metro Girl and Motor Mouth. In the first book, Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby receives a strange call from her brother, Bill, in the middle of the night. She flies down to Florida where he lives to find out what's happened to him. She runs into Sam Hooker, a NASCAR driver whose boat has been stolen by her brother. Together, they find out that her brother is in deep, deep trouble. In the second book, this time it's Barney and Hooker who are in trouble, and they have to go to all sorts of lengths in order to get out of it again. As I've said, I'm a fan of Evanovich. But if you're looking for subtlety or depth to your thrillers, these aren't the books for you. The good guys always win, the bad guys are punished (usually permanently). But these series are a nice, light read and perfect to take to the beach. I picked up this book because I used to work in a ballroom studio as office manager when I lived in Boston, and I was curious if the scenes portrayed in Ballroom would be similar to what I remembered. I thought Simpson did a great job of incorporating the culture of competitive dancing into her narrative - I enjoyed the details of the dancing, the lessons and the motivations of the characters, but there were also a few things that turned me off of this book.
To begin with, the first six chapters are 2-4 pages long and each one introduces a new character. So the reader is hit all at once with a lot of information that is hard to process. Although the character sketches are interesting, it was a bit too much for me - it took me a while to get the characters straight after that. I kept on confusing details of the characters in subsequent chapters. I think the narrative would have helped if she had started out with one or two or even three characters, developed them a little, and then started adding in more characters. Although I enjoyed many of the details in the book, I felt that there were parts that dragged a bit in the middle. There are certain story lines that I feel are overdeveloped - the reader really doesn't need to know the complete background of all six+ of the main characters. I felt by giving the reader too much, it slowed down the narrative at points. ***SPOILER ALERT*** I don't know if it's a trend, but I've read several books recently where a rape/forced or violent sex occurs unexpectedly, but nothing changes because of it. The character who is assaulted doesn't even think about prosecuting the man. He gets away with it - the story infers that this isn't the first time he's done it and probably isn't the last, since it's hinted earlier in the narrative that he's "mean." Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I dislike this motif in a story line if it doesn't contribute to the plot - neither character involved in the assault changes significantly (or at all) because of it, so it's just a meaningless event that happens. Just my personal opinion, of course. ***END SPOILER ALERT*** Overall, I might recommend this book to people who already have an initial interest in ballroom or dance culture, but probably not to readers who aren't interested in that world. There are parts that are fascinating, and some good character sketches, but in the end I felt it fell a little flat for me. The kids and I have been feeling a little under the weather, so I haven't been posting reviews recently. But I've still been reading, so I have a backlog of reviews to write. One book that I read this past week was The Life Intended by Kristin Harmel, and I must say that I really enjoyed it.
It starts out with the main character, Kate, looking back twelve years to when she was newly married to Patrick, the love of her life. The story begins when he's late coming home and they have a fight. The next day, he goes to work - but he never makes it, as he is in a car accident and dies. Fast forward to the present time and her engagement to her new boyfriend, Dan. Life seems to be going great for her again until she starts having dreams about her ex-husband and the life they could have been leading. All these elements could be cliché. Heck, they are, even I will admit that. But Harmel handles the scenes without a maudlin air, and makes the story and the characters feel real. The characters make bad decisions and they aren't always perfect, but I was drawn completely into the story. What's amazing is the main character's occupation is as a music therapist to kids, especially disabled kids, and it felt as if the author must have been involved in that world also, since the details are so seamlessly incorporated into the narrative. However, reading Harmel's notes at the end, I was startled to learn that she'd created these characters' occupations all by research. One would never know when reading the book. This is a romance, but romance is not really the only theme of the book, nor necessarily the conclusion the main character comes to at the end. Her ex-husband, the love of her life, IS dead, and she has to come to terms with that - but, in doing so, she realizes that there are many types of love, not all of them the ones she initially thinks are important. I would definitely recommend this book, and I plan on picking up Harmel's first book, The Sweetness of Forgetting. I must start off this review by saying that my husband is a huge sports fan, but I am not. I enjoy watching baseball or basketball once in a while and have even been to a game or two, but I probably couldn't name five players on a team to save my life. But I will say the one sport I dislike above all others - ALL others - is football.
So it was a bit of a surprise to find out how much I enjoyed Emily Giffin's The One & Only. The title is somewhat cheesy and maybe a bit too lighthearted to sum up the heart of the book, but the book itself is fantastic. It's a romance that starts out with a funeral (cheery, eh?). Shea's best friend's mother has died of cancer, leaving her BF, Lucy, understandably devastated. They live in Walker, Texas, which is home to the number-one college football team coached by Lucy's father, Clive Carr. Shea has football in her blood and idolizes Coach Carr, to the point where she even works with him in the sports department of the university and is currently dating one of his ex-football players. But the death of her friend's mother shakes up her life and makes her see that the easy way she has always taken in life by blindly following her hero may not be what she really needs. Not only is Giffin's writing style compelling, but the level of sports detail incorporated seamlessly into the narrative really is impressive. Also, Giffin deals well with some pretty heavy issues, including personal loss and abusive relationships. While there are some lighter parts to the book, I wouldn't necessarily call this a light romance at all. If you're looking for a story that has realistic characters who don't always make the right choices, but still leaves you cheering for them in the end, then this book is for you. |
Book ReviewsI read a lot - depending on my writing schedule, I can usually read about a book a day. Some of the books are fantastic and I would love to recommend to everyone - some, not so much. Either way, I thought I would share a few thoughts on what I'm reading at the moment. Categories
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