Review: The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

I have long had a fascination for Vietnam. I took a history class on the modern wars in high school and snuck my sophomore self into a junior/senior Vietnam War seminar class in college (in which I want it noted that I got a higher grade than my husband did when he took it several years later). I don't know if the fascination stems from knowing that my father got a deferment thanks to a shoulder injury from football thereby making my existence possible or from hearing my parents talk about friends they knew who were lost, either in the war or later, never having recovered from their experience in country. Clearly it was the defining event of their generation and it remains of great and abiding interest to me and mine.

American photo-journalist Helen Adams has been in Vietnam for 10 years. It is the place that claimed her brother's life, a place of great tragedy and of great and abiding love. She came to Vietnam on her own as a freelancer who dropped out of college in order to cover the war and make her mark before it all ends and ultimately grew into a respected photo-journalist covering the war as well as into a person who counts, even personifies, the human toll of the war. Her unique situation in country allows her to see the war from multiple perspectives, to sympathize with each side and to mourn casualties and devastation alike.

When Helen arrives in Vietnam, she is one of the few Western women in the country and in fact she remains an oddity like this for the duration of the war. She connects with a group of male journalists, having an affair with one of these jaded and doomed men. As his protege, she meets a local translator and goes on junkets with troops, honing her craft as she faces the realities of the war through the eyes of the local villagers as well as the young, scared American troops. Under Darrow's tutelage, she learns to be a brilliant photographer becoming addicted to the war, to the adrenaline-rush, to the danger, and to Vietnam itself. In the end, Helen is also addicted to Linh, a Vietnamese man who is a deserter, her interpreter, the man to whom her well-being was entrusted by Darrow and ultimately her lover and husband. Linh is incredibly conflicted, having been conscripted into an army and having suffered unimaginable losses because of the ongoing war. Together, this young, enthusiastic American woman and this emotionally battered Vietnamese man forge an unbending connection to each other and to the truth of the war they are living.

It is really the human connection that makes this novel so powerful and affecting. Soli invokes the reality of place and the horror of war without passing judgment but without white-washing anything either. Helen is a naive and appealing character at the beginning of the story and she is a strong and wonderful character, albeit one without any illusions, at the end. Linh is a multi-dimensional character with a real and realistic emotional reserve. The framing technique, whereby the story starts with the fall of Saigon and with the difficult and painful goodbye between Helen and Linh, only to go back in time and start at the beginning of the war, at the very nascence of their relationship, before love, is incredibly effective. Knowing the ending, being given the essence of the novel first, does not detract from its addictive sway over the reader at all, in fact it heightens the appreciation of the journey. Obsession, war, love, expedience, all are written into these pages with a meticulous eye to detail and poetry. Highly recommended for those in search of a gripping, well-written novel.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book for review.

The final Thanksgiving casualty report

Thanksgiving: a time of year we gather together with friends and family to offer thanks for all the blessings in our lives. It's also a time to lose two of the good knives from the knife block, tear through three filthy, disgusting garbage bags looking for them before the trash gets collected, and still discover that they are nowhere to be found (but I did find part of the nutcracker set so the great dig was not entirely futile). It's a time when the pumpkin pudding does not come together, staying liquid and unappealing until after you cook it in the oven ala custard, at which time it tastes a bit like the scrapings of a pumpkin flavored ashtray. It's a time when D. sets a hot pot directly on the dining room table and expresses surprise when it takes the finish off said table. It's a time when all of the side dishes are cold or at best luke-warm because the cook hasn't mastered the art of timing. It's a time when the orange buttermilk rolls come out with the consistency of hockey pucks (but if you can crack the carapace, the insides are hot and fluffy). It's a time when guests mean that computer access is limited given that the computer lives in their room. It's a time when the dirty dishes teeter higher than the kids and the laundry pile threatens to smother anyone trapped underneath it when it topples. It's a time when the amount of leftovers rejected by your children would feed an entire third world country for a week. It's a time when you give thanks that the holiday is finally over and gird your loins for the next one!

Review: The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin

When you think of the civil rights movement, it is more than likely you're firmly planted in the South, correct? It seems as if southern-set fiction generally has one of two (or both) characteristics. Either it is set during the civil rights movement (or in some way connected to it) or it is rife with quirky eccentric characters like the southern gothics populating Flannery O'Connor's works. As much as I say I enjoy Southern fiction, I am getting a little tired of these two inevitabilities. Enter Gwin with The Queen of Palmyra, the novel everyone was raving about and which I was leery of reading, knowing in advance it was another civil rights novel.

Narrated by Florence, who was 12 years old during the significant events of one summer in 1960's Mississippi, this novel is actually told through the memories of a much older Florence looking back on her naive and innocent self with knowledge that she never had or never understood at the time. Most of the narration seems as if it is coming from a young girl but the perspective of memory gives the reader tantalizing glimpses into the deep and terrible truths that escape 12-year old Florence.

The Forrest family is one shattered by ugliness and illness. When the story opens, Florence's mother, Martha, is the town's cake lady, baking cakes for special occasions and to supplement the family income. She is also an alcoholic. Florence's father, Win, is a burial insurance salesman who has terrorized the black population in town into buying from him. He is also a ranking member of the local Ku Klux Klan, a nasty man who tries hard to instill his own thinking and reverences in his daughter. But Florence spends more time with her educated and more liberal thinking grandparents and with their black maid Zenie, named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, than she does with her dysfunctional parents, thereby escaping the full brunt of Win's evil.

During the slow, hot summer of the novel, racial tension and violence mount even as Florence practically lives at Zenie's home, unable to understand why she is not easily welcome there, amongst the people so brutalized by her father and his cronies. As her mother's small defiances against her father lead to a family crisis at home, Florence spends more and more time in Shake Rag, the black section of town so she is already installed at Zenie's home most days when Zenie's progressive-thinking niece Eva arrives and brings tensions to a head trying to sell burial insurance policies that would compete with Win Forrest's policies.

Telling the story through the eyes of a child but also including fleeting instances of that child's adult perspective allows Gwin to round out Florence's incomplete story and to inform the reader of the importance and scope of events. The method of narration ratchets up the horror of the events because of, rather than in spite of, Florence's uneducated perspective. While this is the case, however, the pace of the narrative is sleepy, dreamy, and slow, lulling the reader into a suspended state. The characters are generally fairly well-rounded although Win and Eva come off as less real and more stereotypical than the others.

As lauded as the novel has been, I have to admit that I didn't love it. I felt like it was a bit too derivative to be wholly satisfying. This feeling might be a function of my having read a lot of Southern literature, some of it even quite recently. There were gaps in the narrative that would make sense from 12 year old Florence's perspective but not given the framing technique of an older Florence looking back on that seminal summer. The climax of the story was less shocking than expected and older Florence's final thoughts on the summer, her actions as a result, were like a deflating balloon, leaving the novel to just peter out. Lukewarm, I liked the novel, thinking it competent and fine enough, but many, many folks have called it one of their favorites of the year. Lovers of Southern lit, folks with an interest in the civil rights movement, and fans of the other big southern book making the rounds of bookclubs this year, The Help, will want to form their own opinions of this one.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book for review.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's definitely been a better reading week for me this week, even with all of the cooking and cleaning and shopping I've been doing. (Okay, maybe not so much cleaning but cooking and shopping, definitely!) This meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Books I completed this week are:

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
Waking Up in Eden by Lucinda Fleeson
Stay With Me by Sandra Roriguez Barron

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Great Lakes Nature by Mary Blocksma (this is going to take me all year as I read her year's entries on the corresponding days of this year)
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Vagabond by Colette
Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float by Sarah Schmelling
A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Reviews posted this week:

Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):

The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
The Laments by George Hagen
Smart Girls Think Twice by Cathie Linz
Proust's Overcoat by Lorenza Foschini
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson
A Slender Thread by Katharine Davis
Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson
Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Sex, Drugs, and Gelfilte Fish edited by Shana Leibman
Daughter of the Queen of Sheba by Jackie Lyden
The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter by Holly Robinson
Daughter of the Bride by Francesca Segre
Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis by Robyn Harding
Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle
Half Empty by David Rakoff
She's Gone Country by Jane Porter
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
Huck by Janet Elder
Out of the Shadows by Joanne Rendell
I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee
Never Trust a Rogue by Olivia Drake
After the Fall by Kylie Ladd
Heart With Joy by Steve Cushman
The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri
The Known World by Edward Jones
Victory Over Japan by Ellen Gilchrist
Web of Love by Mary Balogh
Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori
The Best American Travel Writing 2009 edited by Simon Winchester
The Concubine's Daughter by Pai Kit Fai
The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
The MacKenzies: Cole by Ana Leigh
Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Running the Books by Avi Steinberg
The Time in Between by David Bergen
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Before Lunch by Angela Thirkell
The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
Destiny Unleashed by Sherryl Woods
Grayson by Lynne Cox
What I Thought I Knew by Alice Eve Cohen
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
Hollywood Ending by Lucie Simone
Falling in Love Again by Cathy Maxwell
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Semper Cool by Barry Fixler
City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
Waking Up in Eden by Lucinda Fleeson
Stay With Me by Sandra Rodriguez Barron

Monday Mailbox

Just when I think the mailbox is likely to be forlorn all week, goodies arrive and perk my day up instantly! This past week's mailbox arrival:

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown came from Amy Einhorn Books via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Three literarily named sisters come home to take care of their sick mother and are horrified to find each other. A nutty family of readers and the secrets they have hidden, this sounds like a great one, doesn't it?!

Shoes Hair Nails by PosiDeborah Batterman came from the author.
A collection of short stories centering on relationships, Batterman says the book "bridges the boundaries of literary women's fiction and chick lit" and that right there sold me on it.

Island Girl by Lynda Simmons came from Elizabeth at Berkley.
A book about family dynamics in the face of early onset Alzheimer's, this one sounds like it could be one of those books I should read when I need a cathartic cry. Regardless of when I read it, it sounds enthralling.

Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt came from The Dial Press.
I'm interested to see how Mr. Chartwell and the darkness of depression connect Winston Churchill and a young House of Commons librarian in this intriguing novel.

As always, if you'd like to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Julie of Knitting and Sundries as she is hosting this month's Mailbox Monday and Kristi at The Story Siren who hosts In My Mailbox and enjoy seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Sunday Salon: November's final tally

I have been resisting doing this because I figure it will be eye-opening in a bad way but I finally gave in. (I hate showcasing my lack of restraint around books.) In the spirit of Nick Hornby's former Polysyllabic Spree columns (but with a tweak or two), here's the final tally on my November, give or take the last two days of the month:

Books bought:
Passions of a Wicked Earl by Lorraine Heath
Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley
A Groom of One's Own by Maya Rodale
Never Less Than a Lady by Mary Jo Putney
Rushed to the Altar by Jane Feather
A Gentleman Always Remembers by Candace Camp
Remember You by Harriet Evans
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker
The Phone Book by Ammon Shea
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Drawing in the Dust by Zoe Klein
July and August by Nancy Clark
The Fox in the Cupboard by Jane Shilling
Passion on the Vine by Sergio Esposito
The Wild Places by Robert MacFarlane
At Home on Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball
Fetching Dylan by Stephen Foster
Silence and Noise by Ivan Richmond
How I Learned to Cook edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan
Under the Table by Katherine Darling
Deaf Sentence by David Lodge
Questions to Ask Before Marrying by Melissa Senate
Bloody Confused by Chuck Culpepper
A Supremely Bad Idea by Luke Dempsey
In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh
Paris Times Eight by Deirdre Kelly
Darcy's Voyage by Kara Louise
Catch of the Day by Whitney Lyles, et al.
Journey of the Pink Dolphins by Sy Montgomery
Civil and Strange by Clair Ni Aonghusa
Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? by Louise Rennison
The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It by Geneen Roth
I Am a Cat by Soseki Natsume
Hungry for Happiness by James Villas
Come Back, Como by Steven Winn

Books otherwise acquired:
Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
Stay With Me by Sandra Rodriguez Barron
Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello
Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton
The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy
The Dressmaker by Posie Graeme-Evans
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Shoes Hair Nails by Deborah Batterman

Books actually read:
Corked by Kathryn Borel
Falling in Love Again by Cathy Maxwell
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
Semper Cool by Barry Fixler
The Naked Gardener by L.B. Gschwandtner
City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
The Little Giant of Aberdeen by Tiffany Baker

I don't always keep such good track of the differences between what I buy and acquire and what I actually read but I suspect that it's fair to say that I almost never manage to read the things I bring into the house the same month they arrive. But I always have a stash for whatever mood I might find myself in on any given day. For instance, I clearly had a romance craving this month, even if I didn't end up reading these particular titles. And I am fairly partial to a good Regency-set romance so they tend to be the bulk of what I buy in that genre. One of the other books I bought was a book club selection and I wasn't terribly psyched about it. Of course, our November book club never occurs in November since it always conflicts with Thanksgiving so I have leeway on when to actually get that one finished although usually bookclub books hold the distinction of being the only books to *always* get read the month I buy them (unless I already own them). As for the other books I picked up this month, they were purely on a whim. Very few of them were on my (obscenely large) wish list and I can't recall having read any reviews of any of them either (which doesn't necessarily mean I didn't what with this fading memory of mine!). They just piqued my interest the day I was in the bookstore. I do have to defend myself here with the appalling list of books I bought by saying that one of the local bookstores is going out of business and when I popped in there to do some early Christmas shopping, they were having massive sales. I did buy for others but my own stash grew enormously as well. Shame they won't be around to continue to benefit from my complete lack of restraint around books!

Review: Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji

There has been quite a profusion of books set in the Middle East in the past 5-10 years. It seems we are trying to fill in our regrettable knowledge gaps about this part of the world through our reading and specifically through fiction. And many of the books I have read which are set in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan do indeed shed some light on the mysteries of cultures so different from my own but also continue to remind of the similarities of people the world over. We are all bound by our cultural and religious systems and so face different challenges but underneath, our basic wants and needs are not so very different at all.

Jiji tackles the different cultural and religious groups in Iraq in the 1940's in this historical novel. The main character, Kathmiya, is a Marsh Arab who has been sent away by her unfeeling, alcoholic father and who must work as a maid to a wealthy family in the city of Basra. Kathmiya longs to be married and to live in the marshes with a husband like her sister and she doesn't understand why her father will not arrange this for her. Several abortive trips to matchmakers leave her knowing that this option, for some hidden reason, is not likely to come true any time soon. So in her loneliness, Kathmiya strikes up a friendship with Shafiq, the young brother of her mistress. Their friendship would be forbidden if it became known as Shafiq is an Iraqi-Jew and Kathmiya a Marsh Arab. But their budding relationship is not the only cross-cultural relationship in the book. Shafiq's family is also very close to their Muslim next door neighbors and in fact Shafiq's best friend is Omar, the son of that family.

As World War II and its ideology starts to invade the Middle East, the balance of political power shifts, leaving Shafiq's Jewish family, with one son an ardent Zionist and another a Communist, vulnerable. Jiji has drawn a convincing picture of individual people who look beyond religion and tradition to the human-ness of friendship and love without drawing unrealistic outcomes. The tension of the growing feelings between Shafiq and Kathmiya are reflected in the growing tensions of the political situation. But the story is not about the overall politics, it is about the individuals, Shafiq and Kathmiya, Shafiq and Omar, Jewish family and Muslim family, and there is no way to stop the unraveling dictated by culture and difference. The ending is earned and the exposed secrets, while personally explosive, haven't changed the time-honored way of life. It is clear, in reading this book and being given a peek into the diverse cultures in Iraq, just what some of the still smoldering tensions are and how their roots extend deeply into the past.

This novel doesn't, perhaps, have the power of several others set in the Middle East but set at such a different time frame, which might account for the muting of the impact, it adds to the understanding of what comes afterwards. There are quite a few characters to keep track of in this. And in the beginning it is rather difficult to keep them all straight and to understand their relationship to each other but the difficulty eventually eases as the story focuses in closer on the major plotlines. Kathmiya is definitely the best developed of the characters and her motivations are all clear as a bell whereas the other characters remain murkier. Overall, a good story, this is one that will appeal to book clubs wanting to read about the Middle East beyond The Kite Runner.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book for review.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme is hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on.

For me, I can't wait to read: 13 rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro. The book is being released by Reagan Arthur Books on February 2, 2011.

Amazon says this about the book: American academic Trevor Stratton discovers a box full of artifacts from World War I as he settles into his new office in Paris. The pictures, letters, and objects in the box relate to the life of Louise Brunet, a feisty, charming Frenchwoman who lived through both World Wars.


As Trevor examines and documents the relics the box offers up, he begins to imagine the story of Louise Brunet's life: her love for a cousin who died in the war, her marriage to a man who works for her father, and her attraction to a neighbor in her building at 13 rue Thérèse. The more time he spends with the objects though, the truer his imaginings of Louise's life become, and the more he notices another alluring Frenchwoman: Josianne, his clerk, who planted the box in his office in the first place, and with whom he finds he is falling in love.

Holiday Reading Challenge and Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge

Because I'm always enticed by holiday reading this time of year (not that I ever manage to get through it of course), I am joining two different challenges to see if I can maybe accomplish some snowy, winter, Christmas-y books this year.

First is the Holiday Reading Challenge being hosted by All About N. Nely's rules on this one, which has already started:

1- Challenge will start Monday, November 15 and will end Friday, December 31.

2- You can read anywhere from 1 to 5 books for the challenge and, of course, if you're like me, you are more than welcome to surpass that number.

3- And now, here's the clincher... they must be holiday related books. That's right, the holiday doesn't really matter, but it would be more "jolly" if your choices were Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.

4- The size of the book does not matter, nor does the genre. It is also okay for the book to overlap with other challenges. The only thing I ask is that they are not children's books. YA is okay. And so are re-reads. I for one tend to read the same books every Christmas - they are tradition.

5- To sign up - leave a link back to your challenge post. There will also be a post for review links as well as one for challenge wrap-ups.

6- And.... there will be goodies. That's right, we'll call them presents. At the end of every week that the challenge is running I will choose one winner from the review links. Meaning the more books you read, review and link up, the more chances you have at winning a "present".

The second one is the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge over at The Christmas Spirit blog. Here's how this one works:

Challenge will run from Friday, November 26, 2010 (Black Friday) through January 6, 2010 (Twelfth Night or Epiphany).

Cross overs with other challenges is totally permitted AND encouraged!

These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore or a book of Christmas short stories (sorry, no children's books, but YA novels are okay).

Visit this POST for a list of new Christmas books for 2010.

Levels:
--Candy Cane: read 1 book
--Mistletoe: read 2-4 books
--Christmas Tree: read 5 or 6 books (this is the fanatic level...LOL!)

My list of potentials looks like this at the moment:

The Last Noel by Michael Malone
Shop 'til Yule Drop by Alesia Holliday, Naomi Neale, and Stephanie Rowe
My Wicked Marquess by Constance Hall
An Irish COuntry Christmas by Patrick Taylor
Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos

Guest Post from L.B. Gschwandtner, author of The Naked Gardener

Hi. My name is L B Gschwandtner and I wrote “The Naked Gardener.” Recently a reader asked: “Did you have the specific audience in mind when you wrote the book?”

Here’s my answer.

At a certain point in my life, I knew three women who gardened naked. They all had different takes on why they did it but they all felt it was really important to them. So I began to think about a woman named Katelyn Cross who goes to her garden naked and what that might mean and in what ways it would be liberating for her and important in her life. The garden symbolizes her world and the rocks in it keep getting in her way. So she has to deal with life's obstacles, even in her garden -- which is her sanctuary.

I chose the theme -- naked gardening -- as a way to explore how women, who so often put themselves aside in order to care for everyone else, can get back in touch with their inner spirit. I think a woman's spirit is what enables her to be there for everyone else. But she also needs to keep her true spirit accessible.

I was thinking about women in a general way for the theme, but then I developed the seven female characters to symbolize the stages of a woman's life. These characters are different ages from 20s to elderly. They're going through different life crises or changes -- son off at war & husband retired, husband cheating on beautiful wife who's coping with aging, dedicated professional woman faced with unexpected pregnancy, and the rest. And of course Katelyn, fretting over losing herself within the confines of marriage. I think these are universal themes for women. It's not about who does the laundry but of who you think you are and who you want to become and not being stifled by what society expects you to be.

Who was I writing for? Women ages 30 and up. The fact that I've gotten some five star reviews from men has actually surprised me. I never thought any man would read “The Naked Gardener” (of course I did get one review on Amazon from a guy who said: “Girl talk, Yuk.”) That gave me a good chuckle.

But he’s right. It is girl talk. I love girl talk.

Learn more about the author and the book at the author's website, her Facebook page, and on Twitter.

And in case you missed it last week, you can also read my review of The Naked Gardener or check out what amazon reviewers had to say.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Wow! I think this might be an all-time low week for me with reading and reviewing. This meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Books I completed this week are:

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Great Lakes Nature by Mary Blocksma (this is going to take me all year as I read her year's entries on the corresponding days of this year)
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Vagabond by Colette
Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float by Sarah Schmelling
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

Reviews posted this week:

The Naked Gardener by L.B. Gschwandtner
Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):

Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji
The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
The Laments by George Hagen
Smart Girls Think Twice by Cathie Linz
Proust's Overcoat by Lorenza Foschini
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson
A Slender Thread by Katharine Davis
Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson
Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Sex, Drugs, and Gelfilte Fish edited by Shana Leibman
Daughter of the Queen of Sheba by Jackie Lyden
The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter by Holly Robinson
Daughter of the Bride by Francesca Segre
Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis by Robyn Harding
Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle
Half Empty by David Rakoff
She's Gone Country by Jane Porter
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
Huck by Janet Elder
Out of the Shadows by Joanne Rendell
I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee
Never Trust a Rogue by Olivia Drake
After the Fall by Kylie Ladd
Heart With Joy by Steve Cushman
The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri
The Known World by Edward Jones
Victory Over Japan by Ellen Gilchrist
Web of Love by Mary Balogh
Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori
The Best American Travel Writing 2009 edited by Simon Winchester
The Concubine's Daughter by Pai Kit Fai
The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
The MacKenzies: Cole by Ana Leigh
Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Running the Books by Avi Steinberg
The Time in Between by David Bergen
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Before Lunch by Angela Thirkell
The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
Destiny Unleashed by Sherryl Woods
Grayson by Lynne Cox
What I Thought I Knew by Alice Eve Cohen
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
Hollywood Ending by Lucie Simone
Falling in Love Again by Cathy Maxwell
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Semper Cool by Barry Fixler
City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

Monday Mailbox

IA couple of surprises graced the mailbox this week. I'd forgotten these were ever possibly going to be coming my way so it was great fun to open their packages. This past week's mailbox arrival:

The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy came from Atria.
A sweeping tale of creative people torn apart by McCarthyism, this one sounds like it has the makings of a book that will keep me turning pages long after my light should be turned out.

The Dressmaker by Posie Graeme-Evans came from Atria.
Even though I dress like I belong on the show What Not to Wear, I am completely fascinated by fashion, especially historical fashion so a novel with a main character who rises to become the pre-eminent dressmaker in 19th century London completely appeals to me.

As always, if you'd like to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Julie of Knitting and Sundries as she is hosting this month's Mailbox Monday and Kristi at The Story Siren who hosts In My Mailbox and enjoy seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Saturday Shout-Out

On my travels through the blogging world, I find many books that pique my interest. I always add them to my wish list immediately but I tend to forget who deserves the blame credit for inspiring me to add them to my list (and to whom my husband would like to send the bill when I get around to actually buying them). So each Saturday I'm going to try and keep better track, link to my fellow book ferreter-outers (I know, not a word but useful nonetheless), and hopefully add to some of your wish lists too.

A Small Furry Prayer by Steven Kotler was mentioned on Book Blab.

Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan was mentioned on Bookworm with a View.

A Tiny Bit Marvelous by Dawn French was mentioned on The Book Chick.

The Dacha Husband by Ivan Shcheglov was mentioned on The Boston Bibliophile.

Late for Tea at the Deer Palace by Tamara Chalabi was mentioned on Bibliophile By the Sea.

What goodies have you added to your wish lists recently? Make your own list and leave a comment here so we can all see who has been a terrible influence inspiring you lately.

Review: Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson

Opening with Tillie going into premature labor while her husband is out of town and she is surrounded by boxes in their new home, Tillie has no choice but to call her long estranged father to help her get to the hospital. As she labors in the hospital bed with him at her side, her resentment towards him bubbles up as she remembers the year that so damaged their family.

You never know what goes on behind the closed doors of your neighbors' homes and this is never more true than in the case of Tillie's family. Her mother is depressed, clearly mentally ill, and has ceased functioning almost entirely, staying in her room in bed every day. Her father is determined to hide the family's problems by instituting the most orderly and regimented existence this military man can create. And yet things are so bad that the neighbors have started to notice. So the family's move across country is not unwelcome, except to eight year old Tillie, who is being left behind while her father, mother, and brother go on ahead to make arrangements. Only once Tillie arrives in Washington, her mother is gone and no one speaks about her. And so a very different family life unspools in Washington, one in which the shadow of her mother's absence hangs over Tillie even as she continues to rebel against her father and his strict and unvarying view of life.

While I was willing to go along with most of the book, I had to stop reading for a while in the middle of the story at a certain unlikely, no, completely unbelievable (to me anyway) plot twist. This momentous discovery made me want to fling the book across the room against a wall. And I don't generally react so negatively. On the other hand, Henderson did a good job incorporating the times in which the book is set into her narrative. In particular, Tillie's encounter with racism and classism via a friend is compelling and realistic with Tillie being so dreamy and oblivious that it takes rather a lot for her to notice that with which other people live on a daily basis. The writing was well done and the rest of the twined plot was fine but the one unbelievable situation changed entirely how I felt about the book. And I suppose that is a risk an author takes but as we selected this as one of the Great Group Reads for National Reading Group Month, you can guess that my feelings were in the minority on the panel. And I do certainly agree that it would be a good book for discussion with family dysfunction, mental illness, shame and stigma, and the toll of secrets as important topics. Most reviewers seem to love the book; perhaps I'm just a curmudgeon and you should read it yourself before you decide.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme is hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on.

For me, I can't wait to read: Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen. The book is being released by Washington Square Press on February 22, 2011. Pulled from the author's newsletter which can be subscribed to on her webpage comes this premise:

Julia Dunhill, a thirty-something party planner, seems to have it all. Married to her high school sweetheart and living in a gorgeous home in Washington D.C., she imagines her future unfolding very much as it has for the past few years, since she and her husband Michael successfully launched their companies. There will be dinner parties to attend, operas to dress up for, and weddings and benefits to organize for her growing list of clients. There will be shopping sprees with her best friend, Isabelle, and inevitably those last five pounds to shed. In her darker moments, she worries that her marriage has dissolved from a true partnership into a façade, but she convinces herself it's due to the intensity of their careers and fast-paced lifestyle.

So as she arranges the molten chocolate cupcakes for the annual Opera benefit, how can she know that her carefully-constructed world is about to fall apart? That her husband will stand up from the head of the table in his company's boardroom, open his mouth to speak, and crash to the carpeted floor... all in the amount of time it will take her to walk across a ballroom floor just a few miles away. Four minutes and eight seconds after his cardiac arrest, a portable defibrillator jump-starts Michael's heart. But in those lost minutes he becomes a different man, with an altered perspective on the rarified life they've been living and a determination to regain the true intimacy they once shared. Now it is up to Julia to decide -- is it worth upending her comfortable world to try to find her way back to the husband she once adored, or should she walk away from this new Michael, who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his change of heart?

Review: The Naked Gardener by L.B. Gschwandtner

We moved into our house a couple of years ago and when we described to neighbors which house we had bought, it was easiest to say that we were the ones who had the gorgeous flower gardens. I also noted that we would be in the process of slowly destroying the pristine landscaping as neither of us are much in terms of green thumbs. Sadly, my prophecy has come to pass and the flowers are mostly choked out by weeds at this point. I wish I had the inclination to tidy the beds at the very least and to make the gardens my own at best. Despite a lackadaisical attitude to gardening myself, I could hardly fail to be tempted by a book with a title like The Naked Gardener. I'd scandalize the neighbors but there's something appealing about the idea of being out in nature wearing nothing (well, until the sunburn bloomed across delicate parts).

But the novel is not really about gardening naked; it is about the freedom to make the choices that drive our lives. Katelyn is an artist who lives with Maze, a professor. They live in Virginia most of the year but have bought a ramshackle farm in Vermont in order to spend summers there. They have transformed the farm into something unique and different, reflecting their attitudes toward life. But Katelyn is in the midst of a crisis of sorts. While she and Maze love each other, she is afraid to commit to marrying him, something he wants very much. Her reluctance stems from a past failed relationship and she fears his eagerness comes from a desire to replace his late first wife. As she wrestles with what her ultimate decision will be with regards to Maze and her future, she also gets more involved in the local town's politics. Discovering that the town council is made up entirely of women who want to save the dying little place after the men have given up, Katelyn proposes that the five women accompany her on a canoe trip starting in the wilderness above Trout River Falls.

Each of the women on the trip is facing a crossroads in her life: an unexpected pregnancy, a stagnant marriage, a cheating spouse looking for physical perfection, a first date, the fear of a medical unknown, and of course Katelyn's decision to marry or not. As the women float down the river, they share their fears and advise each other. They tell deeply personal secrets and bond the way that only an extended time together in nature can bring. But their own situations are not the only thing they contemplate as they paddle, they also concoct a plan to save their town without turning it into a museum or a succession of strip malls. And then the picturesque trip turns into something more dangerous, thrilling, and adreneline churning, reminding these women on the cusp of changes that life never stands still even if we don't face our dilemmas.

The novel is a slow and introspective one with the bulk of the plot movement in the latter half of the book. There is quite a lot of backstory on Katelyn's fear of commitment but quite a bit less so on Maze and his late wife. This makes Katelyn's assertion that he wants to be married because he wants to replace his wife a little lacking in credibility. The secondary characters are also a bit tangential to Katelyn's story and I had some trouble keeping track of who each one was as they talked on their paddle downriver. The writing is quite descriptive and beautiful. Katelyn's garden is completely tantalizing and the wilderness of the river is dreamlike. There is no neat closure here for all the women's concerns but that is how life works, continuing forward like the river in the novel, sometimes slowly and sometimes in full torrent. I had to suspend belief a bit in terms of the women besides Katelyn being complete novices at canoeing and choosing to run a raging falls. Symbolically the idea works but the reality would be foolhardy at best and dangerous at worst.

Over all, I enjoyed the novel. It will easily appeal to those looking for an empowering tale and those interested in the power of the choices, large and small, that we all face throughout our lives.

Learn more about the author and the book at the author's website, her Facebook page, and on Twitter.

Thanks to Lisa from BookSparks PR and the author for sending me a copy of this book to review.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

My reading this past week was characterized by my inability to stick with one book. I started quite a few and then set each aside to start yet another. Reviewing was thin on the ground too. On the plus side, I've started Christmas shopping so I am accomplishing something! This meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Books I completed this week are:

The Naked Gardener by L.B. Gschwandtner
City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Great Lakes Nature by Mary Blocksma (this is going to take me all year as I read her year's entries on the corresponding days of this year)
Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Vagabond by Colette
Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float by Sarah Schmelling
A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

Reviews posted this week:

Finding Marco by Kenneth Cancellara
Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):

Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson
Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji
The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
The Laments by George Hagen
Smart Girls Think Twice by Cathie Linz
Proust's Overcoat by Lorenza Foschini
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson
A Slender Thread by Katharine Davis
Cooking With Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson
Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Sex, Drugs, and Gelfilte Fish edited by Shana Leibman
Daughter of the Queen of Sheba by Jackie Lyden
The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter by Holly Robinson
Daughter of the Bride by Francesca Segre
Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis by Robyn Harding
Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle
Half Empty by David Rakoff
She's Gone Country by Jane Porter
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
Huck by Janet Elder
Out of the Shadows by Joanne Rendell
I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee
Never Trust a Rogue by Olivia Drake
After the Fall by Kylie Ladd
Heart With Joy by Steve Cushman
The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri
The Known World by Edward Jones
Victory Over Japan by Ellen Gilchrist
Web of Love by Mary Balogh
Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori
The Best American Travel Writing 2009 edited by Simon Winchester
The Concubine's Daughter by Pai Kit Fai
The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
The MacKenzies: Cole by Ana Leigh
Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Running the Books by Avi Steinberg
The Time in Between by David Bergen
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Before Lunch by Angela Thirkell
The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
Destiny Unleashed by Sherryl Woods
Grayson by Lynne Cox
What I Thought I Knew by Alice Eve Cohen
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
Hollywood Ending by Lucie Simone
Falling in Love Again by Cathy Maxwell
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Semper Cool by Barry Fixler
The Naked Gardener by L.B. Gschwandtner
City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell

Monday Mailbox

I have been trying to be very cognizant of all the unread advanced copies I still have gracing my shelves and not ask for too many more. But sometimes I just can't help myself and then when that one that I just couldn't pass up arrives in the mailbox, I am giddy with excitement as I was with the below. This past week's mailbox arrival:

Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton came from Random House.
In some of my crazier moments, I think I'd like to go to Culinary School and become a chef. After all, I love food and I enjoy cooking. Then I remember I love reading about chefs and cooking far more than I really want to be immersed in the actual hectic restaurant world. So books like this memoir of "The Inadvertant Education of a Reluctant Chef" return me to sanity and provide great reading. I'm tickled to be able to add this one to my shelf and can't wait to read it.

As always, if you'd like to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Julie of Knitting and Sundries as she is hosting this month's Mailbox Monday and Kristi at The Story Siren who hosts In My Mailbox and enjoy seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Eggnog

photo credit

I love the tastes of the holiday season and by holiday I mean starting with all kinds of candy at Halloween and extending through cookies at Christmas. The weather may be for the birds and the lack of daylight might have me moping in a gloom but the sugar rush! Oh, the sugar rush! I have long known that moderation is key at Halloween. And I am proud to say that I have not yet succumbed to the temptation of sneaking candy from my kids' bags (yes they still have candy left but I think they've inventoried it). I try to offer the leftover mashed potatoes to the rest of the family before I dig into them on the day after Thanksgiving. (But the butter! Oh, the butter!) I make all of my favorite Christmas cookies to put in other people's stockings because once I have slaved over a quadruple batch of something, it's a cold day in Southtown, USA before I want to sample even one. But I fear I have no restraint with eggnog. And I fear that light eggnog is only light if you don't drink the whole carton all at once. Do I really have to learn another food coping mechanism this time of year? Seriously? ::sigh::

This post was written as a part of Beth Fish Read's Weekend Cooking meme in which I contribute very sporadically. Feel free to join in or just to surf through other folks' contributions.

Sunday Salon: Books furnish a room (and a car)

I have had one of those weeks where I am unable to settle on a book so I have started many only to set them aside to start more. Because I am rather obsessive compulsive about my reading, I will indeed eventually finish them all but heaven only knows when that may happen. In the meantime, where do I put all of these partially read books? If I stack them all on my bedside table, I could die in the night under an avalanche of books. So I scatter them throughout the house to be stumbled on fortuitously. I truly do have books in almost every room in the house and I don't just mean books on shelves (which would also be a true statement), I mean books with bookmarks tucked between their pages waiting for the mood to strike and bring me back to them.

Obviously I have books on my bedside table. In this case, I have Great Lakes Nature because it is episodic and I read an entry a day or thereabouts. I also have whichever book has struck my fancy at the moment I decide to head to bed. In my bathroom, I laid down The Vagabond by Colette. I think it went in there with me while I turned the shower on and waited for it to warm up. But it wasn't the right book for me when I got out of the shower. In the kitchen, I have A Civil Contract because I decided it had been a while since I read Georgette Heyer and Regency-set romances generally help me out of the "inability to choose" state. Didn't seem to work. Beside the computer in the basement, I have The Lacuna, my latest book club book. I can't seem to get past my lack of desire to read it (but I need to since the meeting is coming up) and so it sits abandoned too. In my purse in the car, I have a copy of Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float because it is hilarious and easy to put down. Facebook and great literature, how can you go wrong? And yet I can't read it straight through because I know it will seem one note if I do that. And so it is my dip into book when I get stopped by a train or a long red light or have to sit at innumerable kid sports practices. Oddly enough, I don't have books sitting by the couches in two of the rooms I like to read most. But I could remedy that later today. At the moment, odds are that all the books I have bookmarks in currently will stay where they are and I will try something else. Call me fickle but don't comment on my decorating technique of strewing books everywhere the eye can see!

Do you read more than one book at a time? Do you leave a shelf's worth of books in your wake?

This past week I haven't finished much (witness the above post!) but I did raft down a wild river with a group of women all struggling with major life decisions and I lived in China with missionaries during some of the most turbulent times in China's twentieth century history.

Review: Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

This was my final choice for my summer book club. I chose it because it seemed so unusual and different and I suspected that it would inspire some fabulous conversation. That might have been the case but I had to miss the meeting because of a little thing called my daughter's dance tryouts. Would that I could have been with friends discussing this charming, well-written novel instead!

Nayeli is a young woman who works in a taqueria in Tres Camarones, a coastal village in Mexico too poor to be of interest to most people, attacting a few surfers occasionally. But then the village's remoteness and its lack of men (almost all of whom have gone north to the US) makes it appealing to those involved in the drug trade. With the help of two friends and her entertaining and spunky aunt Irma, Tres Camarones' new mayor, Nayeli concocts a plan to reclaim the village from the criminals. After seeing the movie The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli knows she must go to the US and find seven men to come back to Tres Camarones and defend the people. But this quest is more than just a public service to her village, Nayeli hopes to find her father who has long since disappeared into the US and to bring him home where he belongs.

When Nayeli and her two friends set off on their noble quest, the story really starts cooking along. The girls' travels through Mexico are vivid and not uneventful. After all, what is a noble quest without windmills to overcome? Unfortunately for the girls, the windmills are very often not of their imagining but instead real obstacles to their goal. Getting into the US is not easy and the irony of the matter is that once they are there as illegal immigrants, it will also be illegal for them to try and get back into Mexico. But first they must find seven men who are willing to return with them and then to take back their town.

The characters in the book are vividly written and just plain fun. They are real and entertaining and funny and a delight to spend time reading about. The tone of the book stays fairly light despite the deep and heavy themes of perseverance, illegal immigration, discrimination, poverty, and bravery. But it is this very lightness that allows the reader to think clearly about these loaded political and emotional issues. There is humor galore here and I read much of the book with a smile. Nayeli's strength is apparent to all but herself and she is a totally engaging and appealing main character. A well-constructed, beautifully paced novel, this is a great reading group choice, the adventure and the balanced look at life for illegals in the US make it eminently discussable as well. Because I already know you'll enjoy reading it.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book for review.

Saturday Shout-Out

On my travels through the blogging world, I find many books that pique my interest. I always add them to my wish list immediately but I tend to forget who deserves the blame credit for inspiring me to add them to my list (and to whom my husband would like to send the bill when I get around to actually buying them). So each Saturday I'm going to try and keep better track, link to my fellow book ferreter-outers (I know, not a word but useful nonetheless), and hopefully add to some of your wish lists too.

Stretch by Neal Pollack was mentioned on Beth Fish Reads.

Keeping Time by Stacey McGlynn was mentioned on Bookin' With Bingo.

The House of Slamming Doors by Mark Macauley was mentioned on Reading Matters.

What goodies have you added to your wish lists recently? Make your own list and leave a comment here so we can all see who has been a terrible influence inspiring you lately.

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

I am am skating in under the wire to sign-up for this one. Read about it and join us. But hurry since sign-ups end Nov. 14!

Review: Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately

Afghanistan continues to capture our imagination here in this country. It is a world away and so very different. And yet people are people no matter where or how they live. Customs and lifestyles might be different but those are ultimately superficial differences. Certainly there are terrible people like the Taliban, driven to impose their unforgiving and restrictive views on everyone around them regardless of the cost in human terms. But not all Afghanis are Taliban although certainly the vast majority of them have been adversely touched by this zealotry by now.

Lipstick in Afghanistan is a novel that shows the resilience and strength of the Afghani people through the eyes of Elsa, an American nurse aid worker whose story intertwines with the local people. Elsa was raised without much but even as a teenager, she wants to give back, horrified, moved, and captivated by photos of war refugees. This drives her to become a nurse as an adult and she works for two years in a Boston ER before being eligible to apply for aid work. She is sent to Afghanistan, to Bamiyan to help out in the hospital. It is there that Elsa comes in close contact with the harsh realities of war, things for which even her time in a busy ER did not prepare her. But she also makes friends and starts to understand local customs, becoming particularly close to Parween, a young, widowed Afghani woman who speaks English thanks to her late husband's teaching. Elsa defies the rules about aid workers and soldiers fraternizing as she meets, befriends, and finally falls in love with an American soldier stationed in Bamiyan also. Despite seeing the fallout of war so closely, Elsa naively believes there to be no further danger, at least not any danger for her despite what her lieutenant tells her.

Elsa's underpriviledged upbringing in the States is woven through the narrative of her time in Afghanistan and while this background helps explain her drive to serve, as a plot thread, it really pales in comparison to the lives of the everyday people in Bamiyan, ultimately becoming fairly insignificant. The tragedy and sadness that so many endured and continue to endure pervades the tale of Elsa and Parween's friendship. Elsa and Mike's burgeoning relationship lends a lighter air to the narrative but the speed with which it occurs seems a bit underdeveloped in the plot. Lipstick as a talisman between friends is an interesting concept and combined with it as a small sign of insurrection against the Taliban, it is a powerful symbol.

Gately herself spent time working for an aid group in Afghanistan and she has drawn a grittily realistic picture of the devastation and hardship that has followed in the footsteps of war. It is clear that she admired the people she met in the country as her portrayals of her important, named Afghani characters is wholly sympathetic. The writing is at times a little clunky and simplistic but on the whole, this is an engaging story and one that humanizes. Readers looking for more novels set in the Middle East will enjoy this one, as will those in care-giver professions.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme is hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on.
For me, I can't wait to read: Letters From Home by Kristina McMorris. The book is being released by Kensington on February 22, 2011. An interview with the author gives us this information about the book:

Set against the emotionally charged backdrop of WWII, poetic university student Liz Stephens falls deeply in love through a yearlong letter exchange with infantryman Morgan McClain. Equally enamored, the Midwest soldier stationed in Europe relies solely on their correspondence to survive the gruesome realities of war. Yet between the scrawled lines of familial hardships and heartrending tragedies lies the one secret Liz must keep, or risk losing everyone she holds dear. As the nation nears victory, and its troops return home, each will learn the price of freedom while uncovering the deceptions of love and war.

Review: Finding Marco by Kenneth Cancellara

Italy is one of those places that I have always wanted to go. The food. The history. The gorgeous scenery. Just about everything about it appeals to me. So when I was offered a book about a man who returns to Italy to get back to his best self, I was more than tempted.

Marco Gentile was born in Acerenza, Italy and he spent his childhood running through the hills around the town. Moving to Canada later in life, he becomes a lawyer and ultimately the CEO of an automobile manufacturer. But when a vital decision about the future of the company leaves Mark wondering about his moral compass and the courage of his convictions, he asks for and receives the blessing of his wife and daughter to resign his job and return to his childhood home in Southern Italy to get in touch with the man he really is. It is through this ethical dilemma that Mark will ultimately choose the direction in which he wants to go moving forward and it is by returning to a place that has always nurtured him that he can face the decisions he needs to make.

There is quite a long, drawn-out section at the start of the book about Mark's professional life and his ascension to the role of CEO of the automobile company. It is, in many ways, a fictional resume for Mark and unfortunately, it is about as compelling to read as most resumes are, which is to say, not terribly. Once Mark makes the decision to resign his position and to travel back to Acerenza, the pace of the book picks up, as did my interest. The description of the slower pace of life in this small village is appealing and Mark's reconnection with people he used to know as a child is nice. But the description, the hospitality and easy comraderie, and Mark's ponderings about the future go on just a bit too long. Mid-life crises can certainly drag and decisions can continue to be deferred indefinitely in real life but in a book the author risks losing the reader. And I have to admit I was among the casualties. The charm wore off and I was left feeling apathetic toward the character and his dilemma about how to balance the two important aspects of his life, wishing he'd just do something soon. The combination of the business focused part at the beginning and the soporific pace at the end combined to make this less than satisfying for me. It had potential; it just didn't meet it for me.

Thanks to Megan at Phenix Publicity for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Weight Loss Travails

photo credit (not that this woman is remotely chubby enough to be me)

Show me a woman who doesn't worry about her weight and I'll unmask her as a man in drag. Well, maybe not, but I guarantee I won't like her much. I have struggled with my weight for a long time. When I was swimming competitively I still struggled with my weight, despite how active I was. So you can only imagine how dire the situation got after I graduated from college and stopped darkening pool decks at ridiculous hours of the morning. Mostly I let things go for a long time, expanding at a slow enough rate that I wasn't terribly alarmed. Until one day I was. Alarmed that is. And I have been battling on and off ever since. I lost 60 pounds a couple of years ago. I ran a marathon. I still had weight to lose but I was happier with how I looked for the first time in a long time. Then we moved. And apparently that last weight loss was just the latest nadir (or pinnacle depending on your point of view but I am a bit of a pessimist with regards to weight loss) on this yo-yo's journey. Because I promptly gained weight with the move. And two years on, the unwanted heft is still hanging around.

So I e-mailed my friend J. who has been through this with me before and we decided to get serious again. We weigh-in once a week and report losses (and gains) to each other and are supposed to generally act as cheerleaders and support staff for each other. In theory this should work, right? Well, this morning was my morning to weigh-in. Two words: Bake Sale. Okay, more than two words. This weekend we had a bake sale to raise money for dance. I baked a lot. I sampled more. I have zero willpower. Then I had to work the Panthers game (assessment of the game from D. who was there with a client: it was cold and we suck, but I digress) and that means I am there from 9am until 5pm or thereabouts. And the only food available to we fund-raising peons is not so very healthy stuff like nachos or hot pretzels or hotdogs. If you don't want to skip a meal, you eat this stuff. (My tally you ask? Yes, nachos; yes, pretzel; no, hotdog.) I totally get that eating this stuff and the lack of willpower at the bake sale sabotages me every day of the week. But knowing it and being able to do something about it are horses of two very different colors.

And now I have to report to J. that this past week was a bloody disaster for me and I gained rather a lot. ::sigh:: Do you think there's any chance she'll buy the fact that Gatsby stepped on the scale with me? I mean, she did but I weighed myself twice after that and the number didn't seem to change. I know she's a small puppy and all but surely her front paws and inquistively sniffy black nose weigh something, right?

But eating isn't the whole of it and I know that. I have been working hard to be fairly active. My running is very sporadic. My spin classes have been even more sporadic. But I have played tennis at least two days a week for quite a few weeks now. And I signed up and paid for an adult dance class that makes me sweat like a pig and my daughter's dance teachers feel greater sympathy for R. given how hard she has to work to overcome the enormous lack of genetic ability she's clearly up against. So really, what gives? Is that looming 4-0 really mucking with my metabolism that badly? Or should I be one of the 12 trillion women who marches into her primary care doctor and says, "I think my thyroid isn't working." Don't think I don't know they groan heavily when the real problem is overeating. I get it. I just don't seem to be able to change it. But maybe my thyroid is screwy. I mean, my mom and my sister have screwy thyroids and all. Then again, she said with weary resignation, it could be that darned bake sale and all the good eating opportunities like it every week.

Something must be done about my obesity epidemic. I'm starting to think that duct tape (the solution of choice for all rednecks and those otherwise desperate) over my mouth might be my only option. After all, if nothing else, I need to lose this weight because the fat pants take up far too much space in my drawers. My skinny pants miss me; I just know it.