As You Wish by Cary Elwes and Siracusa by Delia Ephron

I don't have a lot to say about either of these books, so I've decided to pair their reviews in a single post.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes is exactly what it sounds like. It's a book about the making of the movie. While it's told from the perspective of Cary Elwes, who played the beloved role of Westley/The Dread Pirate Roberts, it also contains quite a few little tidbits from other members of the cast and the director, Rob Reiner, set off in blocks to the side of the main text.

Elwes talks about how The Princess Bride had become the script that nobody wanted to touch because nobody was sure how to classify it. Was it a fantasy? Romance? Adventure? Numerous attempts were made to sell it but they all failed, even when a famous actor got involved. It was director Rob Reiner who finally made it happen. He had a unique vision about how to handle the movie. And, clearly, his vision was the right one.

I was interested to read about how Reiner managed to get approval to make the movie, how it was cast, what it was like filming certain scenes, how Elwes injured himself, etc. As You Wish is a quick read and a fun one. There are certain things I would never have known to watch for in the movie that I'll be looking for the next time we watch it. There's also a center section with photographs from the filming of the movie and the 25th anniversary reunion.

Highly recommended - A light and delightful read. I found my aging copy of the book, so I also hope to reread The Princess Bride after finding and watching the movie. It's been probably at least 25 years since I read the book.

Siracusa by Delia Ephron was my F2F book group's May selection. I missed the discussion because of a thunderstorm (I won't drive the 30 miles if it's raining) but at that point I was nowhere near finishing the book, mostly because I was in the midst of a slump. I'd read 3 pages and set the book down, do something else (picking up the phone to read my Twitter feed was the most common thing, although sometimes I walked away to check laundry or do other busy work), pick it up again and lose interest after another 3 or 5 or 10 pages. The first 1/3 was a slog, but I can't say it's the book's fault.

Around that 1/3 mark, though, I started to become a little more interested. Siracusa is the story of two couples who go on vacation together. Finn and Lizzie were lovers, long ago, but Finn married Taylor and they have a delicately beautiful adolescent daughter named Snow. Lizzie married Michael, an older man who became famous when his first play was a big hit. He's never quite matched the success of that play.

The two couples decide to go on a trip to Italy together. Lizzie wants to go to Siracusa on the island of Sicily; Taylor chooses Rome. The visit to Rome goes well. Michael finds himself gravitating toward the company of young Snow, who finds him entertaining. Finn wanders off on his own. Taylor is a helicopter mother and is seldom away from Snow for long. Lizzie is just determined to enjoy herself. But, in Siracusa, things go wrong. A woman from back home shows up and then is found dead. Did she fall off the famous rock or was she pushed? What happens in Siracusa will change everything.

Recommended but not a favorite - I never did fall in love with Siracusa, although there came a point that I did finally stop setting it down every few pages. I didn't mind the fact that all of the characters are unlikable in some way. That doesn't bother me; I'm about story and characterization and, unless the characters are so bent that I can't be in their heads (usually, that means they're evil), I'll stick it out if they're well-enough drawn. I'm told that there was mixed reaction in my discussion group. Some liked it, some were put off by the characters. I would have loved to hear the discussion.


©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.

The Underground River by Martha Conway

I've read a lot of really terrific books, lately, and The Underground River by Martha Conway is way up high on the list of new favorites.

The year is 1838. May is a seamstress who works for and travels with her cousin Comfort, taking care of all of Comfort's costuming needs as an actress. Comfort has located a job in St. Louis so she and May are traveling on a paddleboat down the Ohio River from Pennsylvania to Missouri when the boilers blow up and their steamboat, the Moselle, sinks. Both May and Comfort survive and are taken in by residents in the closest town but they're left with no money, no possessions, and no jobs.

When Comfort finds employment giving public speeches in favor of abolition, May is no longer needed and the wealthy abolitionist who hired Comfort offers to pay for May's return to Ohio. But, there's nothing waiting for May in Ohio, so she finds a job in a floating theater on a barge. The owner, an actor named Hugo, lost his sister when the paddleboat sank and May works hard at taking her place. As she slowly becomes acquainted with her job and her fellow passengers, May begins to develop independence and confidence, and she finds herself increasingly drawn to Hugo. But, when the abolitionist discovers May didn't use the money given to her to return home, she blackmails May into helping smuggle slaves from the Kentucky side of the river to the free side, a dangerous job that becomes even more perilous when the unexpected happens and May is forced to come up with a creative way to keep herself and a young slave from being caught.

Kind of a long description for a gal who said she was going to try to keep her reviews short but I didn't think the Goodreads synopsis was as accurate as it should have been.

I started reading The Underground River after ditching a book that wasn't working for me and was immediately pulled into the story. May is an introvert and a hard worker, a little lonely but content with her job helping cousin Comfort. But, when Comfort doesn't even defend May against the abolitionist's condescension, May realizes she's on her own.

I liked this new perspective on slavery. The thought that a slave could be separated from freedom by no more than a river was not something that had occurred to me. What must it have been like for a slave to know that some mere line, whether on water or land, separated him or her from freedom? Also, there were some details about escaped slaves that I had given little or no thought to. The Underground River was not just entertaining; it was a learning experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Highly recommended - I loved everything about The Underground River. Martha Conway's writing is lovely, the character development and historical setting perfect, the plotting balanced between some very tense scenes and some that were relaxed and happy, and the ending hopeful. I'm normally not a fan of books with actors or the theater at their heart but there's a mixed bag of personalities on the traveling theater barge. Some I grew to love, some stayed further in the background, some were varying degrees of villainous. May is a wonderful character and I enjoyed accompanying her, seeing her grow into herself, wondering if Hugo was just being polite to her or if his apparent affection was what it appeared (he was an actor, after all). The Underground River completely swept me away and I will absolutely seek out more books by Martha Conway.

©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.

Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger

Landing Gear by Kate Pullinger
Copyright 2014
Touchstone - general fiction
Source: Simon & Schuster

Michael nodded. "But what if the planes never flew again? What if crossing the Atlantic suddenly became much more difficult? What if choosing London really did mean choosing it, once and for all?"

~p. 77

Harriet was sure that she herself was alive. The kitchen floor was still dirty--what more proof did she need?

~p. 134

Harriet had spent a large part of the past two years online--doing what, she was never quite sure, given the way time contracted on the internet.  She monitored news stories and had become fascinated with the way that certain stories started as tiny specks but then became huge sandstorms, like the way a young man immolating himself in Tunisia became the Arab Spring. 

~p. 155

Landing Gear is about a woman who wants more out of life, the husband she and her son seldom see because of his working hours, the teenage son who is ignored so thoroughly that he's falling deep into marijuana use and how their lives change when a Pakistani man, Yacub, falls from the landing gear of an airplane onto the hood of the mother Harriet's car.

There are several inciting incidents in Landing Gear and it bounces around in time a bit, so it can be confusing. But, one of those events is the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the Icelandic volcano that shut down air travel in Europe for 6 days in 2010. Another is Yakub's search for a job with decent pay. There is a young lady named Emily who is searching for her mother, Harriet's desperate ploy to improve her career, teenage Jack's search for friendship and meaning, Michael's confusion when he's stuck in New York and decides he will be more comfortable waiting out the travel delays in his native Canada.

All these threads eventually come together to lead to the creation of a wacky new family in which everyone is happier than they were before they went through the hardship that forced them together. This is actually one of my favorite types of books. I love stories in which a unique set of characters end up forming an unorthodox family unit. In this case, there is actually a core family to which other characters are eventually added, which is a little different than the typical "lonely people thrown into circumstances that unite them in a common bond" but it doesn't matter. What matters is that there is a set of characters who are all struggling and in some way their acquaintance makes life better for each of them.

The biggest problem I had with the book is the fact that the author begins the book by describing Yacub's fall from the sky and then backtracks to describe how the characters arrived at those various turning points that threw them together. It's massively confusing, at first. I kept flipping back and forth, trying to figure out when each of the events occurred. I loved the inciting events, though, because they were so unique. This is the first time I've read a book that described what it was like when the planes stopped flying in England and how it felt to be stranded due to a volcanic eruption. And, then there's the fact that much of the book takes place in London -- my favorite city and definitely one of my favorite book settings.

Highly recommended with a timeline confusion-factor warning - Quirky characters, unique events and a fun setting made this book a delight.  I was confused by the order of events in the same way the bouncing around in The Time Traveler's Wife baffled me. But, it's notable that you can be thrown for a loop by some aspect of a book like its timeline and still love a story. That's how I felt about The Time Traveler's Wife and it's also how I felt about Landing Gear. It was difficult figuring out the timeline but once I understood how everything fell together, I absolutely loved the story. I particularly recommend the book to readers who like a story about the creation of an unconventional family unit and to those who love a London setting.

©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.

Time and Again by Jack Finney

Time and Again by Jack Finney
Copyright 1970
This edition: 2014 by Touchstone - Fiction/Time travel
Source: Simon & Schuster

I've been a Jack Finney fan for most of my adult life and have read absolutely everything I've managed to acquire by him. Time and Again is time travel classic I read quite a while ago and I've always meant to reread it but just haven't gotten around to doing so. When I was asked to review a reprint with a fresh, pretty cover, I jumped right on the bandwagon. I don't need a new copy but I figured it was a good excuse to reread the book.  

Brief synopsis:

Simon Morley is an artist at an advertising agency in New York.  He's not thrilled with his job or his life but he considers it comfortable and adequate. When he's approached about joining a government experiment, he's hesitant. Then, he hears the details. He will move into New York City's historic Dakota building -- a building that dates back to the late 19th century -- where he'll dress in clothing appropriate to the year 1882 and use self-hypnosis to transport himself to the past.

Simon has a lovely girlfriend who runs a failing antique store and there's a mysterious letter in her possession. Because of this mystery, Simon decides he wants to go back to the day the letter was mailed and observe as it's posted. Will Simon succeed at traveling to the past? What will he find there?

My thoughts:

I recall thinking the pacing in Time and Again was slow when I read it long ago and, yep, I was right.  There's a lot of detail. Finney himself admitted to becoming a little over-enthusiastic while doing his research. The net result is a book that is believable in its detail but a little bit slow off the block because Finney spent a great deal of time on set-up, explaining the government program and how it works before Simon finally manages to travel back in time.

It's not a spoiler to say that Simon succeeds.  The book wouldn't have been a time travel classic had its protagonist not managed to travel through time, after all.  But, there the questions begin. Can one travel through time without causing any damage to the present timeline? When Simon returns again and again, and discovers that he is not only more content in the past but also finds himself drawn to one of the women in the boardinghouse where he lives during his travels, what will happen?

Highly recommended - Still a favorite after all these years. While it takes awhile for the story to really crank up, once Simon begins to get involved in the past, his experiences become utterly fascinating. I felt transported back to 1882 and imagined myself traveling along with Simon, dressed in a wine-colored gown with a big, feathered hat. Time and Again is that kind of book.  I remembered less than I thought I recalled about the book but my memory was accurate to the general storyline so it was fun revisiting and living through the experience of Time and Again a second time. I absolutely love the way the story ends.

Side notes:  

• One of the few things I remembered from the story was reading about the Dakota, a building that was so far out in the country when it was built that people said, "You might as well go to the Dakotas," it was so far away from the city. So, its name was actually a nickname based on that remark. The Dakota is on my wish-list of places to see on a future trip to New York City. 
• Time and Again is illustrated with photographs and illustrations of New York City in the late 19th century (although not all are strictly from 1882), which adds to the fun. 

©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.

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

During last week's miserable reading slump, I picked up A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke, a book that had just arrived from Touchstone and which was originally sent to me unsolicited (but did not arrive - a second copy then arrived at the wrong house at my request, so who knows . . . a dog might have dragged off the first to use as a toy; they do that in our old neighborhood).

A Single Breath is about Eva, a midwife who has been married to Jackson for a mere 8 months when Jackson is swept off an outcropping of rocks while fishing on the English coast. Deeply grieved, Eva decides to take some time off from her job in London and travel to Tasmania to meet Jackson's father and his estranged brother, Saul.  But, things don't go as expected. Jackson father Dirk is not welcoming and Saul is still angry about an incident that happened several years ago.

However, events conspire to keep Eva in Tasmania longer than expected and she ends up staying in a shack just down the bay from where Saul lives. As she gets to know Saul, the truth about Jackson slowly emerges and Eva realizes she really didn't know the man she married at all. Why did Jackson leave Tasmania? Did he really love Eva? Is he truly dead?

There are bits of writing by Jackson interspersed throughout and those both confuse the reader and add mystery to the story. If he's able to write, isn't he really alive?  Or are those little bits something that Jackson wrote before his untimely death in a letter that Eva will later discover?

There's a lot I think I shouldn't mention about A Single Breath because it's best to enjoy the slow reveal but I can tell you that I felt like this as I was reading:

Sucked into the mystery of what became of Jackson in A SINGLE BREATH by Lucy Clarke. Washed into the sea or not? Dying to know. #fridayreads
— Bookfoolery (@Bookfoolery) April 18, 2014

And, I loved the way Eva gradually got to know Saul as she stayed near him on an island off the coast of Tasmania, loved the way he taught her how to "free dive", checked on her when she was ill, even eventually brought her along to work.  Saul and Eva are likable characters. I did feel as if the story dragged on a little bit longer than necessary and what I expected occurred, all-around, but I enjoyed the reading and am grateful to Lucy Clarke for yanking me out of my book slump with A Single Breath.

Recommended - I particularly loved the characters, the setting, and the tug of mystery.  There were some repetitive tense-change errors and I did find the story predictable in many ways but none of the book's flaws were significant enough to spoil the reading. Love, love, love the setting. Reading A Single Breath will definitely make you want to hop a plane to Tasmania.

©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.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Ohmygosh, read this book.  Seriously, just buy a copy and make Allie Brosh comfortably rich so she can write a thousand more books because WE NEED THEM.  She is so very, very relatable and real and funny as hell.

You probably all have heard of Hyperbole and a Half, since it's zoomed to the bestseller list like a rocket, right?  You know she's a blogger and some of the material is from the Hyperbole and a Half blog, don't you?  You know all that.  Why am I even bothering to write a review? BECAUSE IT'S THE BEST STINKING BOOK, EVER.  

And, I never use all-caps because that's yelling, but I feel like Hyperbole and a Half is worth shouting about.  I've actually only read the author's blog once - just one time when one of her posts went viral.  It was wonderful and I laughed.  It was about depression, but still . . . she made it funny.  I never went back, but not for lack of desire.  I'm just really forgetful that way.  I'd already given up on Google Reader (it was so intimidating to see 1,000 posts turn up overnight) and I never have replaced it with a similar service.  So, yeah, I forgot about Hyperbole and a Half, sorry.  

And, yet, the moment I saw the book mentioned on Chris's blog, I thought, "Oh, yeah!  I remember that one post . . . the one about . . . there was a piece of corn and . . . well, I remember the characters and I know I loved it."  That was enough for me.  I decided I was going to buy that book on the way to Tulsa and, thanks to the fact that it's a bestseller, it had the most prominent placement a bright yellow book can possibly have without knocking you on the head.  

I'm so glad I bought Hyperbole and a Half.  It's a memoir . . . oops, did I forget to mention what it's even about?  Okay, so Hyperbole and a Half is Allie Brosh's memoir, told via text and her oh-so-charming art.  It's more graphic memoir than regular memoir.  Much of the material came directly from the blog but some is new.  The thing you don't realize till you get into the book is that Allie Brosh's artwork is deceptively simple.  She's actually quite a talented illustrator.  Look at that dog's expression.  When she illustrates her dogs, you look at those illustrations and laugh so hard you're looking for the nearest restroom.  They are perfect, just perfect, the expressions on those little doggie faces.

Also, I really think we should all bankroll Allie Brosh because she is the perfect pet owner.  Her two dogs are far from the ideal pets.  One is a shy on brains, the other is a little angry (my favorite chapters tend to be the dog chapters).  But, they're forever pets.  It doesn't matter that they're not everything she dreamed a dog would be; she's in it for their entire lives.  Oh, how I love her for that.  If for no other reason, you should buy Hyperbole and a Half because the author is a super pet owner.  But, buy it because it's funny.  Buy it because she's honest and reminds you that you're not alone in your weirdness.  Buy it because it will remind you of every stupid, embarrassing incident from your childhood and make you laugh about them.  

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SO MUCH I CAN'T TURN OFF THE CAPS. Buy yourself a copy and then buy one for all your friends. Also, hot pink.

You're welcome. The End.

©2013 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.

The Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon

The Fairest of Them All by Carolyn Turgeon
Copyright 2013
Touchstone Books - Fantasy
262 pp. (includes a reading group guide and conversation with the author)

First Sentence:

I was the girl with the long long hair, trapped in the tower.

What led you to pick up The Fairest of Them All?

I was offered The Fairest of Them All for review and accepted it because I enjoyed one of Carolyn Turgeon's previous books, Godmother.  Even though I remember very well how much I disliked the ending of Godmother, I also remember the way the story captured my imagination so I was excited to see that the author had a new fantasy release.  In fact, I watched my porch like a hawk, I was so excited.  

Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending.  

****POTENTIAL SPOILER WARNING*****

There may be some spoilers in this description. I'm not certain but skip this part and read the publisher's blurb from The Fairest of Them All, here, if you're concerned.

Rapunzel lives in the forest with her adopted mother, Mathena, a witch who calls herself a healer. Mathena used to work in the palace but she had to leave when tragedy and a change in beliefs from mystical ways to religion caused her to fall out of favor.  

When the prince hears Rapunzel singing, he climbs her hair into the tower and they spend a night of passion together.  Then, he marries a princess from a neighboring kingdom and they have a daughter, Snow White.  While Rapunzel waits and hopes for the return of her prince, she learns to heal and weave spells of her own and tends to the garden with Mathena.  Then the queen dies mysteriously and Rapunzel is given the chance to take her place.  But, can she learn to be the queen her kingdom needs?  What will happen when Rapunzel's magic mirror tells her she's no longer the fairest in the land?

****END WARNING****

Capsule description:  

A modern mash-up of "Rapunzel" and "Snow White" in which Rapunzel learns her adopted mother's witchy ways and becomes envious of beautiful Snow White.

What did you like best about The Fairest of Them All?

I loved the way the author blended two fairy tales to create a unique new story and I loved the descriptions of life in the forest, when Mathena and Rapunzel worked side-by-side in the gardens and healed the women who came to them for help.  Sometimes the writing was absolutely magical.

The trees stretched blackly into the sky, which we could barely see for the snow that kept falling, covering everything, hiding every sin except for those I was forced to remember.  

And, I did like the fact that Rapunzel redeemed herself in the end and learned her true story.  Hints are dropped along the way but it takes Rapunzel a very long time to figure out she has been misled and find the right path. When she does, the result is a sigh-of-relief type of ending.

What did you dislike about The Fairest of Them All?

My first thought was, "This is so very, very dark," but after reading up on the original tale of Rapunzel, I was reminded that fairy tales are typically violent and tragic. The Brothers Grimm wrote some vicious tales.  I do like a heroine I can get behind and would have personally preferred a softening of Rapunzel, so I had to keep telling myself, "patience, patience" as I read, with hope, waiting for things to take a positive turn. It's very difficult to find anything redeeming at all about Rapunzel till the end and, even then, she has already gone too far in many ways but that's probably part of the point.  It's really a fascinating mash-up.

Recommended - A surprising blend of old fairy tales with modern storytelling that is imaginative, dark, creepy and oddly compelling.  The Fairest of Them All would actually make a very nice choice for the RIP VIII challenge.  It was a little too dark for me, in some ways, but I still enjoyed the story and -- since I am a person who craves sweetness and light -- my preference is certainly not a criticism of the storytelling.

I received a copy of The Fairest of Them All from Touchstone in return for an unbiased review

©2013 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.

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann

Copyright 2013

Touchstone - Fiction/Historical-contemporary mix

396 pp., incl. black and white photos

When Amanda Rosenbloom goes to a dying elderly lady's home to purchase the woman's vintage clothing for her store, Astor Place Vintage, she is surprised to find a journal hidden in a fur muff.  Amanda sneaks the journal into her purse and as she reads, discovers the surprising life of Olive Westcott.  Olive moved to Manhattan in 1907 to pursue a career as a store buyer.  But, gaining experience and reaching a goal as a single woman was not so simple 100 years ago.  

As she reads Olive's story, Amanda can't help but find connections between herself and Olive. Will the journal of a long-dead woman help Amanda break away from an unhealthy relationship after years of relying upon her married boyfriend's money to keep her store afloat?  If so, how will she survive without his help?

I had a terrible time getting into Astor Place Vintage but sometimes when a book is not clicking for me I'll go read reviews to see if there's something I'm missing.  In this case, it was Jennifer's review of Astor Place Vintage that helped me to look at the story from a different perspective.  I returned to the book and enjoyed it.  In fact, the end was so very satisfying I'm relieved that she stopped me from giving up.  Typically, I quickly became tired of the leaps back and forth from one character to the other and found them confusing until Jennifer noted some aspects of the historical character's life that helped me to untangle them. 

What I particularly loved about Astor Place Vintage was the peek into life as a single, working woman who knows what she wants but has huge challenges barring her way.  And, as Jennifer noted, it was very interesting seeing what it was like just to be a woman, in general, during that time period. 

Recommended - While Astor Place Vintage is not a personal favorite, partly because I'm quite weary of books that alternate between two lives every other chapter -- and I did find that I preferred the historical storyline -- Astor Place Vintage is a very good story that was extremely satisfying, in the end.  There are black and white photos of Manhattan in Olive's time period interspersed throughout the book.  I love old photos and they added nicely to the story as they spotlight areas of significance which are helpful for visualizing Olive's world.  

My thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing the review copy and to Jennifer for saving me from ditching a book that turned out to be a very good read.  

©2013 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.

The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace

The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace
Copyright 2013
Touchstone Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) - Fiction that's really hard to classify: a little historical, a little paranormal, a lot brilliant
277 pp.

Source:  Touchstone Books 

Warning:  Gushy love forthcoming

What The Kings and Queens of Roam is about (in my words):  

Helen and Rachel McAllister live in a dying town established by their ancestor, a devious man who built his home and his fortune by kidnapping a Chinese man and stealing his secret.  After the death of their parents, Helen is charged with taking care of her younger sister, Rachel.  Helen is the ugly sister and her temperament matches her looks.  Rachel is blind, innocent and a stunning beauty.  But, Helen tells Rachel stories that make her fearful and just a bit sad.  Rachel, Helen is convinced, could never live on her own.  But, she's bitter at what she perceives as the loss of her own independence. Even as Helen convinces Rachel that the world is dangerous and she could never survive alone, she makes it nearly impossible for Rachel to develop the strength to forge her own path.

Then, one day Helen leaves for a short time and everything changes.  When Rachel decides to take her chances, what will happen to the two sisters and their fading world?  

The Kings and Queens of Roam moves between the past and maybe-not-quite-present, describing the heartless ancestor who cursed his line by choosing greed rather than kindness and the two young women upon whom his legacy has fallen.

Why a blurb can't possibly describe the magic:

There is much more to Daniel Wallace's writing than a boilerplate description of The Kings and Queens of Roam will allow.  It is absolutely magical.  While the book is partly about a sisterly relationship, partly about their greedy ancestor, it's also about a string of tragedies and how we choose darkness or light.  It's the most bizarrely wonderful story of tragedy and hope.  There are ghosts walking around and a magical river that may or may not cure people or mice of various ills.  When Helen and Rachel's parents' death is described, it's so strange it's almost humorous. "Tall tales and folklore" is a part of the cover flap description.  Yes, I'll buy that. It reads very much like folklore with a dash of fairy tale.  There are no dates (so I found myself placing the more modern portion of the story in the 50s or 60s, 'though I can't say if I'm anywhere close) and no concrete geographical links.  You know you're in a world apart.

What I loved about The Kings and Queens of Roam:

I loved the experience of escaping into Daniel Wallace's strange and magical story as much as the story itself.  The reason I took a photo of the book lying face-down on my bed has to do with the fact that I was so in love, so immersed in the story that I wanted to take the book's portrait.  And, the only way I could set it down was in a manner that left it remaining open.  I couldn't even bear to put a bookmark in The Kings and Queens of Roam.  When I photographed it, I had to do something necessary -- I don't know, maybe move a load of laundry or make a meal?  Something you can't get out of doing.

What I disliked about The Kings and Queens of Roam:

Nothing.  I never knew exactly where the author was taking me and that's a good thing.  I like to be surprised.  I don't mind being able to figure out an ending in advance if the entire book is not so transparent as to end up being dull, but to keep drawing in a reader and surprising him, over and over, is a rare and wondrous thing.  "Rare and wondrous" are actually excellent descriptors for The Kings and Queens of Roam.

See, I told you gushy love was coming.

It happens.

This is my first Daniel Wallace book.  I actually have a copy of Big Fish, but I've never read it.  I plan to do some digging, in the coming weeks.  You know we moved in September of 2012?  Still haven't unloaded all the books.  Nowhere near.

The bottom line:

Highly, enthusiastically recommended - Exceptional writing and storytelling: a tale of darkness and light, tragedy and hope and how far we will go for those we deeply love.  A rare and wondrous gem, magical and immersive, brilliant and beautiful.

A friend asked me if The Kings and Queens of Roam is a children's book because of its cover (which also should get a large dollop of adoration because it's lovely, whimsical and relevant to the story) and the answer is "no".  The Kings and Queens of Roam is very much an grown-up fable, but it's certainly not one that I would advise anyone to hide from the kids.

I also took this while I was in the midst of reading TKaQoR:

Both kitties were my reading buddies, that day.  Fiona was sprawled on the floor, Isabel curled up on her favorite blanket beside me, much of the afternoon.  Not much else but reading was accomplished, once I opened up the book.  It's definitely a new favorite.

©2013 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.

Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke

Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke
Copyright 2013
Touchstone Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) - fiction/general
372 pp.

I'm going to go uber-casual on this one and say up-front that it's a book about sisters . . . which I usually hate.  I've never had a great relationship with my sister (her choice).  We get along fine but the word "close" is just not happening.  However, my dud sister relationship really didn't bother me much in this case because I was totally sucked into the story pretty quickly.

Swimming at Night is told from alternating viewpoints.  As the book opens, Katie is receiving news that her sister Mia has committed suicide in Bali.  Mia's been touring the world with her good friend Finn for several months, but Bali wasn't on her agenda and Finn was no longer with Mia when she died. What happened on Mia's trip? Why was she in Bali and what led to her death?

Katie is convinced that Mia could not possibly have killed herself.  When she's given Mia's backpack, which contains her journal, Katie quits her job and follow's Mia's path, reading the entries as she follows in Mia's footsteps.  She never reads ahead, which was the one thing I couldn't buy into about Swimming at Night.  Your sister dies of a suspected suicide, you've got her journal and -- seriously? -- you don't sit right down and read it cover to cover to try to figure out what on earth happened?  I can't fathom not reading the journal immediately; that's the first thing I'd do.

Beyond that oddity, though, Swimming at Night is a story of betrayal and lies, love and friendship, facing fears and grief and learning what's important in life.  There's quite a bit of s*x but not the graphic variety. Although there were moments that I was pulled from the book due to a relationship that I couldn't relate to and the odd choice not to read ahead in the journal, I found Swimming at Night quite gripping and the ending perfect. The chapters alternate between Katie's viewpoint and Mia's, as events unfolded on Mia's journey.  I thought that the alternating chapters worked very well and the story was handled skillfully.

Highly recommended - Yeah, the ploy of having the main character choose not to immediately read her sister's journal to keep events mysterious is a bit of a stretch, but Swimming at Night is a good story that will make you want to grab a backpack and go explore the world.  The writing style is above average -- not brilliant and quote-worthy, but there's just something about the way the book unfolds that makes the pages fly.  I gave Swimming at Night a 4.5/5 at Goodreads because it grabbed me, held on and had a satisfying ending.  Love, love, love the changing settings.

My thanks to Jessica at Simon & Schuster for the review copy!

In other news -- and this is very important:

I got a new pair of flip-flops, today (Tuesday - yeah, I'm pre-posting, again).  They're white.  Kind of boring, actually, but they were cheap and had the kind of fabric thingy-that-goes-between-the-toes, which is crucial because everything else causes blisters.  Anyway, that's a relief, since we've already crept into the 80s and I discovered our new pebble-dash sidewalk and driveway are Really Freaking Painful to walk across barefoot.  And, I keep stepping on sweetgum balls on the deck.  Actually, I finally picked those up, but seriously . . . you don't want to step on those suckers.

Currently reading:

Poison by Bridget Zinn - Scratch that.  I stayed up late finishing this one.
Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick

Loving both, so far.

No idea, but it must have been interesting:

©2013 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.

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Copyright 2012

Touchstone Books - Historical Fiction/WWII/Romance

416 pp.

Saba Tarcan has been singing since she was a small girl. Now 23, Saba has decided to do her part in the war effort. While singing at a hospital, she meets a handsome fighter pilot, Dom Benson. Both are immediately smitten with each other, but Saba is determined leave Wales; her Turkish father objects to Saba singing in public. She joins Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) and is sent to join a troupe of entertainers in North Africa, just as she's getting to know Dom.

Recovered from burns received when his plane was shot down, Dom returns to flying and gets a friend to pull strings so that he can serve in the same area as Saba. Communication is complicated by war, yet Saba continues to invade Dom's thoughts. When they finally manage to meet up, Saba and Dom are determined to get together. But Saba has been recruited to do work for the British Secret Service and can't always explain her absences, sparking jealousy and bitter feelings of rejection in Dom.

Meanwhile, North Africa is heating up; soon, the Nazis are expected to invade Alexandria. Will the secrets they must keep from each other tear them apart or can Saba and Dom stay alive long enough to solidify their relationship?

What I loved about Jasmine Nights:

I'm a sucker for books that are set during WWII, so I particularly enjoyed the glimpses into the time period, learning about ENSA and finding that entertainers were, in fact, used as spies during WWII. I don't think I've ever read any other WWII stories told from the viewpoint of an entertainer.

The details of the sights, sounds, smells and the hardships of living in the desert were what I found most engaging about Jasmine Nights.

What I disliked about Jasmine Nights:

The f-word was dropped at least half a dozen times in Jasmine Nights. I felt like the book lost a bit of authenticity in that regard. Sure, soldiers swore. The acronyms FUBAR and SNAFU both originated during WWII. But, that particular vulgarity was not flung about so casually at the time. Saba's use of the word (and, I think in one case, Dom used the word in her presence) really threw me. Women were less likely to swear, back then, and men tended to water down their speech in the presence of women and children.

Otherwise, the only thing I really disliked about Jasmine Nights was that it leaned toward romance and I thought the hero was a bit of a sap. I can't say I ever really felt much for the heroine, either. Oh, and occasionally I had trouble figuring out what was happening. But, only a few scenes confused me.

Wait, I thought of something else! But, part of it is spoilery. The unspoilery bit: LOTS of sex and no mention of protection but no pregnancy (although the sex is not overly graphic). That's a big no-no in my book. There either needs to be some mention of protection or consequences . . . sex amongst the young and fertile isn't realistic otherwise, is it? The spoilery bit will be thrown in at the bottom of this post, after the asterisks. See below***

The bottom line:

Recommended particularly to those who like a slightly longer, more detailed and character-driven/romantic book. There's not a great deal of action. I expected a bit more danger/close calls with the spying. Jasmine Nights was slower-paced and more romance-focused than anticipated. I gave Jasmine Nights an above-average rating of 3.5/5 at Goodreads. I liked it but didn't love it and I'm not entirely certain I would have finished the book if it didn't happen to be a book I was sent for review. The author definitely needs to work on tightening up her writing, in my humble opinion.

Pic of the day (taken in Oxford, MS), a sunflower to match the yellow edging on the cover of Jasmine Nights:

I keep forgetting to add my cover thoughts . . . again:

I don't know why writing cover thoughts keeps slipping my mind, but I love the cover of Jasmine Nights. The only thing that looks a little off to me is the length of Saba's hair. The model's coloring is right and I love the blend of her colorful dress (although I can't say whether or not it's right for the decade) and the gorgeous city background. Definitely an eye-catching cover.

***SPOILER WARNING!***

There was a scene I found particularly confusing because it appears that Saba was raped -- but I wasn't entirely certain, possibly because the character was trying to convince herself that it didn't happen. Again, no consequences, but worse than the consensual sex because there didn't seem to be any big emotional ramifications. I know several women who have been raped. Two of them attempted suicide; one succeeded. The other has channeled her anger in a very positive way, thank goodness. Rape should never, ever be glossed over. It has heavy emotional repercussions.

©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.