Monday Mailbox

I didn't get anything in my mailbox last week and I was feeling a bit forlorn but this week's bounty has restored my spirits. This week's mailbox arrivals:

Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks came from Grove Atlantic.

I had a geology professor who maintained that the word dam(n) should always be a four letter word so I am very interested in this novel about 1950s America, an archeologist working on a damming project, and a man living in the canyon that's going to be flooded.

Euphoria by Lily King came from Atlantic Monthly Press.

I suspect that a love triangle between anthropologists in Papua New Guinea can only end horribly but I can't wait for the ride taking me there!

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay came from Black Cat.

This tale of a Haitian American woman who lives a life of privilege before she is kidnapped by a group who resents everything she represents has been highly lauded already and I know I'll turn to it when I need a heart pounding read.

Marching to Zion by Mary Glickman came from Open Road.

The story of both an interracial and interfaith love in the close of the 1910s in America, this book should capture an inflammatory time and carry the reader along.

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro came from Harper.

I've already reviewed this one here.

The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis came from Harper Perennial.

About two children linked by tragedy trying to grow up and put their past behind them, this sounds phenomenal.

In Between Dreams by Iman Verjee came from Oneworld.

A novel about a strange and sometimes cruel girl sent away to school after a party gone awry and her grandmother's death, this promises to be a serious investigation of darkness and secrets and truth.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng came from The Penguin Press.

After the death of the favorite child in a Chinese American family in small town 1970s Ohio, the family must choose how to move forward. This sounds heartbreaking and wonderful all in the same breath.

If you'd like to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Mailbox Monday and have fun seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Sunday Salon: Panic mode

I made the mistake of glancing at the calendar and noticed not only how busy I am on a daily basis but how soon I take the kids to Florida for R.'s dance competition and then on up to Michigan for vacation. Leaving can't be just over a week away! I have a to do list 25 miles long. I have a reading list 300 miles long and a review list twice that size. I have meetings and appointments and commitments, oh my. And the packing! I have to get packing. But I am floating along as if everything that needs to be accomplished will all come together without any help from me and the calendar says I'm running out of time to have this happen. Can you say panic attack?

I know that my husband won't care if I leave for a month and the piles around the house are still there. (He's already learned to navigate around them so he might be more inclined to notice if they disappear than if they stay--and since he did notice, on the very day it happened, that I managed to clear out 95% of the garage again, this is probably very true.) I know that the reading and reviewing is mostly self-imposed so I should be able to let that go although some of it is promised to others and therefore really should be done.  (See how I do that to myself?)  And really, in looking at the summer reading list I created, I've already read 12 (plus one not on the list) of the 46 books I listed. I compiled that list to last me from Memorial Day to Labor Day so in theory, I've got time. The meetings and appointments and commitments that I have control over should be quick and I think the people who have to listen to me drone on will appreciate that immensely. So I shouldn't be panicked, right? If I rationalize this enough, maybe I'll even start to believe it. Or not. Now that I've had my reality check, maybe I'll indulge in a just little panic attack, a baby one if you will. Because maybe a little one will spur me to actually get enough done that I won't fret too much about leaving the rest unfinished. If nothing else, I should definitely get off the computer and go accomplish something. Yes, I'll get right on that!

This past week my reading travels have taken me to Malawi to see the ingenuity of a young boy who figures out all on his own how to build a windmill to generate electricity for his family, to Alabama where magic and family have caused so much pain in need of the healing power of love, to Colorado and the fight over the legalization of marijuana, and to Iceland where a condemned murderess awaits execution. Where did your reading take you this week?

Review: The Witch of Belladonna Bay by Suzanne Palmieri

Magic and the supernatural are not usually things I search out in the books I read. There's magic enough just in the escape found in books for me. But occasionally a little extra magic in a book helps to drive the story onwards. In Suzanne Palmieri's new novel, The Witch of Belladonna Bay, magic and the supernatural swirl all through the characters and the plot of this novel about a family coming back together, facing long avoided truths, and learning to embrace love.

Bronwyn Whalen left her Alabama town fourteen years ago, after her mother's opium overdose and she hasn't been home since. But now she's got to go back. Her brother Paddy is in jail for murdering her childhood best friend Charlotte and Charlotte's son Jamie.  Paddy's daughter Byrd, the niece Wyn has never met, needs her. So despite her misgivings and no desire to face the unresolved feelings that her home and family inspire in her, Wyn heads home to her alcoholic father, Jackson, wealthy and privileged mayor of the town; to her great aunt and the mysterious man she married; to her memories and ghosts, literal and figurative; to the place where her long suppressed powers belong; to free spirited and precocious Byrd; and to BitsyWyn, the sassy, determined Southerner she's been deep down all along.

Wyn is determined to discover who really killed Charlotte because she knows in her heart that it can't have been Paddy. As she digs around to exonerate her brother, she falls in love with her strange and magical niece, loving her fiercely and protectively. When Wyn's fiancé, Ben, arrives in Alabama, she learns more about herself and the heritage she's been running from forever and she knows in her bones that she can never leave Byrd, no matter what. It is only when all the puzzle pieces are in place that Wyn can see not only what happened the night that Charlotte died and Jamie disappeared but that she can start to help those she loves heal all of the hurts they have carried for so long.

Narrated in turn by Wyn, Byrd, and Naomi, Wyn's dead mother, the story is more about coming to accept and love who you are down to your very soul than it is about the mystery surrounding Charlotte's death. Wyn is holding onto bitterness and carrying a load of guilt that has left her something less than happy. Byrd is an old soul, funny, earnest, and loving beyond her years. Naomi is held back by her regret and the need to explain and ask for forgiveness for her choices. And while Jackson chooses alcohol over everything, he still loves his family, wanting the best for them. The scene is very southern Gothic with the hovering mist over the forbidding and scary island in Belladonna Bay and the characters are suitably eccentric. There are quite a few plot threads weaving through the narrative, Ben as Wyn's caretaker, what really happened to Charlotte, Wyn's childhood love and Charlotte's brother Grant and his role in everything, Byrd's powers, and more, not all of which are as fully developed as might have been. But even so the novel is enticing. The resolution of the mystery is one part predictable and another part surprise and the end of the novel wraps up tidily, moving from slightly sinister feeling to contented, a tone shift that is a bit abrupt. Over all though, a good read, this will appeal to fans of the supernatural, contemporary southern fiction, and those who like reading about families who find their way back to each other and to their hearts.

For more information about Suzanne Palmieri and the book, check out her website, her Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, or connect with her on GoodReads. Take a look at the amazon reviews for others' thoughts and opinions on the book.

Thanks to Janay from Book Sparks PR and the publisher for sending me a copy of the book for review.

Review: The Walk-In Closet by Abdi Nazemian

What is it about heading into a new decade age-wise that makes so many people assess their lives, where they've been, where they are, and where they want to be? I might be the least introspective person on the planet but a new age ending in a zero doesn't ever make me pause to take stock of my life so far. But so many people are in fact spurred on to do just that when they turn thirty or forty or fifty. For  Kara Walker, the main character of Abdi Nazemian's new novel, The Walk-In Closet, her looming thirtieth birthday coupled with the Persian new year celebration called Nowruz, definitely forces her to look at her life and start thinking about where she wants it to go.

Kara lives with Babak (Bobby) Ebadi in a duplex condo his staggeringly wealthy parents bought for him. His family thinks that they are boyfriend and girlfriend but they are simply best friends.  In fact, Kara is Bobby's beard, allowing him to stay deeply closeted with his family. Kara doesn't mind this living situation because she loves Bobby's parents, Leila and Hossein, and she adores the Iranian/Persian culture and traditions in Tehrangeles. But the Ebadis are starting to ramp up the pressure on Bobby and Kara to get married and provide them with grandchildren to spoil. Under this pressure, the façade of a heterosexual relationship that Kara and Bobby have created is starting to crumble and cause Kara stress.

Kara and Bobby have an easygoing understanding with each other. Kara gets to live in the condo and enjoy the designer hand me downs and expensive gifts that Leila passes her way and Bobby gets to pursue his anonymous online hook-ups without anyone the wiser. They have decided, through the many years that they have been friends, not to outright lie to Bobby's family, but they allow everyone to draw the wrong conclusions about their relationship. Kara is still mourning her last relationship and living a celibate life while Bobby has one night (or day) stands with any and all comers. But she's not as happy as she once was and so Kara decides that she needs to learn to be more like Bobby, to learn to be less emotionally invested and to have no strings attached sex with anonymous people. But when she attempts to do this, she meets Kyle, who completely fascinates her. He's clearly not using his real name and she doesn't want to scare him away since this was supposed to be a one time, unemotional, scratch an itch thing but her monogamous little self is hooked. And eventually Kyle will change everything.

Kara and Bobby come off as far younger than they actually are, perhaps because of the sheltering umbrella of the Ebadi's money or perhaps because they are truly immature, the latter a conclusion the random casual sexual encounters seems to support. But even with this, both of them are rather likable characters. They deal with emotions in different ways; Kara obsesses and Bobby avoids. And a lot of this is attributable to their respective upbringings. As Kara faces her own feelings, needs, and desires, and whether she's comfortable continuing to string Bobby's family along about his sexuality, she uncovers a lot of secrets and deep hurts that have been glossed over by a hyper consumerism and the shine of the finer things in life. There are some pretty detailed sex scenes between Kara and Kyle but Bobby's trysts are left in the closet with a wink. The Tehrangeles community is lovingly skewered here and the insight into the Persian diaspora from Iran is well done. Who Kyle is and what happens in the end is clear almost from the moment he appears in the story and the fact of it stretches credibility, tying the end up just a tad too neatly and hurriedly. Over all though, the novel is fast paced and fun, a generally light look at coming to know yourself and to learn acceptance and love.

For more information about Abdi Nazemian and the book, check out his website, his Facebook page, follow him on Twitter, or connect with him on GoodReads. Take a look at the amazon reviews for others' thoughts and opinions on the book.

Thanks to Janay from Book Sparks PR and the publisher for sending me a copy of the book for review.

Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Some people are amazing. They are smart and motivated and they can't help but do great things. When a person like this grows up without the benefits and privileges that so many of us take for granted, it makes their accomplishments that much more inspiring. This is absolutely the case with William Kamkwamba, a Malawian teenager who built a windmill to generate electricity for his family's home. This memoir of his young life so far shows just what an impressive young man he is.

Kamkwamba is the son of a farmer. In good years the farm is productive and provides well for everyone. In lean years, it is much tougher. And in the famine years, the Kamkwamba family is lucky not to starve. Divided into three parts, the first section of the memoir tells of a typical farming life in the small African country of Malawi. This is an extensive part of the book, setting the scene for a readership certainly not familiar with the way of life, the lack of amenities and technology, and the worries in this mostly non-industrialized place. Kamkwamba paints a picture of his family's closeness, his friendships, and the magic that infuses their lives. But he doesn't shy away from the hardships and the want either, including the horrific drought and famine that devastated the country and resulted in many deaths. It was this famine that stole Kamkwamba's chance to go to school from him. If there were no crops, there was no money for school, never mind for school fees.

In the absence of formal schooling, Kamkwamba visits the tiny free library in the village to try and maintain his studies. He is drawn to the old donated American textbooks on physics, energy, and engineering. It is from these books, written in a language not his own, that he comes across the idea of building a windmill to generate electricity. The second section of the memoir deals with his scavenging for pieces that he could cobble together out of discarded junk to create the windmill and bring his dream to fruition. His curiosity, determination, and fierce perseverance shine as he learns from diagrams and through trial and error. This section has some of the most technical pieces of the memoir and the detailed explanation of the mechanics, without pictures, can be a little overwhelming and dry for the non-scientific reader.

The third and final section of the book deals with how his ingenuity finally gets recognized by the wider world. His experiences at conventions and with people around the world and in his own country feels rushed and like an unembellished list after the extensive narrative of the first and second parts. At this point the narration is quick, almost hurried, and short changes the further scientific creations he attempts, both those that succeed and those that fail. But even for its brevity, the final section does show, very abundantly, just how amazing his accomplishments were and are.

The memoir is co-written and it definitely has the feel of a simple, conversational telling, almost as if it is a transcription of interviews. Its balance is a bit off but the hope carried in the telling helps to mitigate that some. It is definitely an inspirational memoir with a touch of "necessity is the mother of invention" to it. If a boy from rural Malawi can simply state, "I try, and I made it!" then surely the possibilities for all of us everywhere are endless.

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.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes. The book is being released by Pamela Dorman Books on July 1, 2014.

Amazon says this about the book: One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You

American audiences have fallen in love with Jojo Moyes. Ever since she debuted Stateside she has captivated readers and reviewers alike, and hit the New York Times bestseller list with the word-of-mouth sensation Me Before You. Now, with One Plus One, she’s written another contemporary opposites-attract love story.

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.

One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.

Review: The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

Food really does get to the heart of so many things. We have comfort food and food that brings up memories. We all have favorites and also foods we really don't like at all.  When food is right, it can be magical. And magical is the right term for Linda Francis Lee's newest novel, The Glass Kitchen.

Portia Cuthcart runs to New York City after her husband and best friend cheat on her and her marriage falls apart, moving into the basement garden apartment in the old rundown brownstone that she and her two sisters inherited from their great aunt. She is not only trying to escape her failed marriage but also her own brand of family magic, "the knowing," that she thinks caused her beloved grandmother's death. "The knowing" is a feeling that Portia gets when she must cook something. She has no idea why, just that she must do it.  After her grandmother's death, combined with her politician husband's disapproval of this power, she has shoved her abilities down and ignored them. But now having left Texas, she's going to have to face her talent and start cooking again.

The morning she moves into the apartment is the first time in a long time that she feels compelled to cook. It's also the morning she meets her rugged, very sexy upstairs neighbor, Gabriel Kane. Gabriel is the widowed father of a teen and a preteen, Miranda and Ariel, and he's bought the two upstairs apartments from Portia's sisters. Although Portia vows to steer clear of him, especially since he wants to buy her apartment and she has no intention of selling, she cannot help but be drawn into Ariel's life and therefore into Gabriel's. As she gets closer to Gabriel, Portia also learns allow herself to be who she is, opening a take-out café/bakery of sorts in her apartment with her sisters while they look for funding to open a complete restaurant.

This is a sweet and delicious love story, a tale of second chances and opening yourself up to what comes your way. The magic portrayed here is subtle and points to the kitchen and food as the heart of home and relationship. It allows Portia, despite her very real fears, to uncover secrets that need to be aired out and to help people heal, including herself. The development of Portia and Gabriel's relationship is not too fast and not too slow and the inclusion of Gabriel's less than loving mother and selfish brother serve to make his own character that much more appealing. Ariel is a charming child character, precocious but not annoying. Miranda, on the other hand, is a typical pill of a teenager. The book is organized into a multiple course menu, giving the reader some indication of where they are and where they are still going in this quirky treat of a novel. And for those readers who love recipes, this has some very tempting ones included at the end.

For more information about Linda Francis Lee and the book, check out her website, her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter. Take a look at the amazon reviews for others' thoughts and opinions on the book.

Thanks to Staci from St. Martin's Press for sending me a copy of the book for review.