The Fabulous Kate Atkinson

Scrolling through Amazon's Kindle deals a couple of weeks ago, the very first item that popped up was Kate Atkinson's novel, Started Early, Took My Dog.  I actually sighed out loud... one of my favorite mysteries, at only $1.99!  I remember fondly when I first picked up Case Histories, Atkinson's fifth book but her first crime novel, with its twists and turns, the intricate interweaving of subplots and characters, and a new favorite detective, the truculent detective Jackson Brodie. She quickly followed with several other Brodie mysteries, including Started Early, each one as delicious as the one before.

Atkinson has a new novel that I can't wait to get my hands on... Life After Life, in which Ursula Todd, born on a cold night in 1910, dies and then is born again - and again, and again, each time with a chance to rewrite history.  As England makes its way toward World  War II, Ursula can change the future of the world... if only she gets the chance.

Happy reading!

Happiness Is In Your Hands

Gretchen Rubin had a problem.  She had a great life, a loving family, and excellent health, and yet she wasn’t truly happy.  It wasn’t that Rubin was particularly unhappy; she just didn’t have the joy and contentment in her everyday life that she would have expected. After taking a hard look at her life, Rubin realized the power of happiness lay in her own hands, and “The Happiness Project” was born. Using authors, philosophers, researchers, and even pop culture, Rubin developed a year-long plan to see if changing her attitudes could change her life.

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun details Rubin’s journey through a year of self-exploration.  She begins by developing twelve resolutions for her life, based on the thirteen virtues of Benjamin Franklin. These include everything from “lightening up” to being herself, and to make the project manageable, Rubin addresses one resolution per month.  Under each resolution, Rubin’s pathway to happiness includes everything from money management (money really can buy happiness, within reason) to cleaning out clutter, to parenting, using practical advice as well as scientific research to back up her theories.

One of the most appealing aspects of The Happiness Project is that despite her best efforts, Rubin is not always, in fact, happy. Her willingness to detail her setbacks (such as yelling at her young children or fighting with her husband) as well as her successes makes the book more accessible.  Knowing that Rubin stumbles and falls, just like the rest of us, makes her seem less like an author and more like the woman behind you in line at the grocery store.

For those wanting more information, The Happiness Project offers a supplemental reading list as well as a list of resources through Rubin’s website, www.happiness-project.com. The website includes free downloads, tips and quizzes, and links to Rubin’s Facebook page for anyone wishing to join a “happiness group.” Rubin recently published a follow-up book as well, entitled Happier at Home.

 Although I am not quite ready to start my own happiness project, I decided to try one suggestion right away: creating order in chaos. There were plenty of areas in my house to choose from. I spent a long, tiresome afternoon sorting through papers, books, and general detritus in my living room. Following Rubin’s lead, I sorted items into things I couldn’t live without and things to be given or thrown away.  Rubin mentions throughout the book that often the activities that make you the happiest, oddly, don’t make you happy at the time you are actually doing them.  That was certainly true of my cleaning project, even though it was only one afternoon.  But the satisfaction and feeling of empowerment from just that one job took me into the next week feeling refreshed and, well… happy.

Deadlocked

Long before True Blood was a twinkle in an HBO executive's eye, there was just plain Sookie Stackhouse, heroine of the Southern Vampire mysteries. Starting with Dead Before Dark more than a decade ago, Charlaine Harris' novels quickly became fan favorites; the writing was clever, the characters intriguing, and Sookie's unassuming charm was delightful.   

Eleven books later, Harris' latest installment, Deadlocked, finds us once again with the cast of characters in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie's vampire boyfriend, Eric, has had an unfortunate incident at his mansion involving a desperate young woman, illicit fairy blood, and an untimely death.   Eric is being framed for murder, but no one seems know why.   As if that weren't enough, weighing heavily on Sookie's mind is the magical "cluviel dor," left to her by her beloved Gran, which can grant the owner one very powerful wish.

The storyline of Deadlocked is clever, and the characters as comfortable as an old sweater.  Harris' writing is fun and engaging. But unlike in earlier books, Sookie is tired. From the opening pages to the bitter end, Sookie is simply exhausted, both physically and emotionally.  In her many adventures, Sookie has seen it all - more supernatural creatures than you can count, her heart broken and broken again, and numerous attempts on her life. But through everything, Sookie has maintained her spunky spirit and eternal optimism- until now.

In Deadlocked, Sookie spends much of her time either sleeping or wishing she was in bed, and not for the reasons we have come to expect in Harris' novels.  By the end of the novel, the mystery is solved but poor Sookie is just too exhausted to care.

Don't get me wrong - Harris' books are always a fun, quirky ride with a great cast of characters.  Especially if you are already a fan of the Sookie Stackhouse books, Deadlocked is a good installment, but it is far from Harris' best.  With everything she's been through, Sookie is going to need a nice, long vacation.

The Witness

I have long been a fan of Nora Roberts.  OK, that's kind of an understatement.  I have read every book she has ever written, and lest you think that hardly makes me a "fan," she has officially published her 200th book, The Witness.  I started reading her Silhouette Romance stories while I was in college - and now, more than 20 years later, I am still reaching for her latest novel as soon as it arrives.

The Witness, as her 200th book, has a lot to live up to.  From her contemporary romances and beloved trilogies to her pseudonym J.D. Robb's futuristic mysteries, Nora has written lots of really enjoyable books.  But The Witness is a cut above the rest.  And if I can be so bold as to call myself an "authority" on Nora's books, I will say that it's her best book.  Not just this year. Or this decade.  Ever.

The Witness is the story of innocent, brilliant Elizabeth Fitch, who, after a fight with her stringent and domineering mother, has herself a nice, ear-piercing, hair dyeing, fake-ID-making rebellion.  She winds up at a club with an acquaintance from school and what starts out as the night of her life turns to tragedy, as Elizabeth witnesses two brutal murders and must run for her life.

Fast forward 12 years, and Elizabeth, now known as Abigail, is living a solitary life in rural Alabama, miles away from the nightmares of her youth.  But secrets can only stay buried for so long, particularly when there is a very persistent (and attractive) chief of police in town.  Soon Abigail is fighting again for both her life and her freedom.

Abigail is one of Roberts' better developed characters in recent memory.  Her intellect, combined with a total lack of social skills, make her a different type of heroine than Roberts typically creates.  As always, Roberts draws her characters with charm and a delightful understanding of human nature.  Abigail has had years of isolation, on the heels of a childhood devoid of love but filled with criticism, and at the time she meets Chief of Police Brooks Gleason, she has never even been told the words "I love you."  Part of the pleasure of this story is watching Abigail learn what it means to be part of a family, and how to love and be loved. 

Nora Roberts' consistently delivers good fiction, but this is the first book in a long time where I sat back and sighed at the end.  If you are looking for an exciting and well-written book to kick off your summer, look no further than The Witness.  Happy reading!
 

The New Guy In Town

When you read as much as I do, it's not very often that I'm surprised.  I like to think that I keep my finger on the pulse of the book world, so that I have at least heard of, if not read, most new books and authors.

Recently my cousin's fiance, "P," asked if I had read any of the Iron Druid trilogy by Kevin Hearne.  Surprisingly, I had never heard anything about Mr. Hearne and his books about the ancient druid living in modern times.  P. described the writing as fun and snarky, and suggested that even though it's not my usual style, I might enjoy his books.

This is what I love about our community of readers - those who love books can't help but share their enthusiasm.  And thank heavens!  I immediately downloaded the library's one e-copy onto my Kindle and found that P. was right - these books are a pure delight.  As a 2,000-year-old druid living in Arizona, Atticus is sexy, quirky, astute, and has a wry sense of humor.  Rounding out his cast of characters is his Irish wolfhound, Oberon; his protector, the Morrigan (who typically takes the form of a large crow); his druid in training, Granuaile; the Widow MacDonagh; and a whole host of mythological characters.

For someone like me (and probably you, too) finding a fun new character AND a new trilogy is like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped up in one big bow.  I tore through Hearne's first book, Hounded; was so enthralled that I actually bought the second book, Hexed (because the wait at the library was going to be a month!); and now have moved on to book number three, Hammered.  I know that Hearne is working on another book, and I have just one thing to say to him: Hurry. Up.

In the meantime, I have gotten my dear husband started on the Harlan Coben novels and there are LOTS of those, so I have that to look forward to if Mr. Hearne takes too long.  Happy reading!

The Reluctant Reader

Months ago I started to hear buzz about the nonfiction bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  It was a strong contender for our community's "One Book" choice for the year.  Friends mentioned the book and how much it moved them.  Reviews were glowing.  So I downloaded the sample onto my Kindle and started reading.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a nonfiction account of an African American woman in the 1950s whose cancer cells were taken, without her permission, and found to be extraordinary. They were the first cells, in fact, that were able to reproduce in a test tube environment.The book begins with a lot of very technical and scientific information, and while people had told me that it "reads like fiction" I was not getting that at all.  And it was about cancer. 

You see, like most of us, I have personal experience with cancer.  Many years ago, my dear friend's husband died of cancer, leaving her a widow with two preschoolers.  My cousin died of Hodgkin's Disease in his 30s. The list goes on and on, and as I get older, the number of friends and relatives touched by cancer rises exponentially. 

So reading a book about a woman who died from cancer, even one whose cells helped pave the way for future treatment and cures, was not appealing.  I sighed and I grumbled.   The teenager inside of me whined, "I don't want to....."  I made excuses and told friends that it was "on my list to read" (which is code for, 'When I am totally desperate I might pick it up again.').

But there is my Achilles Heel: my book club.  When Henrietta Lacks was chosen as this month's book club pick, I had no choice but to knuckle down and read. It turns out all those friends and blogs and reviewers were right.  Henrietta Lacks is an amazing story, equal parts science and heartbreaking family history. It's a story that needed to be told. Henrietta's legacy of cell immortality and the back story of the impoverished Lacks' family would make a great foundation for any book club discussion.

What is the moral of this story of reluctance? Read everything you can, even when you don't feel like it. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a reminder that some books, even if you don't WANT to read them, need to be read.

Turn of Mind

How do you solve a crime, when the main suspect is literally losing her mind? Alice LaPlante's book Turn of Mind does just that, in one of the most unique and intricately crafted thrillers this year.

Jennifer White is a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon who is going through a very bad patch.  She has been forced to leave her prestigious position at a hospital, she is suffering from early-onset dementia, and her best friend Amanda has been murdered.  And Jennifer herself is the prime suspect.

The clues to the crime are locked away inside Jennifer's fractured mind, where clarity comes only in bits and pieces.  Jennifer's friend Amanda has been found dead from a blow to the head, but a crucial piece of evidence points to Jennifer as the murderer: the fingers of Amanda's right hand have been removed with skillful precision.

Writing the book from the point of view of someone suffering from Alzheimers is a delicate task.  LaPlante tells the story through interactions with Jennifer's family, her caregivers, and the police.  This enables the reader to infer details about the crime, the various motives, and Jennifer's own state of mind, all through Jennifer's altered perceptions.

More than just a murder mystery, Turn of Mind provides a brilliant glimpse into the world of those suffering from Alzheimers.  Jennifer rediscovers her own divorce, her best friend's death, and her lack of career on an almost daily basis, each time with the grief as painful as it was the first time she heard it.  Mixed in with this sorrow is the brief awareness of the rapid decline of her disease, which is perhaps one of the most heartbreaking parts of the book.

Turn of Mind ties all the loose ends in a neat bow, but there is no satisfaction in it.  For someone suffering from Alzheimers, there can be no happy ending. There is only a slow descent into madness, and eventually, no memory at all.

Then Came You

I admit it - I'm a sucker for any story where it takes a village to raise a child.  Families that don't fit the mold fascinate me, and when a story combines women, pregnancy, surrogacy, and a unique family, I am hooked from the first page.

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner fits that bill perfectly.  This latest from the bestselling author of Good in Bed and In Her Shoes tells the story of egg donors, surrogates, and parents desperate for a family, all mixed together with drama, personal growth, and lots of fun twists and turns in the plot.

In Weiner's latest, we meet Jules, who is the perfect candidate for egg donation.  As a college student eager to have enough money to send her father to a rehab facility, it seems a quick and relatively painless way to come up the necessary funds. Across the state, Annie is a mom of two young boys who dreams of going back to college and finding herself, and the thing she is best at is being pregnant.  And in the heart of New York City, India and her husband want a second chance at parenthood, but are unable to carry a baby to term.  These three groups of people will come together to discover heartache, love, and the true meaning of being a family.

This is a book that could be cloying and filled with stereotypes, but under Weiner's skillful writing we get glimpses of humanity and genuinely feel for the chararcters as they stumble, fall, and eventually redeem themselves.  The ethical issues surrounding both donation and surrogacy are handled gently; the pain and regret felt by both Jules and Annie is clear, but so is the knowledge that they are helping to create a family.  The ending is tidy (as Weiner's books usually are) and made me sigh as I finished the final page - particularly satisfying was the epilogue, where we get to see several years into the future at what life for this little baby holds.  This book is the ideal beach read, or (now that it's Fall) for an afternoon of relaxing on the couch.

Untold Story

For my parents' generation, their "where were you" moments include the first man on the moon and JFK being assassinated.  For our generation, it includes many landmark events, but two will be forever linked in my mind: Princess Diana of Wales on her wedding day, and again on that horrific night in Paris when she died.  She was such a beautiful, loving mother and an incredible advocate for AIDS, particularly in children, and to have that life cut short was simply devastating.

Untold Story imagines another ending to Princess Diana's life: one that involves a yaht, a lazy security staff, and a rowboat.  In Monica Ali's new novel,  she has invisioned a world where Princess Diana appears to the world as drown, but in fact, has faked her death, left everyone but her closest confidante behind, and started a new life in the United States.

As part of her new life,"Lydia" has no children, few good friends, and no meaningful relationships.  Her need to escape life under worldwide scrutiny has come at a tremendous cost - the loss of her children, her family, and everything she knows. But in return, she can shop, eat at restaurants, swim in her pool, and volunteer at an animal shelter, all without worrying about what photo or ugly comments will emerge next.  At least, until the Princess' most obsessed paparazzi stumbles upon her living in a tiny Midwest town.

Ali's book is a wonderful glimpse into the world that Princess Diana might have had, under very unusual circumstances.  Ali is very careful never to refer to the Princess by name, but her identity is obvious, from the cover of the book to the intimate details she includes of the Royal Family. Ali did a tremendous amount of research about Diana's life, and the fruits of that research makes the story even more delicious.

As a teenager, I watched in awe as Diana walked down the aisle at St. Paul's Cathedral.  Many years later, as a mother myself, I stood in shock and cried as I watched coverage of the wreckage that would end her life.  The best part of Untold Story was getting to meet Princess Diana again, even if it was only a woman created out of talented Ms. Ali's imagination.

Flavia de Luce: Nancy Drew, She's Not

Like every other girl I knew growing up, I was a huge Nancy Drew fan.  Nancy Drew seemed to have it all - spunk, loyalty, a quick mind, and above all, fearlessness.  She was everyone's favorite girl detective.  Now, some 60 years later, Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew needs to make room for a different kind of sleuth - Flavia de Luce.

Flavia de Luce is the star of Alan Bradley's mystery series, which began in 2009 with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia does share many of Nancy Drew's characteristics - she's spunky, she's bright, and she doesn't mind sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong.  Most of the similarities end there.  As the youngest of three girls, Flavia spends a great deal of time tormenting her sisters, developing potions and poisons in her private laboratory and causing her sisters great discomfort.   Bradley's series is set in the English countryside in the years following World War One, but Flavia's adventures have a certain timelessness about them that could take place in any period.  With her trusty bicycle Gladys, Flavia tools around town solving mysteries and generally causing mayhem with the local police.  In the most recent novel, Flavia meets a traveling band of gypsies, and between solving old crimes and new ones, manages to outsmart the killer, the police, and her own family.

Of Bradley's series, my favorite is Flavia's first novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, but each of his  novels has their charm, and Red Herring is a highly enjoyable read. The mystery is fun, the violence is present but not gory, and Flavia's adventures never grow old.  Ideally, Flavia's books should be read in order, but each book stands alone.  I hope you will enjoy getting to know Flavia as I have, for she is one of the most charming detectives of the literary world today.

Swamplandia!, Part 2

Swamplandia! update: I finished this fabulous book earlier in the week, and it was well worth it.  I did not have to sleep with the lights on, but remember when I said it was dark?  Oh, I hadn't even gotten to the darkest part yet. Ava's journey, both metaphorical and literal, is breathtaking.  I can't reveal any more without ruining a few plot twists, but Ava's trip will leave her (and you, the reader) changed.

A word of warning - those of you who like a big, fat bow at the end will be disappointed.  The book does wrap up most of the loose ends, but questions remain unanswered.  That being said, Swamplandia! is worth every squirming moment.  Swamplandia! is an ideal candidate for me to slip into book letdown, but Kate Atkinson's newest, Started Early, Took My Dog is calling out for me to dive in!

Swamplandia! Part 1

Every year I wait with great anticipation for Steven King's "Best Books of the Year" article in Entertainment Weekly.  Karen Russell's book Swamplandia! made the cut for 2010, and since Mr. King hasn't steered me wrong yet, I was eager to read it. The advance praise on Swamplandia! described it as both quirky and dark.  The quirky part I got - Swamplandia! is about a family-run wildlife park in Florida where the main act includes wrestling alligators.  But I was about halfway through before I started to see the dark side.  And it is dark, my friends - very dark.

The Bigtree family's matriarch has died of cancer, and the surviving family - father (Chief), son Kiwi, and daughters Ossie and Ava - are left to pick up the pieces and get the park back on track.  With few visitors, the park is forced to close.  The family becomes completely unraveled when Kiwi leaves for the mainland, where he gets a job as a janitor at Swamplandia's largest and nearest competitor, the creepy "World of Darkness" park that features the rings of Hell.  Ossie begins using a Ouija board to start dating ghosts, and goes into a trance on a daily basis. Chief leaves to go find financing to help get the park out of debt. Things take an even darker turn when Ossie begins sneaking out nightly to meet her ghostly date, and 13-year-old Ava must take matters into her own hands.

You know that feeling when you are reading a book and you know whatever comes next is going to be really bad?  I have had that feeling of dread for about 30 pages now in Swamplandia!, and it's only going to get worse.   Russell's descriptions of the primordial swamp where the Bigtree family lives, the malevolent buzzards that reappear throughout  the book, and the World of Darkness park are so vivid, it makes you feel as if you are there yourself.  It all adds up to one really disturbing story.

But how can I stop?  Even though I am literally squirming with anticipation, I have to keep reading - how else will I know what happens to Ava, and the fate of Swamplandia! and the entire Bigtree family?  Stay tuned and  I'll let you know how it all turns out - and how many nights I had to sleep with the light on.  Happy reading!

A Woman's Worst Nightmare

When I was in college, I had a part-time job doing surveys, and during one particularly fun period, I would sit in model homes on weekends and survey the people who toured them.  It was somewhat creepy - there were long hours alone, and I never knew who was going to walk through the door. In Still Missing, Chevy Stevens takes a similar situation and turns it into a woman's worst nightmare.

Annie O'Sullivan is a young, single realtor with a quirky family and a tragic past.  (I realize we might not know each other, but I don't believe in "spoilers," so I won't reveal anything that will ruin the plot).  She is abducted from the house she is showing one pleasant afternoon, and taken by a seemingly-harmless, jovial man who ties her up,drugs her, and takes her to a house custom-fitted for her confinement.  Thus begins a period of abuse, dependence, and depravity which Annie (and we, as readers) endures.

Still Missing's strength comes not from the plot itself - some of the details and the final plot twist are weak at times - but in the insight into what it means to be held captive, and to be entirely dependent on someone else for survival.  At one point in her captivity, Annie says that you may firmly believe that the sky is blue, but if the only person you see for months tells you that it's green, eventually you will start to question yourself.  While those of us that live without abuse find that hard to believe, it is a way of life for many people.

Even with it's flaws, Still Missing is a gripping and haunting book - read it, but do so with the lights on.