Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
by Anne Sebba
Les Parisiennes (7/6/2016)
Anne Sebba's history of the German occupation of Paris, seen through the eyes of its women, has much to recommend it. The book is extensively researched, using both primary and secondary sources, and covers the impact of the Paris Occupation by the Nazis from a variety of perspectives: the social and artistic elite, the fashion community, collaborators, Resistance participants, Jews, mothers - in addition to providing lots of contextual information. The cast of characters provided at the end of the book is an essential item, so many women are discussed. In fact that strength is also a huge problem. The book is organized chronologically, with chapters named by year. A character first discussed in 1940 may not show up again until 1944 - so keeping a story line in mind (when there are nearly 100 women on the list and lots of men show up in this book ,too) is nearly impossible. The material is just not well organized, and that makes the book very frustrating. The subject is fascinating but this presentation of it is just not very satisfying.
Frank & Ava: In Love and War
by John Brady
Frank and Ava (8/5/2015)
Frank and Ava recounts the story of the "relationship" of two celebrities who come off as shallow, self-absorbed, impulsive hedonists demanding loyalty from others but unwilling to offer the same. While there are plenty of interesting books written about such people, this is not one of them. Brady's "compelling drama of live and emotional war" might better be displayed as a spreadsheet of sexual conquests than presented as a 246 page book. The book is basically a listing of the affairs of two people who could not or would not control themselves. There is some interesting detail on the Hollywood studio system in the 50s and 60s, and commentary on the scandal created by the Hollywood lifestyle adopted by these two and others during a highly conventional era. While Brady has compiled a lot of material on his two principle characters, the detail does not make the story deep (it operates at the depth level of your typical Photoplay or People Magazine article) - just long.
Her Name Is Rose
by Christine Breen
Her Name is Rose (2/6/2015)
When Rose's adoptive mother Iris Bowen faces a breast cancer scare, she decides she needs to fulfill a promise to her dying husband: she goes looking for Rose's birth mother.The search leads her from Ireland to Boston and back again, while Rose, a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, undergoes some soul searching of her own. This is a sweet story, but it is not very surprising, abounding in coincidences that mostly resolve in a good way, with everything wrapping up positively in the end. The writing is not bad, and the characters are interesting, but the outcome is a little too pat for my taste. Also, I felt like Rowan was just dropped into the story in a very awkward way - aside from passing on a good luck charm he and his story had very little connection to the rest of the tale.
A Fireproof Home for the Bride
by Amy Scheibe
A Fireprrof Home for the Bride (12/22/2014)
Amy Scheibe's tale of racial and ethnic discrimination in the upper Midwest of the 1950s is a great read for the last 100 pages - but the first 267 are a slog, poorly paced with wooden characters and little plot direction. Is it a coming of age story? A love story? A murder mystery? Hard to tell -and since the author sets up all of these possibilities, the direction of the story is unclear and the plot has little sense of dramatic tension. Scheibe finally decides which story she wants to emphasize and the book ends well, but had I not been reading this to review it, I would never have read that far.
Mating for Life
by Marissa Stapley
Mating for LIfe? Maybe (3/13/2014)
Mating for Life is something of an ironic title for this novel, since it's something none of its characters seem to do very well. And are there characters! Meet hippie folksinger mom Helen, her three daughters (all by different fathers, none of whom married mom), their spouses and lovers and kids, the guy who runs the marina and his current live-in honey (and why are they even part of this story?), the local agriculture expert, the illegitimate daughter of one of the husbands who lives in Vienna, and a random few friends and neighbors. This book contains too many people for the amount of character development the author is willing to invest. Too many characters, too many subplots - the book has a very scatter-shot feel. the vignettes at the beginning of each chapter on the mating habits of a variety of non-human animals was interesting, but increased the feeling that what one was likely to find in Mating for Life was anything but.
Doing Harm
by Kelly Parsons
Medical Malpractice (11/4/2013)
Dr. Steve Mitchell has the world by the tail until, overconfident, he makes some serious mistakes that play into the plans of a killer working his hospital. The book's strengths: Author Kelly Parsons, a doctor, knows what he's talking about , so the medicine is convincing, and he really puts you inside of the main character's head. The weaknesses: Sometimes the technical medical language seems almost gratuitous - like he's showing off, and the head he puts you inside has some pretty unattractive thought patterns. Steve is not a very good guy. The writing is good, the story well-told -- but this falls into the "good on an airplane" category, not great literature.
The Lion in the Lei Shop
by Kaye Starbird
The Lion in the Lei Shop (5/27/2013)
This novel is one of a group of out-of-print books selected for reprinting by NPR's Nancy Pearl.
April and her 5-year-old daughter Marty are living in Hawaii with April's soldier husband Lang on December 7, 1941when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Lang is of course immediately pulled away to military duties, while his wife and daughter are moved around the island for their safety and then shipped home. The story, told in the voices of April and Marty, retells the events of the bombing and the war years spent in April's native New England. Author Kay Starbird does a beautiful job of contrasting the memories of events held by April and her 5-year-old, and of highlighting the nature of memory itself. She also portrays the pain and uncertainty faced by families with a member at war with great compassion and understanding. The lion in the lei shop is a character is Marty's recurring war nightmare; her resolution of his continued appearance is a poignant moment. The book is beautifully written, by turns poignant and funny. I'm sorry it had to end.
All You Could Ask For
by Mike Greenberg
Actually, you could ask for more.... (11/14/2012)
Mike Greenberg's story of three Greenwich, CT, women (unconnected in the early part of the story) who link up through a common crisis left me lukewarm. i read all the hype on the back of the book about how surprising it was that a man could understand a woman's perspective so deeply - but what I found inside was some pretty conventional chick lit that didn't require lots of insight, The story is poignant, the tone is sensitive, and the characters have distinct and sympathetic personalities, but the book is also pretty cheesy - and there is absolutely NO dramatic tension. The story line, while an easy and pleasant read, provides no surprises, and that was disappointing.
A Land More Kind Than Home: A Novel
by Wiley Cash
A Land More Kind Than Home (3/8/2012)
This story, which revolves around a rogue preacher and a faith-healing gone wrong, leaves a number of questions unanswered - but that's it's only weakness. Voiced through three characters - a midwife, a sheriff, and the younger brother of the victim, Cash's tale provides a clear sense of place, excellent character development, and a clear story line with just enough backstory to define all of the character relationships. There was room for more detail, but the author's restraint in providing it kept the story crisp and compelling. I did not want this book to end, and I will certainly read Wiley Cash's next effort.
The Red Book: A Novel
by Deborah Copaken Kogan
The Red Book (2/14/2012)
This 20th college reunion story (Harvard '89) uses the practice of publishing a reunion book ("THe Red Book") as a foil for the story of 4 college roommates whose lives are very different from the images they choose to project. The characters cover the spectrum of racial, sexual, and national categories, and touch on pretty much every controversial social issue out there - same sex marraige, abortion, pre- and extra-marital sex, sex change surgery, May-December relationships are all there. WIth a boatload of characters, Kogan is able to do very little actual character development, and few of the characters she focuses most on are sympathetic. (It's hard to feel too sorry for the producer's wife who might have to sell her second home in Antibes.) On the plus side, though, the writing is more than competent and it's really hard to put the book down. I would take it to the beach in a heartbeat, but I will not be recommending it to my rather serious book group.
Tides of War: A Novel
by Stella Tillyard
Tides of War (11/9/2011)
I really wanted to like this book. It deals with a period of history about which I know little, and Its mix of real and fictional characters seemed intriguing. However, the book suffers from an overabundance of characters (all of whom seem to be primary) and the absence of a compelling theme. The result is a novel that, while it has its moments, is generally way too easy to put down. I felt like it was never going to end - and not in a good way.
Defending Jacob: A Novel
by William Landay
Defending Jacob (10/13/2011)
This crime/courtroom drama which tells the story of an Assistant District Attorney whose son is indicted for the murder of a middle-school classmate raises complex questions about the relationships between parents and children, between evidence and proof, between nature and nurture, and between truth and justice. The characters are realistic, though not particularly likable. The plot moves along using a combination of narration and grand jury transcripts - although it is not until the last ten pages that one is aware of the nature of the grand jury inquiry. The book is well-written and hard to put down - it's well worth the time it takes to read it.
The Memory of All That: George Gershwin, Kay Swift, and My Family's Legacy of Infidelities
by Katharine Weber
The Memory of All that (6/22/2011)
First the good things: There's nothing more fascinating than a good dish on a totally dysfunctional family, and this story of the extramarital affairs of two generations of a very prominent family certainly fills that bill. The writing is excellent - Weber's description of her father's career as being "at the intersection of making it and making it up" really caught me. On the down side: the combination of a cast of characters so extensive that it should have been presented on a spread sheet and the author's choice to use a reverse chronology for part of the story was terribly confusing. Also many of the characters who were quite prominent in the early to mid 20th century aren't so well-known now and could have been better introduced. I'm not sorry I read the book, but I didn't love it.
Prophecy: An Historical Thriller
by S.J. Parris
Prophecy (3/13/2011)
S.J. Parris's second book featuring former Dominican monk Giordano Bruno as he navigates the religious upheavals of Elizabethan England does a good job of balancing the "historical" and the "thriller" elements of its story line. Parris does an excellent job of creating her setting, and the overlay of murder and mayhem onto the events of the times is entirely believable. Bruno is a well developed character, and the action of the story is, for the most part, well-paced. The loose ends remaining at the end of the tale suggest a series of Giordano Bruno thrillers may be in the works. If you like stories from this time period, you'll most likely enjoy this book.
Agent X: A Novel
by Noah Boyd
Light a fire, pour a drink... (12/12/2010)
...and curl up with "Agent X" for an evening of action that leaves bodies scattered all over the Washington, DC, area. Like Lee Child's Jack Reacher and Nelson Demille's John Corry, Steve Vail has never met a weapon he couldn't shoot. Along with erstwhile love interest Kate Bannon, he can decipher the most arcane clues almost instantly - why would you not think to check the edge of a CD for notched-in Morse code messages? - and is considered a whiz-bang of an investigator even by those whose instructions he refuses to follow. Hard to believe? You bet. But for a "take me away' evening this one is hard to beat. The writing is competent; the plot moves quickly and systematically with sufficient twists and turns to keep the reading interesting. It was good enough that I'll go back and read "The Bricklayer."
Gone Tomorrow: A Jack Reacher Novel #13
by Lee Child
Gone Tomorrow (10/4/2010)
The next time you are looking at a long sit in an airport or an afternoon at the beach, Lee Child's "Gone Tomorrow" will provide you with lively entertainment. The book clearly qualifies as a "thriller," with a quirky lead character, a plausible but not too obvious plot line, and the requisite amount of terrorist gore. Although the book is the 13th in a line of Jack Reacher stories, it's not necessary to have read the previous 12 tomes to enjoy this one. I wish I knew a bit more about the rather peculiar Mr. Reacher, though the author kindly fills in a few gaps with a cheat sheet at the end of the volume. The story is so clearly action driven that the main thing demanded of our hero is the ability to relate the relevant events, which he does in a clear, wry style that is easy to follow and credible.This book is better for the beach than for your book club.
After the Fall
by Kylie Ladd
Soap opera on paper (6/6/2010)
Like a good soap opera, Kylie Ladd's After the Fall held my attention - I wanted to know when the adulterous couple would get caught, and how much damage they would do - but gave me no sense of literary satisfaction. I didn't like the characters - even the "victims" were shallow and self-absorbed - and her constant switching of the narrator was at times confusing (It took a while before I was sure who was married to whom). The book was easy to read, the style crisp and clear, but if it had not been so, I'm not sure I would have bothered. Even if you are only looking for a "beach read," you can do better.
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
by Heidi W. Durrow
Deserving Prizewinner (3/3/2010)
This Bellweather Prize winner addresses issues of racial identity, class prejudice, substance abuse, and adolescent sexuality through a compact, well-written, and moving story packed with sympathetic and well-defined characters. The story revolves around an unthinkable family tragedy and its impact on the several narrators, most notably Rachael, a mixed-race child who is the survivor of the event. While the story is not a mystery, the details of the keynote incident are revealed slowly through out the story in a way that allows the author, Heidi Durrow, to explore a number of issues from various perspectives. It's compelling reading!
Under This Unbroken Sky
by Shandi Mitchell
How depressing! (8/31/2009)
This book is a real downer! The central characters, a family of Ukrainian immigrants homesteading on the northern Canadian prairie in 1938/39, are victims of the elements, the government, and each other. Nothing good happens to anyone, I confess I kept reading because I was hoping for a turnaround - some positive event that might give any character a reason for hope. Not one appeared. The author's style is as spare as the landscape - which suits the story, except for her annoying habit of inserting descriptive sentence fragments. When commas would produce grammatically correct sentences.(Like that.) I've read "downer" stories told with humor and enjoyed the presentation,but I just did not enjoy this book.
The Secret Keeper
by Paul Harris
The Secret Keeper (3/6/2009)
While I had a hard time putting this book down, I can't say that I liked it. The story line, which focuses on a reporter's efforts to investigate the murder of his former lover who is caught up in a civil war in Sierra Leone, is compelling, and its tensions are well developed. The characters, while not particularly likable, are quite human and appropriately motivated. However, the writing is too flabby and casual for this high tension story. Harris is particularly fond of the verb-less description posing as a sentence, and sometimes strings 6 or 7 together in a distracting way. The stylistic devise of switching between two time periods to tell the story is confusing at times. On several occasions, I had to flip back to the beginning of a chapter to determine whether I was in the 2000 or 2004 segment of the story. Tighter writing would have turned this book into a first-rate thriller.
