The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

"Strike asked himself whether the strange suspicion that had him it its grip was anything more than a shadow moving in the depths of a muddy pool: a trick of the light, an illusory effect of the wind-ruffled surface....Could there be something lurking, disguised, buried in the mud, for which other nets had trawled in vain?"
                                   -from the novel

Years ago I read all the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling and loved them. I was actually quite sorry to see Harry graduate from Hogwarts, ending the series. A couple of months ago I read The Casual Vacancy by Rowling and was SO disappointed. (See the post.) Though the writing was still good, the story was weak and the characters unlikeable. When it came out that Robert Galbraith was a pen name for Rowling attached to her second post-Harry novel, I figured I should give it a try. A friend with whom I frequently discuss books, had read them both and said this one was much better. Indeed it was! In fact I really liked it. It gets a rating of 5.

The Cuckoo's Calling is a murder mystery with main character Cormoran Strike, a down-on-his-luck private detective. Robin is sent to him as a temporary worker and gets heavily involved in helping Strike to prove the death of a celebrity named Lula which had been ruled a suicide was actually murder. As Lula's story unfolded, her relationship with her boyfriend, Duffield, eerily reminded me of that of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. The plot was compelling with quite a surprising ending.

I really enjoy Rowling's style evidenced by the quote above and such word pictures as a "kaleidoscope of horror." The British words and expressions are interesting, as well, for example flat (apartment), mobile (cell phone), car park (garage), crisps (chips), ciggies or fags (cigarettes), and paps (paparazzi).

The friend I mentioned previously and I agree that there is a good possibility we will see these characters again. I truly hope so. 

Devil in the Grove Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King

"As matters now stand two colored men have already lost their lives as a result of this charge of attack of a white woman; one being killed by a sheriff's posse and one by Sheriff McCall. Another is serving a life sentence. The fourth, Walter Irvin, although shot twice in the chest and once in the neck, must still stand trial and face the threat of the electric chair. This is typical Southern Justice."
                                                    -Thurgood Marshall

Wow! I don't know if I have ever read a book that made me SO angry!

The book's title was mentioned in a column of the Orlando Sentinel, called "Florida Flashback" by Joy Dickinson. Since I enjoy learning about Florida history, I ordered it from the library. When I flipped through the pages, I doubted if I really wanted to read it---small print, close to 400 pages, looked a little dry. I couldn't have been more wrong! I could hardly put it down, even though it was so emotionally intense. One could call it a real-life horror story.

I attended high school in Alabama in the 1960's so I was no stranger to racism and the civil rights movement. Having lived in Florida for over 40 years though, I had no idea what a hot-bed of bigotry our state was in the 40's and 50's. One person in the book called Florida "south of the South" and meant it more than geographically. Apparently many acts of racist violence in Florida were unpublicized because Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and others got the attention.

I visited the Harry T. Moore home in Mims, Florida this past year and learned of Moore's martyrdom for the cause of civil rights. In a Bible study that same year, we learned of his fight for justice for blacks. I had a small part in a community theater production several years ago which portrayed the leadership of sit-ins in Orlando at near the same time. So perhaps I should have known what to expect from the story of the Groveland Boys.

Lake County Sheriff Willis McCall was probably one of the worst villains I have come across! Though the case against the 4 black men accused of the rape of a young white woman was extremely weak, white law officers such as McCall and deputies, lawyers, judges, jury members and journalists turned a blind eye and convicted them, which at that time was a capital offense. Over and over appeals were turned down and from the time of the alleged crime, July of 1949, until 1969 Sheriff McCall was responsible for the deaths of 3 of the four innocent men, and none of them were legally executed! (That is MY opinion after reading this very well-researched book.)

I didn't know much about Thurgood Marshall except that he was the first African-American Supreme Court Judge, but it turns out he was a giant in the cause of civil rights. There were several other heroes, NAACP workers, lawyers and journalists, some white, that sacrificed so much to fight for justice for the Groveland Boys. In Lake County at that time, they were taking a huge risk to life and limb.

This was a fascinating though very disturbing story. It does show how far our state and our society has come in the cause of equality in 60 plus years. And of course, we have a ways to go.
My rating is a 5.
-----------------------------------
Page Turners read this book in March, 2019, and had a lively discussion involving some of the same ideas I wrote about in my original post. Some members lived in the north during this time and had very different experiences with race relations pre-Civil Rights Era. Even folks who lived in the South did not realize what was happening in Florida. The group felt Devil in the Grove was an important book in that it drew public attention to a long-buried injustice to the "Groveland Boys." In  January of this year, they were pardoned by the Florida clemency board and Governor Ron DeSantis and the group felt the book had a significant bearing on that outcome. DeSantis said, "Justice was miscarried for the Groveland Four beginning with events set in motion in 1949. Though these men now lie in graves, their stories linger in search of justice." The ultimate justice would be exoneration, in my opinion. Maybe some day...
We agreed that this book was difficult to read but, thankfully, exposed true heroes like Marshall, Harry T. Moore and others who took the risk of standing up for justice in a dangerous time and place. Our group's average rating was 4.2.

The Downside of Being Charlie by Jenny Torres Sanchez

"I feel like one of those freaks on trashy talk shows, keeping some kind of terrible secret from someone, but then go on national TV and tell them in front of everyone so all these strangers can be entertained by their pain. Is that what I was thinking of doing? But I can't think about those TV people right now because I have to do this. I jump out of bed and start writing down my ideas before they float out of my head."
                       -Charlie, from the novel

Another excellent book for teenagers! The author's debut novel. I read and enjoyed Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Sanchez a few months ago and thought it was wonderful. I think I actually liked this one better. There can't be many authors who do such a fine job of depicting teenage angst. Perhaps it stems from her years of teaching high school.

Charlie is a high school senior, a self-professed loser, with a sadly dysfunctional family. Though I usually find myself identifying with female characters, Charlie really drew me in and I was rooting for him all the way! Charlie's best friend, Ahmed, was a fascinating character also. To make for an interesting plot, Charlie is dealing with a crush on Charlotte and a school assignment he can't seem to get started, on top of dealing with serious family problems. I was also impressed with his photography teacher, Mr. Killinger, who seemed so kind and concerned, the kind of teacher I hope I was and that every student should have.

Jenny Torres Sanchez is a fine writer, in my opinion. I always look for an intriguing quote to use in my book entries and there is never a problem with her novels. As messed up as Charlie feels he is, he can be quite insightful and even profound at times. I rate this book a 5 and I am looking forward to the author's 3rd novel, which is nearing publication. Young adult fiction may not be right for all of my readers but I must say some novels I read as a fifth grade teacher I still count as among my favorites!

Hot Lights, Cold Steel by D. P. Lyle

"Hot lights and cold steel. Surgery. The hot overhead lights and the cold steel scalpel. Got to find humor where you can."
                              -Dr. Liz Mackey, from the novel

There's a story behind the choice of this novel. After I joined the Facebook group of my high school class, I learned that one of my classmates was published author D. P. Lyle. Since I plan to go to the 50th class reunion next year, I decided I should definitely find one of his books. It's somewhat surprising I had not happened upon his writing before since I have read many mysteries by Patterson, Hoag, Clark and others. I enjoyed this one, as well, and will probably look for another.

When I began the book, I admit I thought it might be meant for a male audience---a bit coarse for me. It didn't take long for me to be sucked into the plot. I did wonder why the pages looked as if they have been splashed with dirty water. Never did figure that out. I am rating it a 3.5; it was definitely a page turner!

The novel features Dub Walker, a criminal and forensic expert and writer. He sets out to find the missing daughter of a friend and walks into the midst of some very strange serial killings. In the description of author D.P. Lyle, one can see much of main character, Dub Walker. Lyle is apparently a cardiologist, well-known forensic expert and a fairly prolific writer. He also grew up in Huntsville, Alabama which is the setting of the story. In fact, one of the things I liked the most was frequent mention of places so familiar to me from having lived in Huntsville, Rocket City, during much of my teens.

Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende

"As my Popo used to say, life is a tapestry we weave day by day with threads of different colors, some heavy and dark, others thin and bright, all the threads having their uses. The stupid things I did are already in the tapestry, indelible, but I'm not going to be weighed down by them till I die. What's done is done; I have to look ahead."
                                 -from the novel

I read Island Beneath the Sea by this author quite some time ago. I don't remember it well but I recalled that I liked it so this one jumped off the library shelf into my hand. I enjoyed Maya's Notebook and will rate it a solid 4.

The setting of the story jumps around a bit from Berkeley, California, to Las Vegas to a remote island of Chile, where the main character, Maya, attempts to restart her life, after having been thrown into chaos by the death of her beloved Popo. Most of the novel involves about a year in Maya's life which she narrates. One of the aspects that made the novel a page-turner for me was the mystery of why Maya had been sent from California to this remote location to hide out. What had she done? The reader does not find out for some time.

The author does an amazing job of fleshing out characters. Two of my favorites are Manuel who is providing a home to Maya as a favor to her grandmother who raised her, and Olympia Pettiford who plays a much smaller but crucial role in the story. Other characters are easy to hate---like Brandon Leeman and Roy Fedgewick, or quite loveable like Blanca and Freddy, along with the two I mentioned. Nini, the grandmother, is painted as something of a control freak, illustrated by this passage: "My Nini....assured me....the next swine who dared to insult me was going to have to deal with the Chilean mafia. This mafia was composed of her alone, but Mike O'Kelly and I were so afraid of her that we called my Nini Don Corleone." So, yes, there's some humor in the book also.

I learned a good bit about the culture of the island of Chiloe. Apparently there was sexism, widespread use of natural remedies, hospitality and the "law of reciprocity," in which one good turn deserves another. Allende should really know these things since she was raised in Chile.

Maya's Notebook is very well-written and I will definitely read another by this author.

Reading List 2013

This year we have read 9 books. Here are the titles and their ratings, in order from high to low, from the Park Lake Page Turners. There are separate blog posts for each of these.

4.9   A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith  

4.2   My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

4.0   Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

3.9   Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper

3.8   The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3.8   Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

3.6   Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

3.4   Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi

3.0   The House I Loved by Tatiana De Rosnay

2.9   The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo                           

The Butler, A Witness to History by Wil Haygood

"What struck me most about this story is the perspective it comes from, which in this case is the butler---a man who was a fly on the wall for decades in the world's most powerful home."
                      -producer Harvey Weinstein, speaking of Eugene Allen

Earlier this year I saw the movie called "The Butler" with a group of friends. We all enjoyed it very much and felt as if we had traveled back in time. The movie was a fictionalized account of the story of Eugene Allen, a butler at the White House through 34 years and 8 presidential administrations.

In this book Wil Haygood, first relates the biography of this amazing man, enhanced by the addition of many actual photographs. Haygood, also a writer for the Washington Post,was the first to share the story of Eugene Allen in 2008, just prior to the election of Barack Obama, America's first African-American president. His goal was to show changes in race relations through the eyes of someone who experienced them in a very unique way. I found Allen's life truly inspiring.

The latter part of the book deals with African-Americans, as portrayed through history in the film industry, leading into the making of the film, "The Butler." In the movie, Eugene Allen and his wife, Helene, are played beautifully by Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. In this portion of the book, there are color photographs from the movie.

A few years ago our local history museum had a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian called The Working White House." Eugene Allen was featured, of course, and so was JFK's tie which was given to Allen by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

The Butler is a short and easy read with fascinating pictures. Very worthwhile, I say. My rating is 4.

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

"I don't know what this person did to you, and I am not sure I want to. But forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me. It's saying, You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future."
                                -Mary's advice to Sage, from the novel

This was an amazing novel, one of the author's best, in my opinion. I rate it a 5; I could hardly put it down!

The multi-layered plot was fascinating to me as the main character Sage Singer, dealing with her own grief and moral dilemma, finally hears her grandmother Minka's story of survival of the Holocaust. It becomes apparent that the excerpts of Ania's story interspersed throughout the novel are excerpts of Minka's writing, begun in her youth and continued through most of her ordeal in Nazi camps. So there is a story within a story within a story.

Many of my readers probably know historical fiction is my favorite genre. I have read other Holocaust stories that have lingered in my mind and heart. Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, Number the Stars by Lois Lenski, and, of course, The Diary of Anne Frank, to name some favorites. (Most of those are young adult fiction but powerful stories, nonetheless.)

While my husband and I were in Washington, D.C. in May, 2013, we visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and were profoundly moved by it. Semidarkness, exposed pipes in the ceiling, bars, and many photographs cast a somber mood to the point that even teenagers in school groups were quiet. The distinct path from 4th floor down to 3rd down to 2nd, made one think of being herded as the Jews and other victims had been. A quote near the end of the tour said, "Remember what you saw today." I don't know how you could forget, especially the shoe exhibit! (If you have been there, you know what I am talking about!) The reading of the novel was almost like revisiting the memorial.

Author and Holocaust survivor, Elie Weisel, has said, "For the dead and the living we must bear witness." Books like
The Storyteller surely bear witness in a powerful way!

Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper

"I cursed him and began to cry. This man did not deserve my tears, my time, my love. It was flattering perhaps, in some perverted way, that he was sometimes jealous of me, but he had no right---no right, but that I loved him and ever would, and he surely yet loved me above all safety and sanity."
                                                -from the novel


After plodding through the mostly depressing A Casual Vacancy, this novel was a breath of fresh air! Although I am no anglophile and my knowledge of Shakespeare is minimal, I really enjoyed the novel.

The story is told by Shakespeare's first wife, Anne Whately, wed to him only days before he is forced to marry the pregnant Anne Hathaway. She tells us that she and Will were friends from childhood and lovers after that until he dies. At the beginning of this fictional memoir, Mistress Shakespeare gives the reader "the rendering of [her] thoughts, emotions, and experiences [which are] part comedy and part tragedy as well as history, for life is such a mingling. And so, [she writes] this report of the woman born Anne Rosaline Whately, she who both detested and adored a man named William Shakespeare." This is the story in a nutshell.

Through half a century Anne and Will again and again disagree, separate and come back together. They survive deaths of friends and family members, political witch hunts, fire and plague, despair and phenomenal success. To Will, Anne is muse, assistant and even rescuer---more than once. It has been said that behind every great man is a woman and in this novel Queen Elizabeth is quoted as saying something similar to Anne Whately. If the premise of the book is to be believed the woman behind Shakespeare was Anne Whately, wife "not of his hearth but of his heart."

I gave Mistress Shakespeare a rating of 4. I especially liked the quotes from Shakespeare's works which made me want to attend a play or at least see the movie "Shakespeare in Love."

When the book club met to discuss the novel, one member went to some trouble to find and prepare recipes from the period, including an odd gingerbread. Along with those items, hot apple cider and apple crisp provided lovely refreshment for the group. We had a lively discussion using questions from the author's website. Members' ratings averaged 3.9. Among the observations and comments were:

• the author's use of quasi-Elizabethan language was annoying
• the story was believable
• hearing such a revered literary figure as Shakespeare called "Will" was surprising and difficult to get used to
• there is interest in reading other works by this author

Mistress Shakespeare is an entertaining read, at the very least.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K.Rowling

"6.11   A casual vacancy is deemed to have occurred:
           (a)  when a local councilor fails to make his declaration of acceptance of office within the proper time; or
           (b)  when his notice of resignation is received; or
           (c)  on the day of his death....
                                Charles Arnold-Baker, Local Council Administration, Seventh Edition"
                                                   -from the novel

Whew! I finally finished this one! What a disappointment it was! I have been a huge fan of the Harry Potter series by this author so I was looking forward to reading her first departure.  I usually finish a book in a week or less. This one took at least twice as long, definitely not a page turner.

The story revolves around the sudden death of Barry Fairbrother, which leaves a seat on the Parish Council in the small town of Pagford. (This, of course, is the casual vacancy.) Several snobbish, self-absorbed characters become political enemies in vying for the seat.  Add in some other small-minded characters who are seemingly at war---rich vs. poor, wives vs. husbands, teenagers vs. parents---and you get a tedious 500-page read. Where Rowling's Harry Potter novels were enchanting and oh, so creative, A Casual Vacancy is quite depressing. It seems as if she is trying too hard to break away from her niche as a children's author with disturbing adult themes, highly dysfunctional families and lots of foul language. I can only give this novel a 2 because I pretty much forced myself to finish it.

I do plan to read The Cuckoo's Calling by Rowling under the pen name  Robert Galbraith.  Her writing is still excellent. The Casual Vacancy is just NOT a good story. As one reviewer said, this novel has a vacancy of heart.

Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

"And now, I'll tell you the only thing that matters. It's that you make your own future. People come here for answers, looking for something, looking for hope or promise. He came here looking for confirmation....Confirmation is something we can never give you. Warnings, perhaps, but never confirmation. I can't confirm anything. Because the future is like clay, every day you mold it, every day people leave impressions that change its form. It's never concrete, it's always changing. We might see some things, possibilities, but you are the one who decides what form your life takes."
                       -the psychic reader to Frenchie

I chose this book for our book club in support of Jenny Torres Sanchez, the author. She is a member of our church and I had heard her read an excerpt at a church event where local authors and poets were invited to share their work. I was intrigued by the premise of a young woman's coping with the suicide of a peer. I chose the book knowing it is a young adult fiction and our group is far from young! I invited the author to our meeting to discuss the book and she did.

I thought the book was very well-written and the characters were believable. There was philosophy that made me think, such as the quote above and Colin's ideas on good and bad in Chapter 24. I enjoyed the poetry by Emily Dickinson which was so appropriately placed. The setting of Orlando was particularly interesting since it is our hometown. Many locations such as Greenwood Cemetery and Lake Eola are very familiar to us.

The novel is an emotional ride, to say the least, as the main character Frenchie deals with confusion, grief, guilt and depression. The juxtaposition of THAT NIGHT and TONIGHT was an excellent technique to keep the reader engaged.

We had a rousing discussion of the novel at our meeting. It was wonderful to have the author there to tell us of her writing process and how this novel came about. We had no prepared discussion questions this time but we didn't need them; group members had so many questions to ask the author. Of course she autographed copies of our books for us, as well.

I rated Death, Dickinson and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia a 4 and the group's average was the same.  I had a feeling if the readers were in their teens and twenties it would have been higher! This was Jenny's second novel. I plan to read her first, The Downside of Being Charlie soon.

Stolen into Slavery, the True Story of Solomon Northup, Free Black Man by Judith and Dennis Fradin

"Think of it! For thirty years a man, with all a man's hopes, fears, and aspirations---with a wife and children to call him husband and father---with a home, humble it may be. Then for twelve years a thing, classed with mules and horses, torn from his home and family, and driven to toil in a cotton field, by the lash of an inhuman master. Oh! It is horrible. It chills the blood."
             -Frederick Douglas, writing about Solomon Northup's story
    
This was really not the book I intended to read. After seeing a preview of a movie called "Twelve Years a Slave" I thought perhaps I should read the book before seeing the film. I ordered this one from the library but perhaps the movie is based on Twelve Years a Slave, an autobiography of Solomon Northup. At any rate Stolen into Slavery is a children's biography and was a quick and easy read. I cannot say it was enjoyable because, of course, the subject matter is very intense. It has probably prepared me somewhat to see the movie, which I am sure will be quite graphic in its portrayal of Solomon's harsh treatment as a slave. I would give the book a 4 and recommend it for students ages 11 and up. There is nothing that gives you better insight into an era of history than a good historical fiction or biography of the time.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

"What would you think of a postmistress who chose not to deliver the mail?"
"Don't tell me anymore...I'm hooked already."
           -from a conversation at the beginning of the book

I cannot say I loved The Postmistress but I did stick with it to the end so it must have had something going for it. I cared enough to want to know how it all turned out. I'm rating it a 2+.

The story is set in the early 1940's just before the U.S. becomes directly involved in WWII.  Iris is the postmistress in Franklin, Massachusetts, and though she is the title character she seems to take a secondary role to Frankie, a news journalist and radio broadcaster in London. Both women, in their own roles, are charged with delivering the news but each one finds reason to withhold a portion. I found Frankie's story more compelling as she had to deal with the experience of what was really going on in Europe and how to inform the American public, most of whom were in serious denial.

I found Ms. Blake's writing style to be a bit tedious at times and poetic at others. When I learned she had a Phd. in Victorian literature, that made a lot of sense. I especially liked this simile "...she imagined she could pull Time like taffy, stretching it longer and longer between her hands until the finest point had been reached..."

The book does address the theme of war and its impact in a very interesting way, even without the blood and gore.

A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith

"Perhaps animals are smarter than men, he thought, taking only what they need to live today, leaving something for tomorrow. Even the hated wolf kills only for food and only for immediate need. Maybe it is man who will eventually perish as he destroys the land and all that it offers, taking the animals down with him."
              -Zech's thoughts, from the novel

Patrick Smith's award-winning novel, A Land Remembered, is an amazing saga of the fictional MacIvey family through just over 100 years of Florida history.  It starts with dirt-poor Tobias MacIvey from Georgia trying to eke out a living collecting scrawny wild cattle and herding them to market. I'm not sure if there could have been a more difficult way to make a living since they had to fight weather, wolves, outlaws and a forbidding natural environment. Tobias eventually begins growing citrus, successfully until the big freezes of 1894 and 1895.  Later his son, Zech, carries on the family businesses. The novel ends with filthy-rich Sol MacIvey retiring to a cabin in the woods, disillusioned with all the so-called progress in South Florida.

As a pre-Disney resident of Central Florida and a docent at the Orange County (Florida) Regional History Center, I had plenty of background to relate to the story. There is a whole gallery in the History Center featuring Seminoles, Pioneers, Cattle Industry and Citrus. So many facts and concepts I have mentioned in countless tours came out in the novel: marshtackies, whips, catch dogs, chickees, frolic, Jacob Summerlin, the term "Cracker," to name a few, and that doesn't begin to cover other exhibits in other galleries where one learns about mosquitoes, sternwheelers, Henry Flagler and the railroad, Henry Ford's Model T, Timucuans, egrets and more.

I was struck by the female characters, women of Tobias, Zech and Sol. They were so loyal and hardy and brave. It is a good thing that I didn't live then! I cannot picture myself on a horse, herding cattle, facing rattlesnakes, cooking on an open fire or even a wood stove.  I would have a hard time living in Florida without air conditioning! I was impressed with the MacIvey's hired hands, as well. They worked so hard and seemed to be a part of the family.

A male friend who read A Land Remembered told me it reminded him of the Zane Greys he used to read. I know he meant that as praise. I have never read anything by Zane Grey and don't plan to but I did enjoy this novel, probably since historical fiction is my favorite genre and because of my involvement in Florida history. I give it a solid 5 rating. I would especially recommend this to folks interested in history and/or new residents in Florida.

I was absent for the meeting where this August book selection was discussed. Apparently the group loved the novel since the average rating was 4.9, one of the highest in our 5+ years! The refreshments offered included corn bread, coffee, apples and hard tack. Our group is SO creative!

I would welcome your comments!

The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark

"Now that I remember spring

All the joy that love can bring

I will be remembering

The shadow of your smile."

                 from "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Williams, Mandel, Jones and Webster 

 

I chose this novel at the San Francisco airport because I had nothing left to read on the long flight home. It was an author I liked, in paperback and not quite as expensive as some others. I don't really like buying books these days unless they are something REALLY special. I am a library kind of girl. I actually had just finished another Clark novel a few days before.

 

Olivia Morrow, an 82-year-old woman who is dying, has a letter that reveals a secret about a nun who is being considered for beatification, Sister Catherine.

 

Monica Farrell is a noted pediatrician who finds out that Olivia's secret may involve her family. Before Olivia can share this information, she dies in her bed. Since she had a terminal illness, it seems a natural death at first, but the more that comes to light about the wealthy Gannon family and their benevolent foundation, the more suspicious her death seems. Skeletons in the Gannon closet lead to blackmail and at least two more deaths. Monica is in danger, as well.

 

This book is quite entertaining; definitely what I call a "page turner." There are so many characters, I took notes to keep them all straight. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery would like this novel, I think. I rate it a 4.

 

 

The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark

"Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away."

John 19:37-39

I have read a number of murder mysteries by  Mary Higgins Clark, often called the Queen of Suspense. They always provide some great entertainment---easy and enjoyable reads. I rate it a 4.

The plot of this one has to do with the discovery of a letter that may have been written by Jesus Christ to Joseph of Arimathea. Jonathan Lyons, a renowned Biblical scholar, is the one who comes across the ancient parchment, priceless if it can be authenticated. Early in the novel, he is found shot to death and the parchment is missing . His wife, Katherine, suffering with Alzheimers, is accused of his murder. It falls to daughter, Mariah, to clear her mother and find out what happened to the ancient document.

The Lost Years was a bit more historical than others of Clark's mysteries I have read and as far as I know, the title is not part of a song. I had recently attended a lecture and seen a TV documentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls, another exciting Biblical discovery, and found I could suspend my disbelief in the founding of this "Arimathea letter," all the while knowing Clark's story is fiction.

Death Takes Passage by Sue Henry

I had good reason for choosing this book, one of Sue Henry's Alex Jensen Alaska mysteries. My husband and I are going on an Alaskan cruise so it seemed timely. I have read at least one of Henry's mysteries before and I think I enjoyed it. This one not so much. The setting is a commemorative cruise on the Inland Passage. It is a reenactment of sorts of an event of the Gold Rush days. I enjoyed the beginning but later got bogged down with so many characters and the description of localities on the ship. There was a murder, a planned highjacking of the ship with a huge payoff in gold and it just kept getting more confusing. It may have been my stop-and-start reading that kept me from enjoying it or perhaps I read it that way because I didn't like it much. I will give it a 2 and probably won't read another of this series for a while, if ever.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

"I am convinced that since my imprisonment I have changed woefully and gruesomely from what I was formerly in feature and figure...My head and face are gradually assuming an elongated shape. I believe fully that I am growing to resemble the devil---that the similitude is almost completed."
           -H. H. Holmes, in his confession

A friend loaned this book to me with her recommendation. Nonfiction is not my genre of choice but this one was a "page turner"! It reminded me so much of Destiny of the Republic which even had a similar subtitle, something like Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. The subtitle of this one is Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. Both books have a number of historical characters and the story goes back and forth between them.

The main characters are David Hudson Burnham, the chief architect of the Chicago World's Fair, and H. H. Holmes,
ne Herman Webster Mudgett, a serial killer. As a fan of crime novels and TV shows, I probably was more intrigued by Holmes.  The setting of the Chicago World's Fair, 1893, was unknown to me so it was interesting to see how something of such massive proportions was put together.

"Larson is a historian with a novelist's soul." (Chicago Sun-Times) That is so true! In the notes, Larson says he does not research on the internet. He does it hands-on, searching libraries, archives and finding primary sources that add so much to the story. There are even examples of humor, provided by some of these.

Larson tells about the changes in America brought on by the fair. One of the best, in my opinion, was the Ferris Wheel, and perhaps the worst, Shredded Wheat.

The Devil in the White City is impressive! It gets a rating of 5.

Deader Homes and Gardens by Joan Hess

"Indeed it was the perfect house---if it was available. Even if it wasn't available, I thought morosely as I walked back to the terrace, it was the perfect house."
          -Claire Malloy, from the novel

I admit I judged this book by its cover---a clever title and jacket reminiscent of the magazine with a similar-sounding name. This was my first novel from this author, surprising since she's quite a prolific mystery writer. This was one of the Claire Malloy series, one of at least 18. I enjoyed it particularly for its quirky characters and witty style. I will definitely read another in the series one of these days.

At the outset Claire, who has recently returned from her honeymoon, is house hunting. About the time she finds the"perfect house,", she is told that the original owner died mysteriously, then her realtor goes missing and strangely one by one three more people end up dead. Claire takes it upon herself to investigate. She reminds me of Miss Julia in the series by Ann B. Ross, one of my favorite characters and also something of a detective wannabe with a delightful sense of humor.

I found the plot a little confusing but that may have been due to my stop-and-start reading of it. I found it rather unbelievable that the "perfect house" in question was always open to the comings and goings of numerous characters and some even ate and drank from the stock although there was a suspected poisoning at the site.

Deader Homes and Gardens gets a rating of 3.5 from me. It was a breezy, entertaining summer read.

Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

"Noel got by well by not thinking too deeply on anything: not about his dead-end job in Hall's; not about the hours and money he spent in Old Man Casey's pub; not about the religious mania of his parents, who thought that the Rosary was the answer to most of the world's problems. Noel would not think about the lack of a steady girlfriend in his life. He just hadn't met anyone, that's all it was. Nor indeed did he worry about the lack of any kind of mates. Some places were easy to find friends. Hall's wasn't one of those places. Noel had decided that the very best way to cope with things not being so great was not to think about them at all. It had worked well so far. Why fix things if they weren't broken?"
                        -from the novel, page 11

I selected the quote above because of the description of Noel, the main character I would say, near the beginning of the book. As you can see, he didn't have much of a life. Things changed drastically for Noel during the course of the novel!

I chose this book for our book club in part because I could check out a Book Bundle, multiple copies. A few friends had recommended it in the past. It was not a challenging read except for the MANY characters which I finally starting noting on paper to keep track of who was who. I read it in about 5 days. I liked it well enough; I suppose I will rate it a 3.

I really didn't think it had much of a plot. I guess it was more like a whole bunch of stories of people who ended up "minding Frankie."  Many dysfunctional families and some flawed individuals came into play and most were changed for the better by baby Frankie. And then there was Cousin Emily who seemed to be bigger than life, a little too good to be true.

I did enjoy the humor of some of the Irish expressions such as "Am I for the chop?" meaning "Am I going to die?" and "gave up the gargle" meaning "quit drinking."

Tomorrow our Page Turners group meets to discuss the novel. It will be interesting to hear their thoughts.
****
The group met to discuss Minding Frankie and everyone liked it giving ratings of 3 and 4. The average was 3.6. Though there were many characters we decided most were likeable. We may have spent more time discussing Moira than any other: What WAS her problem anyway?  Some members had read several books by Maeve Binchy and knew that some of her characters reappear. There was speculation that perhaps Moira would show up again and have a chance to redeem herself. We decided we just might read another of Binchy's novels several months down the road.

Out of Warranty by Haywood Smith

"God, I know you can do anything. Please send me a good Christian man to marry. One with decent health insurance, and I will give you all the glory and praise."
              -prayer of Cassie Jones, from the novel

I liked this quote because it hints about the plot without giving much away. (I try to never be a "spoiler" in my blogs!)  And the dedication pointed out a theme even before the story began.

Out of Warranty was a very pleasant read when I needed something light. The protagonist, Cassie Jones, is a baby boomer facing problems of aging, declining health and mourning her late husband. I can surely identify with the first two but, thank goodness, not the last. I am fortunately not facing the serious health problems Cassie has either, although I am at least 10 years older than she.

The author alternated chapters between Cassie and Jack, the other main character. It was interesting that Cassie's parts are in first person while Jack's are written in second. Cassie and Jack meet at a doctor's office near the beginning of the book and immediately have pretty low opinions of each other. She calls him the curmudgeon and he calls her the "raccoon woman." It is rather intriguing how their similar diagnoses and treatments seem to force them into a friendship.

Being a Christian, I could easily relate to Cassie's prayers and references to God. Since I'm a reader I was delighted that both Cassie and Jack are avid readers and I am familiar with several books and authors they mentioned, such as Pillars of the Earth and James Patterson. I've been through hassles with contractors so I understood Cassie's frustrations in that regard.

I thought Ms. Smith was a new author for me but in looking over her other titles, I have read at least one of her Red Hat series. (In her acknowledgments, she mentions her Red Hat Club friends and I happen to be a Red Hatter, too!) I really enjoyed this novel and will look for others by Haywood Smith. I am rating it a 4 for fun!

Miss Julia to the Rescue by Ann B. Ross

"Sunday morning I was with Lloyd in our usual pew at the First Presbyterian Church and thankful to be there. You can have your snakes and your tambourines, your hooks and screws and electric needles. Speedos, too. Give me the King James Version, a hymnal and Communion every quarter. Even with Pastor Ledbetter's sermons, I wouldn't trade a good traditional worship service for all the tea in China."
                   -Miss Julia, from the novel, page 298

The quote I chose won't make much sense to you until you read the novel but after you do, you'll find it amusing! I absolutely LOVE the whole Miss Julia series! There are at least a dozen titles;  I have read them all and they are all perfectly delightful. Miss Julia is a lovely lady of the South, North Carolina to be exact, and one of about my same age. Though quite prim and proper, she gets into all kinds of shenanigans usually following her heart or trying to right some wrongs. In Miss Julia to the Rescue, a loved one goes missing and she sets out to find him. In the midst of that rescue and afterward, she tries to save a young man, a mere acquaintance, from the clutches of a "minister" of a very strange cult.

I particularly enjoy reading a Miss Julia novel after finishing a more challenging book. I had just finished reading Victory at Yorktown, a pretty heavy historical fiction, when I found this one on the library shelf and realized Ms. Ross had published one I had not read. Perfect timing! I inhaled it in a couple of days.

If you have not yet discovered this series, I recommend you begin with the first one titled Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. It sets up the characters and setting. I have not necessarily read the books in order and I enjoyed them anyway.

I just visited www.missjulia.com. There is a video of the author, Ann B. Ross that I found entertaining and enlightening. I am surprised it took me this long to check it out. On the website I learned there is an even newer novel: Miss Julia Stirs Up Trouble. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Victory at Yorktown by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen

"With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of you; I most devoutly wish that your later days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."
              -George Washington, from his farewell address to his officers

When I spotted this book at the library, it captured my attention right away. It seemed to fit right into our last few months of educational travel. My husband and I had recently participated in a Road Scholar program called "Colonial and Revolutionary Virginia: Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown." As a part of the program we heard a lecture on the battle, visited the National Battlefield and saw a film, the siege lines, Surrender Field, the monument and the town of York. We also had met "Marquis de Lafayette" in Williamsburg. The next week we were in Washington, DC where we visited the Museum of American History of the Smithsonian and especially enjoyed the exhibit on Yorktown. Also when we went to the museum at Mount Vernon, there was more on that famous battle. A bit later in the week, we were viewing the White House from Lafayette Square and realized that two of four statues at the corners of the square are Lafayette and Rochambeau, French generals who were indispensable to Washington in the victory at Yorktown.

I found the novel well-written with an interesting plot though I couldn't really call it a "page turner." I am sure it would be too much history and not enough other stuff for many of my reader-friends. At any rate I enjoyed it because of my interest in this period of American history and all the background I had acquired recently as I mentioned.  I think I would rate it a 3.5 if decimals were allowed.

The authors did not include a section at the end to say what was fiction in the novel. I knew enough to feel that most of the description of military engagements and surrounding events was researched thoroughly and historically accurate. I am guessing that two of the main characters, Allen van Dorn and Peter Wellsley, are fictional. They provide much of the conflict since they had been childhood friends and were at the time of the story on opposite sides of the revolution. The plot revolves around the two of them and give some suspense to the plot because anyone who knows a smidgen of American history knows how the battle turned out! And even the title would reveal the outcome at Yorktown!

One important theme of Victory at Yorktown is the inestimable aid of the French in the triumph at Yorktown, which essentially ended the Revolution. The authors bring this out in many ways, starting with the dedication. One is given to wonder what would have happened to Washington's army had the French not stepped in as they did!

Supposedly this novel is a conclusion to a trilogy on George Washington. I may want to read another one of these days.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

"So we decided to hold parties and pretend each week had become the new year. Each week we could forget past wrongs done to us. We weren't allowed to think a bad thought. We feasted, we laughed, we played games, lost and won, we told the best stories. And each week, we could hope to be lucky. That hope was our only joy. And that's how we came to call our little parties Joy Luck."
                 -Suyuan Woo to her daughter, Jing-Mei Woo

I quickly became interested in reading The Joy Luck Club when I saw that the public library was providing many activities centered around it in May. This was a part of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts "to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture."

When I found I could check out a Book Bundle, multiple copies of the novel, I decided it would be our book club selection for June.

On the last Saturday in May, I attended a lecture at the library delivered by Dr. Guiyou Huang titled "Joy Luck Club, The Book, the Movie, the Author." I had just begun reading the novel and Dr. Huang's talk was very helpful. The following are some of his interesting points about the novel:

Joy Luck Club, published about 24 years ago, was Amy Tan's first novel. Though the book is fiction some characters were based on Amy's family, particularly Suyuan Woo representing Amy's mother and An-Mei Hsu, her grandmother.
Dr. Huang also gave insight into the setting of the novel: China and the United States, particularly San Francisco. He provided some significant political background of both places such as the war with Japan and the communist revolution in China, and, in the U.S., the Gold Rush and the building of the railroads which had attracted numerous Chinese immigrants.
He talked about the gender relations and social marginality brought out in the novel. I was surprised to learn that some of the male chauvinism in China came from Confucious. Of course there is much contrast in the novel as American-raised daughters clash with Chinese-born mothers. This provides much of the conflict and leads to themes of parental expectations as opposed to self-determination, interracial marriage and ethnic identity, sexism, racism, and feminism.

Last he spoke of the movie, "Joy Luck Club" and related that it was a first in several ways: a departure from the Suzie Wong and Charlie Chan stereotypes and the first to use a Chinese-American director and actors. Many Chinese traditions were reintroduced, such as mah jong, Chinese New Year, Moon Fest and Chinese cuisine.

I feel lucky to have read this novel and it brought me joy.  I would give it a 4 and will look for another novel by Amy Tan. Our book club did read her Saving Fish from Drowning a few years ago and didn't really love it. Dr. Huang suggests The Kitchen God's Wife, so that's next on my list. I look forward to our group's discussion of Joy Luck. We plan to go out to lunch after our meeting---a Chinese restaurant, of course! We hope to be able to view the movie together, as well.

***
Our Page Turners group met to discuss The Joy Luck Club on Thursday. Helpful volunteers provided boiled peanuts, fortune cookies, orange sections and green tea as refreshments. We had a smaller group than usual---only 10 but it IS summer and folks are traveling. We started our meeting listening to one of two tracks on a CD I had picked up at the library the day I attended the lecture on the book. I didn't mention that before, nor did I say I had helped myself to enough of the Reading Guide booklets for our members. Both the CD and the booklets were provided by the National Endowment for the Arts to enhance The Big Read. The CD had the author and other knowledgeable people talking about the novel. We found it enlightened us on some aspects of Chinese culture and the characters and events in the book. The Reading Guide included questions for our discussion as well as background on the author and a page some called a "cheat sheet" to remind the reader of who's who among the 8 main characters.
The rating for the book was 3.8 with most members voting a 4. One of the criticisms was the difficulty of jumping back and forth between two countries and keeping track of all 8 women! We all felt it introduced us to Chinese culture and perhaps some insight into problems of immigrants to which we hadn't given much thought. Most of us thought The Joy Luck Club was a worthwhile read AND it was a lovely excuse for 10 of us to meet for lunch afterward at a Chinese restaurant!

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore

"I met Sister Bettie before I met Miss Debbie. She ain't no nun or nothin like that. We call her 'Sister' 'cause she's a real spiritual woman. I don't know how old Sister Bettie was when I met her, but right this minute she got a crown a' hair just as white as a cloud on a summer day, and twinklin eyes as blue as the sky them clouds go sailin in. When she's talkin to you, she'll lay a hand on your arm like she's knowed you all your life, like maybe you was her own child. And even if she keeps her hand there awhile, it don't bother you none. You just feel happy God saw fit to drop a lady like that into this world."
                                            -Denver Moore

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I am so glad I read it. It is a marvelous story of redemption, grace and brotherly love. Ron Hall is a wealthy art dealer and Denver Moore, a poor homeless black man. They go back and forth in telling the story of how they connected. It probably never would have happened without the amazing influence of Deborah Hall, Ron's wife. I am so in awe of what she accomplished! Though a nonfiction book, this one was at times entertaining and often poignant---it made me laugh out loud and brought me to tears! My rating for this book is a 5 and I hope it will continue to inspire me.

Oddly, Same Kind of Different as Me reminded me of a Shel Silverstein poem titled "When You Turn Off the Light." It goes like this:
Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn off the light.
Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We're all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

In my interpretation, the poem says everyone is the "same kind of different!"

I loved Denver Moore's theology. For example, at the very end of the book, he says, "The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless---just workin our way toward home." There are numerous times that Denver speaks his own truth and you just want to say "Wow!"

This book includes questions for discussion in the back, as well as an interview with the authors that was quite interesting.  A friend told me she saw Ron and Denver on a talk show. I intend to see if I can find it on Youtube.

Benjamin Franklin's Bastard by Sally Cabot

"Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones."

              -Benjamin Franklin

I am something of an American history buff and especially enjoy the colonial and revolutionary periods. I have seen the musical "1776" several times and very much enjoy how our founding fathers are portrayed in it. I have always found Benjamin Franklin to be a fascinating character, a man of many talents.

There is a line in "1776" about Franklin's son, who at that time was the royal governor of New Jersey, in which Franklin refers to him as the "bastard." I don't believe I knew that he meant it literally. The novel cover has a subtitle that reads "A father, a son, and the women who loved them" and that is a pretty good summary. Anne is a prostitute, mother of Franklin's illegitimate son, William, and Deborah is Franklin's wife who ends up helping to raise William.

I watched a television show about Benjamin Franklin at the same time I was reading the novel and it was very enlightening, corroborating some of the history in the novel and revealing some of the fiction. For example, it seemed that Franklin did have a weakness for women throughout his life, though there is little proof of their identities. One of the main characters in the novel is Anne, who the author admits is fictionalized, and of course the TV show didn't mention that name. One important fact revealed in both was the closeness of father and son in the early years and the irreparable rift in the relationship caused by the American revolution when William remains a staunch loyalist while Ben becomes one of the greatest patriots.

I am rating this novel a 4. I enjoyed it very much and though I discovered more of Franklin's "bad habits" he is still one of my American heroes!

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

"I have been moving in slow motion, waiting for an inevitable ax to fall, listening to testimony as if these witnesses are discussing the destiny of a stranger. But now, I feel myself waking. The future may unfold in indelible strokes, but it doesn't mean we have to read the same line over and over. That's exactly the fate I didn't want for Nathaniel...so why should I want it for me?"
               -from the novel, page 298

A friend read this novel and recommended it to me. I have read a few of Jodi Picoult's books and they were definitely "page turners." This one did not disappoint!

Picoult's books often have disturbing themes. Perfect Match is no exception. In fact much of the story about the sexual abuse of a child is difficult to read. ADA Nina Frost finds out what a mother is capable of when her child is hurt. It might give any of us who are parents or grandparents cause to think what WE might do in the face of such trauma to a loved one. At a crucial point near the end of the book, Nina admits to an act which was completely out of character for her, ending with "...I knew exactly what I was doing. And at the same time, I was crazy. Love will do that to you."

I would rate the book a 4. Picoult is a talented writer and I was completely drawn into the plot but I cannot say I really enjoyed it due to the darkness of the subject.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

"People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see."
                                          -the man in the grey suit, page 28 of the novel

I enjoyed The Night Circus. I hadn't read a true fantasy in quite a while and it was refreshing to "suspend my disbelief" and enter an illusory world. Not all the Page Turners book club agreed with me. In our discussion there were varied words to describe the novel: creative, confusing, enchanting, dream-like and even tedious. Someone said it reminded him of a fairy tale. The group voted a rating of 3.8 out of 5, with individual ratings from 5 to 2. I personally voted a 4. Most of us agreed that the book was well-written; the story just wasn't everyone's cup of tea. Many of us do not read much fantasy and perhaps our imaginations get rusty! Some in our group just found the changes in narrative perspective and the non-linear sequence difficult to follow.

I found myself comparing the book to the Harry Potter series, which I loved. I am in awe of writers who can invent a whole different world and then make us feel we have entered it for a time. I thought the characters were well-developed and interesting. I identified with Celia most, understandably. Perhaps a male reader would favor Marco. These are the two main characters pitted in a competition that even they don't understand until late in the story.

If you enjoy fantasy and can follow the action, you will like The Night Circus.

Murder at the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman

"An author whose inside knowledge of Washington is matched by her ability to spin a compelling mystery plot."
                             -a review from Crime Times

We had a tour of Washington D.C. planned when I noticed this book on a shelf in the library. I wasn't looking for it but it just sort of found me. I started reading, hoping we would get to the Library of Congress although it was not on our itinerary. And what do you know? On the last day, something was cancelled and we ended up at the Library after all! Such a stunningly beautiful building! It was interesting to see the main reading room, really the only part mentioned in the book that was visible on a short tour.

I had read one other mystery by Margaret Truman and enjoyed it. This one was quite entertaining, as well, with a many-faceted plot including more than one murder and the theft of a painting. I liked the main character, Annabel Reed-Smith, an artist/writer researching an article on the diaries of Bartholome de Las Casas. He was a 16th century explorer who sailed with Columbus and may have kept his own diaries which, if found, would be extremely valuable historically. This history mystery was intriguing to a history buff like myself. With the elements of history, the sleuthing of a shocking murder AND mention of places I was visiting at the time, what was NOT to like about this one? I would give it a 4.

All Around the Town by Mary Higgins Clark

"East side, west side,
All around the town,
The tots sang 'Ring-a-Rosie,'
 'London Bridge is Falling Down.'
Boys and girls together,
Me and Mamie O'Rourke,
Tripped the light fantastic,
On the sidewalks of New York."
                         -lyrics from "The Sidewalks of New York"

This Mary Higgins Clark was as good as any other of hers I have read. She is appropriately called "The Queen of Suspense." Clark is one of my go-to authors when I just want to enjoy a thriller and not think too hard. Our Page Turners group tends to read literature with more challenging plots and more profound themes so an easy read like this is refreshing at times, just mindless fun. Most of Clark's novels are centered around a song, often oldies, and this one is no exception. If I ever hear "The Sidewalks of New York" again it will probably give me goose bumps! And I never want to see a decapitated chicken!

Two sisters are the main characters, one a lawyer and one a troubled young lady with multiple personality disorder. The second sister, Laura, finds herself accused of a murder and the older sister, Sarah, takes on the task of defending her. Short chapters and a gripping plot made this book a true "page turner"---I could hardly put it down! I would give it a 5.

The problem for me with books like this is they are not very memorable and there is really no redeeming social value that I can see. A couple of weeks from now I will have forgotten much of it. It was a great ride while it lasted!

The House I Loved by Tatiana De Rosnay

"I think of our happiness, I think of the happy, simple life that is woven through these walls, the fragile tapestry of our existences. I think of the long, tall windows glowing out to me into the night when I used to make my way home from the rue des Ciseaux, a warm, beckoning light. And there you used to stand, waiting for me. I think of our doomed neighborhood, the simple beauty of the little streets stemming from the church that no one will remember."
                                           from Rose's letter, the novel, page 220

I chose this book for our Page Turners group to read and discuss this month because some of us had read Sarah's Key by this author and loved it. Also the novel was available as a Book Bundle, multiple copies from our public library. It did not disappoint me. I can't really say I liked it quite as much as the other but I did enjoy it.

The time and place were not terribly familiar to me---Paris in the mid-1800's. European history is not a strength, to say the least. The story takes place at a time when Napoleon III and his prefect, Baron Haussman, are carrying out a plan to modernize Paris. The whole plot is carried by letters written by the main character, Rose Bazelet, to her late husband, Armand, centered around the possible destruction of their family home. Occasionally letters TO Rose from Armand, her late son, her daughter, brother, mother-in-law, and friends appear, some providing flashbacks and revealing much about the characters.

I believe the clearest theme of the book is reaction to change. It is interesting to get into the heads of those who see the "progress" or "improvements" others are making as destructive and sad.

My favorite parts of the novel are when Rose is introduced to flowers by Alexandrine and to books by Zamaretti, particularly the description of Rose's first experience with a "page turner," Madame Bovary by Flaubert (see pp.147-50).

I look forward to hearing what my friends thought of The House I Loved. I will rate it a 4. In the Author's Note we are told just where to go and what to look for if we should go to Paris. Wouldn't it be lovely if our group could take a field trip there?

***
Our group met today and gave The House I Loved mixed reviews. The average rating was 3.0 but 4 people of 12 gave it a 2 and there was only one rating of 5. During the discussion, several members commented on what they thought was a lack of character development. None of us could relate to Rose's obsession with the house. Those of us who have also read Sarah's Key by this author agreed it was a much better read than The House... Luckily one member provided mini-quiches and petit fours as refreshments! Another member sent us background on the setting of the story from an encyclopedia and even shared with us the poem that Rose particularly liked.
The group thought my idea of a field trip to Paris sounded great. Now we just have to come into bundles of money to make that happen!

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

"She was embarassed that her five-year-old was asking questions that had not occurred to her. But she refused to be first in the long line of people who would shrug him off. 'We'll have to look that up.'.....Googling a butterfly. It sounded comical, like tickling a catfish, but she knew it wouldn't sound that way to Preston. He would clamber up to the computer at Bear and Hester's and punch the keys, finding what he needed in there. Having children was not like people said. Forget training them in your footsteps; the minute they put down the teething ring and found the Internet, you were useless as a source of anything but shoes and a winter coat."
                                                       -from the novel, page 93



I chose to read Flight Behavior because I saw it on the Best Seller list a few months back and because I had read The Poisonwood Bible by this author several years ago and liked it. I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much; I will rate it a 3. The writing is excellent, though wordy at times. She can really turn a phrase, for example when the main character, Dellarobia, is describing her young daughter scattering Cheerios in the living room carpet as if she were planting seeds, she writes that the resulting grit on the soles of everyone's feet will be "like a beach vacation minus the beach, and the vacation." Humorous, I thought.

I had a hard time relating to the setting, a farm in Tennessee. Dellarobia's family raised sheep which I knew little or nothing about. Because of these things, it was somewhat difficult to identify with the characters. The science got a little deep for me at times also, understandable since the author studied biology and worked as a scientist. I was intrigued by the appearance of the monarch butterflies, seen by some in the story as a miracle. I especially loved the idea first put forth by Josefina, the little Mexican-American girl, that when babies die, their souls become butterflies. A lovely idea!

I absolutely could relate to the environmental theme of the story. Global warming is something that I believe is real and it greatly concerns me. Quite possibly this is what kept me reading to the end.

My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

"But experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire. That will, wherever it finally leads, does at least move you forward. And after a time you may recognize that the proper measure of success is not how much you've closed the distance to some far-off goal but the quality of what you've done today."

                                                             -Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World preface

After seeing a TV interview of Sonia Sotomayor and having one member of our book club suggest we should read her recently published memoir, I selected it as our March book.  I am so glad I read it! Justice Sotomayor is a new hero of mine!

I especially loved the first 200 pages or so of the book, the part where she describes her family, her early years and her education. I was so impressed that a young person with a difficult life and many strikes against her could rise to higher and higher levels of success, up to her selection as the first U.S. Supreme Court Justice of Hispanic heritage.

As quite a fan of crime and courtroom television dramas, I found her early career as an attorney interesting, as well, though not as compelling as the part I mentioned previously. Sotomayor was very perceptive and intuitive in her work and apparently she attributes much of her talent in this area to the way she grew up in a far-from-ideal home.

It was striking to me that with all her assertiveness and independence, she never aspired to be a "rabble rouser." At Yale, Sotomayor was a member of Accion Puertorriquena, an activist group who addressed minority problems on campus but also became involved with national issues. She says, "Not that I didn't care passionately about the group's causes; rather, I had my doubts that linking arms, chanting slogans, hanging effigies, and shouting at passersby were always the most effective tactics. I could see that troubling the waters was occasionally necessary to bring attention to the urgency of some problem....Quiet pragmatism, of course, lacks the romance of vocal militancy. But I felt myself more a mediator than a crusader. My strengths were reasoning, crafting compromises, finding the good and the good faith on both sides of an argument, and using that to build a bridge." Personally, I wish we had more people in positions of authority who had those strengths!

I appreciated Justice Sotomayor's writing style also. It was clear, personal, descriptive and at times, poetic, as in this description of her first visit to Puerto Rico as an adult:  "In the rain forest at El Yunque, waterfalls trick the eye, holding movement suspended in lacy veils. Wet stone gleams, fog tumbles from peaks to valleys, mists filter the forest in pale layers receding into mystery. On the beach at Luquillo, when the sun appears under clouds massed offshore and catches the coconut palms at a low angle, the leafy crowns explode like fireworks of silver light." I thought she added just enough humor in her story, as well.

I liked putting my smallish Spanish vocabulary to work through the book and when I got stuck, there were usually context clues, or as a last resort, the glossary in the back of the book.

It was my good luck that I saw another interview of Justice Sotomayor on "Oprah's Next Chapter," which aired on March 24, after reading the book. She was very candid and down-to-earth. She seemed rather in awe of sitting with Oprah, and I believe the feeling was mutual!

Tomorrow the book club meets to discuss the book. Hopefully we will have enough to talk about since I could never find questions on the Internet as I usually do. I hope others liked My Beloved World as much as I did. I have rated it a 5. I will return to finish after the meeting.

*****

The Page Turners met this morning, a smaller-than-normal group due to Easter plans for the weekend, travel and so forth. Refreshments included flan and plantains, relating to the author's heritage.  Everyone liked My Beloved World; no one rated it lower than 4. The average was 4.2. We had a wonderful discussion using some generic biography questions I found online after my extensive search had not located book-specific ones. We all agreed that Sonia Sotomayor is an amazing woman and someone we would like to know!

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

"Stoneybridge was a paradise for children during the summer, but summer in the west of Ireland was short, and most of the time it was wet and wild and lonely on the Atlantic coast. Still, there were caves to explore, cliffs to climb, birds' nests to discover, and wild sheep with great curly horns to investigate. And then there was Stone House."
                                                             -from the novel, page 3

It is ironic that I finished this novel by an Irish author and set in Ireland on St. Patrick's Day! I enjoyed it very much. I think I have only read one other of Binchy's books but I will look for more. Unfortunately, Maeve Binchy died soon after completing this novel.

The story is told by proceeding from one character to another, starting with Geraldine Ryan Starr, or Chicky as she is called. After some wandering and soul-searching, Chicky returns to her home in Stoneybridge and turns the much-loved Stone House into a bed and breakfast inn. One by one the reader is introduced to a great variety of characters, first some family members who end up working at the inn, and later the guests who would spend the grand-opening week at Stone House. Each character or pair of characters has their own story so there are a number of sub-plots going on.

It was fascinating to me how these 10 guests, if I counted correctly, all end up spending this "week in winter" together. As each individual or couple is brought into the story, the main plot moves forward a bit more. I found this technique effective and it made the novel a "page turner" for me. I would rate it a 4 and if asked to describe it in one word, I'd say "sweet."

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

"I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has. It is in order that each of you may have through this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise and intelligence; that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations. It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our birthright...The nation is worth fighting for, to secure such an inestimable jewel."
                            -Abraham Lincoln to an Ohio regiment returning home in 1864, from Team of Rivals, page 653

I waited a long time to receive this book from our local library but it was most certainly worth waiting for! I am a confessed history buff and have long considered Abraham Lincoln a hero. After seeing the movie "Lincoln" in December, with its wonderful portrayal by Daniel Day Lewis, and hearing that it was based partly on this book by Goodwin, I felt it was a must-read for me. I enjoyed it immensely though at times it seemed as if I would never get to the end of its 757 pages.

The title refers to the men Lincoln chose for his cabinet, men who had been rivals for the presidency. The author provides very thorough background information mainly on William H. Seward, Secretary of State; Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War; Edward Bates, U.S. Attorney General; and Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury. I found it quite fascinating how Lincoln made a "team of rivals" into a formidable team to keep the country together during the worst of times. They all became great believers in Lincoln and even friends, with the exception of Chase, who never stopped being a rival.

The sub-title of the book is "The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." He certainly was a political genius, but I couldn't help but notice the amazing number of positive adjectives used to describe him. Here are some that I noted: honest, sympathetic, good-humored, confident, diplomatic, cunning, good-natured, forgiving, unruffled, calm, kind, fair, logical, candid, subtle, progressive, earnest, shrewd, magnamimous, wise, inspiring and gracious. It was said that he kept his promises, he had a felicity of speech and thought, he was "one of the most sagacious men of modern times," and a "great man of the century [who] sees more widely and more clearly than anybody." It was also said that he was "the great guiding intellect of the age" and a cabinet member, Edward Bates, said he "comes very near being a perfect man."

I was delighted to be reminded of a children's picture book called Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco in which people of color are so impressed by "touching the hand that touched the hand" of Lincoln. Goodwin writes that Walt Whitman "fancied that at some commemoration of those earlier days, an 'ancient soldier' would sit surrounded by a group of young men whose eyes and 'eager questions' would betray their sense of wonder. 'What! have you seen Abraham Lincoln---and heard him speak---and touch'd his hand?' Whitman was also quoted as saying "Abraham Lincoln seems to me the grandest figure yet, on all the crowded canvas of the Nineteenth Century." High praise, indeed!

I was greatly impressed by Lincoln's ability to use figurative language to illustrate his thinking. For example, on page 233 in describing the danger of the expansion of slavery into the territories and new states, he uses a metaphor of putting a snake into a child's bed. Many people of the day, and the author, seemed to think this kind of speech was helpful in convincing the masses of the merit of his ideas. Lincoln was also well-known for his story-telling and sense of humor. Many times during the reading of the book, his witty responses and stories made me laugh out loud.

In a couple of months, I will be visiting Washington, D.C. and I am bound to be more awed by the sight of the Lincoln Memorial than ever before. I am SO glad I read this book! A rating of 5 for sure!

Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi

"As they hunker and observe, they feel the learning seep into their bodies like breath, almost, or like a soul, a shape they can't describe but know is there, just as they know from their teacher that learning lives inside them with all they have learned before, ready to connect to more learning."
                                                    -from the novel, page 187

This book really was not what I expected. I thought it would involve the Holocaust and a Schindler-like character helping Jews to escape the Nazis. The setting is Burgdorf, Germany in 1934, a time soon after Hitler has come to power. Fraulein Thekla Jansen is the young and beloved teacher of a class of 10-year-old boys. Though she seems quite devoted to her students, she is taken in by the political propaganda of the time, even encouraging her boys to join the "Hitler-Jugend," something like a Nazi scout troop. The teacher-student relationship was interesting to me since I am a retired teacher of students almost the same age. (Though thankfully of a different time and place!) Some of Fraulein Jansen's educational philosophy was right on, in my opinion, such as the quote above having to do with making connections and also illustrated by a quote from page 196: "Her exhilaration at his progress is what she believes love is: to bring her students forward and to release them once they're ready."

Though I forced myself to continue reading (I am, after all the facilitator of our discussion group AND the selector of this novel!) I was glad I read it. I found it very wordy in places but quite poetic in others. For example, one sentence that I particularly noticed was 14 lines long, almost 70 words! And to illustrate the poetry, when the students are playing at recess and see their breaths melting ice they are reminded "of something Fraulein has told them: once a hole opens in how you've been looking at the world, everything else pushes through." I found that to be a lovely and profound thought.

It was rather interesting, too, that I was finishing this book a day after Ash Wednesday and there were several references to that religious observance. One of the students relates that the priests burn Palm Sunday branches and save the ashes for the next year's Ash Wednesday tradition of tracing crosses on parishioners' foreheads. If I ever knew that, I had forgotten it.

I look forward to hearing the discussion of this book. Perhaps I will like it more afterward; that has happened before. I will rate the book a 4 and I doubt I will look for others by this author. As I said, it was worthwhile, if only to show how bright people can be taken in by propaganda and fear.

Our group met to discuss Children and Fire on the last day of February. We had an excellent discussion and the group voted a 3.4 rating with all 4's and 3's. Refreshments furnished by two members were delicious: a sweet potato and apple hash and bee-sting cake which was mentioned by a German name in the novel. What a lovely treat!

Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag

"A first-rate thriller with an ending that will knock your socks off."

                                             -Booklist

This novel was a real page turner, in fact I could barely put it down. I've read several mysteries by Tami Hoag but not in a few years. I will definitely look for more.

The story begins with 4 kids literally stumbling over a dead body in a park. They are fifth grade students of main character, Anne Navarre, who immediately becomes involved with trying to help her students through the trauma and eventually getting involved in the murder case. I was grabbed immediately by the characters since I taught fifth grade for over 20 years and my name is Anne! Being a big fan of crime shows I was further intriqued by the search for the serial killer. The plot reminded me so much of "Criminal Minds" and with the character Vince Leone, of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit as a profiler, even more so. The story is set in 1985 before the supertechnology that aids in crime solving today. Agent Leone is a somewhat new breed since profiling was in its earliest days. The author tells us this was at a time when the BSU had offices at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, that were 60 feet belowground---that is 10 times "deeper than the dead."

Add a little romance into all the suspense and you get a really great read! I'd give it a 5.  Enjoy the ride!

Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

"Let me tell you a little something about love.  It's different every time....I believe that you can fall in love many times with many different people. However I don't think that you can fall in love the same way twice. One type of relationship may be steady. Another may be fire and brimstone. Who is to say if one these is better than the other? The deciding factor is how it all fits together....The bottom line is: when your heart sets its sight on someone, it doesn't consult with your mind."
                                                     -Joley, page 336

I have read a number of Jodi Picoult's books and have enjoyed several but not this one. In fact it took me a while to finish it and at first I wasn't sure I wanted to. A friend recommended the book and loaned me a copy which was probably one reason I did get to the end. That and I finally got to a point where I wanted to know how it turned out. This was not a "page turner" as many of her novels have been for me.

First I found her style and the format of the story quite confusing. I didn't mind the alternating voices of the characters nearly as much as that some of the storytelling was backwards! This is how lost I was: I didn't even realize that the only character relating events backward chronologically was Rebecca, until I learned it in the first discussion question at the end of the novel!  I actually enjoyed the perspectives of the different characters as the plot continued.

Though Oliver, husband of Jane and father of Rebecca, the two main characters, was a scientist and expert on humpback whales, I never really understood how the title fit the plot. Again, in reading over the discussion questions it seems that whale songs may have been a metaphor for communication or lack of it. Perhaps I didn't read this novel deeply enough!

I try not to include "spoilers" in my reviews but I personally didn't care much for the ending. I would rate this one a 3.

The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo

"God is still good even when life is hard." (page 255)

"Forgiveness is the language of heaven."

This book was really not what I expected.  When I asked our book club members to suggest titles for a January book, The Devil in Pew Number Seven was mentioned.  I briefly perused the description online and somehow got the wrong impression.  I understood that the author was the daughter of a pastor who had faced a very challenging congregant, a man who always sat in the seventh pew and generally made life difficult for him.  What I absolutely didn't get was how difficult, dangerous actually, this real-life villain was to the devout and dedicated Christian couple and family, including the author as a young child.  I predicted the plot would involve a character change of the culprit but I was pretty far off the mark!
We all know truth can be stranger than fiction and in this book, truth is very intense!  I found it a "page turner" and read it fairly quickly. This probably had something to do with frequent foreshadowing, a technique I thought was a bit overused. The photos included in the book seemed to give me an even closer connection to the characters.  I didn't care for the final chapter where the author gets a little "preachy." I thought the message of redemption and forgiveness came through rather powerfully in the story itself.  

I am not the biggest fan of nonfiction but this book was a good one---both heartbreaking and inspiring. I'd rate it a 4.
***
Our Page Turners group met on the 31st and had a rousing discussion of this book, even though the group rating turned out a 2.9. Many in our group of 16 were incredulous that Pastor Nichols did not give up and get his family out of that place! Some were angry at the parents for allowing their children to remain in such danger along with being furious at Mr. Watts. We also couldn't understand why law enforcement, or at the very least members of the congregation, did not DO SOMETHING much sooner! We felt that the writing was not that good. In fact, I had the feeling if we had given our rating based only on the writing, it would have been lower. We were in agreement that it was a worthwhile read if only to inspire us to greater heights of forgiveness.

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg

" Hazel had always said, 'Don't give up before the miracle happens.' And if this wasn't a miracle, Maggie didn't know what was." from the novel, page 310

I have read several of Fannie Flagg's novels over the years and have enjoyed them all. This one is no exception. There is a lot to like about I Still Dream About You, including its combination of humor, mystery and charming characters. One of my favorite minor characters, Hazel, though dead 5 years at the start of the novel, struck me as someone I'd love to know in real life.

The main character, Maggie, would seem to have the perfect life but she feels very inadequate, to the point where she has given up on life. Strangely, the day before finishing the novel, I began to understand Maggie much more after seeing a podcast lecture presented by Brene` Brown, a sociologist. Ms. Brown was talking about her research into human feelings of self-worth and the lack of it. She found that people who felt worthy generally had the following characteristics in common: courage, compassion, connection (to others) and vulnerability. I found myself thinking of Maggie and saw her as an example of someone who had a poor sense of self-worth. She did seem to have friends and genuinely cared for them but she just couldn't forgive herself for mistakes in the past and accept her own imperfections, thus she was failing miserably in the vulnerability department.

The setting of Birmingham, Alabama, made the story even more personal for me, since my high school years were spent in North Alabama and many landmarks and historical and cultural references were quite familiar.

I loved the interweaving of the history of the Crocker family and the "dream house" into the timeline of Maggie's life, with its many flashbacks and an intriguing mystery to wonder about. I'd rate the novel a 4 plus!