Book Review: Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders: A Novel by Julianna Baggott

This is not my usual reading taste but in the end I found it remarkable.

Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders: A Novel

by Julianna Baggott

File Size: 1098 KB
• Print Length: 337 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0316375101
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (August 18, 2015)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• ASIN: B00S5A6HQS
Genre: Women's Fiction
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

"A mesmerizing tale of star-crossed love and of the dark secrets in a fracturing family . . . This novel is so full of wonders that it leaves you haunted, amazed, and, like every great read, irrevocably changed."--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You

The reclusive Harriet Wolf, revered author and family matriarch, has a final confession-a love story. Years after her death, as her family comes together one last time, the mystery of Harriet's life hangs in the balance. Does the truth lie in the rumored final book of the series that made Harriet a world-famous writer, or will her final confession be lost forever?

Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders tells the moving story of the unforgettable Wolf women in four distinct voices: the mysterious Harriet, who, until now, has never revealed the secrets of her past; her fiery, overprotective daughter, Eleanor; and her two grown granddaughters--Tilton, the fragile yet exuberant younger sister, who's become a housebound hermit, and Ruth, the older sister, who ran away at sixteen and never looked back. When Eleanor is hospitalized, Ruth decides it's time to do right by a pact she made with Tilton long ago: to return home and save her sister. Meanwhile, Harriet whispers her true life story to the reader. It's a story that spans the entire twentieth century and is filled with mobsters, outcasts, a lonesome lion, and a home for wayward women. It's also a tribute to her lifelong love of the boy she met at the Maryland School for Feeble-minded Children.

Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders, Julianna Baggott's most sweeping and mesmerizing novel yet, offers a profound meditation on motherhood and sisterhood, as well as on the central importance of stories. It is a novel that affords its characters that rare chance we all long for--the chance to reimagine the stories of our lives while there's still time.

Review:
This is a most unusual book. It starts out with a punch as Harriet announces she was born dead… She then proceeds to explain. Although Harriet is the primary figure, the book weaves in and out of her life and through the lives of her stubborn and controlling daughter, Eleanor, and Eleanor’s two daughters, rebellious, bitter, Ruth and fragile but inquisitive Tilton. Harriet slowly shares her background as a seemingly moronic child placed at the Maryland School for Feeble-minded Children, a specialized school, in the early 1900s. After a number of years it is discovered that Harriet is actually a genius but her father views a genius female child as a waste and leaves her in the school. Harriet meets a young boy at the school and they fall in love.

Harriet’s mother discovers by accident that Harriet is alive and she immediately brings her home from school. Mother and daughter have several wonderful years together, while dad remains late at work and out of the way. Harriet’s live is set in a tail spin when her mother dies and her father returns the senior teen to another facility. Eventually Harriet moves out on her own and establishes a life that ultimately leads to writing a series of six books that reach great popularity and academic acclaim. Everyone was sure there was a seventh book but Eleanor insists she does not have it and keeps her house closed to any fans or inquiries.

The story shifts chapters between the four female characters and the reader gets to see the strengths, weaknesses and the dysfunction of each. Eleanor’s circumstance was impacted by events that led to her husband leaving. Eleanor adopted the attitude: “Human beings are shaped by tragedy and this one’s ours.” Ruth blamed her mother for her father walking out and resented her mother’s focus on her fragile sister. Once she left home Ruth had not expected to return, even to save Tilton as she had once promised. Tilton is a lovely character full of gentleness and joy. It is so sad that she has been completely overprotected by her mother. As the current lives of Eleanor and her girls unfold and head toward collision, Harriet’s tale continues to reveal the great joys and loves of her life. The story and the characters finally “bloomed”.

The writing is smooth with a lyrical tone and some incredible descriptions. The historical elements regarding treatment of the ‘feeble-minded’ are rather fascinating. The difficult and tangled feelings between mothers and daughters is a primary focus of the book.

I am not big into drama and I almost stopped reading this at about a third in. I found it somewhat depressing as well as outright bizarre. I am glad I persevered as the ending made the entire book worthwhile for me! I am sure that readers who enjoy family drama would like the journey better than I did but I am glad that there was light and love revealed at the end. The author states a precept that I have long believed that “joy needs sorrow to understand itself. And sorrow, without joy, has no bearings” (location 707). She also makes a clear point that each individual has a unique life experience that results from their unique way of perceiving (location 2140). My final impression of the total work: remarkable.

This is a book I was invited to read at NetGalley. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge.

Book Review: Neverhome by Laird Hunt

This is a beautifully written, haunting novel.
Neverhome
by Laird Hunt 

• File Size: 836 KB
• Print Length: 257 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0316370134
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 9, 2014)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• ASIN: B00HQ2N0D4

Genre: Historical Fiction
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

She calls herself Ash, but that's not her real name. She is a farmer's faithful wife, but she has left her husband to don the uniform of a Union soldier in the Civil War. NEVERHOME tells the harrowing story of Ash Thompson during the battle for the South. Through bloodshed and hysteria and heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a folk legend, a madwoman and a traitor to the American cause. Laird Hunt's dazzling new novel throws a light on the adventurous women who chose to fight instead of stay behind. It is also a mystery story: why did Ash leave and her husband stay? Why can she not return? What will she have to go through to make it back home? In gorgeous prose, Hunt's rebellious young heroine fights her way through history, and back home to her husband, and finally into our hearts.

Review:
Ash is strong and Bartholomew is not. So Ash leaves the farm behind in Indiana to become a Union soldier. Ash joins other travelers along the roads until they reach a recruiting center and join a regiment. The new recruits receive some training during which it is discovered that Ash is quite a sharpshooter. What isn’t discovered until over a year or more of gruesome battles is that Ash is a woman.

During one march through a small town Ash scrambles up a tree to give ‘his’ jacket to a young woman whose top was torn by a tree branch. Thus Ash earns the name, and a song ballad, of “Gallant Ash”. Ash has other moments of remarkable bravery that save others and secure the nickname. But there are also complaints to the Colonel that Ash has stolen food. She denies this and accepts that the Colonel will not advance her in rank but, of course, Ash doesn’t want any extra attention.

Ash pushes through many dreadful battles but is finally injured. She awakens on the field to find herself pinned under a tree. There is a wounded, old soldier nearby who responds to her calls, helping her until she crawls out. The remnants of her unit have already gone and she sets off to find them. She trudges on with the deep wound in her side, facing moments of delirium.

Eventually Ash stumbles to a war hospital but realizes that her secrets will be exposed if she stays in line. She follows a nurse home where she is nursed back to health and becomes a woman again. But Ash is betrayed and finds herself dragged off to an insane asylum. They laugh at her tales of the war and treat her cruelly like all the inmates.

Ash finally escapes and travels a round about way home. When she comes back to her town she learns that her childhood nemesis has taken over the farm, bullying Bartholomew. She returns to her war persona to deal with the vermin at her home.

I found the story itself remarkable but even more wonderful was the writing. The prose drew me into the time and setting. War is an ugly thing yet the writing delivered the images in an eerily frank but almost gentle tone. There is violence, confusion, love, betrayal, delusion and a bit of mystery. The story was not quite what I expected – it was much more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A sense of the bleak reality of the war:

Death was the underclothing we all wore. Location 394.

I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Review and Giveaway: The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny

This is beautifully written and full of wonderful historical tidbits.

The Book of Madness and Cures

by Regina O'Melveny

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: John Murray Publishers (April 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848547064
• ISBN-13: 978-1848547063

Genre: Historical Fiction

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

Dr. Gabriella Mondini, a strong-willed, young Venetian woman, has followed her father in the path of medicine. She possesses a singleminded passion for the art of physick, even though, in 1590, the male-dominated establishment is reluctant to accept a woman doctor. So when her father disappears on a mysterious journey, Gabriella's own status in the Venetian medical society is threatened. Her father has left clues--beautiful, thoughtful, sometimes torrid, and often enigmatic letters from his travels as he researches his vast encyclopedia, The Book of Diseases.

After ten years of missing his kindness, insight, and guidance, Gabriella decides to set off on a quest to find him--a daunting journey that will take her through great university cities, centers of medicine, and remote villages across Europe. Despite setbacks, wary strangers, and the menaces of the road, the young doctor bravely follows the clues to her lost father, all while taking notes on maladies and treating the ill to supplement her own work.

Gorgeous and brilliantly written, and filled with details about science, medicine, food, and madness, THE BOOK OF MADNESS AND CURES is an unforgettable debut.

Review:
Gabriella has always been inquisitive and a seeker of knowledge. She loved following her father during his doctoring rounds and listening to his comments on ailments and cures.  She had been his helper to gather and compile information for the Book of Diseases that he would someday publish. Gabriella was distressed when her father left to travel and learn more diseases for his book. She didn’t understand why she could not go along and was left with her nagging and negative mother who only wants Gabriella to settle into a proper young lady and find a husband.

Gabriella remained home for ten years, keeping her own notes and caring for women with their singular diseases, including frailties of the mind. But the male dominated society of doctors of Venetia in 1590 do not wish to acknowledge a female doctor. Since her father was no longer around to sponsor her she is banned from the society and university.  Gabriella decides to search out her father by following his trail across the continent.

Gabriella sets off with her faithful servant/companions, Olmina, more of a mother than Gabriella’s true mother, and Olmina's husband, Lorenzo, who has been a protector to Gabriella in place of her father.  As she pursues "the bread crumbs" of her father’s path, Gabriella meets other Doctors, some friendly and encouraging and some obviously jealous, suspicious and condemning. Gabriella learns hints about her father’s behavior that she doesn’t want to believe.

There is danger along the way as traveling is not safe, especially for a young attractive lady. Gabriella almost finds a place and a man to settle with but another clue pulls her back to her search.  What condition will her father be in if she can even find him alive?  Will finding him help Gabriella find herself?

Ms. O’Melveny has created a wonderful image of life as it may have been for a spirited woman whose dreams of being more than a chatelaine, mate and mother brought jeers and antagonism. Gabriella’s striving to be a female Doctor helping women was difficult enough but the risks were increased in a repressed society where even herbal cures were often considered witchcraft.  The story is told in third person POV and the author uses journal entries of diseases to reveal the level of information - or sometimes lack thereof - existing at the time.

Gabriella is a strong minded and interesting character. The plot is suitably interesting and the story is richly and beautifully portrayed. The descriptions of Venice, Edenburg and Marooco, as well as travels between are alternately breathtaking and fearsome. If you enjoy historical fiction that portrays an strong, engaging protagonist in a difficult but true to times setting I think you would enjoy this work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabriella’s relationship with her mother:

..."Why not marry a good doctor? Why must you be one?" ....this time I simply stared at her, fierce and speechless with hurt. We were on opposite sides of a deep channel, no bridge between us. The sea ran on in the dark. Page 21.

Beginning the travels:

... I watched the Zattere retreat, then San Marco appear beyond the other bell towers, steeples, canted roofs, the other quarters shabby, mossy, glorious, gleaming, prayerful, lively, sorrowful, muted, exuberant, fleshy, fabulous, then diminished–made one by distance, faint, flat, bluish white, thin as gauze I might use to wrap a wound. Page 32.

A distinction between Lorenzo and Gabriella’s father:

My fist closed over the box and I pressed my head against Olmina, crying. Lorenzo had carried my teeth like seed pearls as he watched me grow into a woman. And still I wanted to travel to the ends of the earth – to Marocco now – for the father who’d abandoned me. Page 261.

A Big Thank You to Anna at Little Brown & Co., Division of Hachette, for providing this book for review and copies for giveaway!

This book will be added to my ARC and New Author challenge lists.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY:
1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you find there.
2. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.
(Two total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE TWO WINNERS!

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* Limit one win per household.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on May 18, 2012.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on May 19 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.
 

Book Review and Giveaway: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This a beautifully written and haunting story. 

The Snow Child 

by Eowyn Ivey

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books (February 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316175676
• ISBN-13: 978-0316175678

     Genre:  Fiction

     My Rating:  4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: February 1, 2012
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.. 

Review:
This tale starts slowly but ends wonderfully. At midway I was actually thinking of stopping. I am sincerely glad I did not as from that point on the tale was captivating and I didn’t want to put the book down.

The story starts by introducing Mabel and Jack: a couple in mid life who are struggling to survive a new life they have chosen in the brutal, harsh land of Alaska. Their nearest neighbors are miles away and Jack is barely able to get enough crop to see them through winter. They are together but separated by unshared grief at the loss of their only child who died at birth.  Jack was unable at the time to comfort Mabel and she drew into herself so they became disconnected as a couple. They moved to Alaska so that Mabel could be away from her family and all the reminders of what she lost and does not have. The depression, sorrow and life struggles, though poignantly written, made the story difficult at that point.

One evening Jack and Mabel have an unexpected frolic in the new snow.  They join in making a little snow girl. It is the first time in a long time that they have shared some happiness together. The next morning when they look out the scarf and mittens are missing and there are footprints leading away into the woods. They begin to see a child, who wears the scarf and mittens, peeking out from the trees. But is it just a dream?  At first Jack barely acknowledges the presence and allows their new “neighbor” friends to think that Mabel has suffered from snow madness. Yet slowly the child begins to show herself and finally comes into their home. But when summer comes Faina disappears and they, and the reader, are left wondering if she was real.

Mabel had a fairy tale story as a child about a snow child. Is this all a creation from her childhood memories?  And how did that story end? Was there a happy ending or only tragedy?

Over the next years Jack and Mabel watch over the wild child, Faina, as she visits in winter and disappears each summer. She becomes a daughter to them. Their neighbor’s son, Garrett, who loves hunting and trapping, has become an invaluable help to Jack on the farm.  They have to be careful that Garrett doesn’t shoot Faina’s companion, a red fox, but, in truth, that will not be their only worry.

It became fascinating to share the joy and pain of Mabel and Jack as they watch their “child” come and go...and grow. They have no way to hold her wild spirit, and no way to protect her.  The writing is beautifully rich and haunting.  I am not certain if there are real fairy tales of a snow child but this one certainly brings the idea alive. Although you may want to be prepared for a slower pacing in the beginning, I do recommend this as a wonderfully enchanting story full of rich human emotion.

Examples of the beautiful writing:
Mabel's depression:

Fear of the gray, not just in the strands of her hair and her wilting cheeks, but the gray that ran deeper, to the bone, so that she thought she might turn into a fine dust and simply sift away in the wind. P32

Motherly love:

Love and devotion, the devastating hope and fear contained in a woman’s swelling womb—these were left unspoken. P338

Thank you to  Little Brown & Co. (Reagan Arthur Books) for providing this book for review.

This story is set in Alaska for the Where you are Reading Challenge. I will add this to my ARC and New Authors challenges too.
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the hardcover review copy:

1. Please visit the author's website and tell me something you find of interest there OR follow the book link at the title above, watch the video trailer and comment on that.   One of these is required for entry. 

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower (GFC, Twitter, FB, email) or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(four total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 30, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 31 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham

This started a little slowly but midway it became engrossing so I didn’t want to stop until the end.

Bleed for Me (Joseph O'Loughlin) 
by Michael Robotham

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Mulholland Books; Reprint edition (February 27, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316126381
• ISBN-13: 978-0316126380

     Genre: Crime Fiction
     My Rating:  4.25 of 5.0 

Book Description
Publication Date: February 27, 2012 | Series: Joseph O'Loughlin
She's standing at the front door. Covered in blood. Is she the victim of a crime? Or the perpetrator?

A teenage girl--Sienna, a troubled friend of his daughter--comes to Joe O'Loughlin's door one night. She is terrorized, incoherent-and covered in blood.

The police find Sienna's father, a celebrated former cop, murdered in the home he shared with Sienna. Tests confirm that it's his blood on Sienna. She says she remembers nothing.

Joe O'Loughlin is a psychologist with troubles of his own. His marriage is coming to an end and his daughter will barely speak to him. He tries to help Sienna, hoping that if he succeeds it will win back his daughter's affection. But Sienna is unreachable, unable to mourn her father's death or to explain it.

Investigators take aim at Sienna. O'Loughlin senses something different is happening, something subterranean and terrifying to Sienna. It may be something in her mind. Or it may be something real. Someone real. Someone capable of the most grim and gruesome murder, and willing to kill again if anyone gets too close.

His newest thriller is further evidence that Michael Robotham is, as David Baldacci has said, "the real deal--we only hope he will write faster."

Review:

The story is told by Joe O’Loughlin, a semi-retired psychologist who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. He is separated from his wife, not because of his illness but because she can’t handle his deep unhappiness, as well as his tendency to get lost in a case.  Their 14 year old daughter, Charlie, is at an age where she is struggling to assert her own personality and she is confused and resentful.  Apparently Charlie was kidnaped and traumatized in a prior book that raises issues of balance between living and safety. Joe still spends lots of time around his family hoping that his wife will let him come home.

One night his daughter’s close friend shows up covered in blood and totally disoriented. Sienna is the immediate suspect in the brutal murder of her father. Joe doesn’t believe she is the killer and he sets out to investigate other suspects.  At first the tough police detective recruits Joe to help with the case but as the facts start to reveal that the murdered cop may have been an abuser the police become less friendly. Joe calls in an old friend, Ruiz, a private investigator who adds some more character depth.

The first part of the book was rather depressing and I struggled with the sad family drama. Midway the clues start to lead somewhere and it is nonstop clue tracking from then on. I really liked how the connection between pieces is revealed by interviews. The clues point to one suspect, a well-liked, respectable man who appears to have walked away from the murder of his first wife, who was never found.  The fellow is slick though and there isn’t enough to accuse or arrest him. Meanwhile there is a side story of a trial where Joe’s wife is serving as a translator. Not only do  issues of jury tampering, and more, arise, but along the line there is a connection discovered between Joe’s prime suspect and the trial defendants.

The writing begins crisp and abrupt, fitting a male narrator. At other times the writing has an almost lyrical flow.  the characters are well developed to give a unique personality to each. The mystery was nicely puzzled and connected. This is the first book I have read by this author and I would be interested in reading more. I understand that this book is part of a series of books with Joe O'Loughlin.  It read fine as a stand alone although it is likely that reading earlier books might give a fuller picture of the family and friendship dynamics.

~~~~~~~~~~

A sad comment on Joe’s status with his family:
I know the script. I know the stage directions. I no longer have a walk on part. P71.

A good description as Joe takes a helicopter ride with injured suspect and cop:
Higher still, we’re above the whitecaps and rocky shore, higher than the Mendip Hills and the patchwork fields, where everything is bathed in lustrous sunshine that makes a mockery of all that is dark about the day. P 394.

Thank you to Little Brown & Co. for providing this book to read and review.

I will add this to my ARC, New Authors and Mystery and Suspense challenges.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC copy: 

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something that interests you there. This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two more entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

THERE WILL BE ONE WINNER.

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* Limit one win per household.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 9, 2012.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries and announced on March 10 with 72 hours to complete the winners form.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

This book is suspenseful, strange and engaging!

The Rook 
by Daniel O'Malley

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 11, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316098795
• ISBN-13: 978-0316098793

Genre:  Fantasy, Thriller
My Rating:  4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: January 11, 2012
"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.

Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, THE ROOK is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.

Review:

This is a good thriller with very unique and strange characters.

Myfanwy Thomas wakes up and doesn’t know who she is until she finds a letter in her pocket. The letter starts “The body you are wearing used to be mine.” Thus begins a learning process for Myfanwy to learn about her former life and job. This is no easy task since “Thomas”, as she dubs her former self, is a Rook and the administrator for a very secretive government agency that hides supernatural creatures and events from the public and battles supernatural forces. Each team operative has their own supernatural ability to aid the organization.

Myfanwy quickly becomes immersed in on the job training with some help from a handy notebook prepared for her by Thomas. The notebook defines the organization, identifies the other operatives by name, title, responsibility, super power and personality quirks. Myfanwy doesn’t even know her own unique gifts until she accidentally uses them and begins to learn to expand and control them.

While Thomas was super organized she was also obsessively plain, neutral and timid. She had learned not to touch as she apparently can injure or even kill another person with just a touch. Although Myfanwy can dress like Thomas she has a hard time being timid. She is ready to face any challenge, the biggest one being  to discover who wiped out her memory and why. This task is extra difficult since she has no idea who, if anyone, she can trust.

The team of operatives is soon faced with an ancient foe, The Grafters. Hundreds of years before they were creatures that were mostly blobs that were sent to take over a portion of England. They were defeated and thought to have been destroyed. Instead it appears that some survived and have become a dangerous group that grafts themselves into new forms and is infiltrating the Organization.

I really enjoyed the way the author sets up the discovery of information through Thomas’ letters and notebook. There were occasions when characters were introduced through a scene before they were disclosed by Thomas’ information. This caused a little confusion as I had to flip back a few chapters later to make sure who the character was.

I loved Myfanwy’s character with her bravery, determination and growing, or emerging, strengths. I also enjoyed discovering her quirky allies and laughed at many of the crazy enemies and scenarios that Myfanwy stumbles into. The mystery is full of suspects and twists that kept me eager to read as I wondered what would happen next. This is a fun and different read that is a good break from romance reading!

~~~~~

Thank you to Little Brown and Co. for this book to read and review.
This book is set in London, England for my Where Are You Reading challenge.  This will also go on my ARC and New Author challenge lists.


TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC copy:

1. Visit the author site and tell me something of interest you found there.  This is required for entry.

2. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3.  For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on February 10, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on February 11. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review and Giveaway: Bossypants by Tina Fey

Live from New York its.... Tina Fey!
This is a fast and entertaining collection of life experiences and views; not quite a memoir but that genre fits.

Bossypants 
by Tina Fey

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books; 1st edition (April 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316056863
• ISBN-13: 978-0316056861

    Genre: Memoirs
    My Rating: 4.0

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2011

Before Liz Lemon, before "Weekend Update," before "Sarah Palin," Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.

She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon -- from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.

(Includes Special, Never-Before-Solicited Opinions on Breastfeeding, Princesses, Photoshop, the Electoral Process, and Italian Rum Cake!)

Review:
I don’t watch a lot of TV and it has actually been years since I watched Saturday Night Live (SNL) so I didn’t recognize Tina Fey as an actress.   I actually thought this book was comedy fiction.   Instead it is real life shared with great wit. The author sets the tone immediately by jumping into very up-beat humor. The attitude is very positive and tolerant on many subjects, especially liberal and moral issues.

Ms. Fey is an actress who became the head writer and a performer on SNL during the late 1990s to 2006.  She then became the producer, as well as a writer and performer, in 30 Rock (a show I have never seen.) Anyone who has watched and enjoyed crazy SNL skits can certainly appreciate the wacky and satirical level of humor and entertainment that are reflected in Bossypants. I could picture Ms. Fey in the SNL sketches where she portrayed Sarah Palin with Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton.

The book covers the author’s childhood with her protective and penny-pinching father, her early employment trying to break into some of the “male” jobs, including the early years at SNL when women were not given prime roles. She also shares fun views on Photoshop (note the arms on the book cover), being thin, being fat, mothering issues like breast-feeding and differences with the nanny, and more fun snippets of her life.

I was turned off at times by swearing and some graphically blunt descriptions. And sorry, but I really don’t want to know about men peeing in cups or fecalists at photo shoots... although I guess these are interesting and little-publicized tidbits. For me some of this falls close to what I consider “toilet” humor which I don’t enjoy. (Okay - I admit, I’m sort of a prude.)

The book moves very fast both in print and on Audible.  Ms. Fey does the narration and the same upbeat pace carries in her fast narration. [What did disturb me on the audio was the almost vitriolic use of a phrase taking God’s name in vain. That is personally offensive to me and I switched back to the print to avoid any more negative from that.]  If the language won’t bother you and you like audio, you might very well enjoy her energy in the audio version - although you might want to get the Audio book which includes a pdf. Otherwise I would say go with the book which includes pictures that add interest.

Thank you to Little Brown and Company for this book to read and review.

MBS Where Are You Reading? Map link.

This also falls into my New Authors and ARC challenges for 2012.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the Review Print Copy:
1. Tell me if you recognized Tina Fey by name or visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there.  This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3.  For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on January 20, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on January 21. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review: Help! for Writers by Roy Peter Clark

This book is full of good, practical tips that can help writers of ALL types!

Help! For Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces [Hardcover]

by Roy Peter Clark

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (September 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316126713
• ISBN-13: 978-0316126717

   Genre: Nonfiction; Improvement
   My Rating:  5.0 of 5.0

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2011

The craft of writing offers countless potential problems: The story is too long; the story's too short; revising presents a huge hurdle; writer's block is rearing its ugly head.

In HELP! FOR WRITERS, Roy Peter Clark presents an "owner's manual" for writers, outlining the seven steps of the writing process, and addressing the 21 most urgent problems that writers face. In his trademark engaging and entertaining style, Clark offers ten short solutions to each problem. Out of ideas? Read posters, billboards, and graffiti. Can't bear to edit yourself? Watch the deleted scenes feature of a DVD, and ask yourself why those scenes were left on the cutting-room floor. HELP! FOR WRITERS offers 210 strategies to guide writers to success.

Review:
This easily laid out text covers tips for writing from “Getting Started” to  “Finding Focus” to “Building a Draft”, and all the way to the final chapter, “Keeping the Faith.”   Each of seven chapters is broken into three subsections that key in on specific topics to help a writer move along in the right direction.  This starts with the basics like finding ideas in everyday situations, researching, and organizing ideas and research. Next the author directs focus to beginning, looking for the right language, then building a draft.  Once you are into the piece you need to assess your progress and determine how to meet your deadlines. Clark address 'sagging' middles and getting the ending right. Finally you get to learn to accept criticism, improve by revising and editing. The author gives tips to get around writer’s block and gives encouragement to ‘keep the faith.’

The style of this book is engaging and easy to follow. I had marked a good half dozen tips before I was halfway through the book. I particularly liked the section on looking for language, finding fitting words and pacing by the use of sentence structure. Also I liked the suggestions on defining the ending and then working towards that with the beginning and middle. Sort of backing into the story from the desired result. I know that not everyone writes that way as many authors are "pansters" and say how the characters lead them in the story. But working to a goal makes sense to me.

I picked this to read as I was sure I could get some tips from it. I don’t write fiction although I do write legal briefs or memoranda now and then and there were tips applicable for that. Also I write reviews and I found tips and ideas that help for review writing too. I recommend this book to anyone who writes no matter the genre or whether you write for fun or professionally.  Sorry I’m not giving this one away since it’s one I can keep on the shelf and use now and again.

I received this book from Little Brown & Company for an impartial review.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson

Mystery fans must check this out! 

Started Early, Took My Dog 

by Kate Atkinson

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Reagan Arthur / Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (October 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316066745
• ISBN-13: 978-0316066747
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches 

      Genre: Mystery
      My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: October 6, 2011
Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective-a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other-or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge.

Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue-that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished.

Review: This is a twisting mystery presented with a wonderful literary bent.

The book begins with the poem “For want of a nail the shoe was lost....” The story then proceeds to follow  circumstances surrounding the disappearance of children and how the ultimate impact.  There are two stories intertwined by the character connections.

Tracy Waterhouse, a large awkward girl, was new to the police department in 1975. Tracy and her partner discover a murdered prostitute,  and small boy who had been abandoned for weeks. Tracy keeps trying to follow-up regarding the child but reaches a dead end being told that he has been sent off to an orphanage and records are sealed.

In current day retired Tracy spots a woman she knows as a prostitute, druggie and thief, verbally abusing a child as she drags her through the mall. Tracy impulsively buys the little girl and decides she will liquidate her assets, move far away and raise the child as her own. A witness to the exchange is a sweet elderly actress, Tillie, who is going senile and mixing her screen life with real life.

Meanwhile Jackson Brodie, a retired policeman, semi-retired Private Investigator, is searching for the identity of a client who has learned her past is false. The leads have sent Jackson to interview a social worker and several police officers who handled the death of a prostitute and an orphaned child in 1975. One of those officers is Tracy. As Jackson sets out he sees a man abusing a dog and manages to acquire the dog to take along his investigation.

Tracy is afraid that one of her former co-workers is on her heels. As she and the child are slipping away from her house they stumble into Jackson who agrees to give them a ride.
Ironically Jackson is not the only one looking into the 1975 murder incident. A real P.I., Brian Jackson, is searching on behalf another client who may have connection to the 1975 event.

The story isn’t straight forward and it took a few chapters to recognize that it was going to bounce around.  It requires patience and attention to keep track. The author weaves from past to present and through the lives and memories of the characters who were involved in 1975 and in current day events as the past starts to unravel. There are paralleling features in the two time lines as the characters criss-cross with twists and surprise suspects.

I really liked the detailed description of circumstances with purposes and nuances that portray the emotions of the characters. There is wonderfully sardonic humor throughout the book. The author uses poetry, play and literary references that add interest and fit nicely with the mind flow of the story.  The writing has a very different feel to me ... almost ethereal or “misty” which seemed fitting to the puzzle of the mystery.  The facts are tied up at the end although the future is left open and that too fits the story. There is an interesting Reading Group Guide at the end.

This is the first Kate Atkinson book I have read but I will definitely seek out other works.  If you like mysteries you should try this book. Just don’t expect a straight forward path of clues but be prepared for a path that includes prosaic and meandering mind trails along with investigative twists and literary pearls.

A favorite quote:
“The interrupted journey, the unexpected gift, the unforseen encounter. Life had its plots.”

Thank you to Hachette - Little Brown & Co. for this book to read and review.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the ARC Copy:
1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there.  This is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3.  For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on December 30, 2011.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on December 31. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review: The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen

This is a story that makes you wonder about the future, the past and the "what ifs." I recommend it - especially if you like issues of time/future paradox.

The Revisionists

by Thomas Mullen

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Mulholland Books; 1 edition (September 28, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316176729
• ISBN-13: 978-0316176729

     Genre: Sci Fi Thriller
     My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

A fast-paced literary thriller that recalls dystopian classics such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, from the award-winning author of The Last Town on Earth.

Zed is an agent from the future. A time when the world’s problems have been solved. No hunger. No war. No despair.
His mission is to keep it that way. Even if it means ensuring every cataclysm throughout history runs its course—especially the Great Conflagration, an imminent disaster in our own time that Zed has been ordered to protect at all costs.

Zed’s mission will disrupt the lives of a disgraced former CIA agent; a young Washington lawyer grieving over the loss of her brother, a soldier in Iraq; the oppressed employee of a foreign diplomat; and countless others. But will he finish his final mission before the present takes precedence over a Perfect Future? One that may have more cracks than he realizes?

Review:  I found this to be a good combination of engaging entertainment and thought provoking philosophy.

Zed is a “protector” of the future. His world of peace and well being resulted from the survivors of the great conflagration that destroyed the world of our present. Now Zed’s job is to make sure that events in the past (our present) occur as expected.  Zed travels to the past and follows instructions given by superiors to protect certain events. Zed insures that no “hags” interfere with the time stream.

Hags are other time travelers who are trying to stop the events that led to the great conflagration.
If the hags aren’t stopped they might go back and kill Hitler or prevent the 9/11 crashes. Although this would save thousands of lives, it wouldn’t allow the future to become what it should be... according to Zed’s handlers. There is a certain paradox that Zed is helping maintain tragic events but, in protecting the past, the argument is ‘the end justifies the means.’

The story also follows the paths of three present day people whose lives cross. Each character reveals a different view of corruption and a different sense of being alone. A common thread of the characters is their disillusionment with their jobs and their struggles to change circumstances surrounding them.  Eventually, or more accurately, finally, even Zed starts to question the instructions and limited facts that he is being fed.

Most of the story takes place in the present time and reveals pictures of Zed’s future world through comparisons.  Zed wonders if people appreciate the fresh air and the complex cities they live in. He marvels at the different races of people with their  prejudices and anger. He steps into the beautiful churches and thinks about the religions that cause such strife.  The reader gets a vision of a future world without races and without religion. But you also begin to see the restrictions in Zed’s world where they are not allowed to learn of the history before the great conflagration. They are not allowed to question their superiors.  Is it possible that Zed’s loved ones have been killed to eliminate their threatening inquires and to manipulate and control Zed?

Zed begins to learn more about the alias that has been established for him. As he uncovers the circumstances of the missing “Troy Jones” and discovers more events of that life it begins to cross over into parallels - or is it memory? - of Zed’s life.  Zed doesn’t know what to do when he realizes that he has always been able to look back at the facts given him and he has forgotten  what it is like to not know what the future holds. Manipulating the events of the past creates a point where one has to question which circumstances will change the future?  Could the future be better ... or worse? And who gets to make the decisions as to which events to protect or which might be better changed? With so much corruption abounding, who are really the revisionists?

This is a story that could probably benefit from a re-reading. I liked the writing which switches from first person for Zed to third person for the other characters. I read part of the book and  listened to part on Audible to speed the reading.  The narrator did a very good job and for me the easy but steady pacing blended with the puzzlement of the “what if” question.

                                               ###

I received the ARC for review from Mulholland Books, Little Brown and Company, division of Hachette.
I will probably add this to the ARC box after a bit. 

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: The Christmas Wedding

This is an easy read with lots of Christmas cheer and love, with the fun of a little mystery.

The Christmas Wedding

by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (October 17, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031609739X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316097390

     Genre: Fiction
     My Rating:  4.5 of 5.0

Product Description:
The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married--and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day--she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

But the wedding isn't Gaby's only surprise--she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season.

Review: This is an absolutely delightful read!

I know we usually think of James Patterson as an author of mystery/thrillers.  This story may not be exactly a thriller but it does have a mystery. And it has warm family and friend relationships.

Gaby is an exuberant widow with four adult children. Her husband died three years ago and the family hasn’t celebrated Christmas together since his death.  Gaby communicates to her children through video and the opening video tells everyone that they must come home to Vermont to celebrate not only Christmas but a wedding - Gaby’s wedding! The kink is she doesn’t identify the groom!

The chapters reveal each of the children, their spouses and family circumstances and struggles - highs and lows.  You get a sense that each child has inherited some of Gaby’s joie de vivre, strength and generosity.

Through subsequent videos to the children the reader also learns of the three main candidates for the position of the groom. There is Tom, the handsome former hockey player who grew up with Gaby; the quiet yet impassioned local Rabbi, Jacob; and Gaby’s brother-in-law, (her husband’s younger brother), Marty, who has always had a crush on Gaby.  All of the men work with Gaby and her best friend to serve breakfast to the poor each morning.

As usual the book has the short chapters that I really like in Patterson’s books. The characters are developed sufficiently so that you can relate to some or be angry at others.  The mystery is just plain fun. The love between mother and children is warm and cozy and the warmth extends to the friends and the groom. I found this to be a quick and delightful read. If you are looking for a quick “feel good” family story, this fits the bill!

Thank you to Little Brown and Company for providing this book for review.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for the book copy:
1. We've visited this author's website before so I will give you a choice: visit the author's website and tell me something of interest you found there; OR share a Christmas story that you recommend! One or the other is required for entry.

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3.  For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.)

* Open to the US & Canada only.

* No PO boxes, please.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on November 4, 2011.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
The WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on November 5. 
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review and Giveaway 2 Copies: To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal

A beautifully written, poignant story!

To Be Sung Underwater: A Novel by Tom McNeal

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (June 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316127396
• ISBN-13: 978-0316127394

Genre: Fiction
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Product Description
Judith Whitman always believed in the kind of love that "picks you up in Akron and sets you down in Rio." Long ago, she once experienced that love. Willy Blunt was a carpenter with a dry wit and a steadfast sense of honor. Marrying him seemed like a natural thing to promise. But Willy Blunt was not a person you could pick up in Nebraska and transport to Stanford. When Judith left home, she didn't look back.

Twenty years later, Judith's marriage is hazy with secrets. In her hand is what may be the phone number for the man who believed she meant it when she said she loved him. If she called, what would he say?

TO BE SUNG UNDERWATER is the epic love story of a woman trying to remember, and the man who could not even begin to forget.

Review: This is a unique and remarkable read!

Judith Whitman at age 44 is dissatisfied with her stressful job as a film editor, her rather staid (and maybe unfaithful) husband, Malcolm, and her distant teenage daughter, Milla (short for Camille).  Milla and Malcolm have agreed to replace Milla’s bedroom furniture which is an old maple set that Judith inherited from her father. That discarded bed-set leads the story back to Judith as a teenager.

Judith is 15 when she travels from Vermont to visit with her estranged father in a small town in northwest Nebraska. Judith is ensconced in a room with her grandmother’s special maple bed-set. Judith briefly meets the rough young man, Willy, who quickly declares her as “dangerous.”

Judith returns to live with her father when she is 17 and spends the summer falling in love with Willy Blunt. Willy is a simple man: a carpenter who was raised by a farmer but refused to accept that occupation. Country-bred Willy, at age 24, has a simple life philosophy of “living and enjoying” life and he has a remarkable vocabulary for an unsophisticated man.

The summer of first love for Judy is fresh and exciting, thanks to Willy’s simple charms. There are moments of surprising danger but for the most part it is sweet and intense, as one might expect a teenage summer romance.  At the last bit of summer Judy suddenly receives acceptance to Stanford University and she heads off to college and a new life path.  Although she loves Willy and says they will stay in touch and will return to him, not so surprisingly, she grows beyond his simple ways and never really looks back ...until now.

Part One rocks back and forth from the present unsettled Judith to her unsettled teenage angst leading up to her bright summer of first love. Part Two evokes the tenderness and joy of first love as the author tells the summer romance. Part Three then brings us to the present as Judith in her “termite-eaten life” contacts Willy and goes to Nebraska for a poignant visit with him.

This story pulled me into emotions from the prologue and first page. There was a small portion in the middle that was slower reading but for much of the story I found myself sailing right through the chapter breaks not even recognizing I had reached one. There were also parts where I realized I was holding my breath against the pain that I knew one or the other characters was experiencing. Have you ever wondered what might have been with your first love? This is a story that takes a brief looks at "what ifs" for Judith.

This is not my normal book read but I am so glad I selected it. It may not be a HEA ending but the writing is beautiful and if you like evocative, rich literature, DO NOT MISS this story!

Three word description: lush, unexpected, breathtaking! 

There are many quotes I would love to share yet do not want to give a few which might be close to spoilers.
Here are just a couple quick ones:

• 17 year old Judith says upon seeing an impoverished mother and teenage sons: "What if,  in the end, we are all just flightless birds?" P 119.
• Judith’s father while telling her how he was raised without a father: "...a man wasn’t much of a father if all he was willing to give to the enterprise was a small donation of personal lust." P135.

Thank you to Anna at Little, Brown and Company, division of Hachette, for this book to read and review and for providing TWO copies for giveaway.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY: 

1. Visit the Author's website (click on the picture when it opens) and tell me something you found interesting.   This is required for entry.
Make sure you leave your e-mail address!

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.) MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL!

THERE WILL BE TWO WINNERS!

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* Limit one win per household.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on July 15 , 2011.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.