Where Nobody Knows Your Name

Author: John Feinstein
Stars: 3
Review by: Bob E
A book about life in the minor leagues of baseball, focusing on several key players, managers, and umpires at the fringes of their careers.  Exhibits a love for baseball and a keen sense of emotional intelligence not otherwise found in the sports genre.

Porch Lights

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Stars: 4
Review by: Barb
I love reading the books of Ms. Frank about the Low Country. They feel like a mini-vacation. These characters are interesting and fun, someone you might want for a friend. It's kind of nice when a story has a happy ending.

Scandal in Skibbereen

Author: Sheila Connolly
Stars: 2
Review by: laz
The first of this series (Buried in A Bog) was charming. This one, not so much. The characters did not develop any further than they had been in the first book. The story was long and drawn out, with an ending that was not worth reading to the end for. Disappointing.

Come Home to Me

Author: Brenda Novak
Stars: 1
Review by: bandit
Too ridiculous.

This Is How You Lose Her

Author: Junot Diaz
Stars: 3
Review by: Sandy
In a string of short stories centering on love, loss and Dominican identity, Diaz gives us a glimpse into the aftermath of the wrong afterglow.  The first line of text declares "I'm not a bad guy." and I believed it. Through the stories with women's names as titles, through the descriptions of poverty and immigration, even through the brother's cancer battle; I believed it. That is until the last story's description of our "hero's" physical and emotional collapse.  Am I expected to understand a man's choice of self-destruction? Am I supposed to feel sorry that he is now alone? No, but the reader is taken on a journey and seduced by a good guy making bad decisions.  Enjoy the tour, but don't believe everything the guide says.

We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Changed Their Lives Forever

Author: Benjamin Mee
Stars: 1
Review by: Mandy Apgar
Firstly, anyone expecting a situation anything like the film do not bother. Writer and psychologist / amateur animal behavior therapist Benjamin Mee lives with his wife and two young children in France's wine country when he gets word that his parents are going to sell their large home in an exclusive London suburb. Relocating the family to England, they decide to invest their collective savings in an area zoo and begin the process of rehabilitation. Doing most of the work themselves, the Mees cope with the loss of Benjamin's wife and periodic animal escapes (a jaguar, tiger, etc.) after which they open the zoo to great acclaim. Hosting none of the film's bratty son backstory, subplots with sick animals or the tacked on romantic interest, the book is simply Mee and his story. Which in itself is great, however; if the events of the film were improbable, the book was still downright dull. Events are drawn out for too long and with a very small book with large print it is too often sidetracked and loses its charm.

Winter Chill

Author: Joanne Fluke
Stars: 1
Review by: mystery lover
This book by Joanne Fluke is one of her earlier books. I know that some books will be different than others by the same author but this one is different in general. It's good, just not a cozy mystery.  Some one else might like better than I did.  The title seems to suit the story.

The mystery doesn't have to be a cozy mystery to be good.
 

Chestnut Street

Author: Maeve Binchy
Stars: 2
Review by: ADAR
Not her usual really good story.  Her characters connect in all previous books, but in this one they are just individuals.  Very disappointed.

Tease

Author: Amanda Maciel
Stars: 4
Review by: Tartu
A YA novel, Tease tells the story of a high school senior who, with four friends, has been charged in connection with the suicide of a classmate. While Sara will admit she and her friends were not very kind to Emma, she doesn't see herself as responsible for Emma's death and doesn't understand why everyone in the town is treating her as an outcast.  An interesting look into high school bullying and harassment and watching Sara grow and learn from her participation in Emma's unhappiness and ultimately death.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Author: Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Stars: 4
Review by: Nancy W.
I have had this book on my shelf for quite awhile. I was inspired to read it by a recent Holocaust anniversary program. It is about a little known WWII event. The island of Guernsey, in the English channel was occupied by the Germans. This book takes clever form of a series of letters following their lives in and about the island, in 1946, shortly after the end of the war. It was an easy read, pleasant stories, interspersed with the horrors of the war they had just lived through.

The Rise of the Tudors: The Family that Changed English History

Author: Chris Skidmore
Stars: 2
Review by: Mandy Apgar
An account of the British Tudor dynasty from its beginnings within an upstart Welsh family to its first established sovereign Henry 7th. Focuses mostly on the events leading to the Battle of Bosworth, where Henry's forces fought those of Richard III to a successful conclusion. Would have been better if it, although the event certainly had massive implications long term, focused more on the earlier members of the family instead of Henry like so many other texts. Also, went a bit too much almost into Richard, partly because of his body's recent discovery beneath a parking lot reviving interest in the battle.
 

Tesla's Attic

Author: Neal Shusterman & Eric Elfman
Stars: 4
Review by: Marianne S.
A fun read, first in a series for middle grade readers. What would happen if an attic full of Nikola Tesla's inventions was unleashed upon an unsuspecting Colorado town? Killer asteroids and zombies, of course.

The Lindbergh Case

Author: Jim Fisher
Stars: 4
Review by: Mandy Apgar
A rather good account of the Lindbergh kidnapping, although not the best I've read. It still manages to cover things pretty well without getting into the "Hauptmann was set up/ did this / etc." revisionism that so many books today try to do. Just a nice clear presentation of what happened.
 

The Son

Author: Jo Nesbo
Stars: 5
Review by: BigDa
Couldn't wait til the retribution was exacted.
 

The Story of the Jersey Shore

Author: Harold F. Wilson
Stars: 1
Review by: Mandy Apgar
God was this dull. A rather old book I found, it gives little detail about anything. Divided into three time periods, it spends too much of its all too brief volume (133 pages with really big print) going into this or that person instead of the shore itself - its history, geology, etc. Very little on Cape May especially and boardwalk amusement parks.
 

A Graveyard Preservation Primer

Author: Lynette Strangstad
Stars: 3
Review by: Mandy Apgar
 A basic account of graveyard preservation. It gives an account of tombstone symbolism, early attitudes towards planning cemeteries, and gives advice on historic preservationists and hopefuls as to how to properly care for various kinds of memorials. Good, but a bit too simplistic for those who already have an interest. P.S. folks - do not make rubbings! It damages the stones and is the author's (and my) pet peeve within the field.

 

 

The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones

Author: Anthony Bourdain
Stars: 2
Review by: Mandy Apgar
Semi-celebrity chef, writer, and traveler Bourdain gives more accounts of his life in No Reservations and career as a NYC chef. Not nearly as snarky as I like him, little bit of a spark missing from this book that could be from being a collection of various articles instead of something he wrote cohesively.

 

 

Just Jennifer

Everything to Lose by Andrew Gross (William Morrow, April 2014)

If you take half a million dollars from a dead man who has probably stolen the money in the first place and no one would ever find out about it, is it okay? Especially if it is to help your autistic son get the proper care he needs?  Thirty-six-year-old Hillary Blum has just lost her job, can’t get her deadbeat husband to pay his back child support and has just witnessed a car run off the road late at night.  Hillary stops to help, realizes that the man is dead but that he has a satchel containing half a million dollars.  Knowing that this money will help her keep things afloat until she is able to get another job, Hillary gives into temptation thinking no one will ever find her.  Until the man who also witnessed the accident is murdered and Hillary realizes the money did not belong to the dead man but to someone else who will stop at nothing to get it back.  Hillary finds the dead man’s son, a cop from the part of Staten Island that was destroyed by Sandy and is still fighting to make a comeback, a man to whom a half a million dollars would also be a big help.  Suddenly, a decades old murder surfaces and things spin quickly out of control.  Everything to Lose is as fast paced thriller with not only a determined heroine, but a desperate one facing a moral dilemma.  All the seemingly desperate strands are woven together in this tightly knit narrative with strong characters and a well-written plot.  

Just Jennifer

The Shelf: From LEQ to LES by Phyllis Rose (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, May 13, 2014)

Literary critic and biographer Phyllis Rose spent a year reading Proust and chronicled it in her book A Year of Reading Proust.  She decided her next Extreme Reading challenge would be to read a shelf from the New York Society Library.  As Rose perused the shelves and considered her options, she came up with a list of rules for selecting a shelf, rules she quickly discarded or amended as she needed.  The shelf she chose included books such as A Hero of our Time by Mikhail Lemontov and The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Edwardian detective novels, novellas from an almost unknown Austrian writer and modern day authors John Lescroart and lesser known novelist Rhoda Lerman  Rose not only discusses the titles she reads, but delves into the lives of the authors, the role of women writers in history, the role of libraries and their acquisition/weeding habits and the role of readers and book buyers (mostly women) in shaping the reading taste of society.  Part social history, part literary criticism and history, this book will fascinate, inspire; you will never browse a shelf of books the same way after spending time with Phyllis Rose.  

Just Jennifer

Murder and Moonshine by Carol Miller (Minotaur, December 2013)

As a waitress and her later father’s diner, Daisy Hale McGovern hears plenty of local gossip, but she knows the southwestern Virginia hills hold more secrets than she could hear in a lifetime.  Four years ago, her father and her father-in-law were killed in an explosion, leaving the H&P diner in the hands of her father’s partner Hank, leaving Daisy with the care of her ill mother, with more than a few secrets of her own. When her husband Matt leaves her without a word, Daisy continues on as best as she can, but when a reclusive old man stumbles into the diner one morning and promptly dies after uttering one word, Daisy’s world, and that of those around her, will be changed forever as the hills begin to give up some of their secrets.  Two young moonshiners, Bobby and Rick Balsam are in the diner when Fred dies and though Daisy prefers to stay as far away from the young men as possible, she can’t help but feeling that Rick, at least, has noticed something more than he’s letting on, especially when he announces that earlier that year he purchased the 200-acres and house and buildings where Fred had most recently been living, known as Fox Hollow, known once to Daisy as the house she grew up in, the house that was in her family for as long as memory in Glade Hill is.  Gun-toting Aunt Emily, who is everyone and no one’s aunt, and from whom Daisy and her mother rent rooms, is certain that Fred’s death was no accident, and that Fred was complicate in the death of Daisy’s father.  Though she knows Rick and Bobby are for the most part no good, she is pretty sure there is a part of Rick at least, that is still true and decides she needs to trust him if she is to work out what has occurred.  The appearance of an ATF agent stirs things up even more putting not just Daisy and her family in harm’s way, but perhaps an entire way of life.

A debut mystery, Murder and Moonshine is plotted with the steady hand of a well-seasoned writer; the plot never waivers once the course is set and has a surprise at every turn.  The characters are well-drawn and believable; each is redeemable in their own way and will stay with you long after you finish the book.  Daisy has done a lot of living for someone who has not yet reached her thirtieth birthday and is fierce in protecting all that she holds dear, but is also willing to give anyone a second chance.  She does not brood on the past, but keeps it in her back pocket as a reminder of mistakes that people can make, hoping to learn from them and not repeat them.  As the town begins to give up its secrets, Daisy grows weary of who she can trust, learning that she can rely on herself and her family to get through the tough times.  Though there cannot be a completely happy ending, Daisy tries to make some good come out of the tragedy and unhappiness, made all the stronger from the journey.

Just Jennifer

Flying Shoes by Lisa Howorth (Bloomsbury, June 2014)

Mary Byrd Thornton has gone about her average life in Mississippi, taking care of her husband and two children, never forgetting the step-brother who was molested and murdered forty years ago and whose killer was never caught.  Now she is contacted by the police in Virginia who think they have a viable suspect but need Mary Byrd and her family to come to Virginia where they will have to confront and relive this terrible tragedy.  As Mary Byrd makes plans to travel to Virginia, she faces a tragedy in the family of her housekeeper in addition to the ghosts that haunt her own family.  On her way home to her family, she makes one more detour at the funeral of a friend, but returns home ready to be a wife and mother, maybe a little more attentive and present than before.  The plot line that explores the life of Mary Byrd and her family since the death of her step-brother and how they react to it possibly being solved after almost thirty years would be enough to sustain a strong narrative, but first time novelist Lisa Howorth adds layers of interesting, well-developed characters to further develop this already emotionally resonant plot.

Just Jennifer

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey (Harper, June 10, 2014)

Maud is an elderly woman who is rapidly descending further into dementia: she has more canned peaches than she will ever eat and is certain her best friend Elizabeth is missing.  No one will listen to her leaving her more and more frustrated.  As she frantically searches for her friend she begins to drift into the past where she relives the disappearance of her sister who vanished just after World War II.  Is it possible that Maud's search for Elizabeth will help her find the key to her sister's disappearance?  The plot flows back and forth between post-World War II England and present day, no small feat for an unreliable narrator who is slowly losing her mind.  A certain amount of suspense comes from knowing that dementia may touch all of us at one point or another in our lives, either a parent, spouse, sibling or friend, if not ourselves.  Touching and honest, Elizabeth is Missing spans several genres, providing a good read that will offer many discussion topics. 

Just Jennifer

Murder with Ganache by Lucy Burdette (Obsidian, February 2014)

Key Zest lifestyle magazine food critic Hayley Snow has her plate full---a little fuller than usual.  In addition to her usual restaurant reviews, Hayley is writing a feature article on the best cupcakes in Key West and one on the Hemingway cats.  She has also agreed to bake two hundred lime cupcakes for her best friend Connie’s wedding.  Except Hayley’s cat and the new dog from down the dock have just run through and destroyed most of the cupcakes and Hayley’s dad, step-mother, step-brother and her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend are due any minute.  Hayley expects a lot of drama with all the members of her family gathered on one relatively small island, but she does not expect her step-brother to get involved in murder.

The first night on the island, Hayley and all her parents attend Connie’s Jack and Jill shower.  Rory, a sulky teenage boy is understandably bored and heads out to the town where spring break is in full swing.  His mother Alison is reluctant and admits Rory has been a handful lately, even though he has been living with his father and attending boarding school. Rory vanishes into the crowd sending Hayley and her family and friends on a wild chase looking for him.  Hayley hears word of two teenagers and a stolen Jet Ski, something Rory had been talking about since his arrival on the island (renting a Jet Ski not stealing one).  Hayley finds Rory unconscious and pretty well-worked over, though not as badly off as his female companion who is dead.  Setting aside her oven mitts, Hayley begins to look into Rory’s activities the night of Connie’s shower as she tries to piece together her step-brother’s trail that led him to the hospital and possible murder suspect.

Hayley is full of energy and even when she waivers and begins to fade, she reaches inside, reorganizes and regroups, coming out swinging.  It is evident with Hayley’s parents around that Hayley is a good mix of the two: she is kind, caring and introspective as is her father, but she has her mother’s energy and can-do attitude, though she is not as overbearing and sometimes as downright snarky as Janet can be.  Hayley followed a boyfriend to Key West and promptly became his ex-girlfriend, but she decided to stay and has found a place for herself on the island, reconnecting with several college friends and catching the eye of more than one single man.  Hayley and Connie have been best friends for what feels like forever.  Connie’s mother died when she was young and her relationship with her father was practically non-existent; the Snow’s stepped in and have been Connie’s surrogate family ever since.  The unexpected arrival of Connie’s father throws things into frenzied disarray, even prompting Connie to make a surprise announcement.  As Hayley follows the trail that led Rory into trouble, she learns more about her family, especially her step-mother, making their relationship stronger.  As Hayley tends to Connie, the same Hayley magic happens assuring a happily ever after for everyone, including it looks like, Hayley.

Hayley approaches her investigation into Rory’s disappearance and rescue as she does most things: logically and with a lot of heart.  Even though she uncovers things that may not show Rory in the best light she perseveres knowing the truth will come out, confident Rory isn't the cause of the young woman’s death.  Careful plotting allows several story lines to weave in and out of each until they are all resolved.  The sultry ocean breezes, the excitement of spring break, the lore of the Hemingway cats and lots of food---some delicious, some so-so---make for a rich and welcoming setting.  Sun, sand and good food: what could be better?  Unless there is a little mystery mixed in.

Just Jennifer

Shoot the Woman First by Wallace Stroby (Minotaur)

Professional thief Crissa Stone finds herself wondering how she got involved with some Detroit thugs interested in stealing five hundred thousand dollars of drug money that is heavily guarded.  Crissa knows it is probably an easy take, but when she brings in longtime colleague Larry Black, Black expresses some concern for their other partners, concern that is well-placed when the split goes bad, erupting in a blaze of gunfire, leaving Crissa with a bag full of stolen drug money, a dead partner and a debt to pay to Larry’s family whom she has never met.  Crissa is nothing if not savvy and careful and wends her way down to Florida where she meets Larry’s wife who is not welcoming and doesn't trust Crissa and his daughter, Haley, who at six has been damaged more than a little girl should.  Crissa doesn't approve of Claudette’s life and certainly not of her boyfriend Mapes and hangs around long enough to try and set them up with a better life, at least for Haley, a day or two long as it turns out.  Back in Detroit, Marquis Jackson is displeased with the loss of his money, to say the least, and offers former policeman Frank Burke a small reward if Burke can track down the money and return it.  It is no surprised that Burke cannot be trusted and has plans of his own for the money as he cuts a murderous swath from Detroit to Florida and right to the doorstep of Claudette and Haley where Crissa is waiting.

There are many players in this heist, all after one thing and one woman, but the pace is so fast that their paths do not cross until the last split second when necessary and then the meeting is swift, bullets are exchanged, and Crissa continues on her quest.  She doesn't particularly like Claudette and wonders if she has wasted her time bringing Larry’s share of the take, but when she meets Haley she knows she needs to give this little girl a shot, even if it is to try and make up for a failing in another part of her life.  Crissa is smart, fast and fearless about most things, but the more time she spends with Haley, the more she uncovers another side that doesn't necessarily fit in with her current lifestyle.  Stroby, a journalist uses straightforward, sparse prose, each sentence conveying much meaning without any unnecessary information.  Though she is a professional thief, Crissa is this time stealing from drug lords, giving a family a second chance with some of the proceeds, making her career choice seem a little more justified.  Fast-faced and breathless, Shoot the Woman First,  is sure to land Wallace Stroby on many “must read” crime fiction lists. 

Just Jennifer

Burnt Black by Ed Kovacs (Minotaur, 2013)

New Orleans homicide detective Cliff St. James is helping his partner Honey Baybee look for houses for her mother when they hear shots fired at a house next door and find themselves in the middle of an investigation steeped in voodoo, superstitions and alternate religions.  In the house of Robert Drake, professor of the occult, Cliff and Honey find two of his handymen dead atop an altar, evidence of recent sexual activity, but no evidence of foul play, in fact, the two men look scared to death.  Normally, Cliff, who is also a PI, and his partner only work the most confounding, high profile homicide cases, but get permission to work this case even though the two disagree on the nature of the deaths: Honey does not suspect foul-play at all.  Not even two years after Hurricane Katrina, Chief Pointer knows that sensational murders will not be good for the tourist trade in New Orleans and tells the partners to solve the case quickly and quietly.  As Cliff and Honey begin to work their way into Drake’s inner circle, they find themselves further in than just voodoo and tourist traps, but find a Mexican drug cartel who appears to be the chief supplier of the human heads Drake often requires and Cliff finds himself on the most wanted list of these evil men.  Many of the strange occurrences during the investigation, Cliff can chalk up to coincidence, not believing for a moment in hoodoo and superstition, but if that’s so, why does he continue to wear a talisman around his neck?  New Orleans is written not just as a setting, but as an old friend, with much affection for the city struggling to make a comeback after a devastating storm.  The occult occurrences are written with the degree of seriousness they need within this mystery, and not treated as a touristy gimmick; the plot is well-laid out with several surprises along the way.  The final surprise involving one of the characters Cliff encounters during his investigation, is  a little unbelievable given what Cliff knows, learned and didn’t learn, but does allow him to mark closed to one aspect of his life, though this may not be the best way to do it. 

Just Jennifer

Invisible City by Julia Dahl (Minotaur, May 6, 2014)

Young Brooklyn journalist Rebekah Roberts finds herself covering the brutal death of a young Hasidic mother, a story that draws Rebekah into a world she knows little about other than it is the world that belongs to the mother who abandoned her as a young child.  As Rebekah goes after a story that she hopes will keep her fledgling career afloat, she finds herself drawn closer to the life her mother tried to escape for love and her daughter, but made to the decision to return to, leaving Rebekah questioning her past while seeking her future.  In addition to being a fascinating portrait of life in a Hasidic community, Invisible City is a well-written crime novel with many unexpected twists and turns and a satisfying if disturbing conclusion. 

Just Jennifer

The Book of You by Claire Kendal (Harper, May 2014)

As a young woman serves on a jury for the trial of men accused of kidnapping and raping another young woman, she struggles to escape from a stalker she let into her life one evening.  Now Clarissa finds herself always looking over her shoulder in terror, but is made uncertain as she watches the trial unfold, whether she will ever be able to stop the stalker and if anyone will believe she is the unwilling recipient of the unwanted attention.  Taught plotting blurs the line between realities, causing Clarissa’s anxieties to rise as she struggles to get a grasp on a sense of normalcy and be free of her mental captor once and for all.  As events in Clarissa’s life threaten to control her, they collide in an unexpected way, reshaping her future in surprising ways. 

Just Jennifer

The Innocent Sleep by Karen Perry (Henry Holt, February 2014)

Five years ago while he and his wife Robin were living in Tangiers, Harry left their three-year-old son Dillon asleep in bed alone for five minutes.  The unthinkable happened when an earthquake destroyed the building and presumably killing Dillon, though his body was never found.  Now Harry and Robin are living in Dublin, trying to rebuild their lives when Harry spots a boy whom he is certain is Dillon on the street being led by his hand by a strange woman.  Harry becomes obsessed with the idea that Dillon is still alive and tries to find the woman.  Robin is trying to move on with their lives and has just announced her pregnancy to Harry who says he is happy about it, though his actions say otherwise.  Has Harry really found Dillon? Or is it his grief and guilt that makes him think he has seen Dillon?  As Harry and Robin’s stories unfold, secrets they kept from each other emerge as the portrait of a marriage shifts from one of shared grief to one of lies and betrayals.  A suspenseful plot with several interesting twists, the ending may disappoint some readers.  Overall a successful collaboration by a husband wife team.

Just Jennifer

That Night by Chevy Stevens (Minotaur, June 2014)

A stand-alone by author Chevy Stevens that tells the story of Toni Murphy who has just finished serving time in prison for the murder of her sister, a murder she insists she is innocent of.  Toni's family has turned from her and as part of the condition of her release she is to have no contact with Ryan, the boyfriend who was also convicted in the murder.  As Toni tries to readjust to life outside of prison, Ryan continues to try and contact her as he tries to prove their innocence; the mean girls from high school are all grown up and aren't as mean as they seemed in high school, or are they? As Toni begins to learn things that may lead her to the truth about the night that changed everything she has to decide how much she is willing to risk in order to clear her name and wonders even then if she will be able to repair her relationship with her mother .  Tautly plotted with believable characters Stevens continues to be at the top of her game.

Just Jennifer

Precious Thing by Colette McBeth (Minotaur, March 2014)

Imagine going to cover a police press conference and finding the subject of the press conference, a missing woman, is your best friend from high school who you were to have had an evening out with two days earlier.  From the day shy, awkward Rachel walked in to school and took a seat next to Clara, the two have been inseparable best friends, the kind that is so intense that they were each other’s everything until something separated them for seven years.  Now Rachel is a confident television reporter and it is Clara's life that has not held together.  Shocked by her disappearance, Rachel begins to question their friendship and how well she knew Clara and what secrets Clara might have kept? As Rachel revisits their friendship as teenagers and as adults, a disturbing picture of their relationship is revealed, one that changes everything.  A tightly plotted narrative with an unreliable narrator makes this psychological thriller one not to miss.

Just Jennifer

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Algonquin, April 2014)

An enchanting story of the life of the New England Alice Island bookseller A.J. Fikry who, after the death of his young wife, becomes angry and reclusive, drinking himself into oblivion some evenings. The theft of the rarest book he owned brings police officer Lambiase into his life, the first of many people who will slowly change his life, giving him a chance to make a new start.  Publishing house representative Amelia makes it her quest to get A.J. to fall in love with a title on her company’s list, but succeeds in much more than that.  A gift left at the shop changes A.J. irrevocably, but also plays a role in changing the lives of those around him.  Beautifully told, the story has an allegorical feel as little by little, pieces of not only A.J.'s life, but those around him are slowly revealed, giving everyone in A.J.'s circle, a second chance at happiness, all the while reaffirming why we love to read and why we need each other.

Just Jennifer

A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante (Atlantic Monthly, March 2014)

Plastic surgeon Dr. John Taylor has built a practice, and his reputation, on helping disfigured children, eschewing traditional plastic surgery which would be more lucrative to his practice.  When he is found dead in his hotel room, Palo Alto detective Samantha Adams is assigned to the case, surprised as homicide is not her usual beat.  As she begins to investigate Dr. Taylor, she learns he was a bigamist, married to three separate women; she is shocked to learn that his status conscious first wife Deborah not only knew about the other two women, but orchestrated and scheduled Dr. Taylor’s life to accommodate his choices.  Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the four women, Deborah, Samantha, MJ, his mother-earth wife, and Helen, his pediatric oncologist wife, and together they not only form a picture of his life, but slowly reveal who might have wanted him dead.  With different voices, and different images of what their life was like, each woman tells her story, deals with the death of her husband and the betrayal she feels.  Samantha, in her own way, lets Taylor’s legacy seep into her helping her make some choices, and face some truths, in her own life that she may have been trying to avoid.  

Just Jennifer

Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey  (Blue Rider Press, February, 2014)

When Danny, a simple-minded resident of rural Wyalusing, Pennsylvania finds the body of Mindy, the one woman who has been his friend his entire life, he becomes the main suspect in her murder and sets off a manhunt that has irrevocable implications for the small town.  The town turning on the kindhearted Danny is reflected in a cold, harsh winter night.  An evil has been festering in the town for many years and will all come out on this one night.  It is hard to see the people of Wyalusing turn on Danny, and maybe even a little unbelievable, as they shrug their shoulders and say “it was bound to happen”.  More tragedy and death occurs as it becomes obvious there is only one way to stop what has held the town in its grips for so many years.  Effective plotting, the manhunt occurs over the course of one night, keeps the tension high and propels the narrative forward.  

Just Jennifer

Bone Dust White by Karin Salvalaggio (Minotaur, Mary 2014) 

One night just before her eighteenth birthday, Grace thinks she hears someone calling her name and looks out the back window of her house just as a woman is stabbed in the backyard.  Grace goes to the woman and realizes it is the mother Leanne who left her when she was a young child.  Detective Macy Greeley has been searching for Leanne for the past eleven years and wants to know what brought her back to Montana after all these years.   But Grace and Macy aren’t the only ones searching for answers to secrets Leanne held; more attacks on those closest to Grace, including a possible attempt on Grace while she is in the hospital, ratchet up the urgency to the investigation…as does the fact that Macy is seven months pregnant, unsure about how to deal with the father of her child and facing her boyfriend from what seems like another life.  As Grace and Macy each search for answers to their questions, a horrifying picture is brought in to focus.  The solution isn't entirely unexpected, but the setting and the characters are real.

Just Jennifer

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh (Spiegel and Grau, March 2014)

The Dane family has been keeping secrets in the Ozark town of Henbane for years.  When an outsider steals the heart of one of the Dane brothers, the secrets threaten to unravel; what sacrifices will a mother make to save her daughter Lucy from the same fate? When sixteen-year-old Lucy's friend is found murdered after being missing for a year, Lucy begins to ask questions, questions that only lead to more questions, the answers to which may destroy Lucy's family and change everything she thought she knew.  Atmospheric and visceral, the story is vividly and effectively told from Lucy's point of view in the present day and her mother's when she arrived in Henbane two decades ago.  This first novel is written with the assurance of a more experienced writer and will draw the reader in and not let go until long after the last page has been turned.

Just Jennifer

Providence Rag by Bruce DeSilva (Tor, March 2014)

What would you do if you knew a man was being held in prison based on crimes allegedly committed while he was behind bars---crimes you know were trumped up to keep a vicious killer in prison.  Not even old enough to have a driver’s license, a teenager slaughtered five of his neighbors and was caught before he murdered more that would have made him a true serial killer.  Because of an antiquated Rhode Island law, this boy, who has grown into a man while in prison, must be released when he turns twenty-one, unless, as it happened, the prisoner commits other crimes while in jail.  Newspaper reporter Mulligan has been covering the story since the beginning, but now his co-worker, and the son of the owner of the paper, Mason, is uncomfortable with the framing of a man---even if the man will surely kill again once he gets out of jail.  More than a well-plotted, fast-paced---though very graphic---mystery, Providence Rag is the story of the collapse of a print newspaper and an ethical dilemma that reaches all the way to the governor.  Well-developed characters populate the book.  A slight slowing down of the pace near the middle makes the plot drag a little, but just as fast it picks up again and races toward an uneasy conclusion.

Just Jennifer

The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson (William Morrow, February 2014)

When George was a freshman in college, he had an intense affair with a classmate who killed herself over winter break.  Or did she?  George has spent the past twenty years thinking he has seen Liana Decter and when he finally does see her in a Boston bar she pulls him into a drama only George doesn’t realize he is only there to play a small part, to set things in motion and instead, he becomes so involved he will be lucky to extricate himself alive.  Liana can mesmerize and bewitch men, but there is one thing that must be kept in mind when dealing with her---Liana only looks out for Liana---and she is wanted for two murders.  Fast-paced and obsessive, Peter Swanson’s debut grabs you at once and doesn’t let go; even when you realize nothing is as it appears, it is still almost impossible to guess that Liana’s next move is.  Seductively addictive from the first page to the last.

Just Jennifer

The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena (William Morrow, February 2014)

Translated from German The Taste of Apple Seeds tells the story of Iris who has inherited her grandmother’s country house, but along with it, all her family’s  memories and secrets, some painful enough to destroy lives that have been rebuilt over the past decade.  Iris is unsure whether she should keep the house or sell it and decides to stay in it for a week to put things in order and make her decision.  Bertha’s cottage has always had an enchanted quality to it, even after the death of Iris’s cousin Rosemarie: red currents since always grow white, but make the sweetest tasting pink tinged jelly; apple blossoms bloom off-season when true lovers stand beneath a tree and sparks fly from Iris’s aunt whenever she makes human contact.  As Iris revisits her family and their memories, she must make a choice whether she wants to inherit her family’s memories and pains and be the keeper of them or take a chance on giving up her past---and possible future---and return to the life she has crafted for herself.  A fairy tale quality to the narrative will endear Iris to readers and sparks a magical atmosphere.

Just Jennifer

Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Hogarth, April 29, 2014)

Ruby is “the kind of pretty it hurts to look at” and Ephram has been in love with Ruby since they were children in East Texas.  Over thirty years later, Ruby has returned from New York City, even more damaged then when she left, the town shunning her, Ephram determined to save and redeem his Ruby.  With writing that is of another time, each character has a distinctive voice: Ruby is so haunting, Ephram’s sister Celia overbearing and authoritative, and Ephram, a dream-like quality, never forgetting Ruby in all his years.  The dusty East Texas setting from Celia’s spotless kitchen to the alley outside the grocery where men gather to trade gossip and bootleg whiskey adds to the overall atmosphere.  The structure of the narrative is very effective as the scenes seamlessly shift between the past and present, slowly revealing a full picture of Ruby and what she endured during her life.  Each detail from the old lady’s shack in the woods to when and how water is used to the black crows is significant and perfectly placed.  Beautiful and hauntingly horrifying as Epharam takes on an entire town to save the woman with whom he fell in love as a child and still loves as a man.

Just Jennifer

Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman (Ballantine Books, April 22, 2014)

Imagine going on a long-planned vacation with your family only to wake up and find your children missing from the hotel room.  Now imagine it is determined that your husband took your children and the police are unable to do anything about it.  Liz and her husband Paul have a nice life in a small Adirondack town in New York State.  Liz has a small farm plot and sells her harvests and products made from them and Paul is an adored professor at a nearby agricultural college.  They have decided to take their two young children, Ally and Reid upstate to visit Paul’s parents at their cattle farm; Liz is a little surprised as they haven’t seen Matthew and Mary in a very long time and Paul is mostly estranged from them.  As Liz begins to look for her children she realizes that there is a lot about her husband she doesn't know and there is a secret from his past, one that caused the estrangement between Paul and his parents, one that is very disturbing, and one that might just be the key to where Paul has taken the children.  Strange encounters with strangers at Liz’s house and threats to stop looking for her children make her all the more determined to find her children and bring them home no matter the cost.  Tautly plotted with many twists and turns, Ruin Falls will keep you reading long into the night as Liz’s worst nightmares are slowly revealed.

Just Jennifer

The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch (William Morrow, February 2014)

Sugar Wallace has been on the lam from the last fifteen years with nothing but her bees and good Southern manners.  She is not on the run from the law, however, but worse, from her proper Southern mother who is mortified that Sugar left her fiancé at the altar just before saying “I do”.  Sugar has spent the past decade and a half going wherever the bees take her, making close friends, but never staying in one place for too long.  Her latest stop is Alphabet City in Manhattan where she turns her penthouse terrace into a rooftop paradise for her bees.  Sugar immediately realizes that her fellow apartment mates are even more standoff-ish than she expected them to be, but also realizes that each one is damaged in their own way and sets out to bring them out of their apartments and help them with her special brand of magic---honey and good manners.  Sugar can’t, however, seem to get past the things that hold her back, even when she is near handsome Scotsman Theo Fitzgerald who produces sparks just by looking at her and who, from the moment he met her, as avowed his love for her and his wish to spend the rest of his life with her.  Little by little, the bees, love and Theo work their magic on Sugar, help her to heal and begin to live her life with the zest and vigor she encourages in other.  Eccentric characters and sentient bees add a touch of magic to this story about being, letting be and letting go.

Just Jennifer

The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley (Bantam, February 4, 2014)

What secrets do we keep from even those to whom we are closest, what secrets do we keep even from ourselves, and how do the lies we tell ourselves become our truths?  These are all topics that Buckley considers in her latest novel.  Eve Lattimore has devoted her life to caring for her fourteen-year-old son who has a condition that prevents him from having any exposure to UV rays which will most likely kill him.  Eve has created a safe haven for Tyler, trying to keep as normal a life for the rest of the family, but ultimately alienated sixteen-year-old Melissa and her husband who has taken a job away from the family in Washington, D.C.  One rainy night, on the way to the airport to her husband up, Eve takes her eyes off the road for one minute while texting and hits something.  She is sickened and terrified when she realizes it is her best friend Charlotte’s eleven-year-old daughter Amy and that Amy is dead.  Eve quickly creates a story that convinces herself that it is for Tyler’s sake that she doesn't report the accident, but things slowly unravel for her, and her family, as the truth is finally revealed.  Flawed characters, not beyond redemption, a complicated, moral story line and a police investigation elevate this family saga a notch.  The ending allows some of the characters to examine themselves a little more closely as some startling admissions are made. 

Just Jennifer

After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman (William Morrow, February 11, 2014)

In another stand-alone by the author of the Tess Monaghan (who makes a cameo at the end) mystery series, Laura Lippman explores not only what happens when a cold case file from over thirty-years ago is looked at with new eyes, she also depicts women in society and the family from the turn of 1960 until modern day.  Baltimore gambling boss Felix Brewer would rather leave his wife Bambi, who he adores, and his three daughters, ages three, fourteen and seventeen, rather than spend fifteen years in jail.  He also leaves his mistress, Julie Saxony, who his wife knows about, and who is pretty certain Felix will send for her after a time.  Ten years, almost to the day of Felix’s disappearance, Julie also disappeared.  Everyone assumes Felix finally sent for her, but in 2001, her body is discovered behind Bambi’s house and the police department opens a murder investigation which is never solved.  Ten years later, Sandy Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective, is consulting on the department’s cold cases and decides to take another look.  As he does, he realizes that there is definitely a connection between Felix and Julie’s murder and tracks down all the players, including Felix’s lawyer and Bambi’s confident, Bert Gelman, and the bail bondsman Tubby Schroeder who took a bath when Felix went on the lam.  Writing back and forth from the past to the present, Lippman tells the story of Felix and Bambi’s marriage, the story of Felix and Julie, Julie’s sister and the story of each of his daughters and how each is connected with Felix and with Julie and how in the end, we are ultimately responsible for our own actions and cannot try and take the blame, or hide, what someone else has done.  Lippman slowly teases the truth out as she untangles over fifty years of lies and deception.  Strong characterization, especially the women, add another layer to the already rich narrative which is so much more than a traditional mystery.

Just Jennifer

Teaching the Cat to Sit by Michelle Theall (Gallery Books, February 25, 2014)

This memoir is unsettling, riveting and very heartwarming and hopeful all at the same time.  Theall is very honest in her exploration of her relationship with her family, the one into which she was born and the one she created and how Catholicism affected many aspects of her life growing up, her relationship with her mother and her adulthood living life as a gay woman with a life partner and a son they want baptized.   Growing up in the conservative Bible Best of Texas was not easy for a tomboy; a troubled relationship with her mother who often blamed Michelle for her depression, pulling out her Catholicism and using guilt as tool, made life even more difficult for Michelle.  Finally admitting she was gay was a great relief to Michelle, and coming out to her parents seemed a next logical step as she was certain they already knew.  They didn’t and were not as accepting as Michelle had thought; neither was the Church in which she had grown up in and turned to in times of trouble (Michelle was diagnosed with MS in 2003).  The local parish at first refused to baptize Michelle and her partner’s adopted son (who was a student at the parish’s school) and then held a baptism at a time other than right after a mass when the rite is normally conducted, encouraging it to be a community event.  Shortly after, the pastor, using Catholic doctrine and the Archdiocesan rules, decides that children of gay parents are no longer welcomed in the school setting Michelle off on a writing campaign (culminating in this book) fighting for her rights as a parent and her son’s rights as an innocent, even as she jeopardizes her relationship with her own family.  

Just Jennifer

Perfect by Rachel Joyce (Random House, January 2014)

When eleven-year-old Byron’s best friend James tells him that two seconds are to be added to time in order to realign recorded time with the rotation of the earth, the already worried young boy becomes even more so with far-reaching consequences.  One morning Byron awakens and everything seems normal: his school uniform is laid out, he and his sister have their usual breakfast tussle and his mother Diana drives them to school.  This morning, the fog on the moor is extra dense and Byron’s mother takes a different route; a quick glance at his watch makes Byron certain that this is the moment the two seconds are being added and as he does, something happens that his mother and sister do not seem to notice but something that haunts Byron for weeks to come.  Not sure to whom to turn, he tells James what has happened as James is sure to concoct a plan.  As Byron confronts his mother about the occurrence, a chain of events is set off with irrevocable consequences.  Rachel Joyce’s characters are pitch-perfect and empathetic; Diana reminds us of something inside ourselves of which we’d rather not be reminded and we ache for Byron as he wants to protect his mother and do the right thing at the same time, not sure where the two meet and not having any idea what chain of events will be set off; but one thing is certain, once he starts off on the path, nothing can ever be same again.

Just Jennifer

The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday, January 28, 2014)

A fictionalized retelling of the true and still unsolved disappearance of New York City Justice Joseph Crater in 1930, Lawhon’s novel re-imagines the events that led up to the judge’s last moments, what might have happened and the three women most involved in Crater’s life were affected by the disappearance and what they each might have known.  Set amid the glamour and corruption of prohibition and Tammany Hall, Lawhon recreates the world of Broadway chorus girls, mobsters and underground speakeasies with authenticity.  Each woman is introduced and then slowly woven into the story that becomes Crater’s disappearance and presumed death, each with her own secret that will fiercely be protected as they each finding themselves doing things they could never imagine.  A true-life murder mystery with bigger than life, real or based on real characters, The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress convincingly explores what might have happened with surprises up until the very end.  

Just Jennifer

The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Laing (Picador, December 31, 2013)

U.K. writer and critic Olivia Laing came to America to follow the trails of six of the twentieth-centuries most notable authors---and drinkers.  Following the lives, literally, of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Raymond Carver, John Cheever and poet John Berryman, Laing explores not only how drinking affected their lives and writing, but how their work influenced their drinking.  Echo Spring is a nod to the liquor cabinet where Brick keeps his Echo Spring Bourbon in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, but Laing doesn’t stop there as she weaves in and out of the writers’ lives, making connections between them that will be new to many readers.  The child of an alcoholic family (her mother’s lover was an alcoholic), Laing has a unique insider’s view of alcoholism and as she traces a path from New York City to New Orleans to Key West across the United States to the Pacific Northwest, she muses not only on the past lives of the writers but of her own family.  With her lyrical prose, Laing brings to life a side of these men no often seen as she weaves together a portrait of not only despair and loss, but one of hope and the possibility of recovery.  An evocative, personal book it is honest and well-researched at the same time, drawing the reader in with lasting effects.

Just Jennifer

Etched in Sand: A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island by Regina Calcaterra (William Morrow, August 2013)

Regina Calcaterra is a well-respected attorney in New York and was part of the response team for New York City immediately after Superstorm Sandy.  She has worked hard lobbying for social justice on the national and local levels, and is a board member of You Gotta Believe, an organization that works toward finding older children in the foster care system permanent home situations.  To read this story of a young girl who fought to keep herself above water and her younger siblings from harm makes her life, achievements and passions even that more amazing.  Regina, along with two older sisters and a younger brother and sister moved from house to trailer to apartment with their addicted and abusive mother Cookie.  Her eldest sister is married when Regina starts her story and her next oldest sister tells Regina it is time for her to take over and moves in with a friend from school for the summer.  Knowing the worst thing that can happen is for Child Services to find out about the remaining three siblings, Regina tries hard the summer she is thirteen to provide food, a relatively clean place to live and comfort for her younger siblings after their mother abandons them in a house on Long Island, doing whatever she feels necessary to keep the remaining family together.  When Cookie returns and beats Regina beyond recognition, a teacher in the school finally steps in and Regina and her older sister are sent to one home, her brother and sister to another.  Thinking that emancipating herself will save her brother and sister, Regina does just that, only to have Cookie find out, become enraged and take the children to live with her in Idaho.  Over the next few years, Regina fights for good grades in school, earns a spot on the gymnastics team but never gives up trying to save Norman and Rosie from her mother.  She also reaches out to the father she never knew and is rebuffed and tries, as she nears adulthood, to learn why her mother hated her most of all the children, hoping she will be able to heal from the abusive relationship, knowing they will never be able to have a healthy one.  That any of the children survived this life as well as they each seem to have is remarkable, that Regina was able to rise above it, educate herself and put herself in a position where she was able to help others from a similar fate is nothing short of remarkable.

Just Jennifer

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition (IT Books, October 2013)

For almost fifty years (December 1965), the animated special A Charlie Brown Christmas has been considered the start of the holiday season by millions of people.  On one December night in 1969, Radio City Music Hall was showing a Peanuts movie, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, was playing to a sold out crowd on Broadway and millions more Americans were snuggled up at home watching A Charlie Brown Christmas on television.  This book provides a behind the scenes look at one of the world’s most beloved holiday traditions.  From animation art to the familiar score to production notes, this book is full of everything we love most about Peanuts and Charles Schultz. Interviews with Executive Producer Lee Mendelson and quotes from the late Charles Schultz will make this book and the making of this timeless special person.  Each time you pick up this book you will discover something familiar, but also something new.

Just Jennifer

Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen (Viking, February 2014)

Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie fall into two camps: purists whose only accepted deviation from the beloved series of books is the television series.  Don’t even mention to them the idea that Laura’s daughter rose not only edited the fictionalized account of her mother’s life, but reshaped it, in effect rewriting her family history.  The other end of the spectrum (where I fall) are the readers who cannot get enough of the rugged pioneer life; bring on the legends, the myths and what-ifs: the more that is available to feed our obsession and imagination, the better.  Bich Minh (Beth) Nguyen has done just that in her novel Pioneer Girl.  Lee Lein has finished her PhD but cannot seem to get her academic career off the ground and so returns to her family and their restaurant in the suburbs of Chicago.  Lee finds the adage “you can never go home again” applies to her family as she and her strong-willed mother face the same arguments never resolved when Lee left for college; she sees herself as an adult returned home temporarily whereas her mother feels as the daughter it is Lee’s duty to return to help the family.  Lee’s brother also picks this time to briefly return home, leaving in his wake more turmoil and uncertainty for Lee, but also leaving a gold brooch Lee had almost forgotten.  Lee’s grandfather ran a café in Saigon in the 1960’s;  in 1965, an American reporter named Rose frequented the café and left a gold brooch that in Lee’s mind bears a striking resemblance to the pin Almanzo Wilder gave Laura the Christmas they were engaged in These Happy Golden Years.  An academic and researcher to the core, Lee travels to Iowa where Rose Wilder Lane’s papers are stored looking for proof that she is right; what she finds is a puzzling poem and a letter that set her zigzagging across the prairie and to San Francisco, following a trail that if she can verify what she hopes to will not only change her life and that of a stranger’s, but could possibly alter the history of America’s most famous pioneer families.

With a light hand, Nguyen weaves the history of Lee’s family into the story of Lee’s quest.  As the first generation American born daughter of a proud, traditional Vietnamese woman, Lee must struggle with the cultural values of her youth and her desire to make the most she-and her family- can of the American dream.  Lee’s family story traces a similar path as the Ingalls and Wilders did, moving from location to location, searching for work and a better life, though this is all done very subtly.  Lee’s search for the story of the brooch takes her not only into the past, but into the future, her future, as she learns to live for herself while still being part of the family she holds dear.  

Just Jennifer

Aunty Lee’s Delights by Ovidia Yu (William Morrow, September 2013)

This twist on the traditional English cozy takes readers to Singapore where they will meet Rosie Lee, a rich widow who has built a culinary empire at Aunty Lee’s Delights, a restaurant where she hopes to nourish both the bodies and souls of locals and tourists with her spicy fare.  Trying to help her step-son Mark build his wine importing business, she has created a series of wine dinners which attract an eclectic group of people.  One of the guests who often assists at the dinners, Laura Kwee, doesn’t show up one evening, making Aunty Lee concerned there might be a connection between the young woman not showing up and the body of a young woman that washed up on the beach that morning.  A young American woman arrives that evening at Aunty Lee’s looking for Laura Kwee’s friend Marianne who has also seemingly disappeared, making Aunty Lee even more certain that Laura Kwee, and perhaps Marianne, have become victims of foul play.  Once involved with the police, Aunty Lee finds that as part of the community, she wants to help the police locate the two young women and sole a murder---or at least make sure the investigators and the victims’ families are well-fed.

Singapore, with its combination of British and Chinese tradition and culture makes the perfect setting for a cozy mystery.  Filled with quirky characters---led by Aunty Lee, and an exotic setting, this first mystery by playwright Ovidia Yu is a delight for all the senses.

Just Jennifer

The Death of Santini: The Story of a Father and His Son by Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese Doubleday, October 29, 2013)

Pat Conroy is known to most as the author of best-selling novels such as Beach Music and The Prince of Tides as well as the semi-autobiographical novel The Great Santini; he is also a son and the eldest child of an abusive, dysfunctional family.  This is the memoir not only of Conroy’s journey through life but of his relationship to his mother, siblings and most importantly to his father.  Donald Patrick Conroy was a Marine fighter pilot who flew missions during World War II and Korea.  In his private life, Don Conroy was abusive and violent toward his wife and children, physically and emotionally.  Pat and his six brothers and sisters were raised in different military housing throughout the South (from where his mother came) and were, for the most part, estranged from his father’s Chicago family.  As Pat grows up, he tries to protect his family from his father’s brutal beatings and hateful outbursts, but at the same time he never seems to completely give up on his father, though it is often more out of a sense of familial responsibility and duty than an actual hope that his father will ever change.

When The Great Santini was published it caused such a rift with the entire family, it seemed unlikely that any of the family would ever have any sort of relationship with Pat again.  Strangely enough, the book-and later the movie (which coincided with the Conroy’s divorce) had the opposite effect on Santini (Conroy’s nickname from the Marines) as the two come to some sort of understanding and an uneasy truce.  Pat’s steadfast love for his family and the family for which he so desperately hoped is deconstructed through fear and hate and slowly, though never completely, rebuilt, reminding everyone, no matter how imperfect we may be, we are still family.