Fiction – Page 12 – Book Barmy

Us by David Nicholls

You can rest assured Book Barmy followers, we’re done with dark thrillers for awhile.

Time for something completely different.

I read another book by Mr. Nicholls (One Day) a long time ago and was not enthralled. I found it one-dimensional and it often trespassed into a sticky-sweet romance.

So, when one of my favorite booktubers, Wilde Reads raved about Us by Mr. Nicholls I was skeptical, but in dire need of a break from dark thrillers – I borrowed it from the library for our recent trip down south.

Douglas and Connie, a British couple have planned a vacation through Europe, but it’s nearly called off when Connie wakes up and says “I think I want to leave you.”

Douglas forges ahead and cajoles his wife to enjoy one last hurrah with their teenage son, who is soon off to college. And thus begins a bittersweet and awkward journey through Europe.

The past and present are told in many short chapters. The family is on a forced march through Europe following Douglas’s precise itinerary, carefully laid out in numerous spread sheets.

Douglas and Connie’s past relationship is slowly revealed — how they met and fell in love, despite being complete opposites. Connie is an uninhibited artist, while Douglas is an introverted biochemist – they marry, inhabit a bohemian London apartment, have a child. We see Douglas struggle with Connie’s artistic and unconventional upbringing of their son, and watch as Connie gives up her art and they move out of London to a larger house with a garden. All seems to be going well – or is it?

These are real people — Douglas, well-meaning but suffering from a lack of spontaneity; Connie, beautiful, charming, and artistic — and their son, Albie, a typical teenager filled with scorn for adult conservatism.

The dynamic between Douglas and Connie is funny and genuinely touching.

’I was looking forward to us growing old together. Me and you, growing old and dying together.’

‘Douglas, who in their right mind would look forward to that?’”

So they’re off to Europe. There are painful scenes when Douglas is trying desperately to ensure everyone is having a good time, but these are contrasted with laugh out loud funny incidents, such as when it turns out Douglas has mistakenly booked the three of them into a questionable hotel in Amsterdam…

“Dad”, asked Albie “have you booked us into a sex hotel?” and they began to laugh. It’s not a sex hotel, it’s boutique, I insisted. “Douglas”, said Connie, “tapping the print of the bound Japanese lady, is that a half hitch or a bowline?” I did not answer, through it was a bowline.

What I most enjoyed about Us was the subtle, bittersweet, and unflinchingly honest writing.

I think our marriage has run its course. I think I want to leave you. It was like trying to go about my business with an axe embedded in my skull.

I could especially relate to this, about Douglas’s ability to appreciate modern art

It’s not about what you liked and didn’t like, Connie would reply, it’s about what it made you feel. More often than not, it made me feel foolish and conventional.

And I had to nod in agreement with this about parties;

Because parties, dinner parties in particular, had always seemed to be a pitiless form of gladiatorial combat, with laurel garlands bestowed to the most witty, successful and attractive, and the corpses of the defeated lying bleeding on the painted floorboards.

This is a cynical, bittersweet, yet loving portrait of a love — of a relationship. A reminder that not every couple can be happy, no matter how much they love each other. These are real and familiar characters; especially the befuddled Douglas, certain he can fix something unfixable if only he applied enough logic, pragmatism, and unfailing optimism.

Mr. Nicholls does not give us a happily ever after ending, no perfect tying up of loose ends. This is a civilized yet loving portrait of the slipping away of a marriage. Like Nora Ephron’s, “Heartburn”, this a funny and touching novel about a situation which, I’m certain, living through would not be at all funny.

Page Habit

I’ve been hearing about special interest book subscription services ~~ where you sign up, pay a monthly subscription fee, and receive a surprise book box each month. Much like a book of the month club, except you don’t choose the book, the service does.

Hmmm, I thought — Just the perfect monthly fix for this book ~~addict~~ lover.

Surprise, Surprise… I signed up for such a service, namely PageHabit and have received two deliveries. Such delight, to get a box in the mail without knowing what’s inside (except that’s it sure be a book of some sort).

I can’t contain my excitement when the box arrives on my doorstep…

(even better when Husband is out and I can sneak it in the house without the ritual – hey here’s a package for you, what did you get – say whaaa more books – really?).*

My first sign up was for Mystery and once opened, there’s all sorts of nifty book ~~nerd~~ lover surprises. (Click to make larger)

In the first photo you see a few tchotchkes — a fox coaster, a patch relating to time travel (the book’s subject) and a pin. There’s a letter from the author of the book — but best of all (third photo) the book itself is annotated with lots and lots of post-its with the author’s reflections and insights as you read along.

Now really, how cool is that?

PageHabit lets you switch genres at the click of a button, so for October, I switched to Literary Fiction, and that box revealed two (!) books and the following fun stuff.

The second photo shows the swag this month — a library card pillow case (I know who knew?) a Halloween key chain, a cool bookmark, and (another?) fox coaster.

Again, there’s a letter from the author and here’s a close-up of one of the author annotations in the book.

Also, each month, there is also a little booklet, containing a short story commissioned by PageHabit just for that mailing. I’m keeping them in my bag for when I’m stuck in some long line or waiting in the car outside Home Depot (it happens fairly regularly for some reason).

But the best ~~rationalization~~ bit is, that with every mailing, PageHabit partners with a different organization around the world and supports their efforts in spreading literacy throughout their community. These donations help support building schools, public libraries, and community centers to ensure that every child has access to books.

You can match your PageHabit subscription to your favorite genre, there’s also Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Science Fiction, and many more.

So far, PageHabit has done itself proud – no duplicates to my ~~book warehouse~~ library.

I’ve got my eye on Historical Fiction for January… and the beat goes on…

The subscription is sort of expensive, so I may move to a quarterly subscription but for the near future, I’ll raid my piggy bank.

Brown packages, surprise books, fun swag, and author notes – –

Priceless.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

* I’m being mean, Husband is actually very tolerant of my book ~~habit~~ collecting and never grumbles ~~ too much.

AgainAgainTheSave

Save

The Widow’s House by Carol Goodman

The Widow’s House is so much richer than the current spate of modern thrillers (my previous book included). This book has it all. There’s a crumbling estate, family secrets, haunting ghosts, a vulnerable heroine, a couple of murders, and lots and lots of atmosphere.

Sound confusing — like it may be too much? Fear not, Ms. Goodman weaves all these elements together into an enthralling and well-crafted Gothic tale.

I’m going to cheat and quote the back cover blurb, just because it’s that good:

When Jess and Clare Martin move from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to their former college town in the Hudson River valley, they are hoping for rejuvenation–of their marriage, their savings, and Jess’s writing career.

They take a caretaker’s job at Riven House, a crumbling estate and the home of their old college writing professor. While Clare once had dreams of being a writer, those plans fell by the wayside when Jess made a big, splashy literary debut in their twenties. It’s been years, now, since his first novel. The advance has long been spent. Clare’s hope is that the pastoral beauty and nostalgia of the Hudson Valley will offer some inspiration.

But their new life isn’t all quaint town libraries and fragrant apple orchards. There is a haunting pall that hangs over Riven House like a funeral veil. Something is just not right. Soon, Clare begins to hear babies crying at night, see strange figures in fog at the edge of their property. Diving into the history of the area, she realizes that Riven House has a dark and anguished past. And whatever this thing is–this menacing force that destroys the inhabitants of the estate–it seems to be after Clare next…

Riven House is indeed falling down, has an unusual pentagon shape, and is haunted by ghosts — according to the locals.

As Clare delves into the history of the house, she uncovers a series of tragic deaths. The ghosts are said to be those of Mary Foley and her baby, both of whom lost their lives at the creepy estate. Then there’s the tale of the Apple Blossom Queen, a local beauty who came to a horrific end at Riven House.

Were these just random accidents or the actions of the reputed ghosts in the house? Clare decides to try and uncover some answers, and with the help of her former professor, starts to expand this work into her novel. Jess’s writing also seems to be doing well.

At contrast to the ghosts and creepy estate, Ms. Goodman weaves a sensual beauty into the idyllic setting of the Hudson Valley apple country — we can smell the apple blossoms, see the ripening apples in the orchards, and then as fall approaches we can taste the area’s special apples:

The first time you bit into one your mouth was flooded with caramel, but when you took another bite, looking for that taste again, you got plain apple. You had to sneak up on it. The taste was elusive, but when you caught it you wanted to suck that sticky sweetness right of its flesh.

But, cue ghostly sound effects – nothing is quite right. There’s trouble in Clare and Jess’s marriage, an old boyfriend is with the local police, there’s clandestine meetings between Jess and their sexy real estate agent, and a parade of local characters who range from slightly odd to the definitely strange.

Soon Clare starts to actually see the ghosts and experience the haunting of Riven House. She comes close to accidental death, and tries desperately to figure out what is real versus her imagination.

Just picture me, in the chilly dark nights of Lake Tahoe, as I snuggled tighter in bed and happily kept reading.

Fair warning dear readers, there is a fairly complicated family tree, babies switched at birth, and family secrets kept for many years — all of which are key to the unraveling of the story line. So, as much as The Widow’s House is a proverbial page turner — you should slow down and savor the unraveling of a wonderful suspenseful story.

Ms. Goodman is a master at plotting and building tension as she take the reader through her twists and turns. The ending of the tale will haunt you with this lingering thought — “was any of this real”?

A perfect read for Halloween

Ms. Goodman has a long list of well-received novels. A new author to add to my list, given this one was so good.

Thank you to William Morrow/Harper Collins for an Advanced Readers Copy.

Save

Buried in Books

This is the week of the Friends of the SFPL Big Book Sale and I’ve been busy. Lots of fun, lots of work.

Here are some photos of the wonderful bookish madness. Click on these photos to appreciate the full enormity of this sale. A massive amount of work is required by volunteers, corporate sponsored volunteers, and staff to pull off this – the largest used book sale on the West Coast.

Each year, the Friends ask for table sponsors in order to raise money for the sale, so this year Book Barmy took part. Here’s the sign and the table — Graphic Novels and Comics — a most popular table indeed.

I must admit after awhile, working at the Big Sale gets pretty overwhelming, so many books ~~ etc. For a break, I sign up for extra shifts at my regular haunt, the permanent Readers Bookstore in a separate building at Fort Mason.

While back at the store, I got to meet the delightful Scott from Furrowed Middlebrow blog, photographic evidence here…my bad hair day notwithstanding.

Go to Scott’s blog, it’s fascinating, as he specializes in British Women writers from the mid-20th century. Even more impressive, he started his own imprint, Furrowed Middlebrow Books, published by Dean Street Press. This series of books had been long forgotten and unpublished until Scott got them reissued. ~~~ Those covers, sigh, I want every title…

The Big Book Sale goes on through Sunday, so if you’re in the area, stop by – info HERE.Or any time of the year come by the permanent Readers Bookstores – info HERE

Thus endeth my shameless promotion of the Friends of the SFPL, the Big Book Sale, and the Readers Bookstores.

My enthusiasm knows no shame.

In other news, we’re off to Lake Tahoe for a week. I’ve plucked a few popular thrillers from my toppling pile of publisher’s ARCs taunting me and causing great guilt.

Back next week.

Save

Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach

I read Tulip Fever years ago en route to a holiday in the Netherlands. I wanted to learn about the tulip frenzy of the 1630’s, when bulb prices soared beyond anyone’s imagined riches. I also wanted to read about the golden age of the Dutch masters. What I wasn’t expecting was that I would be treated to a rollicking great story… complete with a sprinkling of sex and a bit of a mystery.

Set in 1636 Amsterdam, Tulip Fever is a novel of passion and deception. It is the time of the tulip craze and the Dutch were enjoying great wealth. Sophia is the young wife of Cornelis Sandvoort, a prosperous older merchant. She agreed to the marriage only because he funded her poor family’s immigration to America. Their marriage has not produced a child, so Cornelis decides to immortalize themselves by having their portrait painted. He hires Jan van Loos, an up and coming young artist. Not only does the portrait sitting bring some excitement into their dull household routine, it brings a secret love affair for Sophia and Jan. Their relationship is carried on with the complicity of the household maid, Maria who has her own secrets.

Ms. Moggach intertwines the story and her characters with the 17th century Amsterdam tulip mania and it’s eventual crash (can we say dot.com folks?). There are lies, secrets, betrayals, and plot twists that keep the reader totally immersed. Then, if you’re like me, you’ll gasp as the consequences reverberate into the various characters fates, positions, wealth, and lives.

Tulip Fever has been recently adapted into a film, which I saw recently. I have to admit I really enjoyed the film and thought it was actually a very good adaptation of the book.

The film has Dame Judi Dench as a somewhat disreputable nun and the screenplay was written by Tom Stoppard. It is visually stunning and the costumes are amazing. But I have to wonder at the 17th century fashionista who came up with these.

So which am I recommending? Well, the answer is both — Tulip Fever the book and Tulip Fever the film. Do both, I say. Film trailer HERE.

Save

Seeing Ms. Louise Penny

We’re having a blinking heat wave, so who (or what) could entice me away from my relatively cooler ocean breeze over to Book Passage in Marin where it’s a gazillion degrees?

Okay, you’ve already guessed the answer… Louise Penny of course. She’s on book tour for her newest book Glass Houses which came out just a few days ago.

The store was packed for this appearance and I was told it had been sold out for days. It was hot and sticky but not one of us minded because Ms. Penny was upbeat, witty, and as always, gracious.

Here’s how crowded it was (I’m not in the photo — I’ve learned to sit up front left on the window ledge- where it’s less claustrophobic).

Fellow mystery writer and Ms. Penny’s good friend Rhys Bowen introduced Ms. Penny and it was great fun. If you look closely you can see the sweat on everyone’s faces. Air conditioning just couldn’t handle the hordes of Ms. Penny’s fans.

I’m back home now admiring my beautiful autographed copy of Glass Houses.

But, never fear you lucky Barmy fans ~~I’ve already read it.

So tune in over the weekend, when I promise to give you the full BookBarmy review – without spoilers.

But right now, I’ve got to get me some ice tea. It’s now late afternoon and it’s even hot out out here by the ocean.

Later gator.

Save

Some housekeeping

Technical Update

Thank you to all the BookBarmy Newsletter Subscribers out there. You should know we are having problems with the newsletter delivery system. Bigger brains than mine are working on the issue (or issues) and I am assured that all will be well soon. Until the problem is fixed, rest assured BookBarmy has not gone anywhere. Still here, still posting – you’ll just have to check back here yourselves every few days or so.

If you’re not a subscriber and in future, would like to receive a simple email notice when there is a new BookBarmy post you can sign up below right.

The Great British Baking Show Update

There’s been a major shake up at one of my favorite series –The Great British Baking Show —The Great British Bake Off as it’s called in the U.K. (it had to be changed here because Pillsbury owns the rights to the term “bake off”) will be going to Channel 4, the British commercial network, after the Bake Off production company accepted a higher offer to leave the BBC. Mary Barry and the two comic announcers Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc — left in protest. Only Paul Hollywood will stay with the show as it moves British networks.

Being the geek that I am, I’ve done my research and PBS has bought season five which they will air here next summer. So all is not lost.

In the meantime, try and catch at least the final episode of Season four which aired on PBS recently. In the final challenge of the final episode they prepare an extravagant picnic basket fit for the Queen. It’s tension filled as the contestants have to complete a mind boggling range of items — a chocolate cake, quiches, sausage rolls, little cakes – it goes on and on, quite amazing really. … and in the end there were three …

Reading Update

Yes, my prettys, I am absorbed into Glass Houses, Louise Penny’s newest novel, which comes out next week.

At the risk of being repetitive, I urge you call in sick that day, cancel your appointments, get thee to your local bookstore and find a place to read undisturbed. All I will say is, your money and time will be well spent.

In the meantime, here is a silly interview from this morning’s talk shows. Poor Ms. Penny barely gets a chance to speak and the brash “American-ness” of the interview itself made me squirm. And what’s with the oh-so-not-clever “Penny Wise” caption throughout? But here you go. Video HERE

There — that’s all my housekeeping done – at least here on BookBarmy – around my home — not so much, because you see I am “with book”.

Save

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

True confession time ~~ I flunked Algebra II, still can’t do most multiplication tables, and freeze when confronted with compound interest rates. So I’ve long avoided The Housekeeper and the Professor – a book about math. I knew of this Japanese novel, even gave a copy to my mathematician sister. But I continued to avoid it like my old Algebra text book (and, yes the cover is imprinted in mind and still makes me slightly nauseous).

The other week, I stopped in my library branch during one of my walks and someone had abandoned this slim Japanese novel on a table, so I picked it up just to browse. Bet you know where this is going…

From the inside cover:

He is a brilliant math Professor with a peculiar problem―ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory.
She is an astute young Housekeeper―with a ten-year-old son―who is hired to care for the Professor.
And every morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them. Though he cannot hold memories for long (his brain is like a tape that begins to erase itself every eighty minutes), the Professor’s mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. And the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her young son.

Before you knew it, I was two chapters in and had checked it out to bring home.

The Housekeeper and the Professor, set in Japan, is about a brilliant math professor who, because of an accident, has a memory span of only 80 minutes. He is difficult and his sister-in-law has tried many housekeepers. Finally, our narrator winds up being placed with the Professor. She brings her young son with her the first day, and the Professor immediately calls him ‘Root’ because his flat head looks like the sign for square root.

The new housekeeper enjoys taking care of the Professor and his cottage, and Root comes every day after school. But how do you create a relationship when a memory lasts only 80 minutes? The Professor manages, as best he can, by pinning notes and photos on his suit. But we soon see that it also takes the compassion of the new housekeeper:

Somehow, I had never quite understood what it meant for him to wake up alone each morning to this cruel revelation.

“I’m your housekeeper “, I said, when the sobs had subsided for a moment. “I’m here to help you.” He looked up at me through his tears. “My son will come this evening. We call him Root, because his head is flat. You gave him that name.” I pointed to the picture on his jacket.

The housekeeper, with him all day, starts to become fascinated with the Professor’s work. He is still a renowned mathematician and wins prizes for solving intricate problems for various math journals. She starts working on simple math problems with the professor as her guide. The novel goes into discussions of factoids, prime numbers, abundant and deficient numbers, much of which made my eyes cross, but didn’t dissuade me from continuing with this unusual novel.

The bond between the Professor and Root grows deeper and each becomes important to the other. The Professor helps with Root’s homework and Root urges the Professor to fix the radio so they can listen to the baseball games together. Turns out they like the same team and start avidly following the games and compounding the all-important baseball statistics. Again, with the math.

But I must say, even this arithmetically impaired reader enjoyed some of the math-ridden sections. Who knew prime numbers could be interesting? Which, kudos to Ms. Ogawa (and the translation) is extremely hard for an author to pull off.

Finally the three attend a baseball game which proves to be tricky given the Professor’s memory issues. This passage vividly brings to life the love of baseball:

We were mostly silent as we walked through the grounds to the stadium and stood in the crowded passageway leading to our seats. The Professor was no doubt shocked to find himself in a place so utterly different from his usual surroundings, and Root was overcome with excitement at the prospect of seeing his beloved Tigers. They both seemed to have lost the power of speech and merely stared around in awe. “Is everything okay?”, I asked from time to time, and the Professor would nod and grip Root’s hand tightly. As we reach the top of the stairs that lead to the seats above third base, all three of us let out a cry. The diamond in all its grandeur was laid out before us — the soft dark earth of the infield,, the spotless bases, the straight white lines, and the manicured grass. The evening sky seemed so close you could touch it and at that moment, as if they had been awaiting our arrival, the lights came on. The stadium looked like a spaceship descended from the heavens.

The translation is beautifully done and allows English readers to see how Ms. Ogawa paints with words. And, like a spare Japanese painting, there doesn’t seem to be much going on — but there is much to interpret from The Housekeeper and the Professor.

This is a lyrical, but quiet story. There’s the interrelated connections between people, the world of numbers and ultimately the universe. The novel reminds us about the joy in the daily little things experienced with new eyes — over and over again — a cup of tea, the sound of the rain on the windows, a chat about baseball.

But, what has stayed with me — especially during the news these past few days — was the beauty and strength of the relationship between the Housekeeper, Root and the Professor — a relationship built upon nothing but respect and consideration for other humans.

The Housekeeper and the Professor is one of those original books which reaffirms the delight found when reading something totally and wonderfully unique.

Save

Abandoned Books ~~ Part Two

I look forward to reading highly anticipated, well-reviewed books ~~ but every so often, they disappoint.

I abandon them.

Other’s rave while I scratch my head.

Here on Book Barmy, I try to limit the bad reviews, it just feels too mean. But, it’s been awhile since my LAST abandoned books post, so I guess it’s time.

With apologies to the authors, here’s some books I abandoned.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Ms. Donoghue is the bestselling author of Room. A novel of a mother and child held captive and told from the view of the child (a young boy). And while the narrative sometimes faltered and became unrealistic – I was glued to their story line, both fast paced and engaging.

Not so much with The Wonder, the story of a 19th century Irish community mesmerized by their own miracle — Anna O’Donnell, a girl said to have survived without food for months, and believed to be a saint living off blessings from God.

An English nurse, Lib, is sent to the village to observe the fasting girl and she goes without fully knowing the circumstances of her assignment, other than she is to “observe” a young girl who is claiming not to have eaten for months. Set just after the Irish potato famine, the book dwells in the dark days and mind sets of the Irish poor and their total embrace of the Catholic church. The Wonder then navigates the reader through these Irish Catholic spiritual beliefs and the not-so-veiled English contempt of the same. While, supposedly based on a true event, I found the characters stereotypical and the portrayal of the rural Irish villagers condescending. The story (and I got 3/4 of way through the book) lacked any compassion for Anna’s family or their religious beliefs.

But mostly I found The Wonder to be deadly sl-o-o-ow. Boring, actually, to read about a nurse, day-after-day watching a fasting girl, listening to her prayers, secretly checking for hidden food, and trying to stave off a visiting journalist.

I tried to absorb the author’s subtext and layered messages – the perils of fervent religious practice, the guileless of poor Irish villagers, the promise of a possible miracle or sainthood … but I could not care or carry on any further.

An digital advance readers copy was provided by Little, Brown and Company via Netgalley.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Celine by Peter Heller

I ‘d heard about this book from some other bloggers I follow, and was very intrigued. Celine is a character: an older, elegant woman living in Brooklyn, suffering from Emphysema, but a renowned PI who bests the FBI at finding missing persons. She also speaks perfect French, is a superb marks-woman, and attended Sarah Lawrence. Now there’s a character right?

And it’s true Mr. Heller has concocted a wonderfully absurd character who has a dark past filled with secrets — from an out of wedlock pregnancy (at 15!), divorces, alcoholism, and a painful childhood.

The novel opens with a flash back to a swimming accident that takes the life of the mother of a small family. Much later Celine is visited by the daughter looking for her missing father – a famous photographer who was supposedly killed by a bear in Yellowstone Park. After the death of his wife, he distanced himself from his daughter and now she wants a full investigation into his disappearance. She is somehow convinced he’s still alive.

Celine takes on the case with the help of her partner Pete and they leave Brooklyn for Yellowstone. And so the adventure begins…but it doesn’t…

The narrative jumps all over the place, sometimes we’re in Celine’s head as she examines her thoughts and then a narrative voice steps in with its own insights about humanity or, even art… Say what?… Who was that? It’s as if there’s an omnipresent character we’re never introduced to.

There are long (many-paged) flash backs to Celine’s dark past, with long (many-paged) ruminations on her mistakes, injustices and turmoils.

When we get back to the present and the road trip with Pete, the story line starts to pick up again, but never for long and Celine’s self actualization angst once again takes over.

I kept having to ask myself, ‘where are we now?’ ‘what’s going on?’.

Finally I set Celine aside for long I couldn’t remember — and sadly didn’t care.

An digital advance readers copy was provided by Knopf via Netgalley.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pretend we are Lovely by Noley Reid

This book comes out next week, but I can’t –absolutely can’t — recommend Pretend We are Lovely. This is a tragic story about a dysfunctional family, trying to come to grips with their broken lives, all while they are on a rapid descent to hell.

The narrative shifts between the various family members, as we learn about the tragic death of one of their children, family eating disorders (yes that’s plural), budding teen sexuality, and very inappropriate (icky) relationships. Not only was Pretend We Are Lovely confusing, it was just too heartrendingly ugly for me to continue beyond mid-book.

An digital advance readers copy was provided by Tin House Books via Netgalley.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now, it’s that strange but lovely time – between books.

What next?

I need something to cleanse my palate after the bad reads above.

Perhaps this?

Save

Louise Penny again

It seems everyone loves Louise Penny’s series of mystery novels set in the fictional town of Three Pines, Canada. I’ve been a fan since her first, Still Life, and have happily spent many lovely reading hours with the entire series. I also ~~push~~ recommend her novels to anyone ~~unenlightened~~ who hasn’t read Louise Penny.

Glass Houses, her newest in the series will be released August 29th. So dear readers, once again, mark you calendars to call in sick to work, cancel those appointments, and get thee to your local independent bookstore first thing.

I will be reviewing Glass Houses here very soon, thanks to a digital advanced readers copy from the publishers.

In the meantime, here’s a recent CBS Sunday Morning interview with Louise Penny (hmmm the “Penny Posse”, I don’t think so…)

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-world-of-mystery-author-louise-penny/

Save