Review: Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier

A collection of short, humorous essays, I found this when I was cruising the Humor section at the bookstore, a section I rarely venture into. The Atlantic Monthly published the title piece of this book as "among the best writing ever to appear in the 150 years of the magazine" claims the back of this slim book. And once I'd read it (again as I'd seen it on the internet before), I had to agree that it was truly a work of wonder. This and Cursing Mommy were the most hysterical bits in the collection, although I claim to bear no resemblance to the cursing mommy herself (despite the breadth of good Anglo-Saxon words in my childrens' vocabularies). There were a few essays that didn't cause me to crack a smile but overall, this was a fun, quick read, easy to dip into and a nice palate cleanser when reading weightier stuff.

Last 20 books (plus upcoming stuff)

All around the blogging world people are fessing up from whence the last 20 books they reviewed came. Most recently I read this on Beth Fish Reads and I thought it would be an interesting thing to look at myself. Working backwards:

The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark (from the publisher)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (bought but then also sent one from the publisher)
Vanishing by Candida Lawrence (from the publisher)
Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready (bought)
Old Friends and Old Fancies by Sybil Brinton (bought)
Blackman's Coffin by Mark DeCastrique (library but then bought because of a mishap)
Caenus and the Quiver of Artemis by Christopher Ledbetter (from the author)
Tattoo Machine by Jeff Johnson (from the publisher)
Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe (from the publisher)
Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer (bought)
The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale (from the publisher)
Instances of the Number Three by Salley Vickers (bought)
Ooh La La by Robin Wells (bought)
Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye (bought)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Napoleon by Gideon Defoe (bought)
How Perfect Is That by Sarah Bird (from the publisher)
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand (from the publisher)
The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell (bought)
The Lady Flees Her Lord by Michele Ann Young (bought)
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (bought)

So my stats are as follows:

Books I bought: 12 (counting Olive Kitteridge and Blackman's Coffin)
Books sent to me: 9 (counting Olive Kitteridge)
Books from the library: 1 (counting Blackman's Coffin)

And just out for curiousity's sake, the stats on the next 20 (because that is how many I have finished but not yet reviewed) are:

Books I bought: 15 (but one is another I bought and then received from the publisher)
Books sent to me: 6 (see above)

So obviously my stats vary wildly. I don't think I am easier on books I've received than books I bought. In both cases I try to acquire books I will enjoy so in theory you'll read far more complimentary reviews here than the opposite. And some weeks the books may come more from my own stacks and other weeks the books may be a result of my being sent them. Either way I try very hard to maintain objectivity so you all can trust my reviews. Maybe not agree with them, but trust them nevertheless.

Review: The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark

In late 15th century Venice, Luciano, a street urchin is collared by the doge's chef when he tries to steal a pomegranate. With this lucky instance, he is plucked from his hard existence in the streets and apprenticed to the chef. Using the cunning he used to survive on the streets, he soon discovers that there are more secrets and lies in Venice than he ever imagined and that his Master is so much more than he ever dreamed. Meanwhile, rumors circulate in Venice about a book containing no one knows what. Some people believe that it contains the secrets of alchemy. The doge thinks it has the information to cure his syphilis. Luciano is certain that is has a love potion that will make the little novice to whom he has given his heart love him back. People in power are willing to kill to possess the book, offering staggering awards for it. And so amidst the treachery and political manuvering that is Venice, the race to find and possess the book is on.

Caught up in the frenzy surrounding the book, Luciano eavesdrops in the palace, reports to his friends on the street, talks to the novice, and of course, starts to learn to cook. Watching the chef, he learns the importance of food, wondering if the meals that issue from their kitchen are changing the course of history and the fate of Venice. One of Luciano's first private lessons with the chef teaches him about the beauty of an onion, intricate layer upon intricate layer upon intricate layer. This is a beautiful metaphor for both the Venice Newmark has created as well as the story as a whole. As Luciano's apprenticeship continues, he not only learns to cook but to conspire and the grave importance of secrets kept and secrets spilled. Told in relatively short chapters, the reader will want to keep racing to the end of each, eager for the small revelations that will allow another piece of the puzzle about this fabulous, much-coveted book to fall into place.

Told from Luciano's point of view, the characters are fully fleshed out and human. And while the reader can see the pitfalls in certain characters long before Luciano recognizes that not everyone is worthy of his good heart's affection, this serves to illustrate Luciano's character better than had we been told of the traits that make him the perfect apprentice of the chef's. Newmark builds the suspense well and the final denouement is balanced and inevitable. In all honesty, before I got the book, I wasn't too certain this was going to be the book for me but as I continued to read the description, I couldn't escape the tug of intrigue and I am so very glad I didn't! I thoroughly enjoyed this lively historical fiction. I studiously ignored some of the factual inconsistencies (and Newmark addresses some of this in the author's afterword) because after all, this is fiction and allowances for the fantastical do not go amiss. I'd have loved for the chef to cook for me after all those mouth-watering food descriptions. Like the movie Seducing Beauty, this was an appealing, satisfying, and vividly tempting glimpse into the mysteries, politics, and depravities of long ago Venice.

To find out more about author Elle Newmark, check out her author website.

Thanks to Tracee from Pump Up Your Book Promotions for my copy of the book.

Review: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

I read Amy and Isabelle many years ago on the recommendation of a bookseller in Wisconsin. We've lived in several states since Wisconsin but despite enjoying Amy and Isabelle, I never did read another book by Strout (although I faithfully bought them all only to leave them languishing untouched on the shelves). I'm not the world's biggest fan of short stories but if you tell me that they combine to create a novel, I'm much more likely to read the book. And that is how this Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction was billed.

Set in small town Maine, the reader meets Olive and her husband Henry not long after Henry's retirement. Through them, but mainly through Olive, we come to meet many other people from this small town as well, those who have passed through, those who have returned, and those who never left. Each self-contained chapter shows us a different facet of Olive's life and personality, from how she interacts with a suicidal former student to how others like elderly neighbors at a concert view her from afar. There are no dynamic plot twists here. No real surprises or shocks. Just a common life lived out with all its attendant mysteries and mundanities, misunderstandings, arguments, and shining moments of insight.

An unusual novel structure, this has stories like beads strung on a thin necklace with the character of Olive Kitteridge as the delicate chain holding all of the stories together. And although you might expect otherwise, Olive Kitteridge as a character, does not appear in all of the stories. Sometimes just her reputation is invoked to keep the connection. Strout has invoked a structure that calls to mind a modern day Our Town and she has done it well. Olive may not be the most likeable character, irrascibly obtuse at times and amazingly astute at others, but she is well-drawn and whole, fully believable. Both ordinary and powerful, this collection that makes up a novel is well worth reading.

Thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewers for the chance to read this one (although I should admit I'd bought it myself before getting the notification as well so a friend lucked out and got a birthday copy).

Review: Vanishing by Candida Lawrence

This is the fourth of memoirist Candida Lawrence's works and yet this is the first that I've heard of her. I suspect that I am not remotely the only one who is unfamiliar with Lawrence's work either. And that's a shame because her work is uncomplicated, deceptively simple, and fascinatingly different.

Rather than a linear memoir, this is a collection of essays that combine to draw a picture of who Candida Lawrence has been throughout her life. The chapter lending its title to the book deals with Lawrence's abduction of her children from their father and the twenty years following this, living new, created lives. The essays span a long life, address painful and sometimes controversial topics, and sometimes obscure more than they enlighten. They are unadorned and matter of fact regardless of the topic they cover. And they invite us into the mind of Lawrence complete with memories, obfuscations, and creativities. This is not a typical memoir although it contains the seeds of Lawrence's life. It is, instead, a look at our times and the way that the political drove the personal. It is a gift to the reader.

The essay format takes a bit of getting used to for readers expecting a traditional memoir format. And as is generally the case with books comprised of essays or seperate pieces, some are stronger than others and one or two that seem unconnected to the rest of the book. Midway through the book, tha chpater entitles Mitterrand's Last Supper baffled me as I read; perhaps I failed to recognize the symbolism. But most of the pieces have a graceful, sparing strength to them and made me glad to have finally made the acquaintance of this writer.

My thanks to Unbridled Books for a review copy of this book.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading This Week?

This meme hosted is by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog. I know, I know. I promised to have some movement under the "bookmarks are still living in" section and I basically lied. The excuse of the week is that I was on vacation and have now come home to a bunch of review books that have a firm deadline in the middle of next month. And since I want to be invited to be on the panel again next year, I am focused mostly on them. Also, this is more than one week's compilation as I didn't play along while on vacation. Next week will be back to one week at a time.

Books I completed this week are:

Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier
Across the Pond by Storyheart
Perfect Life by Jessica Shattuck
What We Eat When We Eat Alone by Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston
Heart of Courage by Kat Martin
Number Six Fumbles by Rachel Solar-Tuttle
Bound South by Susan Rebecca White
The Whatchamacallit by Danny Danziger and Mark McCrum
North of Ithaka by Eleni Gage
Welcome to Higby by Mark Dunn
Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
The Rogue and the Rival by Maya Rodale
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark
Cornfield Heiress by E.
A Strong West Wind by Gail Caldwell
The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
As Sure As the Sun by Anna McPartlin
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
Divided Lives by Elsa Walsh
The Brandons by Angela Thirkell
The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

Reviews posted this week:

Caenus and the Quiver of Artemis by Christopher Ledbetter
Blackman's Coffin by Mark DeCastrique
Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil Brinton
Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready

I have 20 books awaiting review, most from vacation. So much for being on top of things!

Monday Mailbox

Since I was on vacation and had limited access to a computer, I didn't participate in this meme very consistently so this line-up is more than just one week's worth. It was absolutely wiggle-worthy to come home to the towers of books my husband had opened and piled around the kitchen for me. Almost makes the laundry piles and the drudgery of unpacking worth it. Click on the covers for more information on the books. Since there are so many, I'm not going to put my usual commentary about them here. All books were received from their respective publishers except for Literary Lust, which was a contest win from Martina at Virginie Says.

Perfection by Julie Metz.

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

The Scenic Route by Binnie Kirshenbaum

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter

Literary Lust by Stella Hyde

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt

The Blue Star by Tony Earley

Friends Like These by Danny Wallace

However Tall the Mountain by Awista Ayub

While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty

The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone

Cost by Roxana Robinson

Appassionata by Eva Hoffman

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

As always, if you'd like to check out the goodies that other people found in their mailboxes, check out The Printed Page where Marcia kindly hosts this meme every week.