CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders

I have made it a goal to read everything George Saunders has ever written and in another step toward that goal I read CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, recently. I'm a little behind on my reviews, here, but even as I closed it I was aware that this one would be a difficult book to review. I'll do my best.

Published in 1996, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline was George Saunders' first published collection and includes 6 short stories along with a single novella. I had no idea it was a "cherished cult classic" when I bought it but I can see why it is. In reading it well out of publishing order, it's easy to see that Saunders' unique blend of humor, bizarre situations, violence, and fun taking immense jabs at the ridiculousness of life (especially employers) was on full display. 

In this case, most of the stories take place in a kind of amusement park/living history museum, each yet another strange, ridiculous situation with different narrators. 

When I described the title story to my husband, I realized just how incredibly difficult it is to pin down what makes a George Saunders story so special. In "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline" an employee describes his frustrations with his job and the problem they're having with roving gangs that are entering the park and causing havoc by breaking things, painting graffiti, etc. As a response to recent gang damage, the boss decides to send a single security guard to watch for the gang members and scare them off but the gang shows up and makes a fool of him. A new employee, however, has the killer instinct and the boss is convinced that he'll be able to do the job. He does a lot more than just frightening off gang members, though, as the new security guard is pretty much an out-of-control psychotic and starts killing people. And, they're not always the bad guys. 

So, I tried to describe that and realized that what I didn't manage to portray at all was George Saunders' sense of humor. There's just something about his unique turn of phrase and how he sets up each situation that combines to make his stories funny and awful and real at the same time. They are fabulous. 

My edition, shown above, is a 2012 printing with a note from the author that is every bit as interesting as the stories themselves. He talks about being a young engineer, sneaking in writing time at work and trying to find his own style through various phases of imitation (James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway) while living through the salad days with his wife and two children. It's immensely moving and actually brought tears to my eyes as he talked about his overwhelming love for his family and how he looks back on those days when he had very little materially but was rich in love. Oh, my goodness, it was just beautiful! Of course, he also talks about how he finally discovered his true writing style and it's also lovely – about how he'd been trying so hard to be a serious writer and when he wrote something that made his wife laugh he realized that it was actually OK to let his sense of humor run free.  

Highly recommended - This particular set of stories requires a bit of a strong stomach for violence, which I don't actually have, and yet I loved them. I think the fact that the bloody and sometimes disgusting scenes are couched in the midst of humor makes them not just bearable but tremendously entertaining. They're twisted and dark and hilarious and gross and bizarre and wacky and so, so good. 

I'm looking for someone to introduce me to George Saunders so I can call him a "friend" and buy his new release. Not happening, so far. I guess I'll have to wait till 2022 to get a copy, unless I can nudge my husband into submission. I have dropped the hint that I'd like an autographed copy from the local indie so many times it's getting ridiculous. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Slade House by David Mitchell

I don't want to say too much about Slade House because it's a novel that's best left a bit mysterious for the sake of letting things unfold. I like that feeling of not knowing quite what's happening, at first, and then slowly figuring it out. So, what I will say is that it has to do with a house in England, a set of twins, and the horrible thing they'll do to stay alive. There's a little iron gate that only appears every 9 years. What's behind that gate? Does it really exist or is it an illusion? What happens inside the house? And, is there any way to stop the twins from their evil doings?

Slade House is a perfect fall read, a blend of paranormal and horror but one that didn't give this wimp nightmares, thank goodness. 

Highly recommended - Phenomenal writing, seriously creepy, deliciously unsettling and atmospheric. The ending is immensely satisfying. Currently kicking myself for not getting around to reading David Mitchell sooner. I've got some of his other books on my shelves (although, to be honest, I have so many books that they won't be easy to find). I'll be digging for more, soon. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets: An Unusual Alphabet by S. O'Leary and J. Grant

Aa  

Alligators think you'd like them if you got to know them. 

Bb  

Bears sometimes want their mothers to kiss it better. 

Cc

Chipmunks love to stay up past bedtime. 

If I had to choose a single word to describe Owls Are Good at Keeping Secrets: An Unusual Alphabet, it would be "unique", since unusual is already in the title (that's just cheating). Each page or spread contains a single letter, upper and lower case, and a sentence about an animal. They're ridiculous, which is what makes the book such a delight -- that and the illustrations, which are lovely and charming with a bright, white background. I photographed my favorite spread because it made me laugh:

You can probably click to enlarge the image but in case that doesn't work, it says:

Zz

Zebras would like to be first. Just once.

Ha! I love it. I wish I could run this one by my eldest granddaughter (I have two, now!) because I'm sure she'd get a kick out of it and I'd love to watch her face light up.

Recommended - A cute, funny, unique, delightful ABC book with charming, often humorous illustrations. I'm a big fan of the mildly muted but colorful palette on a white background. That must be an aesthetic I'm drawn to because I recall gushing over a few other books with the illustrations on plain white backgrounds. Some have a scene that includes sky and foreground but which is then given a cut-and-paste look on white. If I didn't happen to be a purist I'd say this is a great book from which to cut out pages for framing (but that would drive me nuts -- I like my books bound, not in pieces).

My thanks to Random House for the review copy.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Rocket Men by Robert Kurson

Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon by Robert Kurson is the true story of the first mission in which Americans orbited the moon, Apollo 8. I knew very little about Apollo 8, although I'm old enough to remember the first moon walk and (as is made clear in the book) it obviously had to have been a success or man would not have made it to the moon before the end of the 1960s.

What I didn't realize was that Apollo 8 didn't appear likely to happen as planned, after several failures large and small set the program's timescale behind President Kennedy's goal for getting man on the moon by the end of the decade. Kurson evaluates the mission itself, how it was sped up to meet the dual goals of beating the Soviet Union to the moon and reaching the moon in time to keep on track with Kennedy's goal, the lives of the astronauts who flew Apollo 8 and their wives, and what happened to those families after Apollo 8 ended.

Rocket Men was very good, really quite gripping, which surprised me since I already knew Apollo 8 was successful. In spite of the fact that Kurson made it clear it had to have been a success, the author still managed to give the story an edge-of-your-seat sensation. I'm not even sure how he did that. The pages absolutely flew.

Kurson also talked a great deal about the astronauts and their wives because they are all still alive and happily married, which is unusual. He was partly drawn to Apollo 8 when he discovered that it was one of the few successful missions in which all of the astronauts were fully supported and remained married to their wives (to this day -- as of the ARCs printing, all were still alive). That's notable because astronauts had such time-intensive jobs that broken marriages were common. Humorously, all the way through the book, before he mentioned the marriages as a particular oddity, I kept telling my husband I thought his job was bad enough with all the travel and I'm pretty sure I could absolutely not have coped with being an astronaut's wife, having to deal with having reporters camped out on your lawn and photographing you in your own home (each had a contract with LIFE magazine, which often meant a reporter and photographer sitting right there with you in your house during important moments - ugh).

So it was interesting that the author had a reason for choosing the depth of description about the individuals -- how the couples met and married, how the women felt about their husbands' travel and that particular mission, what the women had to put up with as wives and how they banded together or, at least once, insulted each other by refusing to do so, the early years of each astronaut's life and how his childhood influenced the ultimate decision to become an astronaut, what their lives were like after Apollo 8.

Highly recommended - Rocket Men is one of those rare nonfiction books in which the pages flew, my heart pounded, and I sometimes found myself actually leaning forward in anticipation. Amazing that the author managed to make something that happened nearly 50 years ago so exciting. And, certainly a book that gave me an even greater appreciation of the engineering field. Such precision in the calculations of when various events would happen still boggles the mind. I haven't read a great deal about NASA or the Apollo missions but I'm intrigued and want to read more, now.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Having never loved or been loved in that previous place, they were frozen here in a youthful state of perpetual emotional vacuity; interested only in freedom, profligacy, and high-jinks, railing against any limitation or commitment whatsoever. 

~from. p. 118, description of three young male ghosts

Well, what of it. 
No one who has ever done anything worth doing has gone uncriticized. As regards the matter at hand (as regards him), I am, at least, above any--
Thus thought Mr. Lincoln.
But then his (our) eyes shut, in a slow remembering sorrow-wince. 

~p. 236

Lincoln in the Bardo is a tale of life and death, ghosts and letting go. Willie Lincoln has just died and his father has taken him out of what the ghosts in the bardo call his "sick box" (his coffin). In his grief, President Lincoln attempts to will his son back to life. Now, Willie's trapped between life and whatever comes next. I had to look up the word "bardo" and found that it's a Buddhist term for the place between death and the next life. I'm not sure that's how Saunders uses the term. It feels more like a place to avoid heaven or hell, one in which it requires some effort to stay or into which one is thrown when someone refuses to let go (as in Willie's case).

I've heard people describe Lincoln in the Bardo as "weird, really weird" and that's true. It's certainly offbeat and unusual. But, Saunders is pretty much the King of Weird, in my opinion. His imagination is boundless, his use of the English language masterful, his storytelling strong, his use of metaphor mind-boggling (I'm thinking mostly of his other work when referring to metaphor), and his characterization beyond reproach. So, while the story may be an odd one, I always got the sense that Saunders knew exactly where he was taking the reader and why -- and he did it with flair.

Those last few pages definitely make it clear what the author was trying to say in his unique way: Life is grand, enjoy it while you can.

Highly recommended - I gave Lincoln in the Bardo 4 out of 5 stars because it was not a book that grabbed me and held on, but I can't take off more than a point. The writing is so skillful that it's hard to criticize anything about Lincoln in the Bardo beyond saying that it's weird and jumpy. If only for the fact that Saunders set his story in a place that required the creation of dozens of different voices, you have to admire the craftsmanship involved.

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

An American Family by Khizr Khan

I read An American Family by Khizr Khan near the end of September so there are details I've forgotten. But, the one thing that really sticks with me is the sense of admiration I felt for the author and the experience of reading about how much pain the family went through after losing their son to a bomber in Iraq.

Let me back up a little, in case there's anyone out there who is unaware of who Khizr Khan is, since I spent many years refusing to talk politics or vote. Khizr Khan and his wife are gold-star parents (meaning parents who lost a son or daughter during his or her American military service) who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. He had harsh words for Donald Trump, who had criticized both Muslims and John McCain, the congressman known for his many years as a Vietnam Prisoner of War. After Khan's speech at the DNC, Trump verbally attacked Khan.

I was impressed with Khan's speech and his measured response to Trump's attacks, although reading the speech in the book, it really does appear quite harsh. Still, I found what little I heard about Khan and his story compelling, so I was very excited to get an Advanced Reader Copy of his book, An American Family.

The author goes all the way back to his youth to tell his story. As a child in Pakistan, he lived in poverty but he was determined to become a lawyer. Because of his financial situation, it took a lot of hard work and faith to get to law school and then neither he nor his parents could come up with the money for him to take what we call the Bar Exam (I don't recall if it's called that in Pakistan, but it was clearly the same - a test that allows one to practice law), although a leap of faith and a dollop of courage led to that opportunity. The story of how he acquired his education and the words of wisdom that were repeated to him as a child are fascinating enough alone. But, you also get to read about Khan's love story - how he met his wife, Ghazala, and why her mother wanted her to marry someone else in an arranged marriage but Khizr won out. It's a truly beautiful story.

He talks about the decision to leave the country for a job, rather than staying in Pakistan, where he knew that bribery had a lot to do with the outcome of a trial, and the steps in his career and further education that eventually made his family financially secure. He talks about his three children, their differing personalities, and son Humayun's decision to join the military. You really get to know and admire the family. While Khizr Khan was strict enough that today he'd probably be referred to as a "helicopter parent", it's clear that he and his wife raised children with strong principles and a deep love of their country.

Near the end of the book, the focus is on Humayun and his death - and it is heart-wrenching. The author also talks about how Ghazala eventually worked through her pain by hosting young military recruits for a dinner and giving each a gift, encouraging them in service in spite of her own loss. I could hardly breathe through the last part of the book for all the tears. While his Muslim heritage is a huge part of his life, faith mostly comes into the book in a soft way, in moments when he explains how his beliefs figure into certain decisions and actions, although it's a huge part of his life. This quote, for example, explains how he came to give Ghazala a certain gift that impressed her:

Islam teaches that the Creator made nothing in a cage, and that to release one of His creations back to the wild was an act of kindness and mercy. 

~ from p. 53 of ARC (some changes may have been made to the final print version)

Highly recommended - A deeply moving and admirable story of the author's life and that of his family. Every now and then you read one of those rare memoirs that makes you think, "I wish I knew the author. I would love it if he was my neighbor." That's how I felt while I was reading An American Family. They sound like absolutely lovely, giving people and I wish I knew them. Near the beginning of the book, you find out about how the author discovered the U.S. Constitution and why he carries a copy of it around with him. While he didn't actually intend to end up in the United States, it's quite interesting to read about that early connection and how his understanding of our Constitution has influenced him, over the years, and how his home country compares. A new favorite memoir. I can't think of a single negative thing to say about this book, although it's worth mentioning that it's a very emotional read.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior by Siegel, Siegel, Bouma, Rockefeller, and Sun

Oona Lee goes to Sand Dancer Academy but she feels out of place. Clumsy in a way her big sister never would have been, she struggles to keep control of her aniform (dancing sand figure) but it always gets away from her. When she's sent out of class to retrieve her sand after losing control of her aniform, Oona overhears a conversation that disturbs her. The Five Worlds - interconnected moons - are dying. The only way to save them is for the chosen sand dancer to light the five beacons on Beacon Day, which will create harmony. Then it'll all be copacetic. Or, so they hope.

But, last year's Chosen One not only didn't perform the proper rites to light the beacons on Beacon Day, she ran away. That Chosen One just happened to be Oona's sister, Jessa Lee. Oona doesn't have anywhere near the confidence or ability that her sister had and neither does the new sand dancer, this year's Chosen One. But, Jessa has written to Oona, instructing her to take a ship to Moon Yatta. That will mean missing Beacon Day but Oona is prepared to leave. Maybe her sister can help her work out how to save the Five Worlds.

Instead, when Oona shows up for her flight, chaos ensues. Her world is attacked by the people of another moon, the Toki, who plan to steal the queen's bones to help them become powerful. The Toki have been conquered and enslaved by Oona's people but the Chosen One is one of them. Oona is confused but still thinks Jessa can help light the five beacons, if only she get to her. But, with her world at war, is that even possible?

From the attack onward, 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior becomes an adventure so intense that I found myself gripping the book, sitting up straighter, absolutely immersed. The Sand Warrior is a quest and Oona is the unwitting heroine. On her adventure, she meets a young boy named An Tzu, who suffers from a disease that's making him slowly disappear but who has special abilities. She also meets Jax Amboy, a star ball player who is not quite what he seems. Her team gathered, they go looking for help. But, in order to get to their goal, they'll have battles to fight and prejudices to overcome.

Highly recommended - 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior is a graphic novel for middle graders that starts a little slow as it introduces Oona but then her quest gradually comes into focus. From the moment Oona meets the current Chosen One and begins her quest, she realizes that she may have more natural ability than she could have guessed. Regardless, she is determined to make sure the interconnected worlds survive.

There are hints of various Earth concepts. The light from the beacons, for example, is what keeps the five worlds in balance. What's happening to them is basically climate change. And, to restore balance, the worlds - which contain entirely different peoples (some blue-skinned, some basically animated plants) must overcome their prejudices and work together. Oona has never had many friends because of her awkwardness but her willingness to take help where it's offered not only enables her to gather the strength of others but also leads to the creation of a second family, of sorts. My favorite kind of book!

I've never been a fan of graphic novels, although I do occasionally read and enjoy them (I just don't go out of my way to seek them out) but I'll be on pins and needles till the next book in this series comes out. It's easy to read but also requires thought; and the quest is so gripping I stayed up to finish, even though I got a very late start on my reading. I closed it in the end and thought, "I want to reread this!" Seriously, it's that good. I loved the adventure, the growth of the characters (especially Oona), the meaning behind the story, and the denouement. There's a surprise about Oona's sister at the end, also, that leads to an epic good vs. evil battle. I just can't tell you enough how fun 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior is. Recommended for middle graders, as it was intended, but if you like a good adventure and you're an adult, you might want to sneak this one into your basket for when you need a light, adventurous read. I was honestly shocked at how much I loved it. I will definitely reread it and I can hardly bear thinking about how long it will take for the second book to come out.

My thanks to Random House for the chance to read and review 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior!

And, it's Friday; time for a Fiona Friday pic (starring Isabel). Isabel is attracted to fresh laundry and this pile of laundry hadn't been on the bed more than a minute before she showed up and began tunneling into it. My plan was to fold the laundry immediately, but after she'd tunneled for a bit, Izzy made herself a nest and, I suppose, told herself, "The laundry is clean and I must be, also" because she took a lengthy bath and then settled into the middle of her nest and fell asleep. I did the only thing available to me. I picked up the closest book and read, instead of folding.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Shadow Man by Alan Drew

Rancho Santa Elena in the 1980s is a quiet town where residents leave their doors unlocked and their windows open. Violent crime is almost unheard of. But, a serial killer has arrived. Detective Ben Wade moved to Santa Elena to try to save his marriage but failed. Now, he's faced with the kind of crime he left behind; and, he's determined to stop the serial killer. At the crime scenes, he can't help but think of his ex-wife and daughter. Aided by medical examiner Natasha Betencourt, Ben begins the search. But, when a possible suicide appears in a strawberry field, Ben is thrown off course by his own dark secret. How many will die before the serial killer is found?

I am not a fan of crime novels, in general, but I like to break up my reading pattern on occasion by throwing something unusual into the mix. And, that's how I ended up reading Shadow Man. At first, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through the book. There are only brief forays into the mind of the killer but he's obviously twisted and both they and the scenes in which he kills are very difficult to read. I don't find murder entertaining; that's why I avoid crime - both fiction and nonfiction. But, I found Ben Wade so compelling that I simply could not put the book down. I also loved the 1980s California setting. It's not a place I know, but anyone who lived through that time period can relate to the horror of widespread construction destroying the beauty of the land.

It's also worth noting that while there is a serial killer being hunted, the secondary storyline relating to the protagonist keeps it from being merely a book about catching a serial killer. What is the secret that Ben has kept hidden for over 15 years? And, how might it change the investigation into the single murder that doesn't fit the serial killer's profile? Did the serial killer change his habits, briefly, or was the death just what it appears: a suicide?

Highly recommended - At times, you may need to skim if you don't have a strong stomach or murder scenes bother you. I did occasionally pick up the pace deliberately. But, Shadow Man is an excellent read and I'm glad I briefly stepped outside my comfort zone.


©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson

Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson was actually due back at the library yesterday but I wasn't quite finished so it will go back this morning, as soon as I'm done telling you about it.

Then, of course, as though my life were not enough complicated, when I finally give up on four-prongs and take out the egg-beater, that surly character is offended in turn, and twists himself into a rigid, disobedient confusion of metal when I try to turn the handle. I get a lot of unnecessary sarcasm from that eggbeater, too. I have let cake batter stand, half-mixed, for half an hour while the eggbeater and the fork calmed down, and at least twice I have had to set them on opposite sides of the kitchen table to keep them from tangling themselves into a snarling battle.

~from "Here I Am, Washing Dishes Again", p. 319 of Let Me Tell You

Naturally, every writer has dealt in one way or another with metaphor, and there are few more pathetic sights than a writer hopelessly entangled in a great unweieldy metaphor that has gotten out of control and is spilling all over the story, killing off characters and snapping sentences right and left; huge metaphors, such as this one, are far better left to people with a lot more time and space to write. Adjectives are always good, of course; no short story really ought to be without adjectives, particularly odd ones -- such as "fulsome" -- that the reader usually has to go and look up. And of course adverbs such as "unworthily" -- even if you have to make them up yourself -- are always useful.

~ from "Garlic in Fiction", p. 397 of Let Me Tell You

Let Me Tell You is the second collection of writings gathered by Jackson's children. The first was published in 1997 and I'm in such a big, freaking hurry that I'm not going to look up the title but I haven't yet read it. Again, her children decided it was about time to go through Jackson's old work, and Let Me Tell You is the result, a book of "short stories, essays, and other writings." I admit to being a little concerned that they would be lesser in some way -- less, punchy or spooky or well-written. What could anyone possibly dig up after 50 years that was still worth reading?

Fret not. The truth is, Shirley Jackson was a brilliant writer and her writing is timeless, although some of it also gives you that sensation of stepping back in time. Let Me Tell You was yet another book I wanted to keep going forever (the last book to make me feel that way was Ross Poldark). I'll probably hold out for the paperback release, assuming there will be one, but checking the book out from the library only convinced me that  Let Me Tell You is a book that I need to read over and over and over again. There are subtleties that you miss on the first reading of a Jackson story and hints about some of those bits of symbolism in her novels that I missed entirely.

With very few exceptions, I loved the way the short stories made me squirm. And, there were several essays that have become new favorites. "Good Old House", about living in a house that may be haunted, is my favorite. Jackson never actually uses the word "haunted", instead skirting around it, slowly piling up the stories of things that have gone missing and then returned, clothing showing up repaired, etc., until you can't help but feel like, at the very least, there is some sort of mystical presence.

There are quite a few stories about being a writer with children and a handful of lectures and writings about writing, itself. I posted the quote from "Garlic in Fiction" primarily because writers are constantly told to cut, cut, cut adjectives. It's nice to see an alternative viewpoint.

Highly recommended - If you're a Shirley Jackson fan, you don't want to miss this one. It's a keeper. Since many of the short stories are suspenseful, Let Me Tell You is also an excellent choice for the RIP Challenge.  Let Me Tell You is a 2015 Random House release.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Delicious! by Ruth Reichl

Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
Copyright 2014 
Random House - fiction
Source: Random House via TLC Tours

Brief synopsis:  

WARNING - If you like to go into a story not knowing all the strands before they occur, please skip the description because it may contain some minor spoilers.  I went into the reading of Delicious! completely blind -- no reading of the cover blurb, no idea of what it was about -- and enjoyed the way the threads of the story were revealed and then tied together.

Something has driven Billie Breslin out of college and far from her California home. In New York, she finds a job writing for Delicious!, a magazine that has been published for over 100 years. As she slowly gets to know the people she works with, mysteries emerge about the characters and the building itself. Then, Delicious! is suddenly shut down and Billie is left alone to answer complaint calls and piece together the mystery of a hidden room, a series of letters written during WWII, and what became of the young lady who wrote to chef James Beard. As she works, both in the mansion that used to house Delicious! and the store of a cheesemonger, Billie slowly develops new friendships and begins to face the tragedy that drove her far from home.

My thoughts:

When I saw that Ruth Reichl had a new book coming out, I jumped right on the bandwagon. I didn't even notice that it was a novel!  No matter, though. Like her nonfiction, Ruth Reichl's first novel is full of descriptions that will make your mouth water, her first attempt at a novel surprisingly well-balanced and gripping. I particularly loved the WWII portions of the book. There's an interview with Ann Patchett at the back of the book -- a conversation, really -- in which they discuss the writing, the WWII letters and how the elements came to Reichl as she wrote. She claims to have known very little about WWII, which is surprising. Obviously, she's a very good researcher as she handled that well.

There were little things I disliked about Delicious!  Because Reichl's writing is very descriptive, the book is a bit over-long and probably could have been tightened a little. There's a lot of "savoring".  I honestly grew weary of that word, after a time.  And, the tragedy is completely transparent. I knew what had happened (not the details -- just in general) within 50 pages, although it's not revealed for quite some time.  I also have to admit that Sammy is a character I found a bit hard to believe in, although I liked him, and I didn't think there was a need for the ugly ducking to swan transformation. Billie was an interesting enough person to draw interest on her own merits before she was pushed to transform (by getting contacts, a haircut and a new wardrobe), which is good . . . but love doesn't fully come her way till after, which I found tad annoying.

None of the things I disliked about the book were enough to make me even remotely consider setting Delicious! down. I gobbled it up in a day, although it's nearly 400 pages and I'm a pretty slow reader.

Recommended - Foodies will particularly love reading the descriptions in Delicious! but it's a good novel, in general, so I also recommend it to those who like contemporary fiction, women's fiction, and romance. If you prefer minimalist writing, you might find yourself growing a little weary, but tight writing is my preference and I still enjoyed the various threads of the storyline enough that I was never tempted to set Delicious! aside.

Addendum:  Is that cover fabulous, or what?

2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Minis! Lucy by Ellen Feldman, How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by S. Baker and Letter from New York by Helene Hanff

One of my goals for 2013 (which I haven't bothered to write about -- just don't feel like writing down my goals, this year) is to attempt to keep my reviews short so I won't spend so much time online. Boy, did I fail on that count with House of Earth!  But, I feel a little more comfortable with brevity when I read off my own shelves, for some reason, so the following are mini reviews of books from my own shelves.

Lucy by Ellen Feldman is a fictionalized account of the love affair between Lucy Mercer and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  I must have had my head in the mud because I'd never heard of Lucy Mercer till recently but I love reading about Roosevelt and my interest was piqued when my friend Paula read Lucy.  She very kindly sent me her copy (so it wasn't on my shelf for long).  

I was terribly impressed with Lucy.  It's told from Lucy's point of view and is quite believable for historical fiction about real-life characters in my opinion, possibly at least in part because the author took her time describing how the relationship developed.  But, the writing also was very well done.  I've read two books by Ellen Feldman, now, and I found Lucy much more sharply drawn, the characters very well-rounded.  There were only a couple moments when I thought she drove home a point a little too fiercely and pulled me out of the story.

The author's note describes her use of letters and other documents and all indications lead to the thought that she did a rocking fine job of research.  Highly recommended.  Lucy was published in 2003 by W. W. Norton & Co. 

How to Live with a Neurotic Cat by Stephen Baker is supposed to be humorous, but it didn't play on my own cats' idiosyncracies. I think we can all agree that they're pretty unusual animals.  They're extremely active, even though they're now 4 and 3 years old, and they come running when I call them by name (unless they're deep in the midst of a nap).  They have been trained to use cardboard and carpet-covered cat scratching surfaces, so they don't rip into the furniture.  And, in the book there was absolutely nothing about cats knocking things off dressers.  Isabel is big into "Knock It Off the Dresser," (usually around 4:00 AM) "Knock it Into the Bathtub" and other similar games.  

I read How to Live with a Neurotic Cat because it's been on my shelves for eons and it's short.  I figured it would be a good book to read quickly and donate.  A friend of mine who has more cats than I do loved How to Live with a Neurotic Cat.  I gave it 2 stars and had to quickly gobble down another short book to cleanse my palette, I disliked it so much.  But, like I said, I think that's got something to do with the fact that my cats are so unique. They're really both more dog than cat, in many ways.  

I love this review of How to Live with a Neurotic Cat at Cinamaetcetera. I think it's a little more fair than what I have to say about the book, a 1985 publication of Gramercy Books (a Random House imprint).  Heh, told you it's been around a while, although I think mine was a reprint and didn't linger that long.

I got my copy of Letter from New York by Helene Hanff after reading 84, Charing Cross Road.  It took a while to acquire this book and another title of hers, since I opted to get them via Paperback Swap, and then probably at least 2-3 years for me to get around to reading Letter from New York.

As you can see from the subtitle at the bottom, "Letter from New York" was a radio spot on the BBC Woman's Hour Broadcasts during which Helene spoke about life in New York.  I think it was broadcast monthly, although I neglected to take notes.  Letter from New York is a collection of all of the writings she could find from her days in radio.  A few went missing.

I absolutely loved this book.  Her writings were just stories from everyday life and, as such, painted an intriguing capsule portrait of life in New York City in the 1970s.  Over the 6 years of her writings, things changed.  A garden that was abandoned for lack of funds was brought back to life by volunteer effort, Christmas concerts that had been free for decades began to cost money, dogs died and new ones were adopted.  Helene Hanff was dog crazy and I absolutely love her stories about the dogs in her building.  Letter from New York is, like her better-known 84, Charing Cross Road, the kind of book that you close thinking, "I'll want to return to this world, some time in the future." 

Highly recommended.  A pleasant afternoon or evening read, quick enough to zip through but enjoyable enough to savor.

And, since I've admitted I'm old because I very well could have bought that neurotic cat book in 1985, although I'm almost positive I didn't, a peek into ancient history . . . 

That's a photo I found tucked into my baby book, during the holiday break.  I am on the right, kissing big sis goodbye on her first day of "big girl school".  I don't have to confess the year, but you can probably figure it out or at least come close.  I was 4 years old; she was 6.  It always irritated her that I was never that far behind her in height.  And, of course, I had great hair.  Haha.  

©2013 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey - De-pinking and reading and other jazz

This week made my head spin! We're almost done de-pinking the Pink Room in our new house. Woot! I'll post an "after" photo, when I get one. This is the textured wall before we taped and began painting -- the rest were just flat pink (including the closet). I know you've seen this awful room, before, but I'm pretty sure Huzzybuns doesn't want me to share pics of him painting, so . . . you get a step stool.

I'll take photos of our progress, as we finish things. Other than painting, I've cleaned and lined all of the kitchen drawers and we've managed to hang three decorative items: a clock and Portuguese bowl in the kitchen and a framed print a local artist gave me in the half bath.

Amazingly, in spite of driving to the house to take small loads and start the cleaning and painting process, I managed to finish three books, last week!

Books finished in the past week:

Johnson's Life of London by Boris Johnson - If you read my blog regularly, you already know this one is about people who have made an impact on the city of London, over its lengthy history. The link leads to a mini review.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (on sale July 24, 2012) is the story of a man who sets out to mail a letter in reply to a woman who has written to tell him she's dying of cancer. He let her down, many years in the past, and decides that the letter just doesn't seem like enough. So, he keeps walking and decides that he's going to continue walking hundreds of miles to see her, thinking the anticipation will keep her alive.

What an amazing book! The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry could have easily been far-fetched or trite, but instead it is meaningful and incredibly believable. Harold and his wife are logically flawed and real. There was only one brief section that I found a little hard to swallow. Otherwise, the book is darn near perfect because the characters are so utterly human. Harold has his doubts, now and then, and the way he goes about his walk even changes from time to time. Along the way, he encounters helpful, kind people and some whose motives are not so noble. Wonderful, wonderful book. Highly recommended.

The Bond by Wayne Pacelle is subtitled "Our Kinship with Animals; Our Call to Defend Them" and it's authored by the current president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The Bond is a difficult read. Most people think of the Humane Society as an organization that's all about rescuing dogs and cats. But, their reach extends to animals of all kinds, all over the world and the book is both about the bond between humans and animals and the various kinds of abuses HSUS is working at halting.

Like the recent books about food sources, The Bond will make you want to avoid the meat aisles at your local grocery -- not only because of the incredibly cruel practices of the meat industry but also because those same practices are dangerous to humans. Downer cows, for example, are still routinely allowed to slaughter. You know what that means, right? Downer cows can be cows that are exhausted from miserable treatment and dehydration during crowded rides to slaughter, but they may also be suffering from what's commonly known as "Mad Cow Disease". No cow that's unable to walk from trailer to slaughterhouse floor should ever become a part of the food chain, but they do . . . and with USDA officials present. I've only recently returned to eating beef (after the first Mad Cow death and the death of a friend from Mad Cow -- which was not publicized at all -- I decided the USDA couldn't be trusted, for quite a few years), but it didn't last long. I will not eat beef, again.

Other abuses discussed are puppy mills and why AKC or other pure-bred licenses do not guarantee that you're purchasing a healthy animal (and may even mean the opposite) that was raised by a caring breeder; dog- and cock-fighting, including why the HSUS chose to allow Michael Vick to speak out against dog fighting for the organization; the cruel treatment of chickens, cows and pigs by industrial farmers and why crowding and other poor conditions mean a danger to humans; the annual seal slaughter in Canada and why it's finally tapering off; why wolves and mountain lions are still being slaughtered in spite of the fact that they're necessary predators; how ending the killing of whales has led to tourist income; why one zoo no longer has elephants, and more. The politics of all this killing and mistreatment are mind-boggling.

There were times I thought the author didn't explain things well enough (for example, he didn't go into detail about why a certain practice may have caused the Asian avian flu epidemic) or left me feeling like a particular story wasn't thoroughly wrapped up. And, obviously the book is a painful read for animal lovers. But, it's a necessary one, definitely recommended -- especially to those who may want to become involved in protecting animals and who care about the sources of the food we eat in the U.S. A little preachy, at times, but that's probably necessary. And, I'm a little confused. Doesn't the Humane Society still euthanize healthy animals? I need to look into that.

Just walked in, this past week:

• Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers - from Paperback Swap (Kiddo already read this one and gave it two thumbs up)
• The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison - unsolicited from Algonquin Books

I am reading:

The Knights of Derbyshire by Marsha Altman. I believe this is the 5th in Altman's Darcy series. I started reading it in the midst of reading The Bond. I needed a little sweetness and light as an antidote to reading about the horror of animal cruelty.

Some animals have very cushy lives, thank goodness:

They give us their trust, companionship, love and loads of belly laughs. I'll always wonder how people can abandon animals. It's a mindset that makes no sense to me.

Wednesday will be our first day of curbside recycling!

Since we don't live in our new home, yet, I'm dragging my recyclable items along with me. Exciting!!!

I'm down to 2 posts per week, at best, right now. Will try to at least keep up the Monday Malarkey and Fiona Friday posts, if nothing else. Happy Monday to all!

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini Reviews: Paris in Love by Eloisa James and More Like Her by Liza Palmer

I don't have a great deal to say about either of these books, although I enjoyed them both for very different reasons. So . . . mini review time!

More Like Her by Liza Palmer is a very strange book. A glance at the cover screams "chick lit" and it does read like chick lit, stylistically. But, the prologue is actually a 911 call made during a school shooting. So, as you begin the reading of this remarkably chick-littish book about friendship between women and love angst, you know there will be a dramatic turning point and the story will be about friends helping each other survive post-traumatic stress, not just about everyday life and love.

The first 100 pages or so of More Like Her are about the friendship between three women and the slight envy they have for Emma Dunham. All work at the same exclusive private school where Emma has become the new headmistress. Frances has recently been dumped by her boyfriend, Jill is happily married and determined to find someone perfect for Frannie, and Lisa has been too career-focused to devote much time or thought to men. When a team of architects from Tennessee arrive to work on the school's expansion project, Lisa falls spectacularly in love with one of the architects and Frances falls for, and is dangled by, another. All three couples are present at the shooting.

Thanks to the prologue and the fact that I loved the friendship between the women, I read More Like Her rabidly. It was one of those rare books that I finished in a day. While I did tire of the sex talk and the heroine's angst (and found it a bit of a stretch that there was more than one architect always on-site at the school's expansion project), the dialogue is tremendously fun. Once the women have survived the shooting, the way Frannie keeps reliving things in her head . . . well, let's just say it's a good idea to keep the tissue box handy. And, yet there is always plenty of levity to break the mood between darker scenes. More Like Her may be a little strange because it's such an odd blend of love, friendship and tragedy but it's definitely a compelling and deeply emotional read and recommended. The storyline is a bit transparent/predictable, especially at the end, but that didn't bother me. I'm just not certain who to recommend it to -- probably lovers of women's fiction because it's the growing friendship between three women that is most appealing about the book.

Paris in Love by Eloisa James is a memoir by romance novelist James about her family's year in Paris. After recovering from breast cancer, James (whose real name is Mary Bly) went on a mad purging frenzy, throwing out and selling things she would not have parted with, pre-cancer. With a new determination to fulfill her dreams she sold her house, took a sabbatical from her job as a Shakespeare professor and moved her family to Paris.

Paris in Love is not told in the typical memoir format but in anecdotes and essays. Many of her anecdotes were Facebook posts, so they're very brief but incredibly entertaining little vignettes about such topics as her children (particularly in regard to their adjustment from American schooling to an Italian school in France), experimentation in the kitchen, visits to museums, a family trip to London, restaurant and other food experiences, and her mother-in-law's hilarious reports about the health of their obese dog (who lived with her in Florence, Italy).

I marked up Paris in Love with about a million Post-its. When I went back to see if there was anything quotable, I found that I did mark a few entertaining tales. But, mostly, I marked the anecdotes that mentioned interesting things to see and do in Paris. At the end of the book, there is a section entitled, "My Very Unofficial Guide to a Few Places in Paris," which details some of James/Bly's favorite museums, places to shop, restaurants, etc. So, I probably could have dispensed with most of the Post-its, but that brings home the point that the book is worth a read if you happen to be planning a trip to Paris. I'm not, although just in case . . . I'm hanging onto my ARC.

My favorite anecdotes were the stories about the author's children and the dog. They truly made me laugh out loud. I recommend Paris in Love to memoir lovers and people who love reading about Paris or who dream of one day visiting. Because the book is written as a series of anecdotes with a few essays tossed in, it's a good book to keep with you when you know you'll only be able to read in quick bites (short train hops, sitting in line to pick up children from school, etc.).

Since there's red in both book covers, today you get a rose:

Tomorrow, who knows?

©2012 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Ghost of Greenwich Village by Lorna Graham

The Ghost of Greenwich Village

by Lorna Graham

Copyright 2011

Random House - Fiction with Paranormal

345 pages

After many years of working for her father and putting off her dream, Eve has moved from Ohio to Greenwich Village in search of a new life and a connection to her deceased mother. Instead, she's discovering that life in New York is not as easy and charming as she hoped. Making friends and keeping a job is every bit as difficult as paying the rent. And, on top of all that, there's a ghost in her apartment.

Donald was a writer from the Beat generation whose life was cut short. He is stuck in his former home and he likes to crawl into Eve's head. Eve tolerates the ghostly Donald and is willing to help him fulfill his dream, occasionally putting up with his bizarre stories as he dictates them to her. Secretly, she's hoping to dig up some clues to her mother's life in the Village and hopes Donald will be the key, but he appears to be a dead end (no pun intended).

After finding a job working as a writer for a morning television show, Eve attempts to find her place in the city. She makes friends with a legendary fashion designer and the owner of a vintage clothing store. But, the rest of her world is one disaster after another, until a close encounter with a criminal propels her to momentary fame. Will Eve survive life in the Village? Is Donald massively talented or stunningly deluded about his ability? What incident drove Eve's mother from New York to Ohio? Will Eve's moment in the limelight cost her her job or propel her to a higher level?

My thoughts:

I didn't fall in love with The Ghost of Greenwich Village or find it as enchanting as I'd hoped. Eve is not a particularly likable heroine, the ghost acts arrogant, possibly to cover up his wounded past, and Eve's friendship with a famous designer is hard to buy into. But, there was plenty to like about the book. I thought Eve's friendship with the owner of a vintage clothing store was believable and sweet. And, I understood her yearning to find out about her mother's past, make her escape from her hometown and create a new life.

This is the kind of passage that made me dislike Eve:

The next few days would be a time of goodbyes. Or would they? Undoubtedly easiest for everyone would be for her to simply slink out of town. It would be impossible to say goodbye to Gwendolyn face-to-face, anyway. She'd never had a friend like her.

-- from the uncorrected proof of The Ghost of Greenwich Village (changes my have been made to the final print version)

Say what? Eve's found a special friend and she's considering not even saying "goodbye" to her, let alone keeping in touch? I can't imagine just disappearing without even saying goodbye to a close friend, regardless of the circumstances.

There are also a lot of downright mean, nasty people in The Ghosts of Greenwich Village, which can be disturbing at times, and I'd hoped for a little romance but there is none. Eve has difficulty summoning a social life of any kind, apart from her friendship with the designer, at least partly because she's not willing to let anyone into her apartment because it's haunted. She's afraid to mention the fact that her home is occupied by a ghost, even to her closest friend, for fear she'll be thought crazy.

I guess I found Eve a little gutless and silly. I've had my own little ghost encounter and I don't frankly care whether anyone thinks I'm nuts or not. So, I could not relate to her refusal to tell anyone about Donald, especially close friends. And, I certainly couldn't understand why she'd regret the fact that her jerk of a date stopped calling because she didn't let him sleep over, thanks to her ghost. If a date will dump you because you're not willing to sleep with him, he's not worth your time, in my humble opinion.

The bottom line:

A so-so read about a woman struggling to make a new life for herself and unearth her mother's past while dealing with a ghost who has his own agenda. The heroine is not very likable and a wee bit spineless, although she does sort of redeem herself, eventually, (although her reaction after that particular scene is a bit on the clueless side). I thought the ending was decent. I had trouble buying into the storyline, though, including the ending.

My thanks to TLC Book Tours and Random House for the review copy.

Side note:

I'm afraid this book suffered a bit from following a read that was so fabulous I still haven't stopped thinking about it along with my eagerness to return to reading Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy, although I did set everything aside to focus on finishing The Ghost of Greenwich Village.

Cover thoughts:

The cover shown above is apparently the final cover. I like it. The book is as much about life in Greenwich Village as it is about a ghost haunting a girl trying to change her life, so it makes sense to put a pretty photo of the area on the cover.

Blah:

That's how I feel at the moment, thanks to a new, killer exercise class that I started, last night. So, I think I'll keep this post short and head to bed with a couple bottles of water (I'm pre-posting). If I have any energy at all, I'll come back and add some kind of picture to this post in the morning. We'll see if I can get out of bed in the morning. Should be interesting.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli

Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli

Copyright 2010

Crown - Nonfiction/Travel Memoir

279 pages

I longed for a way of life in which people made it a priority to look into each other's eyes and communicate, soul-to-soul, uninterrupted, like in that Zulu warrior greeting we'd practiced in happiness class. I yearned for meandering conversations about all things important, all things banal. Bhutan, I imagined, might be as close as you could get on earth to what I'd been craving--a real, live, actual community, where being wired took a backseat to being present, face-to-face, experiencing the here and now.

--p. 42 of Radio Shangri-La, Advanced Reader Copy (Some changes may have been made to the final print version)

What's it about?

Author Lisa Napoli, who works in public radio in Los Angeles, was having a midlife crisis when an encounter with a handsome stranger led to an opportunity to work as a volunteer at Bhutan's first radio station. Bhutan is known as "the happiest place on earth" and they like to measure their success in Bhutan using the words "Gross National Happiness," as opposed to the typical Gross Domestic Product. The quote above tells you what she hoped to find.

What did Bookfool think?

While Radio Shangri-La was not entirely what I expected as it lacked the sort of adventure I thought the author might encounter in a little-known Himalayan country, this rather introspective look at a nation in transition from remote, incommunicado nation to more modern, connected and city-oriented environment was fascinating.

The author's personal crisis and thoughts about life and love were relevant but somewhat less interesting. One thing I loved: the author is not arrogant. In fact, Napoli is quite humble and a very likable narrator, a nice person if a bit confused. We're in agreement that cellphones, the internet and other technological doohickeys have gotten in the way of real life and relationships. We both miss eye contact, meals and conversations without an interruption to read an email or answer a mobile call and quiet evenings without television. I don't agree with her about everything she has to say, though. For example, she is (or was) middle-aged, single and cynical. She makes comments like, "Love isn't forever" (not a direct quote). I personally believe the character of love changes over time, but it's possible to remain in love for your entire life. Some people really do still love each other after 50 years together.

What I'm not going to tell you:

What the author learned and how she came to appreciate her life. You have to read the book to get that part. And, I think it's worth the time.

The bottom line:

An easily digestible, fascinating look at a country most readers probably know little about and its first foray into radio. For my part, I'd heard of Bhutan and was correct about its approximate location . . . but even that was actually a wild guess, so I enjoyed learning about a country that was new to me. Lacking in adventure but fascinating for its analysis of the people and the time, at times uneven but overall a decent memoir. I particularly recommend Radio Shangri-La to readers who love to learn about new places and/or enjoy memoirs. My thanks to Crown/Random House for the review copy pictured at left.

Update, Thursday afternoon: I couldn't find the image of the final print version when I was writing my review, last night, so I just loaded the pic of my ARC (which I'd already photographed). I've since taken the time to fetch the final image at the author's request.

Back to what I wrote on Wednesday night . . .

Why I'm writing in this weird new format:

It's a temporary thing. I'm trying to be brief because of time constraints. Plus, my feet are freezing, so I'm hurrying to finish, then I'll run to get socks. Okay, forget that. I'm just going to get myself some socks right now. Done! They're apple green with pink and white polka-dots, in case you're curious.

So, back to the format . . . Much as everyone seemed to love my review of The Girl Who Chased the Moon, there's a limit to just how casual I'm willing to write reviews on a regular basis, so I'll probably get back to my normal chatty but analytical format in a couple weeks. I'm feeling overwhelmed, this week, though. Some weeks are like that.

If I have time:

Tomorrow I'll run downtown to the Vicksburg waterfront to take a picture or two. I was there on Sunday and I think it will be fun, if sobering, to see how fast the Mississippi River is rising. On the other hand, I may not even be able to shoot a picture to compare. The dock is fully blocked from entrance in anticipation of the expected rise in water level. Well, we'll just see what I can or can't photograph.

Flooding seems to be taking a backseat to arguments about Osama and Obama in the national news, but Kiddo dropped by church and happened across preparations by the Red Cross. Our church is one of 6 or 7 local buildings that are used as shelters by the Red Cross in times of disaster. Look up "1927 Mississippi flood" at Google Images if you're curious about the flood to which the growing disaster is being compared. Here's one:

Image Source

Gotta go. My feet are still cold. I think I'll stick them under a blanket and read for a while.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

By Sarah Addison Allen

Copyright 2009

Bantam Books - Fiction

269 pages

Book Description:

Bugger. Can I skip this part? Or, maybe I'll just pull a Raych and write it in plain speak. Yes, that sounds good. I promise in advance that this will not become a regular practice. Okay, there's this teenager, Emily, whose mother has died and she has no father so she has to move in with her grandfather . . . who is a giant. She settles into his mansion in Mullaby, North Carolina and feels a little out of place, plus there are these weird lights in the forest and her wallpaper changes based on her mood.

So, Emily is trying to fit in, figure out the strange happenings and get her grandfather to hang out with her a little whilst some dude in a bow tie drops odd hints about the reason people hate her for her dead mom's sake and then she meets Julia. Julia bakes cakes and sells them at her dad's barbecue place because she's not particularly interested in the whole barbecue restaurant thing. She's from Mullaby, but she managed to get away from the town when something frightful happened and she really wants to get the heck out of Dodge. But, she has to pay off the mortgage and sell out. Dead dad was in debt, so that'll take a while.

There are all sorts of small-town secrets and weird, maybe-magical things happening. This really good-looking guy is crazy about Julia but she's all, "Leave me alone because our secret is the sucky kind that forces me to shove you away." And, Emily has the bow-tie wearing dude whose entire family doesn't come out after dark interested in her. So, what's up in Mullaby, North Carolina? What on earth did Emily's mother do to piss off an entire town? And, what does the moon have to do with anything?

My review:

This will be a short one. Honestly? I love everything Sarah Addison Allen has written (you'll hear my thoughts about The Peach Keeper in a few days). I love the little touches of magic, the deep, dark secrets, the way she slowly reveals what happened to people that made them all screwed-up and sensitive but then somehow unknots their twisted pasts and ends each story on an upbeat, happy note.

I'm not going to answer the questions, of course. That's what you have to discover for yourself. I will tell you, though, that I found The Girl Who Chased the Moon very satisfying. If you love a small-town Southern story with a little romance, a touch of magic and quirky characters that are so well-developed you can't help but wonder what they're up to, days after you close the book, you'll love The Girl Who Chased the Moon.

I checked this one out from my local library. After finishing The Peach Keeper, I thought, "I really, really, really want to read the book I missed," (I've read all of SAA's books, now) and I'm glad I did, even though I probably ought to quit inserting books from the library and the non-ARC shelf into my TBR pile. Because, geez, that shelf is just not getting any sizable holes from frequent removal of books. I'm starting to feel pissy about my lack of discipline, to be honest.

Enough personal revelation for one day. I shall do my utter best to return to quality book reviews, tomorrow.

©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.