Book Review: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

January 2016 Penguin Random House

What a beautiful and spare book. This latest from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Strout knocked me off my chair!

When a woman goes into the hospital for a long stay to combat an illness the doctors cannot pinpoint, she is separated from the family she has built: her husband and children continue with their lives while her life stays in limbo.

In this strange, liminal space between the healthy world and the world that tends to sickness, Lucy considers her life. She records it in a memoir or journal; we’re never quite sure whether what we’re reading is intended for publication or if she will hold these thoughts only for herself.

And the review intermingles her childhood under an uncaring and sometimes cruel mother and father with the family she has built. We discover early on that the friend who brings her children to visit will eventually be the woman her husband selects. He, meanwhile, doesn’t visit her at the hospital, another form of cruelty and neglect she grapples with during these months.

At some point, her mother quite unexpectedly appears for a visit. For five days, her mother sits next to her hospital bed, always refusing the cot the nurses offer to sleep sitting up on the chair. It is a mournful waiting, much like a wake, and brings things to the surface that Lucy has never faced.

She faces them now but not through clashes with her mother. Instead she considers them carefully, shifting between a criticism of her own writing through what she learned during a writing workshop and how the author who conducted the workshop responded to her work and that of others.

By the time she leaves the hospital, Lucy has lost quite a bit. But she has found herself.

Truly a touching and quiet novel that you’ll speed through…and think about long after turning the last page.

For another contemporary novel about family relationships, try The Family Made of Dust.

5 stars!

I received an ARC from the publisher so that I could write this review.

February 2016 Berkley

If you’re not familiar with this title and you like strong female protagonists, you should be. Especially since the book divides the lead role between two equally tenacious individuals, and because neither of them are perfect.

Interested yet? Then pick up Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets. The author has made some interesting choices here, so if you’re a writer and read to see how others do their jobs, you’ll want to get this book, too.

Readers will find chapters that alternate between following Amy Raye, a woman who gets lost in the woods, and Pru, an archaeological law enforcement ranger who has been trained–and who has trained her dog–in search and rescue techniques.

When Amy Raye goes missing during an elk hunt, Pru is called in to help. What follows is a long search (I won’t say for how long because that might spoil the read for some) on Pru’s part and a battle for survival on Amy Raye’s part. Bears, cougars, snow, starvation…all the usual issues present for both women.

What isn’t as usual is the history both women bring to their individual struggles. Pru was left a single mom when a casual affair ended before she knew she had become pregnant. Amy Raye has different difficulties that revolve around men and a childhood spent growing up on a farm.

As the search continues, both women look deeply into their pasts. They try to fit themselves into the lives they have built, looking always for some sort of redemption. Their goals are never guaranteed, and not until the very last chapter do readers discover whether they succeed or fail.

The interesting choices made by the author include making Amy Raye a hunter…hunting is generally frowned upon–sometimes quite strongly–in America, and having a woman take on the role potentially means that some readers will dislike her from the start…or simply not pick up the book.

A second is Amy Raye’s history, which she struggles with even in the midst of struggling to survive. I can’t reveal that but let’s say it’s not anything a woman is “allowed” or encouraged to do, unlike men who tend to get away with the same behaviors quite easily.

Finally, the author has loaded in quite a bit of technical information. It was wearying after a bit (for me, anyway) to learn the exact types, weights, and other specifications of the equipment each woman used. It really dragged the pace.

However, I can also defend the author’s choice. Since the characters are women, readers might need more of that information to be convinced that both of these women know what the hell they’re doing. We all know that women in fiction are not as respected as male characters, so the author might have needed to compensate by loading in much more than she might have given a different story.

All in all, however, this is a strong presentation of a story that will captivate readers…even if they don’t like hunting, even if they have never set foot in the wilderness.

If you love strong female leads, try Beloved: A Sensual Noir Thriller, which features a female FBI agent.

4 stars!

I received a copy from the publisher so that I could write this review.

April 2016 Random House Children’s Books

OK, all you YA fans, listen up because this book review is for The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas…and it’s one you’ll want to read.

The teaser line on the front cover reads, Everyone has something to hide. The truth is that everyone in this novel is hiding something, including Tessa, the main character.

When she and her friend Callie were young, they were called to testify against a man charged with killing a young woman. There had been a series of deaths in the area, all done in the same method…so they had been murdered by a serial killer.

But both Tessa and Callie harbor secrets about what they saw, and what they did later. Now their lives have supposedly moved on but both are trapped in that night and the aftermath. Until Tessa comes back to say goodbye to her dying father, who is in jail for unrelated crimes, it seems that they will continue on in that limbo, never fully living but knowing that their secret could destroy what little they have built if it comes out.

Plenty of suspects here, and Tessa is a strong young woman, so she’s not going to allow any of them to pass by without taking action. The book scored points with me on those notes. Still, I thought it would end up as at 4 stars…well written and interesting but nothing truly special.

Until I hit the part around 80% through the book. Then I went, oh, wow! I can’t tell you what happens then but it’s a twist I never saw coming. And with that, the book shot from 4 to 5 stars.

If you like books with plenty of twists and lots of elements flying around, try Reparation, in which a young man must save his sister and his new lover from a cult.

5 stars!

I was given a copy by the publisher in order to write this reviews.

Book review

Zack Delacruz #1: Me and My Big Mouth by Jeff Anderson

Sterling Children’s, 2015

Well, this was a refreshing change for middle grade fiction. Lots of diverse characters here, and a protagonist with a name that clearly places him away from the standard that is too typical in much of what publishers push on readers. So yay, Zack!

And importantly, this isn’t about a boy or others being bullied due to their race or culture. Instead it’s about what every kid faces. It’s a universal theme that happens to have many non-white characters inside, all of whom are real kids. So another cheer for Zack!

The one issue noted is that, while the book promotes respect for everyone, it actually doesn’t follow that line. The teachers, the adults, are the ones who come under fire, and some of the comments are cruel.

So where is the respect there? Does bullying only apply to kids? If you’re in the corporate culture or you’re not white and you walk down the street, you know that bullies are alive and well in the adult world, too. So the ideology doesn’t track entirely.

Still, a great read with plenty of fun for kids.

Parents and teachers who would like to read up on wisdom that can help them guide their kids should check out Seven Sisters: Spiritual Messages from Aboriginal Australia with advice that is as relevant today as it was centuries ago!

5 stars!

I was provided with a review copy by the publisher.

Book Review

Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life Through Transcendental Meditation by Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D.

New York Times bestselling author of Transcendence

Tarcher Perigee, 2016

This book promises everything that TM, or transcendental meditation, can offer: stress relief, more emotional stability, and a better outlook and stronger focus that can enrich a reader’s life.

For the most part, it delivers. It does so by providing an avalanche of information about TM, studies done on practitioners, and a medical perspective that blends the allopathic (the modern style) with traditional medicine. So readers benefit by getting both sides of the picture.

This is much needed today. We’ve gone too far to the extreme of allowing drugs and quick fixes to medicate us into thinking that just because we feel great, we are great or our lives are great. TM can offer the real thing. And Rosenthal is clearly an adherent to that perspective.

There’s not a lot new here in terms of information on TM techniques. But the studies that back up the process are great, and should help folks who are wary of false claims and herbal medicines, yoga teachers, and other alternative claims that don’t back up their systems with facts.

If you’re new to TM or want to explore the depths of the science backing it up, this book is a must read.

For another in-depth look at traditional wisdom and how it can enrich modern lives, try Seven Sisters: Spiritual Messages From Aboriginal Australia. 

4 stars.

I received a copy from the publisher in order to write this review.

Book Review

Fight Song by Joshua Mohr

Soft Skull Press, 2013

Satire is one of those things that is insanely difficult to do. Not only does the author have to make the reader laugh, they also have to leave readers with something more than just the fast chuckle or lingering giggle. A strong satire will take down our cultural mores, poke holes in what we believe to be right, and provide a sense of satisfaction at the end of the work.

Fight Song does all this in a nearly flawless manner. The main character’s plight could degenerate into something macabre or even just depressing. But in Mohr’s hands, the story ramps ever upward into stronger absurdity and greater fun.

Not to be missed!

5 stars!

March 2016 Lee Boudreaux/Little, Brown

Ah, families. They can be such a joy and such a torment. But for one family, a single day in 1948 changes all their lives forever.

In that moment, Davy, just a little boy, is killed in an accident by the ice cream man. What came before that day and what came after is told by Molly, Davy’s older sister.

It all started the way their summer vacations usually did. They opened up the house in the small Jewish enclave and then began their usual summer rituals…dips in the ocean, running along the beach, preparing the meal for Shabbos.

This particular summer, new things occur. Romances are begun and turn into something more serious than a summer fling. The children begin to mature, and realize things about their parents that had stayed hidden to them before.

Then, after the death, their lives continue. Always the family rotates back to the summer home, always they work to deal with their individual grief and the heavy burdens of their individual guilt.

The development of each character and the ways their lives intertwine are deeply considered in this novel. The voice, which has more of a memoir tone, becomes a bit wearying at times; the voice too often allows the mundanely of the dialog to overwhelm the straightforward narrative.

But for a certain type of reader, the page will fly along. The only pauses will occur when the reader wants to savor some moment in the family…which is often. Overall a strong novel that deals with a lot of complexities in an interesting way.

4 stars!

Interested in a novel about adult sibling relationships? Try Reparation: A Novel of Love, Devotion and Danger. A young Lakota Sioux man must save his sister and his lover from a peyote cult before the minister enacts a mass murder. 4.8 star average on Amazon!

Book Review

When Are You Coming Home? by Bryn Chancellor

University of Nebraska Press, 2015

So, so often–too terribly much often–books written by people who teach at one college or another are works that are valued more for the fact that they will sell at least a certain number of copies to the author’s students…or for reasons that relate to the politics inside academia…rather than for any true and deep value to the work itself.

Trust me, that’s not the case with Chancellor’s collection of short stories. Some of these gems really took my breath away. I was so gratified as a reader–not to mention as a writer–to discover that the stories wrapped between these covers are all sparkling examples of what university level instructors should be capable of.

I won’t delve into the details of individual pieces because those are covered by the synopsis. I will tell you that one of my favorites was Meet Me Here. But there are so many other stories that will speak to readers directly, and with an emotional truth that is only found in the nuances of daily life.

Chancellor has a real talent. This is a collection that you will flip furiously through the first time and return to again and again to flip through slowly to savor each sentence.

Get this book now and keep it on your shelves for years of pleasure!

If you’re interested in a full-length novel that deals with emotional truths–and even touches on the real sensual pleasures a loving couple can enjoy–try Beloved: A Sensual Noir Thriller. 

4 stars!

Book Review

We That are Left by Clare Clark

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015

If you are a huge fan of all those 17th and 18th century novels that were written by woman about the woman’s condition at their time, and you’ve been wishing desperately for something new to read, then Clark has answered your dreams.

This novel is so very much like those written a hundred years ago that it’s uncanny. Clark has a flare for replicating a prosaic voice that is mannered and very much like those narrators unseen yet so sweeping in their scope in novels of yore. (Yes, I just said, “novels of yore,” and yes, I really meant exactly that.)

So hang on, because this one will take you to the modern (ish) wartime, yet keep you imbedded in the same sort of class dramas. The synopsis for the book says it all in that regard, so I won’t replicate it here. Let’s just say that this is well worth the time, and yes, it’s also worth paying attention throughout the first 70 pages or so to grasp each of the characters that are quickly introduced.

You’ll swoop quickly through the relevant points of their childhood. It could have been better done by starting with adults and integrating those younger years components when they became relevant but it seems like a lot of publishers are pushing authors to write from the youthful perspective these days, so I’ll let that slide by without anything negative on the scoring.

Otherwise, a great read you’ll want to catch! Grab it now and you’ll plunge into  the delightful antiquated flavor with a new, updated story.

4 stars!

For another contemporary story that has the nuances of times past, try Reparation: A Novel of Love, Devotion and Danger, in which a Lakota Sioux man must honor his traditions while trying to save his sister and his lover from a sinister and charismatic church leader.

The publisher provided a copy so that I could write this review.

Book review for

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

Author of A Hundred Summers and The Secret Life of Violet Grant

Putnam 2015

I have never been a fan of the books or movies that follow the life of an object: the pants that get traded from one person to another or the mysterious box that curses every person who ends up being suckered into buying the darned thing. The connection between characters is too weak, the conceit too visible for my tastes.

This work, however, takes that premise and adds a twist. When a classic convertible is sold by a woman who has dedicated quite some time and effort to restoring the vehicle, the buyer turns out to be a woman who used the car to flee from the Third Reich and all its attenuating despair.

At heart, this work is a romance that weaves together two stores. One of a modern woman who became involved with a politician (another powerful figure, albeit in modern times) and one who became involved with a Nazi (who held a much more sinister type of power, and one that we all hope will continue to exist only in the past).

When the two women meet to transfer ownership of the car, they embark on a road trip that takes them down the roads of their own personal histories. One is far in the past and one more recent.

These parallel journeys should work better than they do. Part of the problem is that the work is written with a style that mirrors much of the contemporary romance genre, and isn’t terribly interested in depth. Details, yes…and that is where this particular story really shines.

The stories of each woman are well worth the time involved in engaging with the narrative. The ending is not a tight wrapup of all that came before, which asks a bit more of readers, and allows them to overlay their own desires for each character onto the story.

So overall, this is an engaging read that has much to offer in part because it doesn’t fit into the typical romance or women’s fiction plot that is so overdone. Quite an original concept!

4 stars!

For a different type of road journey that reveals much about the life of an individual left bereft by events outside their control, try The Family Made of Dust, winner of two national awards.

April 2016 by Simon & Schuster

After reading The Kitchen House, millions of readers were wanting to hear more about the mixed-race escaped slave who had been raised white until his father sold him off.

Now they have another gripping story from Grissom. In this one, James Pyke has built a life for himself as a white man. Working as a jeweler, he has carved out a place among the aristocracy of Philadelphia.

He has also taken in the son of the man who helped him when he first arrived in the city. The other man is also an escaped slave, and both men constantly fear that the slave hunters will track them down, reveal their secrets, and return them to the South.

When the boy Pan is kidnapped by slave traders and taken south to be sold, James is the only person who can hope to find him and eventually return his freedom. What follows is two tales interwoven, and each tale offers its own rewards. When the two stories again merge, readers are swept along to a thundering climax that only Grissom could provide.

The only flaw with this work is found in the opening segment. The work is paced quite slowly here as readers are introduced to everything James has to lose. However, by the opening of the third chapter, readers are well entrenched in two lives. Readers who continue on will be richly rewarded with a novel that is compelling and strongly paced to the end.

5 stars!

Readers who are interested in other stories of lives stolen away and snatched back after great effort should consider The Family Made of Dust, which deals with the aftermath of Australia’s twentieth-century genocidal policies against Aboriginal tribes. Readers who are interested in other groups that have built America and continue to make it strong will be interested in the contemporary story of a Native American man who must save his sister and his lover from a peyote cult in Reparation.