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“The panic he felt then was unlike any he’d known before. A sensation of being trapped in someplace small, and abandoned in someplace endless, all at once.” These are the thoughts contemplated by the protagonist in Michael Koryta's Last Words as he finds himself stranded in an underground cave.
If reading something can make you claustrophobic, this might not be the book for you.
Read moreThis book is not for everyone. For me though, it was beautiful. Beautiful in its gutted heart and soul, its raw emotion, its incredibly precise writing, and its palpable heart ache. And its truth, according to David Payne in his recent memoir, Barefoot to Avalon: A Brother’s Story. It’s Payne’s story and his brother’s of growing up with an angry, alcoholic father, of playing favorites, and not being able to speak the truth. It’s of Payne’s brother, George A., with mental illness, his tragic death, and Payne’s own manic struggle to leave behind, then reconcile his family ties.
The book is dark. This is Payne’s therapeutic release from the guilt he has around his brother - not just his death, but in his life, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and having had several psychotic breakdowns. George A., as Payne describes wins by losing. That is, he gains the affection and attention of his divorced parents; attention Payne feels cheated of. Yet George A. earns this by breaking down. We see the brothers converge at family events and holidays, yet fade from each other’s lives in their separation, becoming two very different individuals - financial broker versus writer; conservative versus liberal; encircled by family versus trying to escape the family he was born into.
Read moreI’m familiar with the writing of Jojo Moyes, as I’ve previously read The Girl You Left Behind, and my cohort, Elizabeth, has read and reviewed on this site One Plus One. Me Before You was loaned to me by a friend and avid reader. I could not put it down, and I am now a big advocate for reading Moyes’ works.
Me Before You is a wonderful story line about a controversial subject. Moyes writes with an authentic voice and infuses humor into a very smart book. Our protagonist, Louisa Clark is a working class girl - a waitress in a diner, and perfectly happy doing so. When the diner closes for good, she struggles to find work, not being highly skilled, and finds herself as a caregiver to a paraplegic. Her patient, Will Traynor, is rude, brash, and clearly disdains her. She hates her new job through and through. However, her family is relying on her income, so she hangs in there and decides to adjust her attitude. She won’t be a pushover and combats Will’s fiery moods with tough love. Soon they warm to each other and more.
Read moreWe received this book from the publisher with a request for review.
I grabbed Valentina Goldman Ships Out as a vacation read. It is the second in a series by Marisol Murano. I hadn’t read the first book, but I liked the look of the cover and it seemed appropriate for summer reading.
Valentina is barely treading water after her husband’s sudden death when her Venezuelan mother shows up at her house with one mission in mind: to get Valentina out of her funk. How does she propose to do this? A Mediterranean cruise, of course. The dynamic between mother and daughter brings equal amounts of laughs and cringes. Serena is the quintessential controlling Latino mother who wields guilt like a sword to get those around her to do exactly as she wants. And what she wants is to go on a cruise with Valentina.
Murano’s cynical and witty take on ‘cruisers’ is spot on. From the impeccably dressed haughty gay men to the elderly widows all fussing over the one eligible, wealthy octogenarian, Valentina manages to makes friends with someone in each of the stereotyped cruise groups. She even devilishly participates in the art auction of the ‘faux classics,’ without being a registered bidder, much to the other bidders’ chagrin but the reader’s delight.
Amid the antics of the cruise, Valentina does some intense self-reflection on the effects of love and loss in her life, and Murano’s phrasing is often eloquent. “Life doesn’t let you distill the bad days from the good. In the end, love guarantees nothing. And yet, despite the trickery, despite the land mines, despite the seismic shifts, people still fall in love.” These gems among the quipping cruise stories give the book an unexpected depth.
Valentina and Murano both had more heart and soul than I was expecting when I picked up Valentina Goldman Ships Out. It was a good summer read, yes, but a good anytime read too. I’m hopeful there is a third book in the offing so I can find out how Valentina readjusts to life back on solid ground.
Published: 2015
Publisher: Hipso Media
Elizabeth's rating: 3.5 stars
A long, complicated title for a similarly long, complicated book. I read about God’ll Cut You Down in Garden & Gun magazine, one geared specifically to Southerners, and had to get it.
Author John Safran, a Jewish Australian documentarian, pursued the story because he had spent time with murdered white supremacist, Richard Barrett. Why Safran knew Barrett is a titillating story on its own and is explained in the book.
The title sets the scene. Barrett’s partially charred body is found in a field in front of his house with multiple stab wounds. Vincent McGee, a young black man who had been in trouble more than out, is the suspect. Why? Well, in addition to being the last person to be with Barrett, he confessed. The twist? It might have been self-defense.
Read moreAuthor Peter Nichols has written a wonderful novel that takes us to the coast of Spain with vivid, intertwined characters, romance, secrets, and deception. Nichols weaves a unique story in The Rocks that is captivating and hard to put down. He methodically leads us back through time as the deftly structured story is slowly revealed.
We begin with Lulu and Gerald who once had a relationship, but have not spoken in over fifty years despite living in the same Spanish town. They hold a secret to their disdain that remains a mystery until the end. While unfolding the lives of Lulu, Gerald, their children and those around them, Nichols’ setting is a beautiful seaside resort called "The Rocks", which Lulu has run since the 1950’s. The Rocks attracts a colorful cast of English expats - a reformed criminal, failed writer, and other regulars all loyal to Lulu and her welcoming hospitality. The retreat is a sexually charged place where friends and family come for comfort and escape, with the resort’s bar at its vortex for meals, chess, conversation, and lots of misbehavior.
Also central to the narrative are the children of Lulu and Gerald - Luc and Aegina respectively. Their separate dramas and shared thorny past provide another layer of tension and provides its own mystery, divulged over decades. Their parents and their own unusual relationship contributes to the dark, decades long family saga.
The characters in The Rocks are loved and scorned, but Nichols makes it so alluring I could sense the ocean breezes, walks through the lemon groves, and feel of a boat at sea. Nichols doesn’t deliver his story on a silver platter - he makes us think about the facts presented and leaves it to us to put the pieces together with great anticipation as he reveals the past to us. The Rocks is an intelligent, romantic, disturbing page turner - very high on my summer favorites list.
Published: 2015
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Vickie’s rating: 4 stars
In the past couple of decades, Stephen King has made a decided shift from horror to thriller/supernatural, a shift that has turned me into a huge fan. Previously unable to finish his books out of sheer terror, I am chomping at the bit for the thrillers. Finders Keepers, the sequel to Mr. Mercedes, did not disappoint. Started it on a Wednesday; finished it that Sunday.
Early on, Finders Keepers seems only tangentially related to Mr. Mercedes and I wondered if it was a marketing gimmick to call it a sequel. But mid way through, the rag tag crime team of Bill, Holly and Jerome from the first book show up to help our latest protagonist in trouble, teenager Pete Saubers.
Pete has the fortune to happen upon a trunk full of money and notebooks filled with poetry and prose at a time of family crisis. In time, he realizes the notebooks are the true value of his find. They are 20 years of unpublished writing from American hero author John Rothstein, who was tragically murdered years before.
The problem for Pete? Morrie Bellamy, the man who buried the trunk, gets paroled after decades in prison and, you guessed it, comes looking for his trunk.
King not only tells a fast paced story that keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can read the words, but he masterfully illuminates the important, yet tenuous, connection between authors and readers. One that King certainly grapples with daily. While extreme, King, perhaps partly autobiographically, shows how destructive a relationship can be between an obsessed reader and an unaccommodating author.
Don’t worry; even though the underlying theme is reminiscent of Misery, the plot is fresh enough for Finders Keepers to stand fully on its own. And, for those of you longing for King’s horrors of the past, don’t fret, Morrie Bellamy, even in his 70 year old broken down body, is as dark and frightening as they come.
Published: 2015
Publisher: Scribner
Elizabeth's rating: 4 stars
Judy Blume’s first book in 17 years has been widely anticipated and having been an avid reader of hers as a young girl, I was one of the first to check it out at the library.
The plot of In the Unlikely Event revolves around astonishing real life events that happened in Blume’s hometown. Taking place within three months in late 1951 and early 1952, three commercial planes crashed in Elizabeth, New Jersey, resulting in the death of passengers and town people alike. The plane crashes serve as a backdrop for Blume’s look into how everyday life in an American town is defined by not one, but three tragic events.
For the first hundred pages or so, I struggled to keep the characters straight and fully engage with the story. However, somewhere along the way, the cylinders started clicking and I was committed.
Read more“So, Amelia, what do you hate?” he says, leaning back in his side of the booth.
“Hate?”
“Yes, hate. You know, despise, loathe, abhor. What erodes you from the inside?”
“What, about myself, or the world in general?”
“Let’s start with you, then move on to the world in general.”
“I hate that I am fat and ugly and stupid.”
Chris takes a swig of his beer. “You are none of those things, but I can dig irrational self-loathing. What else?”
Australian author, Laura Buzo’s novel, Love and Other Perishable Items, takes a realistic and charming look at what a young girl endures when she has a crush that she knows deep down will not amount to anything except a broken heart. 15-year-old Amelia Hayes falls for her grocery store co-worker, Chris. At 21-years-old, Amelia knows that Chris is too old for her, but this does not stop her from falling for him and obsessing non-stop about every interaction.
Read moreThe outer edge of the Pacific Northwest is as slow paced and calm as you can get, but author Rainer Rey adds a whole lot of excitement to its peaceful existence. He successfully combines government covert operations, an Indian shaman, psychic powers, terrorism and adventure into his novel, The Find. Frankly, in reading the book description, I had my doubts. But Rey came through with each page.
There are several converging stories, of which the most significant are high-powered business woman Lorna Novack and ex-FBI agent Kellen Rand. Lorna is fed up with the pressure of her work, but dives into it head first to prove herself in a man’s world. She gets a call regarding her long lost step-sister who has been seriously injured and whose daughter has gone missing. Lorna travels to Orcas Island from Chicago to be by her side and find out what has happened to her niece. Kellen is through with big cities and after an ugly dismissal from the FBI, has started a new life and launched a salmon hatchery. One evening, he and his friend Paddy venture via boat to witness a shaman connect with nature; or rather, seemingly control nature. It’s an undeniable spectacle, that is described in enough detail, we can quite clearly imagine the scene.
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