Book Review Club ~ May

Barrie Summy's Book Review Club is back with another slate of reviews today, and I am reviewing Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward.  I will tell you going in that I picked up this book because I have read all the Spellman novels that Lisa Lutz wrote solo, and LOVED them all.  I truly appreciate her wacky sense of humor, her kooky characters, and her twisted, tangled writing method. 

So naturally I was curious about the book she co-wrote with an old boyfriend...a writer of poetry.

Evidently they made a deal that specified that they'd write alternate chapters and that neither of them could 'undo' what the other had written.  They just had to roll with it.  Naturally there was some back and forth between the authors during the writing process, and the editor made the excellent decision to include it in the book.  So, between the chapters there are notes exchanged that spell out suggestions, frustrations, or general commentary.  These are seriously some of the funniest parts of the whole book.

Quick summary:
Lacey and Paul are brother and sister, living together in the family house and making money off the marijuana they're growing in their basement.  One night, someone leaves a headless dead body on their lawn, and rather than call the cops (who they don't want snooping around their property), they decide to move the body and do a little sleuthing of their own.  Well, Lacey decides to sleuth.  Paul mostly just gets high and watches TV (a point of contention between both characters and authors).  When the body shows up back on their lawn and a couple more bodies join the mix, things start to escalate pretty quickly.

I think I laughed out loud while reading this book more than I have ever laughed while reading any other book.  It was hilarious and entertaining.  However...despite the storyline being quite creative and the characters being well-developed, I have to admit that the plot could maybe have used a couple of tweaks.  It wasn't as clean as I would have liked it to be, but what it lost in stellar storytelling, it made up for in humor.  Definitely recommended.  If you're in the mood for funny and crazy and inventive.  If you're a stickler for form and elegantly crafted mystery, maybe not.

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Book Review Club ~ April 2011

While pressed for time, I don't want to miss this month's Book Review Club, so I am reviewing a book that I haven't yet finished.  However, I'm liking it so much that I have no doubt I will greatly enjoy the pages I have left.  The book that's encouraged me to jump the gun?

VIENNA WALTZ by Teresa Grant
(Isn't the cover divine?)

Back of the book summary:  Nothing is fair in love and war. . .
Europe's elite have gathered at the glittering Congress of Vienna--princes, ambassadors, the Russian tsar--all negotiating the fate of the continent by day and pursuing pleasure by night. Until Princess Tatiana, the most beautiful and talked about woman in Vienna, is found murdered during an ill-timed rendezvous with three of her most powerful conquests...


Suzanne Rannoch has tried to ignore rumors that her new husband, Malcolm, has also been tempted by Tatiana. As a protégé of France's Prince Talleyrand and attaché for Britain's Lord Castlereagh, Malcolm sets out to investigate the murder and must enlist Suzanne's special skills and knowledge if he is to succeed. As a complex dance between husband and wife in the search for the truth ensues, no one's secrets are safe, and the future of Europe may hang in the balance. . .

This book is fascinating on two separate levels.  On the one hand, it is an eminently readable lesson in history, with a great many real historical figures featuring as characters in the novel.  On the other, the author-created characters have been given such detailed and mysterious personal histories that they bring the story completely alive.  Each time a hint is dropped about these characters' pasts, my curiosity is further piqued, and I'm frantic to keep reading, to discover the mysteries, the secrets, the intrigue!

The husband and wife team, neither of which are historical figures, themselves have a very curious relationship.  You get the impression that theirs was a marriage of convenience...and yet it's not.  Deeper feelings are lurking beneath the surface on both sides, but everyone is keeping secrets...

With the historical figures taking such prominent roles, I've been inspired to look them up so that I can picture them in my mind as I'm reading (even through the descriptions are superb)...  All hotties, right?

Metternich (Austria)

Talleyrand (France)

I'm not yet sure what role Franz Schubert will play, but I'm anxious to get back to it.  I will let you know...

Tsar Alexander I (Russia)

Franz Schubert

[portraits via Wikipedia]
For other, no doubt complete, reviews, head over to Barrie Summy's blog for a varied list!

Book Review Club ~ March 2011

First Wednesday in March, and that means that once again, it's time to talk books.

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This month's pick is kind of coincidental.  I don't even remember how I stumbled over it...maybe on someone's blog, possibly on Amazon in the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought section  In any case, I bought it for the blurb and the reviews, which hinted at a fun, frothy debut.  I'm a big frothy fan.  So, it was just a coincidence that I stumbled onto it, and it was just a coincidence that I was so busy and frazzled and distracted that I wasn't in the mood for the book I was already reading.  So I snuck it into the line up, and it was perfect.

Now I should probably tell you what it is...
Today I'm reviewing The Espressologist by Kristina Springer.

Jane Turner is a seventeen-year-old barista who's been sizing people up based on their coffee drinks.  She keeps a notebook under the counter and when someone orders, she assesses their personality and records it in her notebook.  Soon she's able to predict what new customers will order based on a first impression.
 
Everything is going great until Jane's boss finds out about the book and decides to exploit Jane's little parlor trick to boost shop sales.  He sets her up with a flashy red apron and a little table by the counter and tells the customers that--after they purchase their drink--they should let Jane know their name, their favorite drink and an interesting tidbit about themselves.  Jane enters the info into her laptop and promises to call or email if she can match them up.
 
The promotion is so successful (and Jane's match-making record so impressive) that customers are lining up outside the door, waiting for a chance to see her.  It attracts the attention of the local news channels and a popular morning program that decides to film a show watching Jane at work.  But can Jane work under pressure?  And is she willing to give up on her own crush to be successful?
 
Sounds fun and frothy, right?  It doesn't disappoint. 
Most of all, I loved the idea of this.  The character descriptions Jane matched with each drink were fun and creative, as was the pairing of drinks/individuals. 
 
Medium iced vanilla latte
Smart, sweet, and gentle.  Sometimes soft-spoken but not a doormat.
Loyal and trustworthy.  A good friend.  Decent looks and body.
 
Medium dry cappuccino
Smart and simple.  Fit and fairly good-looking.  A little timid and soft-spoken but probably a powerhouse if ever tested.  A good friend.
 
I could imagine this as a stellar coffee shop promotion, and it was fun being inside Jane's head.  Ironically, my only complaint is what drew me to this book in the first place: it was a quick read.  I thought the story could have been expanded to up the romance factor for Jane herself and maybe even include a couple of subplots.  But then I might not have picked it up, so I'm delighted with it just the way it is.
 
Makes me wonder how Jane might size me up.  My order?  A grande skim chai tea latte.

And don't forget, if you're interested, my giveaway ends March 7th.

Book Review Club ~ February 2011

The air has turned frigid here (even deep in the heart of Texas!), and my day has gone completely awry, and I'd really like to be curled up on my bed with my best blanket and a good book, but I'm a pioneering member of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club, so I'm getting this review out first!

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This month, I'm reviewing Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart.  Any reader of this blog knows that Mary Stewart is bandied about this blog quite regularly.  She is my favorite author, and has been since I read my first book by her, probably twenty-eight or so years ago.  I've read all her romantic suspense novels, but I've not read any of her Merlin series, and I was thinking quite recently that I should.  It's very possible the first in the series could be reviewed here next month...

I've probably read Airs Above the Ground ten times, and I'm currently on my second copy, despite still owning the first.  It is an enchanting novel, more suspense than romance because the the heroine is happily married throughout the novel.  The romance is there but not a huge story element.  The story lies in the circus, and the horses...and is set in the 1960's.

Vanessa March was hoping for a holiday in Italy, but instead, her husband has been called away on business to Stockholm.  But then she sees him in a newreel on the scene of circus fire in Vienna...with a young blonde hanging on his arm.  So when a friend asks her to ferry her teenage son to Austria to see his father, Vanessa accepts, determined to discover the truth.

In Austria, the pair locates the circus, casually insinuates themselves with the owners, and discovers that Vanessa's husband is undercover as Lee Elliot. The circus' horse trainer and a coworker of Lee's have died in the recent fire, and Lee is eager to wrap up his inquires prior to the circus crossing into Yugoslavia in two days.  Vanessa and her young companion are pressed into service as an additional set of eyes and ears, and then...they are well and truly in it.

Without giving anything away, I will tell you that Lee has reason to be suspicious, and that the circus is at the center of the mystery.  And then there are the horses...  The circus owns a Lipizzaner stallion trained in the dressage movements and some of the 'airs above the ground' which are the military manuevers that have been taught at the Spanish Riding School for 400 years.  It is the Lipizzaner that steals the show in this novel, but the suspense is first-rate.

In as many times as I've read this book, I've never made a solid attempt to do a little research on the Lipizzaner stallions and the 'airs above the ground.'   This time, I found them on You Tube.  And watching them was a delight.  They are all white stallions, descended from the Spanish Andalusians, and it sometimes takes them years to learn the manuevers.  In 1945 General Patton saved the animals from being destroyed by bombings or the encroaching Soviet army. There's even a Disney movie!

[via]



There is a much longer video as well, with tutorial, if you're interested.
As always, I highly recommend Mary Stewart and any one of her romantic suspense novels.

Book Review Club ~ January 2011!!

Somehow along the way, Anne of Green Gables has managed to slip through the cracks of my reading life.  I watched the Sullivan Entertainment Anne of Green Gables miniseries while in high school, and loved every minute of it, but I never quite made it back to the book.  Now I have, and I'm reviewing it for Barrie Summy's Monthly Book Review Club.

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Orphan Anne Shirley is mistakenly sent to Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables, Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, when they'd specifically requested a boy to help Matthew with all the heavy work.  Marilla is intent on sending the mouthy, flighty child back, but Matthew is thoroughly charmed and wants to keep her.  After a trial period, which tests Marilla's patience to the breaking point, it isdecided that Anne can stay.  Anne is overawed with the island and all of its natural beauty and spends a good bit of her time imagining names and histories for different spots.  Meanwhile, she makes a 'bosom friend' in Diana Barry, and they are inseparable.  But mischief and trouble continue to follow Anne to hilarious result.

Anne of Green Gables is the first in the series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and it captures Anne between the ages of precocious eleven and sensible, elegant fifteen.

I enjoyed AoGG immensely.  It's been a long time since I've seen the miniseries (although I own the DVD's), and the book charmed me all over again, even more so because the lavish descriptions filled the narrative instead of just frothing out of Anne's mouth.  The miniseries stayed (mostly) true to the book, and I was glad for that.  I have to admit that they characters who played Anne and Marilla and all the others were already set in my head because of the movie, but that didn't detract even a bit, because they'd all seemed pretty much perfect the first time around.

I have to admit, I wish Gilbert Blythe (Anne's mortal enemy/eventual love interest) had made a few more appearances.  Either he was larger than life on screen, or they added a few extra scenes with him, because I felt he was less of a mystery in the mini series.

But, oh, page after page of Anne's dreamy wonder, Marilla's sharp wit, and Matthew's quiet admiration was lovely, and all the commentary on the quirky characters of Avonlea had me thinking of Jane Austen.  But what I adored most were the gorgeous descriptions of Prince Edward Island.  I see it in my mind, and want to visit now more than ever.

"They had driven over the crest of a hill.  Below them was a pond, looking almost like a river, so long and winding was it.  A bridge spanned it midway and from there to its lower end, where an amber-hued belt of sand hills shut it in from the dark blue gulf beyond, the water was a glory of many shifting hues--the most spiritual shadings of crocus and rose and ethereal green, with other elusive tintings for which no name has ever been found."

Sigh.  Too bad Gilbert wasn't around at that moment...

Oh, and the last line..."nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams."  Love it.

It was so worth the wait. 
If you're interested in a little more AoGG discussion, stick around...I encourage you to read (re-read!) the book and watch (re-watch!) the mini-series for a good ole discussion, including a little Gilbert gossip.

And definitely swing by Barrie's blog for a great selection of reviews!

Book Review Club ~ November

Either consciously or coincidentally, I have lately found myself reading fiction set in the 1920's and 1930's.  I've recently read A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell (a mystery thriller set in 1930's Berlin), Stalking Ivory by Suzanne Arruda (a mystery set in British East Africa in the 1920's) and Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen.  And I would recommend any of the three.  But for this month's review, I've chosen Royal Blood.

Royal Blood is book four in a series that began with the very enjoyable Her Royal Spyness.  The premise is that Lady Georgiana (Georgie), while being thirty-fourth in line to the British throne, is very near penniless and living in 1930's London.  She's not interested in marrying any one of the moneyed acquaintances, family friends, or distant cousins being thrust upon her, and yet she's not cut out to work as a commoner (not to mention the fact that jobs are scarce).  She is, however, a favorite of Queen Mary, and occasionally given the odd job that throws her into glamorous company and very often, a murder mystery.

In Royal Blood, the queen requests that Georgie attend the wedding of a princess of Romania, who just happens to be an old school friend of hers.  A chaperone and maid are quickly lined up (Georgie doesn't have the funds to keep a regular maid), and off they set across the Channel and then across the Continent on The Orient Express.  Shortly after arriving at the castle in the wilds of Transylvannia, the group is snowed in and strange goings-on start to put Georgie, her maid, and her companion (and her companion's companion) on edge.  There's been a man climbing up the castle walls in the dark, a man leaning over her in her bed, and one lurking in the shadows of the castle.  Amid the unsettling rumors of vampires and werewolves in the area, a murder occurs and things take a turn for the even-stranger.

I don't wish to give anything anyway,  but this book--the whole series, really--has an excellent line-up of characters, a unique backdrop (sturdy British royals in Transylvannia!), a clever mystery, a dash of romance, and a dollup of humor.  Very highly recommended.  (And I LOVE the covers!)

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Book Review Club ~ October

October??  Where did September go?  This month's Book Review Club took me completely by surprise, as did the lovely cool front that breezed through here last week.  It actually feels like fall!

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This month I'm reviewing Dark Road To Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn.  I mentioned in a previous post that I couldn't resist picking it up at the bookstore, and Sunday, during my one allotted sick day of the year, I couldn't resist spending virtually the entire day reading it.


As previously mentioned, this novel is book four in the Lady Julia Grey mystery series, which I adore, and this one certainly didn't disappoint.  (And I'm still gawking at the loveliness of the cover.)  I'll only give you a brief summary, as I don't wish to reveal any of the many little secrets and mysteries that are gradually revealed as the story progresses.

Lady Julia Grey and her husband, private inquiry agent, Nicolas Brisbane are on their honeymoon, touring the Mediterranean, when two of Lady Julia's siblings interrupt their dinner in Cairo to request that the honeymooners accompany them to the foothills of the Himalayas to visit a family friend and potentially solve her husband's murder...that is, if he was murdered.

Lady Julia and Brisbane reluctantly agree, traveling to the Valley of Eden, where nothing is as it seems and everyone has a secret.  From the curiously beautiful and reserved governess to the young naturalist-in-training, the grieving local doctor, the eccentric mother-daughter pair with a penchant for photography, and the mysterious White Raja.  Not to mention the peacocks.

What I love about these books is their depth.  The storylines are so beautifully layered as to reveal their mysteries little by little with exquisite timing.  The characters are perfectly drawn, with my favorite always being the protagonist, Lady Julia Grey.  She is the exact right combination of ladylike decoum and daredevil inquiry agent-in-training.  She respects her husband tremendously but constantly strives to one-up him in their shared investigations.  I like her tremendously.

I would recommend starting at the beginning with Silent in the Grave, in which Lady Julia's first husband is murdered, and the investigation is headed by Brisbane.  Tension galore!  Notes at the end of Dark Road to Darjeeling indicate that research for book five includes 'séances, mediums, the late-Victorian spiritualist movement and nineteeth-century technology.'  I can't wait!

Book Review Club ~ September

Last month I was on vacation during Barrie Summie's Book Review Club, smack dab in the middle of the book I'm reviewing this month: The Nick of Time by Ted Bell. And let me tell you, I was completely caught up!

Nick McIver is the adventurous son of a lighthouse keeper, growing up on Greybeard Island off the coast of Britain in 1939. At twelve, he has free run of the island, a sailboat of his own, and the skill to get him out of some seriously tight spots.

Nick's greatest aspiration is to be a hero like is father, a pilot flying during WWI, or his friend Gunner, who served in His Majesty's navy during The Great War. When Nick discovers that his father has been using his location on Greybeard Island to keep track of Nazi movements in the waters of the English Channel--and that he hopes to conscript Nick into service as well, he's ecstatic...until his father is summoned away to face some grim news.

Consequently...as so often happens in the great children's stories...Nick and his young sister are parent-free...left to the care of family friend and pub keeper Gunner.

Left to their own devices, Nick and his sister, with Gunner along as chaperone, discover a treasure chest in a cave along the coast, then witness a monstrous Nazi U-boat surfacing just beside their sailboat. Nick, urgently wishing to gather information for his father's contact, Winston Churchill, lassos the boat's periscope, resulting in a ferociously fast tow around the island, to the castle of the mysterious Lord Hawke.

And that's just the beginning! I haven't even mentioned Billy Blood, the pirate from the past trying to get ahold of the treasure, which is, in fact, a time machine built by Leonardo da Vinci. Believe it.

Seriously, there is a LOT going on in this book! And beyond the fact that I don't want to give too much away, I simply can't do it justice. I haven't even touched on the naval battle, the kidnappings, the run-in with the Nazis, and all manner of adventures and thrills galore. If I let it, this little summary could go on and on and on. Your time would be better spent reading the book.

Beyond the truly excellent plot, Nick himself is a truly likeable hero: resourceful, compassionate, brave, and loyal. This book made me wish I lived on Greybeard Island in 1939, just so I could have known him and tried to tag along. I can't wait to read the second book in the series: The Time Pirate--you can just tell by the cover that it's gonna be good. Bravo, Mr. Bell! If I could, I'd give you a 21 gun salute!

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Doris Revisited

Nowadays I go to the library with books in mind. Or I go planning to pull an old favorite. Rarely do I end up checking out a book completely out of the blue. I did last week, and I could not have been more pleased with it.

First of all, the title caught my eye: The Thing About Jane Spring.
It was catchy and seemingly light-hearted--maybe even humorous, which is totally my thing. The cover was equally promising with it's jaunty colors, fun font, and little sparkles. But the book flap TOTALLY did it for me.

This book was about a rigid, outspoken, virtually charmless lady lawyer who was clueless as to why no man would date her more than once. After a couple bottles of wine one evening, coupled with a Doris Day marathon on TV, she figured it out: she needed to be more like Doris, because men like Cary Grant and Rock Hudson LOVE Doris. So she decided to reinvent herself as Doris Day, and as you can imagine, hilarious hijinks ensued.

Now I love Doris Day. I've always loved Doris Day. She's more everyday than Grace Kelly (whom I also adore), more grown up than Audrey Hepburn (ditto), and more relatable than Sophia Loren. For anyone who hasn't grinned their way through a Doris Day movie, I must say, you're just not letting her charm you. Give her another shot! And then read this book. Written by Sharon Krum, it is everything Doris is herself: sparkling, silly, flirty, sophisticated, and just plain fun.

Book Review Club ~ July 2010

Back again for Barrie Summy's Monthly Book Review Club!

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And this month's most deserving book is The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall.
The book ushers Vish Puri, India's Most Private Detective, onto the mystery scene, introducing the reader to his winning strategies as a detective, his humanitarian opinions of his country, and his quirky--dare I say endearing--little foibles. A stocky man, fond of his Sandown cap, which he removes, only in the privacy of his own bedroom, and partial to nicknaming his employees(think Door Stop--his very lazy office boy, Handbrake--his new driver, and Flush--who has a flush toilet in his home), is extremely proud of his reputation as a PI: "Confidentiality is my watchword."

A trio of mysteries are investigated in this book, but only two are skillfully solved by the inestimable Puri, one involving a third-party marital objection, and a second in which a servant girl has disappeared, resulting in a reputable lawyer being charged with her murder. The third mystery threatens Puri's very life, and unbeknownst to him, his Mummy-ji handles it with aplomb.

With a colorful and rather eye-opening depiction of Delhi and its environs, Tarquin Hall has created a very memorable detective in Vish Puri. Puri is bursting with personality and self-possession, but there remains plenty of room for his big heart. He runs his investigations business with strict operating procedures and his life with words to live by.

"Don't have tension, sir," the detective assured him. "Vish Puri never fails."

I'm already looking forward to Puri's newest exploits in The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing. (And don't you just LOVE these covers?? Absolutely perfect.)

Book Review Club ~ June ~

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It was tough this month to choose a book to review because I've really been reading some good ones! And mostly they're all just random library finds--LOVE when that happens. But, I'm committed to Barrie Summy's monthly Book Review Club, and so...

da..da..da..DAH...

I'm reviewing I, Coriander by Sally Gardner.
I have a bit of history with this book and author (a very little bit) in that I've read Sally Gadner's YA novel, The Red Necklace and enjoyed it very much. Finishing it, I looked up the author to see what else she had available and found I, Coriander. I was tempted, very tempted, but I didn't finally read Coriander's story until more than a year later.

First of all, the cover intrigued me greatly--all those exquisite, careful little details that come straight out of the story--and the little bits of blurb and reviews only solidified the book's appeal.

The story drew me in immediately, portraying Coriander's lovely life, beautiful, talented mother, and nurturing father in the years immediately preceding the dire circumstances of Cromwellian England. But this fairytale ends quickly, with only a hint of an unexplained, perhaps even magical, world to which Coriander's mother may have once belonged. Enter the evil stepmother. When Coriander's mother dies inexplicably, her father takes the advice of friends, marrying quickly to a seemingly solid woman with Puritanical values.

Despite the marriage, Coriander's father is viewed as a Royalist sympathizer and so, mired in grief, sails off, leaving Coriander behind with her new stepmother and an odious Puritan minister, who would have her change her name from Coriander to Ann.

Over the course of several years, Coriander must deal with the violence and uncertainty in two different worlds--her mother's and her father's--and come to a decision as to which she would belong.

This book is at once riveting historical fiction (I found myself holding my breath at times) and fantasy. Sally Gardner has a truly phenomenal talent for immersing her readers in another time and place. The touches of fantasy were light and woven carefully into the storyline, creating a world not only of magic but mystery as well. Beautifully written, this story stays with you long after you've turned the last page.

Book Review Club ~ May

I have mixed feelings about May--school is winding down and summer is gearing up. We're not tied to a schedule, but that means there's a lot of potential for 'dead time'. My kids wait all year for summer but then they have nothing to do. Sigh. So I'm counting my days, treasuring my alone time, and storing up my patience reserves. (I don't know why I bother--they'll be depleted within the first week--maybe even the first day of summer vacation). But it's Wednesday, so that means...another get together of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club!

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The book I've chosen for this month's Book Review Club is a comfort read: Murder Boogies with Elvis by Anne George. I've read it several times (along with the
other seven books in the Southern Sisters mystery series). This time I read it mostly outdoors in the last gasp of spring here in south Texas.

Patricia Anne Holloway and Mary Alice Crane are sixty-something sisters living in Birmingham, Alabama and occasionally stumbling over dead bodies. Patricia Anne is a petite retired schoolteacher and relatively normal. Mary Alice is six feet, two-hundred fifty pounds of firecracker. And their relationship is pretty darn perfect. Patricia Anne puts up with alot but gets her shots in with little sarcastic gabs that are lost on Mary Alice. The world Anne George has created is one I'd happily fall into.

In Murder Boogies with Elvis, Patricia Anne and Mary Alice are attending a fundraising concert to restore Birmingham's Vulcan statue. (It sits in Vulcan Park,

[image]

overlooking the city, an apron shielding the city from some frontal nudity but exposing some steel buns in the back. A few years ago, we were driving through Birmingham, and I insisted my husband stop to let me take a look.) PA is escorted by her husband Fred, MA is accompanied by the man she plans to marry in a month's time, Virgil Stuckey. Part of the concert includes a Rockettes-style line of Elvis impersonators, including Virgil's son and son-in-law.

During the high kicks, one of the Elvis' is stabbed and tumbles down into the theater's orchestra pit, right in front of the sisters. Their connection with two of the Elvis' naturally keeps them fascinated and involved with the murder, not to mention the mystery surrounding the identity of the murdered Elvis. Add in the tensions involved in meeting your future in-laws, a trip to the police station--in handcuffs, and a six-foot tall molting grizzly bear, and you've got yourself a good ole Southern comfort read. So sit back, have a glass of Coke with ice (as Patricia Anne would do), and enjoy! Before long, you'll be looking for the other seven books in the series.*

* This is the final book in the series--Anne George passed away after writing this one.

Book Review Club ~ April

This month I stepped, ever so slightly, outside my comfort zone of women's fiction and YA to read The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to select it for Barrie Summy's monthly Book Review Club. Be sure to click on the typewriter if you're looking to add to your TBR stack...

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Most often I go to the library looking for something specific, or in the mood for something specific. Well this book didn't meet either of those specifications. I happened to find it in the New Books section and was immediately intrigued by the blurb on the back. Not to mention the reviews.

I have always been interested in the history of WWII. Last year, I saw Valkyrie with my husband (and had the realization half-way through the movie that things weren't going to end well...Brilliant, huh?) and despite not understanding why everyone but Tom Cruise had a German accent, I really enjoyed it. The Swiss Courier picks up the story after the events of Valkyrie (i.e. after the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler's life.)

From the back of the book:
It is August 1944 and the Gestapo is mercilessly rounding up suspected enemies of the Third Reich after an attempt on Hitler's life. Gabi Mueller is a young woman working for the newly formed American Office of Strategic Services (forerunner to the CIA) in Switzerland. When she is asked to put herself in harm's way to safely "courier" a German scientist who is working on the atomic bomb out of enemy territory, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

This book is jam-packed with action, tension, and gripping suspense. It's impossible--even for the reader--to know who to trust. For a time of such intense uncertainty that paradoxically required daring citizens to behave in the most careful and audacious of manners, it is a relief to know that humanity came together in unexpected ways to fight against the atrocities inflicted by Hitler's idea of a Perfect Race. Certainly there was the need for unshakeable faith in God, but there was also a need for ultimate faith in complete strangers--strangers who could just as easily save them as betray them.

I enjoyed the book trailer as well.
.

As mentioned above, this book was duelly written by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey. This is the third book I've read this year that has been co-written. Two books by a man-woman team (this one and Wild Ride by Jennifer Cruisie and Bob Mayer) and one by two women (Dangerous Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl). I have to wonder how that works--what strategies they employ, what parts are written by whom, etc. I've recently heard of several other man-woman writing teams and have to wonder if this isn't the wave of the future...

Book Review Club ~ March

Looking for some book recommendations? You've come to the right place...or, just one of many. Click on the typewriter to hop over to Barrie's blog and a whole slew of reviews!

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For this month's Book Review Club, I'm technically reviewing The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willlig, but in reality, I'm going to cover the whole Pink Carnation series. Don't worry--just the highlights.







There are now six books to the Pink Carnation series--all of them with lovely, unique, rather entrancing covers, and I have read them all, since the very beginning. The tag line on Lauren Willig's website reads, "Intrigue. Espionage. Romance. Swordplay. Comedy." And that pretty well sums things up. The series records the secret history of a series of flower-named spies working in early nineteenth century England, France...and now, with The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, India. But really that's just part of the story, because these secrets are being discovered in real-time by a Harvard grad student living in England, dating a descendant of one of these very spies. So the stories are part romance, part action/adventure, part chick-lit, and part historical fiction, with Willig wielding her English history degree very, very well. Not to mention her flair for the witty one-liner.



In The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, a rather bitter Penelope, Lady Frederick Staines has just arrived in India with her husband, who is to be the Special Envoy to the Court of Hyderabad, basically a spy for Lord Wellesley, the Governor General. While her husband hunts and plays cards, Penelope finds herself spending her time with Captain Alex Reid, trying to piece together if he might be involved in the rumored plots inciting the locals to rise against the British.

When she finds her husband has taken a mistress (and flaunting her), she tries, unsuccessfully, to seduce Captain Reid. Her husband then goes off on a hunting trip in a region that is evidently central to the rumored plots, and so Penelope and Captain Reid covertly follow...and engage in a spot of adultery. I don't want to give away more than that, so suffice it to say that, like any good novel with a romance at its core, it all works out well in the end. Just like I like it.

This was not my favorite in the series, mostly because I don't like to have to work too hard when reading a book, and this book took a lot of concentration as Willig included copious details about the state of the British Empire in India in the early nineteenth century. In fact, if you read the Author's Note at the end, a significant portion of the book was based on historical fact. Also...Penelope was not my favorite heroine. Let's just say she had a few personal issues to work out, which, at the end, she did. That said, it was definitely an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it on its own merit, as well as part of the immensely enjoyable Pink Carnation series.

Book Review Club ~ February 2010

It seems that I'm lagging behind in my book posts, so lucky for you, it's time for another installment of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club!

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This month I'm reviewing, The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival, Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low, a trim little book but a definite mouthful.
If you follow this blog at all, or even just visit every month for the Book Review Club, you probably know that I, most definitely, judge books by their covers. And this one was no different. I love the uniqueness of this cover, and all the careful little details: the line of buttons on Petronella's skirt, the arch of flies behind her, and the plethora of little bugs tucked into all sorts of places. It had me glancing at it again and again.

This middle grade novel is just the right combination of silly and serious. Set in the spring of 1903, it is a cozy (and innocent) peek into turn-of-the-century England. Two events happen almost simultaneously on the cusp of Petronella Arbuthnot's sixteenth birthday: her Uncle Percival accidentally swallows an exotic beetle, giving him a taste for insects (and nothing else), not to mention an inexplicable spryness, and a London actress and a Panamanian Generalissimo are abducted from her coming-out party (despite not having been invited).

In the interest of averting the embarrassment that would surely result were it to get about that her uncle enjoys consuming insects at every opportunity, Petronella consults with an entomologist and subsequently finds that the fateful beetle (and a strange and colorful species of butterfly that's been fluttering about) hints at the dangerous plot behind the kidnappings. It is up to Petronella to do what she can for Mother England.

The storyline itself is clever, and its humor and quirkiness are the perfect foil for a psuedo-serious mystery. Petronella most definitely has her hands full dealing with her ridiculous relatives, her crazily-cavorting, insect-devouring uncle, the bungling detectives of Scotland Yard, and her ever-so-distracting crush on her best-friend's brother. And she handles everything with aplomb!

Perfectly charming! I look forward to more installments in the adventures of Petronella!

Book Review Club ~ January 2010!

I'm actually a little relieved to have a book to review for this month's installment of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club, the first of 2010!

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With all the crazy business of December and the holiday season, my opportunities to read were few and far between. But after the holidays, after the guests left, I treated myself to some time with a second pass library hold: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. And, as you can probably guess...I LOVED it!

First off, let me just say a few words about this cover.
Yellow is a bit of a deviation--you don't find all that many yellow books on bookstore shelves; and yellow and black is almost one-in-a-million (particularly if there isn't a vampire, werewolf, or other paranormal element in sight), and as a result, it is so absolutely striking as to be irresistible. And the cut-paper style cover art is so detailed and clever, and captures the theme of the book so well...I'm just so impressed. You can definitely judge this book by its cover!

Okay, now that that's taken care of, we can move on to the summary:
It is 1899 in Fentress, Texas, and Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old, the only girl in a family of seven children. As might be expected, she's a bit of a spitfire and tends to do her own thing, such as sneaking off to float in the river while her family naps through the heat, or lopping off a 'sneaky inch' of her hair each week when her mother refuses to let her cut it short. She finds a kindred, curious spirit in her rather reclusive grandfather and spends the summer learning about nature, Charles Darwin, and new species while her needlework and cookery skills languish forgotten. Together she and her grandfather discover what they believe to be a new variety of plant life and quickly send off their findings to the Smithsonian. But with summer finished, Callie's mother seems suddenly to notice her lack of ladylike skills and begins pulling her away from her nature walks and experiments for the serious matters of housewifery. Callie's uncertain future begins to hang heavily in the balance.

This book--a debut, no less--was an absolutely lovely read! I enjoyed this book tremendously, from the sharp details of turn-of-the-century life in rural Texas (with no air-conditioning!!), to the small-town reactions to the latest inventions (from the telephone to the automobile to Coca-Cola), to the bits about Darwin and natural selection, to Callie's sweet-tart commentary on everything from mating cats to apple pies. Callie Vee reminded me quite a lot of Anne Shirley: a girl with a mind of her own, determined not to take the easy road but to find her own way. While the main storyline followed the changes in the life and thoughts of Callie Vee, Ms. Kelly included many, many interesting side stories to create a cozy framework, from the Fentress Fair to birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Truly, it was a wonderful book. One of those I need to have in my own collection.

While I didn't want this book to end, I'm torn between really wanting a sequel and wondering if this is just one of those books that needs to stand alone. However, I would really love to read the story of Callie five or seven years down the road. With suitors and choices and all that. Much like Anne of Avonlea. Well, we shall see I suppose. I'll definitely be looking out for it!

Remember to click over to Barrie's website (on the typewriter above) for reviews of more great books!

December Book Review Club

Jingle bells, jingle bells! Jingle all the way...

Believe it or not, December is here, and along with it comes a flurry of activity: shopping, wrapping, baking, celebrating... For me, this is when my opportunities to read become few and far between. Actually, this has already started happening, and so I've gone back to a favorite author, whose books I own and have read many times.
I never get tired of re-reading them. So for this month's meeting of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club, I am reviewing Jennifer Crusie's Fast Women.

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My love for Jenny Crusie started in a Target in Austin, Texas. I was browsing through the paperbacks and spotted the bright red cover of Welcome to Temptation, with that appealing apple and catchy title, and I couldn't help but pick it up. The blurb intrigued me, so into my basket it went, and the rest is history. I quickly tracked down her backlist and read them all and then, rabid fan that I was, I waited not-so-patiently for each new release.

Fast Women is the story of a detective agency, a decade-old murder, and a entire cast of characters starting over. Nell Dysart recently got a divorce, needed a job, and walked into McKenna Investigations intending to fill their need for a secretary. Pretty much from page two on, all hell breaks loose. As part of her recovery, Nell steals a dog, inspires a warrant sworn out for her arrest, performs some sketchy undercover work, falls for her boss, sleeps with her boss's partner...you get they idea. And through it all, Crusie keeps it all whip fast, light, funny, and very appealing. And at the end, murder solved.

Crusie has a knack for developing smart, savvy characters who find themselves in really downright insane situations and still manage to keep their cool, not to mention their snarky senses of humor. As a writer (and a reader), it's impossible not to be impressed. Even more impressive is the extensive mentoring work Crusie has done for authors wishing to hone their craft. Her website is full of essays, and eventually she will be publishing, with sometime collaborator Bob Mayer, a He Wrote, She Wrote compendium of their different takes on writing elements and strategies. For a while, the bulk of this material was available for free online, and I printed out pretty much all of it. Definitely a good investment.

But I digress.

If you're looking for a snappy read with a little bit of everything, pick up Fast Women. Hmmm...that last sentence didn't come out quite the way I'd intended. How about read Fast Women. Or take your pick--any Crusie will do. Happy Holidays! And be sure to click through to Barrie's site to read some other great reviews.

November Book Review Club

Back again--it just seems like October flew by--and it's time for another installment of Barrie Summy's Book Review Club! Be sure to click on the typewriter to hop over to Barrie's blog for some excellent book reviews.

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This month I'm reviewing Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. This book is the fourth in a series of books, Big Stone Gap, Big Cherry Holler, and Milk Glass Moon that I read--and truly enjoyed--several years ago. On a quick mission in the library, I noticed Home to Big Stone Gap--I love, love, love the cover, by the way--and simply had to pick it up.

Although she doesn't write the type of books I typically read (my tastes run mostly to Victorian-era mysteries, humorous women's fiction, and romantic comedy), I am drawn to Ms. Trigiani's writing. These books are like mini-sagas, and include all of life's little joys and tragedies. Personally, I don't much care to read about tragedies, and certainly not dramas, but Ms. Trigiani writes them with such simple honesty that they appeal even to my sheltered literary requirements.






While it is not necessary to read the other Big Stone Gap books to enjoy this one, I recommend all of them. There are hints and subtle flashbacks to the previous books, and they work as subtle teasers to encourage you to read all that you've missed. The main character, Ave Maria MacChesney is an Italian-American, living in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and the book (set in 1998) chronicles this next chapter in her life now that her teenage daughter (eighteen) has gotten married and moved a world away, to Italy.

Her husband is having heart problems, her best friend has been keeping a BIG secret, and her whole life may be about to change. But she's also directing a community theater production of The Sound of Music, planning a trip to Scotland, and dealing with the quirks of everyday life in a rural mountain town.

There are characters aplenty in this book, and all of them are characters in the true sense of the word--kookiness abounds, on nearly every page, and right beside it are some impressive insights on life, love, and self-awareness. The writing is easy to read and feels, at times, almost like a diary, and at others, as if you are sitting at the local cafe, overhearing these conversations first-hand. The imagery is often wonderful. I'd even go so far as to add Big Stone Gap to the list of places I'd like to visit, inspired by books I've read.

This is a cozy book to curl up with, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for medium weight women's fiction.