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.

Just Jennifer

A Reader’s Book of Days by Tom Nissley (Norton, November 2013)

With the working subtitle Auspicious Births and Untimely Deaths, Bad Reviews and Bestsellers, Hoaxes and Scandals and Other True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year, Tom Nissley, an eight time Jeopardy! champion has combed through literary miscellany to find not only birth and death dates of writers for each day of the year, but unusual facts and tidbits as well.  Compiled by month and then by day, each month begins with a short essay quoting authors and characters (“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” ---Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables) and then lists half a dozen or so titles that typify the month.  Each day that follows is full of surprises.  Who knew that on October 1, 1888 L.  Frank Baum (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) opened Baum’s Bazaar in Aberdeen, South Dakota offering housewares and toys (the store failed within a year) or that on May 15, 1853 Charlotte Bronte’s refusal to marry the Reverend Arthur Nicholls caused him to break down during a public service (she said yes a year later).  Pick up the book and see what happened on your birthday, read pages at random, in chronological order or limit yourself to one page, the current day, per day.  Any way you pursue this treasure trove you are sure to find fun facts with which to dazzle your friends or at least be inspired to pick up an old friend or try something new.

Just Jennifer

Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur, November 2013)

Episcopalian priest Clare Fergusson and her new husband, the somewhat older police chief of Millers-Kill, New York are ready to go on their honeymoon, to a cabin they are considering buying about an hour north of their hometown before facing the birth of their child (Russ is unsure about becoming a first time father at his age) and the career crises each faces: Clare has been threatened with losing her parish and being disciplined for becoming pregnant before she married Russ and Russ is facing the possible dissolution of his police force in favor of paying the State Police to patrol Millers-Kill.  Before the two can pack the truck, they are called to a house that has exploded into flames in the night killing the elderly couple who was sleeping inside.  Russ learns the couple was fostering a young girl in need of a transplant who was not found in or around the house but must be found quickly as she is still on rejection drug therapy.  Russ leaves the case in the capable hands of his department, but finds the case has followed him and his new bride on their honeymoon and rather than nesting, Clare, almost back to normal after her recent tour in Afghanistan is restless, putting herself and the baby in harm’s way.  As the case unfolds from Millers-Kill and from a remote cabin, the plot takes a decidedly evil twist and reveals some much unexpected things about people Russ thought he knew.

The tightly and intricately plotted mystery that unravels is very good reading to begin with, but Spencer-Fleming excels at her characterization, not only of long-running characters such as Clare and Russ, but of secondary characters, such as Kevin and Hadley who are beginning to play more prominent roles in the storyline.  The plot shifts easily from Millers-Kill to Russ and Clare’s honeymoon retreat and the brutally cold January temperature, with the addition of the job crises awaiting back home, keep the atmosphere thick, the tension taught and the suspense high.

2013 Summer Blockbusters - The Best of the Best!

My Dangerous Duke

Author: Gaelyn Foley
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Another exciting Inferno Club novel!  This intricate story has so many twists and turns - it's a must read!  Katy is kidnapped and believes she has been given into white salvery to the Duke of Warrington.  She is drugged and presented to him by the elder smuggler as a gift.  But when the Duke sees her practically unconscious in his room, he leaves her alone.   The next day she runs away, so the Duke gives chase.  She almost loses her life when a cliff gives way, but the Duke saves her.  They have a talk and Katy can see she can trust him.  He calls for the elder smuggler to find out what is going on.  He finds out about events in her past and about how she came to be given to him.  They go to find a cave (one of those caves like in Indiana Jones that can kill you) where the scrolls of the Order of St. Michael can be found.  This book contains a very detailed plot and characters.

Seduce Me at Sunrise

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Stars: 5
Review by: BookLover
This is one of the most romantic of stories!  This book again features the Hathaway family (the one from Mine Till Midnight), although this book may have come first.  Mr. Hathaway takes in 12-year-old gypsy Kev Merripan when he is left for dead after a gypsy raid.  He was a true gypsy, and finds it difficult to live in an actual dwelling.  He growls at everyone who comes near him.  One day Win enters his room and offers to read to him, and he instantly latches onto her.  He stays with the Hathaway family because he loves Win and wants to protect her.  When the village is ravaged by scarlet fever, Win contracts it.  She survives, but it has made her an invalid.  After two years, she goes to a clinic and is cured, but the doctor returns home with her, because he has fallen in love with her. Win's heart has always belonged to Kev, but he has kept rejecting her because he feels he will hurt her, since he is a gypsy.  But after the doctor gives Win a ring, Kev takes action to make Win his.

Mine Till Midnight

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
Amelia is in desperate search of her brother, Leo, after his financee died of scarlet fever, which had ravaged their village.  He has become a lost soul, drinking, fighting, and whoring.  Amelia must shoulder so much of the family burden now, especially since her father died of a heart attack and her mother died shortly thereafter of grief.  Amelia finds Leo but he is bent on self-destruction.  In the midst of everything, Amelia, who had seen herself as a spinster, is wooed by Cam Rohan.  Meanwhile, Leo's fiancee has reappeared as a ghost, their house catches fire, and Amelia's ex-fiance (who broke her heart years ago) tries to steal riches out of the walls of their house.

My Wicked Marquess

Author: Gaelen Foley
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
This is part of the Inferno Club Series.  They are excellent reads.  I want more.

Max, Marquess of Rothustone, falls for Daphane, a woman he saved from thugs outside the orphanage she started in a bad part of town with brothels, gaming halls, and thug gangs.  He asks her father for her hand in marriage.  He accepts, but Daphane is angry because she had no say in the matter.  She is very attracted to Max, but she feels he has walls up, and she cannot share a life with him until he takes down these protective walls. She runs away from him.  Max finds her and tells her how worried her family is and that he will give up chasing her now.  He admits he has never been loved.  Daphane confesses that she loves him, and they get married.  Max sets up the orphanage in a new area, names it after her mother, cleans it up, and arranges for new clothes and shoes for the children. But then she discovers he is keeping secrets from her, and trouble brews, until he explains all.  Daphane sees Max in a new light as a great hero.

No Other Love

Author: Candace Camp
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
Nicola could love no one else ever since her true love, Gil, was killed, supposedly by accident, by her sister's husband, the Evil Earl of Exmoor.  Ten years go by, and the sister, a healer, finds herself captured and blindfolded by a highwayman, who steals her possessions, then steals a kiss.  He has captured her to heal one of his men.  When her blindfold is removed, she sees that the highwayman is really Gil, who it turns out was not killed all those years ago, but merely captured and sent to a gang who collected young men for the Royal Navy.  Gil and his friend had escaped from the gang and had come back to Exmoor to become highwaymen for vengeance.  More twists and turns follow.

Splendid

Author: Julia Quinn
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
American heiress, Emma, is sent to England against her wishes with her aunt and cousins for her "season" and her "coming out" ball.  To escape the ball, Emma and her cousin disguise themselves as maids.  The cooks send Emma out for eggs, where she saves a boy from running out in the street, but she falls and hits her head on the sidewalk in the process.  She awakens to find herself on a duke's couch.  He is attracted to her, but he has decided that since she is of low breeding, her should not think of her.  Nevertheless, he can't stay away, and attends ball after ball at her aunt's house, looking for her among the maids.  He eventually discovers the truth.  His mother invites Emma to their country home and he decides to marry her.

My Notorious Gentleman

Author: Gaelen Foley
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookWorm
Grace is a parson's daughter.  At a ball, someone points out Trevor to her.  He is a member of the Inferno Club, a gang of spies, warriors, and assassins.  Somehow, Grace and Trevor find themselves together in a quiet room at the ball, and he mistakes her intentions.  He corrects his mistake and apologizes, then ends up buying a piece of property from her father.  Through a bad winter and marauders that threaten the town, Grace is there to help Trevor out.

A Lady Never Tells

Author: Candace Camp
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
I like this writer, Candace Camp.  I have recently discovered her and am reading the first book in this series.  Four American sisters are told by their mother on her deathbed to run from their stepfather to her father, an earl, in England.  The sisters have many adventures on the ship to England, as well as on shore after they arrive - thieves, self-protection, and romance.

Scandalous Again

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
Maddy is lost by her father in a card game to an American, Mr. Knight.  She and her cousin travel to London to meet Mr. Knight, but get caught up in a crazy house party guarded by thugs from the worst part of London.  All the men at the party are taken prisoners.  Maddy and her cousin save the day when they find a priesthole and put it to good use.

His Mistress by Morning

Author: Elizabeth Boyle
Stars: 3
Review by: BookLover
This is a "be careful what you wish for" story.  Before Charlotte goes to sleep, she wishes that Sebastian would love her.  Lo and behold, she wakes up as his wife!  But this version of Sebastian is different from the one she loves.  She eventually realizes that she is not happy, and wishes to go back to the way everything was before.  This works, and Charlotte then takes matters into her own hands, winning over Sebastian the right way.

The Silver Rose

Author: Jane Feather
Stars: 3.5
Review by: BookLover
Feuding families, arranged marriages, murder plots, fires, and fights abound in this tale of an Arabian horse breeder and a mysterious bracelet that has traveled full-circle.

Once a Knight

Author: Christina Dodd
Stars: 4
Review by: BookLover
This book restored my respect for Christina Dodd.  A wealthy heiress maintains her keep and her emotions neatly and orderly.  She either refuses all men the King tries to marry her off to, or they refuse her because she seems so rigid and cold.  When her life is threatened, she seeks Sir David, legend and champion of the King, to be her champion.