What have I been doing for two weeks, since I last posted here?? Reading two separate series of thriller/mystery books!
Both series are really readable and well-written. I hadn't heard of either of these two authors before. But, both series came well-recommended on web sites I like, getting attention because a new title by each author is being released.
In a series of political thrillers by Mike Lawson, Joe DeMarco does cover-ups for the Speaker of the House. When some political problem can't be revealed to the FBI or other legitimate law enforcement, Joe is called in, with his friend and former spy Emma, to solve it or make the problem disappear.
DeMarco is a likable guy, and the plots are easy to follow. Some of the events are humorous, and the endings are neatly tied up. Plus, with the U.S. political scene right now, many of us have suspicions of actual political intrigue and cover-ups--the real thing! I thought these thrillers with Joe DeMarco seemed like a perfect way to escape the negative reality of political news this summer.
I started with Second Perimeter, the second of the series. This title is followed by House Rules, House Secrets, House Justice, House Divided, and coming out in July, House Blood. I don't think they have to be read in order, depending on what you can find at your library.
And, I read an entire mysery series by Susan Hill, featuring the English detective Simon Serrallier. Reviewers compare Hill's writing to P.D. James and Ruth Rendall, pretty high praise for a mystery writer. Hill's writing is called "literary," and sometimes the reader has to make some inferences to follow the plot. But the books read so easily that one just takes Hill's style for granted.
Simon Serrallier is a self-contained bachelor, also an accomplished artist, in addition to his skills as a detective. He's independent and sometimes distant, a puzzle to his family and to his colleagues.
I think this series probably would be the most enjoyable if read in the right order. Simon's family---his doctor sister Cat, his father and his step-mother---are important characters, sometimes as important as the mystery itself, and lots of personal changes occur from book to book. Plus, in a couple of cases, it helped to get started when I knew in advance how the mystery of the previous title had been resolved.
But, you will enjoy whichever of the titles is easiest to pick up, and probably will want to go back and see what happens in the rest of the series. The characters are so well-developed that I felt I knew them and wanted to know what happened next.
In order, the series titles are: Various Haunts of Men, Pure in Heart, Risk of Darkness, Vows of Silence, and Shadows in the Street. Betrayal of Trust is the most recent.
Lots of recent news coverage has made me more aware of the 1% of American families who are directly affected by service in the US military. But to really touch my heart, as often happens, it takes a good fiction book to let me feel and experience a bit of what those lives may really be like.
In Home Front, Jolene is the wife of lawyer Michael, the mother of 5 and 12 year old daughters, and a helicopter pilot in the Washington State National Guard. Her Guard comarades are her closest friends, but her husband has kept himself totally separate from that part of her life.
Jolene's unit is deployed to Iraq, and Michael becomes in charge on the "home front." I empathized with both parents, as Michael struggles to balance home and work and Jolene faces the horrors of daily life in Iraq, while trying to protect her family from the worst of her experiences there.
I don't think I'm destroying the suspense when I tell you that Jolene's helicopter is shot down, and she comes back home with serious injuries, PTSD, as well as facing the losses of friends and crew members.
Author Hannah has done her research and does a believable job in all three parts of the book: before, during, and following Jolene's tour of duty. Some reviewers said they sniffled into tissues all the way through, but I didn't find the book made me teary. But, it did leave me with increased empathy and admiration for military families, especially during the frightening time as soldiers try to re-adjust to society at home.
I had a few "nits to pick"---a husband who seemed too way clueless after his wife's dozen years in the National Guard, a five-year-old who acted more like age two, a trial that coincidentally parallels Jolene's experiences, and bottles of wine always available with no one seeming to purchase them.
None of those things, though, diluted the impact of the book, or would dilute my recommendation of Home Front as a very engrossing read.
Thanks, Donna, for the recommendation. It paralleled the discussion our book club had of the excellent book You know when the men are gone. (March 25th 2011, on this blog.)
Powerful. Touching. Beautifully written. Almost any positive adjective I can use will describe my opinion about this new memoir by Iowa resident and debut author Joe Blair.
Joe and his wife Deb were motorcycle-touring free spirits when they were first married. But now, their real life in Coralville, Iowa, is much more mundane. Joe is a heating/airconditioning repairman and Deb is a paramedic. They're raising four children, one of whom is severely autistic.
Two "storms" in Joe's life occur simultaneously: He searches for something to change in his life and contemplates an affair with a customer, at the same time the 2008 flood that inundated Iowa City and Cedar Rapids looms in the swollen river.
Blair has complete control of all facets of this memoir: of a marriage struggling to survive; of life with a severely handicapped 10-year-old; of friendship and love; of community efforts to survive a disaster. It all comes together beautifully.
The author is totally frank and transparent and is more willing to reveal his life than most authors would be. In fact, here's one caveat about the book. Blair takes you directly into his bedroom/s, and in those sections, you may get more sexual detail that you want. You could skim those sections, but I think you will see that they do reveal Joe's motivations.
Part of my interest in the book was because of our familiarity with the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area, and our knowledge of the lasting devastation caused by the flood. But whether you know Iowa or have lived through a flood, you will empathize with the experience of a life-changing natural disaster.
This review is already longer than I usually write, but I want to include one paragraph that shows how Blair brings universality out of daily life.
"Time. That's what this inchworm reminds me of. You think it's one way----all stretched out from beginning to end---and then you realize, when time inches along the way it does, it's not that way at all. The middle part bunches up and before you know it, the head end is pressed right up against the ass end."
I'm guessing not everyone will agree with me about this book, so I will be glad for emails or comments with different opinions.
In San Francisco, Somer and Krishnan, both well-respected physicians, mourn yet another miscarriage. Meanwhile, in a small village near Bombay, India, Kavita's new-born daughter is in jeopardy of being killed by the baby's father, as girl children are so little valued in that poor society.
In Secret Daughter, these two geographically distant families become intertwined. With great determination, Kavita gets her newborn daughter to an orphanage and saves her life. In America, Somer and Krishnan, who's been born and raised in India, decide to adopt an Indian child. Of course, as plots go, that child is Asha, Kavita's daughter.
Raised in California in privileged circumstances, Asha can never feel that she totally belongs, and as a teenager, becomes determined to return to India to connect with Krishnan's family, and also, to look for her biological parents.
All relatives, in America and in India, were sympathetically portrayed, as Asha balances the two different ways of life. I liked Gowda's descriptions of Indian culture, especially the gap between rich and poor. The book helped me visualize and understand what modern life is like in India.
However, the book is definitely character-driven, and I was sympathetic to Somer, the earnest adoptive mother; to Krishnan, the father pulled between American wife and Indian mother; to Kavita, the birth mother whose life improves from an unexpected source; and especially to Asha, searching for self-knowledge.
The plot may have been a bit unbelievable in some places, but mostly, it clipped right along, and I read pretty quickly. Secret Daughter would lend itself well to discussion, about adoption, parenting, identity and cultures.
Written in 1944, Winter Wheat tells the story of 18-year-old Ellen Webb, who has grown up on a wheat ranch in Montana with her father, a WWI veteran and her mother, a Russian woman who met Ellen's father when he was wounded at the end of the war.
The family's wheat crop and prices have been good, so Ellen is able to leave home for college, where she promptly falls in love with a city guy. When Gil comes to the ranch to visit, though, Ellen begins to be dissatisfied, as she sees her life and her parents through his eyes.
Winter Wheat is a coming-of-age story, one that my sister-in-law Ann and her friend Berniece have been recommending to me for some time. I agree with their positive opinion---the plot is compelling and the descriptions of different settings made me feel as if I was watching a movie. Mostly, the characters are so thoroughly developed that I felt as though I knew Ellen personally when I finished the book.
Although the book has an old-fashioned and charming feel to it, it's definitely realistic, as Ellen, her parents, boyfriend Gil, and other characters confront real problems and relate to real people. It took me back to a simpler time and showed the courage and tenacity that homesteaders needed to prevail.
Because the book was first published so long ago, it has been re-issued by the University of Nebraska Press. I discovered that none of the libraries in our system owned a copy, so Ann loaned me hers. Our library system did own Walker's Fireweed, which I also read and enjoyed. After reading these two titles by Mildred Walker, I can see that her novels deserve their longevity.
I don't think it's a book that I will forget. It's available on amazon.com, but there doesn't appear to be an ebook version. Enjoy!
Don't start on this book unless you have some hours ahead of you to read, because you won't want to quit till you find out what happens. Defending Jacob has been compared to Anatomy of a Murder and Presumed Innocent and other classic courtroom thrillers.
Andy Barber has been a well-respected assistant DA for twenty years, when his 14-year-old son is accused of the stabbing death of a classmate. The following trial tears the family and their community apart, as one secret after another is revealed.
Andy is the narrator of most of the story, and I gradually began to wonder how objective he was in that role. He is extremely loyal to his son and his wife and does everything he can to protect them.
Defending Jacob is a legal thriller, but it's also a family story, about love and trust and decisions and secrets. It raises questions about parenting and how we all want what's best for our children.
You will be hearing about this well-written and fast-moving book from your friends. I sped through it, and I'll bet you will too.
The Underside of Joy was a page-turner for me and kept me reading well past the time I usually doze off. The book is plot- and character-centered, and moves very quickly.
Young mother Ella and her 3-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter learn that her beloved husband has been killed by a rogue wave near their home in Northern California. Shock after shock hits Ella, as first she learns that the family store Joe owned and operatured is in serious financial trouble. But worse, Joe's ex-wife Paige, biological mother of Annie and Zach, shows up at the funeral. Because Paige has made no effort to see the children in the three years since she left, Ella is horrified to find that she now wants to regain custody.
Ella is likable and hard-working; the two children are charming; Joe's parents and extended family are supportive of Ella. And, Paige is not a "bad guy," either, as the reader gradually begins to understand her history and her motivations.
The author says she is a parent and step-parent herself, and in Underside of Joy, she shows insight into the love required in both of those roles. The book has many believable relationships and likable characters, including strong friendships and connected extended families.
There are lots of questions to discuss, foremost what would be best for the two little children and how each of the mothers could/should have acted. And, although Joe has already died, I'd like to hear what others think of his behavior, too.
In my opinion, the title refers to the challenges and sadnesses we must experience in life, in order to be able to fully appreciate life's joy. (Another question to discuss!)
I started out in my life in rural northern Iowa, because my Swedish and my Danish grandparents settled there when they immigrated to America. Many, maybe even most, Americans also could tell an immigrant story about their family's origins in this country.
In A Good American, Frederick and Jette leave Germany in 1904, travel by ship to New Orleans, and through a series of coincidences, end up in Missouri, where they raise their family of four boys. This book follows the famly for a century, through kids and grand-kids, love and marriage, death and grief. American history during these years, including three wars, the Depression, racism, a president's assassination, affects this family, too.
Mostly, the book's a story of the incidents that make up a family's history, some funny, some tragic, some beautiful, and some unloving. The tempo of A Good American makes it easy to read and follow, even though it covers lots of years and characters. Don't think that the dayliness of the book makes it boring. You'll find there are lots of plot changes and surprises, even till the very end.
This book has been well-reviewed, and I liked it alot. It's full of well-intentioned people, just trying to make their way in the world. I think it would lead to a great discussion about what traits constitute a "good American."
By the way, the book is filled with music, including jazz, opera, hymns, and a barbershop quartet. I kept wishing I could hear the sound-track as I read.
Author Alex George, by the way, is a young Englishman who has been living in Missouri since 2003 and is in the process of getting his U.S. citizenship. His perspective on America, as a non-citizen, makes the book even more interesting.
I'm not an enormous fan of Stephen King's, and haven't read one of his books in a couple of decades. But, 11/22/63, about a time-traveler who tries to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy, was lots of fun to read. It was perfect for a wintery week in Wisconsin, and would be a fun vacation book.
Through the storage room of an old diner, Jake Epping travels from the present back to 1958, where both he and the reader experience a time when food tasted better, people treated each other nicer, and everything in life seemed simpler. On his way to changing history, with the goal of preventing Lee Harvey Oswald from shooting the President, Jake teaches high school English, makes money by wagering on sporting events he already knows the outcome of, and best, falls in love with the school librarian Sadie.
King has thoroughly researched the social history, fads, music, clothing, and language of the 1960's, as well as the history of the Kennedy assassination and the theories about why it occurred. These details never overpower his plot or characters, though, but make the book both richer and more authentic.
Not all was perfect: in the 1950's, King describes smoke-filled rooms, environmental pollution, racism, the Cold War, and limited health care. He reminds the reader that all historical periods have their pros and cons.
As you already expect, readers will love King's fast-moving plot, his likable characters, and his realistic dialogue. I became engrossed in the dual world he has imagined. In fact, the only hard thing about reading this book was holding it. At 850 pages, I had to juggle to balance it on my lap, so maybe it's a perfect book for the e-reader.
11/22/63 leaves you with plenty to think and wonder about: about how the actions of one person affect all of history, about the coincidences of life that reflect both the past and the future, and about the power of love and what we will do to keep it.
I think almost anyone would enjoy this book, but for those of us who came of age in the '50s and '60s, we have the added benefit of being carried back to those years.
For a young adult book to merit its own full-page review in Time magazine on February 6th, it must be a pretty remarkable book. And it is! I loved The Fault in our Stars, and could sit down and read it all over again.
It's a touching love story, for one thing, between Hazel and Augustus, who've met in a support group for adolescent cancer sufferers. Hazel knows her cancer of thyroid and lung will be terminal, and Augustus has already had a leg amputated becuase of osteosarcoma.
If you are thinking, "Ugh, why would I read a book about young kids dying from cancer?" your initial reaction matches mine. But, what wonderful kids these two are---smart, thoughtful, funny, considerate, and insightful! They ask the big questions: "Why me and not others?" "Will I be remembered?" "How can I protect those who love me?" They made me think about appreciating life and relationships and about how an individual life can affect the world.
Of course, the book is sad and is one of the first in a long time that made me shed tears. But, The Fault in our Stars is also funny and heart-warming, and I felt I knew these teenagers, their parents and their friends. The book has already been optioned for a movie, I understand, and what an emotional and meaningful movie it has the potential to be.
Narrator Hazel says early on that "cancer books suck." Books and reading, in fact, play an important part of the plot, and have real impact on the characters. A strange author character helps tie the whole plot together at the end.
Give The Fault in our Stars a chance, and I doubt you will put it down. And, when you are finished, I predict that Hazel and Augustus will stay with you for a long time.
