Booksie's Shelf, February 17, 2014

This past week was snow time in North Carolina.  Since we in the South don't do snow, that meant being snowed in for several days.  I love that hushed time with no outside pressures to get to appointments and run errands.  I spent most of the time reading, of course!  At the end of the week, I got a wonderful box of books from the review site I write reviews for, Curled Up With A Good Book, which as always was exciting and welcomed.  I got two books from Algonquin Books, which is one of my favorite publishing houses, having a North Carolina connection and ties to Southern authors.

Here's the new books that came in this week:

1.  The Headmaster's Wife, Thomas Christopher Greene, literary fiction, sent by publisher
2.  Three Princes, Ramona Wheeler, fantasy, sent by publisher
3.  Missing You, Harlan Coben, mystery, sent by publisher
4.  Opal Summerfield, Mark Caldwell Jones, children's fiction, sent by author
5.  The People Of Forever Are Not Afraid, Shani Boianjiu, nonfiction, won in raffle
6.  That Old Black Magic, Mary Jane Clark, mystery, sent by publisher
7.  Kicking The Sky, Anthony De Sa, literary fiction, sent by publisher
8.  All I Have In This World, Michael Parker, literary fiction, sent by publisher
9.  This Is Not An Accident, April Wilder, anthology, sent by publisher
10.  Euphoia, Lily King, literary fiction, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book
11.  Ripper, Isabel Allende, mystery, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book
12.  Worthy Brown's Daughter, Phillip Margolin, mystery, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book
13.  Red 1-2-3, John Katenbach, mystery, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book
14.  Benediction, Kent Haruf, literary fiction, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book
15.  Thunderstruck, Elizabeth McDracken, anthology, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book
16.  All Russians Love Birch Trees, Olga Grjasnoma, literary fiction, sent by Curled Up
17.  Strange Bodies, Marcel Theroux, literary fiction, sent by Curled Up With A Good Book

Here's my current set of books I'm reading:

1.  The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, reading on Kindle
2.  The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner, reading on Kindle Fire
3.  The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson, hardback
4.  Rivers, Michael Farris Smith, hardback
5.  A March Of Folly, Barbara Tuchman, hardback
6.  A Necessary End, Peter Robinson, paperback
7.  The Time Regulation Institute, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, paperback
8.  Black Chalk, Christopher Yates, reading on Kindle
9.  Tilted World, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Tennelly, paperback
10.  The Silent Wife, A.S.A. Harrison, paperback
11.  Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, edited by Sarah Weinman, paperback
12.  After I'm Gone, Laura Lippman, paperback
13.  The Small Hand and Dolly, Susan Hill, paperback
14.  A Snug Life Somewhere, Jan Shapin, paperback

The Fixer by T.E. Woods

There's a rumor of a person who deals out justice when the law and courts cannot.  If a criminal avoids prosecution or gets off by intimidating witnesses, there is a remedy.  The Fixer is reported to be a beautiful woman, who comes into town like a wraith, kills the target so that murder is never suspected, and then vanishes. 

Mort Grant is the homicide detective that starts to put the rumors together and investigate.  His son, a journalist, is instrumental in getting him involved, and his involvement deepens when The Fixer targets victims in his own city.  As he delves deeper, he is helped by a psychologist, Dr. Lydia Corriger, whose name comes up as a peripheral witness.  He finds that Lydia is troubled by a new patient, Savannah.  Although she cannot talk about her patient, it is clear that Savannah has real psychological problems and guilt that she can no longer repress.  As Mort investigates Savannah, the murders keep occurring.  Soon some of the most influential people in his city such as business leaders and college administrators are involved.  Can Mort solve this crime before more death is dealt out?

T.E. Woods uses her own background to provide the impetus for the novel.  She is a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Madison, Wisconsin.  This allows her to accurately portray the dilemma of a medical person caught between the confidentiality they owe their patients and the demands of the legal system.  When one has doubts, which demand takes precedence?  The novel has lots of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing and turning page.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

Under A Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes

Morden Village is appalled at what has occurred.  Two deaths in one night are far from the norm for a small village in rural England.  The first death discovered is a young woman named Polly.  She worked as a groom for family friends, the Maitlands, who run a horse farm to make money for traveling.  Polly is adventurous, not only by her travels but her love life, having affairs with both men and women and refusing to even think of being exclusive with anyone.  Hours later, a woman who lived across the lane from the Maitlands, Barbara Fletcher-Norman is discovered in the wreckage of her car, an apparent suicide.  The two families are old friends, having lived as neighbors for decades.  Nigel Maitland and Brian Fletcher-Norman are both confident, wealthy men.  Their daughters, Flora Maitland and Taryn Fletcher-Norman, are best friends.  Are there other links tying these two deaths together?

The case is assigned to Detective Chief Louisa Smith, her first case.  Lou, as she likes to be known, is anxious to solve the cases and make a good impression.  She must handle all the myriad details of the investigation while assigning work to her detectives and other resources and being responsible for the teamwork of her officers.  The cases get more complicated as evidence starts to show that they are related instead of separate incidents.  As the team delves deeper, the secrets of the village start to emerge and the team must determine which secrets are crucial to the investigation and which are just incidental.  Polly had affairs with at least three of the people involved, and there is evidence of other ties between those involved.  Can Louisa and her team solve the murder satisfactorily?

Elizabeth Haynes started her career as a police intelligence analyst, and that background is demonstrated in the novel.  Interspersed in the flow are documents that would be found in a police investigation, witness statements, phone messages, police reports, timelines and analysis of phone records.  This adds to the veracity of the investigation and helps the reader imagine exactly how the police procedures work in a murder case.  Although released as Haynes fourth book, this is actually her first, written during the annual novel writing contest, NaNoWriMo, held each November.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

Huck by Janet Elder

Living in New York City, the last thing Janet Elder and her husband would consider was getting a dog.  It wouldn't be fair to the animal as their hectic lives just wouldn't work for a dog.  But it was their son, Michael's, biggest desire.  He asked for a dog every birthday and every Christmas and talked about having one incessantly.  As much as they loved Michael, they just couldn't budge on their decision.

Then came the news every women dreads.  Janet was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she knew she faced months of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.  As she and her husband, Rich, discussed their options, one thing became clear.  This was the time that they needed to make Michael's dream come true and give him something to look forward to.   They told Michael that after her treatments were over, they would be getting a dog.

That's how Huck came to the family.  A little, brown poodle, he fit in immediately.  Huck fit in immediately and Michael was his focus.  He loved Janet and Rich also, but he bonded with Michael and boy and dog loved each other to distraction.  A happy ending to a long felt desire, they all felt.

Then tragedy struck.  The family had flown to Florida, both to celebrate the end of Janet's treatment and to take Michael to spring training for the Yankees, his other passion in life.  Huck stayed behind with Janet's sister and her family in a suburb.  The family had a day or so in the Florida sun when they got a call.  Huck had run away and no one could find him.

The rest of the book follows the family's search for Huck.  They cut their vacation short, and took the next flight home.  They went to the town where the sister lived and everyone's life became a search for the little dog who had brought so much joy to them.  Along the way they met many townspeople who helped in ways big and small.

Huck is a book most people can relate to.  Most have had a beloved pet somewhere in their life.  Many have faced the crisis that a life-threatening disease can bring to a family, and the realization that family and love is our priority in life.  This book is recommended for readers looking for a positive message, and those who want to relieve their own experiences with a pet and the love it brings with it.

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

After Detective Inspector Harry Hole's quick action and training lead him to an action that embarrasses the government, he is kicked upstairs and given routine tasks.  The Oslo police may think that they have quieted Harry and his penchant for discovering crimes that others miss, following them to whatever conclusion he finds, but that's not how Harry rolls. 

Harry is shunted into a surveillance of old Nazis, those men who years before fought with the Germans during World War II.  For a while, it was seen as the patriotic thing to do, although these same men were considered traitors after the war.  Now, Oslo is seeing a disturbing rise of Neo-Nazis, and who better to get the scoop on these old men who seem to be inspiring younger men to use violence against the immigrants who have come to Norway to start a new life.

Harry soon discovers a secret that is taking the lives of these few old men left from that earlier time.  He discovers that a high-powered rifle useful mainly for assassinations has been illegally imported and reports his findings to his superiors, who ignore his concerns. The former Nazis and their family members start to show up murdered.  Can Harry unravel the mystery of what happened all those years ago before someone else is killed?

This is one of the earliest Harry Hole mysteries and fans of the series will enjoy learning Harry's back story.  This is when he meets the love of his life, Rakel, and starts his partnership with Halvorsen.  We learn about Harry's life as a boy and the sister he loves dearly.  Jo Nesbo is definitely one of the premier suspense writers of the current mystery scene, and The Redbreast shows the seeds of how his books will emerge as the series continues.  This book is recommended for mystery lovers.

I Am Abraham by Jerome Charyn

Jerome Charyn has written a compelling novel about the life of Abraham Lincoln.  Rather than just reciting a series of dry facts, the story comes alive through the mechanism of a first person narrator, Abraham himself.  The book covers the period from Lincoln's life starting out as a young man to the end of his life.

Abraham had nothing with which to make his way except his own willingness to work and scrap by.  He fought as a young man to get an education, thwarted whenever possible by his father.  He makes his living however he can with various occupations moving towards the occupation of being a lawyer and a circuit judge.  His poverty means that he is not accepted in the higher circles of society and that suits him just fine, as he is uncomfortable around such people and their lives.  He goes to parties and dinners occasionally, and meets Mary Todd.  Against the objections of her family, he woos and wins her; their marriage blessed with four sons.

As he moves into politics, Lincoln finds his issue.  He rails against slavery leading to the creation of the Republican party.  When he is elected President it is not a popular move with the Southern states who promptly succeed, leaving Lincoln to start his Presidency with the biggest, most divisive war in the country's history.

Lincoln remained an outsider.  Although Mary craves social prestige, Lincoln is never comfortable in society functions.  He has to fight not only those states openly against him, but several of his generals who think they could lead the country more effectively.  One, General McClellan, is the darling of the social scene, but Lincoln is the man who can move the war forward, even as the actions he must take eat away at him.

There is little solace at home.  Mary, always headstrong, moves further and further into an alternate world with the loss of two of their sons to illness over the years.  She vainly attempts to be a social leader but is only tolerated by society and an easy prey to those who would use her station to further their own plans.  Lincoln is loyal to her even as she attempts to undermine him.

But it is the war that consumes him.  He hates the carnage, the necessity for actions that eat at his soul.  The need for generals like Grant who are killers rather than just military strategists.  The necessity of starving the Southern populace and unleashing men like Sherman on them.  The Friday shooting squads who make an example of deserters, many only boys no older than his own sons.  But he must do whatever it takes to win the war because he believes that slavery is the ultimate evil that will destroy the nation he loves.

This is a towering work.  The reader gets an intimate view of Lincoln different from the storybook tales that are told in history classes.  He emerges as a tortured man who found the backbone and willpower to push the nation forward to a new way where one man does not own another.  Of course Lincoln paid the ultimate price for his vision and his efforts to forge a country united and free of slavery.  This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction and for those curious about the man behind the legends.

Booksie's Shelf, February 7, 2014

I've been reading up a storm.  I finished a book about an aristocratic English family during World War I, a lovely anthology of stories and a quick murder mystery.  I've gotten a few new books, mostly to keep up on The Mongoliad Cycle series.  Here's what's come through the door in the past week or so:

1.  With Child, Laurie King, mystery, purchased
2.  Game Of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, fantasy, purchased for a reread
3.  Absolution, Caro Ramsay, mystery, purchased
4.  Katabasis, Brassey/ Moo/Teppo/Trim, fantasy, purchased, Mongoliad series
5.  Siege Perilous, E.D. DeBirmingham, fantasy, purchased, Mongoliad series
6.  The Garden Of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng, literary fiction, Paperbackswap
7.  Winter's Bone, Daniel Woodrell, literary fiction, Paperbackswap
8.  Where Is Heaven, Phil Bowie, non-fiction, sent by author
9.  A Different Alchemy, Chris Dietzel, literary fiction, sent by author
10.  The Weight Of Blood, Laura McHugh, mystery, sent by publisher
11.  While Beauty Slept, Elizabeth Blackwell, fantasy, sent by publisher
12.  Under Magnolia, Frances Mayes, memoir, sent by publisher

Here's the books that have a bookmark in them:

1.  The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, reading on Kindle
2.  Redbreast, Jo Nesbo, reading on Kindle Fire
3.  The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson, hardback
4.  Rivers, Michael Farris Smith, hardback
5.  A March Of Folly, Barbara Tuchman, hardback
6.  A Necessary End, Peter Robinson, paperback
7.  The Time Regulation Institute, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, paperback
8.  The Fixer, T.E. Woods, reading on Kindle
9.  Tilted World, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Tennelly, paperback
10.  The Silent Wife, A.S.A. Harrison, paperback
11.  Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, edited by Sarah Weinman, paperback
12.  Huck, Janet Elder, paperback
13.  The Small Hand and Dolly, Susan Hill, paperback
14.  I Am Abraham, Jerome Charyn, paperback

The Sense Of Touch by Ron Parsons

Ron Parsons's writing reflects the northern country where he lives.  He grew up in Michigan and South Dakota, and attended university at the University of Minnesota.  His main focus is the short story.  His stories have appeared in publications such as The Onion, Indiana Review, Storyville, The Gettysburg Review, The Briar Cliff Review and Flyaway.

The Sense Of Touch is Parson's debut anthology.  It contains eight stories that tell of the human longing for connection and the myriad ways we have of missing that connection, due to inattention or missed touch points.

There are stories of immigrants who have difficulties fitting in to a new culture, of friendships that somehow got lost over time, of marriages that start with hope but end up dry and brittle things that crumple and blow away.  The title story, The Sense Of Touch, is about a student who has come from his native Texas to the University of Minnesota to take a creative writing class and find out if he has any talent.  Readers will relate to someone being in an environment totally different from that where one was raised, attempting to make friends and to discover what really makes up one's personality and talents.

While the subject of these stories may sound bleak, that is not the feeling one gets reading them.  They provide hope.  The human animal will never give up that attempt to reach out and connect with others, even if not initially successful.  The stories are quiet and flowing, leaving the reader to contemplate their messages.  This book is recommended for readers who enjoy short story anthologies and for those interested in how the human spirit continues to reach for connection with others.

Shoot To Thrill by P.J. Tracy

A new type of murder is occurring in Minnesota.  Someone is planning murders, advertising them on the Internet, then making movies of the murder and posting those.  The Minneapolis police get involved when a transvestite dressed as a bride is drowned in the river, and the photo footage of the crime is found on the net.  As they investigate, they find other cases in many different locations.  The majority seem to have a Minnesota connection, so the investigation is centered there.

Several groups are pulled together to work on the case.  There are the Minneapolis police in the form of two partners, Magozzi and Rolseth.  The FBI gets involved and sends a man, John Smith, to work on the case.  Then there is the Monkeewrench Gang, a group of offbeat computer whizzes who use their hacking skills to help the police in certain cases.  Add in a drunken ex-judge and miscellaneous targeted individuals, and the field gets very crowded. 

This is the fifth novel in the Monkeewrench series, and readers of the series will enjoy this one.  The writing is sprightly and the plot flows quickly.  The relationships between the various members of the investigative squad are interesting and keep the reader guessing.  One quibble for this reader is the technology itself.  As someone with a career in technology, the examples used in the book seemed dated with lots of discussion about how the net would ruin our kids, etc.  This probably wouldn't be jarring to someone who wasn't in the technology field, however.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey

Catherine Bailey came to Belvoir Castle in England to do research for a book she was considering on the first World War.  There had been a Duke at Rutland since the Battle of Hastings and the family was one of the wealthiest and best well-connected in the country.  She was granted access to the family's papers but uncovered a mystery that the family had kept secret for decades.

John, the ninth Duke of Rutland, had been Duke in the years following World War I.  A secretive man, his final years had been spent obsessively working on the papers of his family.  He spent his final days in a room of family papers, frantically working at the expense of his health.  After his death, the rooms were sealed for sixty years until the author was granted access.

These were the English aristocracy who wrote letters to each other daily, sometimes several times a day.  Bailey was granted access to this huge treasure trove of paper, but she quickly discovered something amiss.  The exact time period she had hoped to research was missing from the paper records.  After further study, she realized that three distinct periods in John's life had been excised from the record.  What had gone on in those periods that the family didn't want revealed?

With this discovery, her book changed focus and she spent her time discovering what had led to the removal of the records for those three time periods.  On the way, she uncovered family secrets, and the kind of maneuvering behind the scenes that was commonplace for the country's wealthiest families.  Everyone in the families were controlled their entire lives by their families and the web of connections between the wealthiest and most influential.

Catherine Bailey has written an interesting, painstakingly researched historical account of the life of a titled family in wartime years.  She has an interest in twentieth century history and is a television producer and director of documentaries on the time period.  As such, she knows exactly where to go to discover the answers hidden in one place in others, resulting in the full story being brought to life.  This book is recommended for history lovers and those readers interested in the lives of the wealthy, as illustrated in Downton Abby.

Find Momo by Andrew Kapp

  Momo is a gorgeous black and white border collie.  Along with his owner, Andrew Knapp, he travels extensively.  Andrew photographs him in different settings, cunningly hidden in the landscape.  This produces a fun coffee table book where individuals can take the time to find Momo on each page, marveling at the photography and how well he blends into the landscapes in which he finds himself.

Momo and Andrew are not particular and travel everywhere.  There are rural shots and city shots; Momo visits museums, doggie parks, mountains, the ocean, small farms, woods and a variety of other landscapes.  Occasionally, Andrew gives the reader a tidbit of information about Momo such as his fascination with cats. 

This is a fun book for all.  Children will enjoy the novelty of finding Momo on each page, while adults will be entranced with the photography. 

Booksie's Shelf, January 30th, 2014

Things have been interesting here in the South this week.  We're not used to rotten weather, and we're thrown for a loop when it occurs.  Heck, I spent my working life in education so I wouldn't have to drive when it snowed!  I'm appalled like the rest of the country at the horrors our friends in and around Atlanta endured and glad things finally worked out.

The only good thing about snow is lots of inside time for reading.  Add in back spasms for me, and I've been housebound and reading all week.  I've been in one of the great houses in England uncovering historical secrets, a NYC apartment with a new puppy, inside the lair of computer hackers helping the government and in rural England solving a murder.   Here's what came in new this week:

1.  Careless People, Sarah Churchwell, nonfiction, sent by publisher
2.  Moth And Spark, Anne Leonard, fantasy, sent by publisher
3.  Bark, Lorrie Moore, anthology, Vine review book
4.  Under A Silent Moon, Elizabeth Haynes, mystery, Vine review book
5.  Form Your Own Limited Liability Company, Anthony Mancuso, nonfiction, Vine review book
6.  Creating An Ideal Life, Janet DeLee, contemporary fiction, sent by author
7.  Winter's Bone, Daniel Woodrell, literary fiction, Paperbackswap book
8.  Nothing Personal, Mike Offit, contemporary fiction, sent by publisher
9.  Scent Of Butterflies, Dora Levy Mossanen, literary fiction, sent by publisher
10.  The Up Side Of Down, Megan McArdle, nonfiction, sent by publisher

Here's my current reads, or at least books I've started:

1.  The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, reading on Kindle
2.  Redbreast, Jo Nesbo, reading on Kindle Fire
3.  The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson, hardback
4.  Rivers, Michael Farris Smith, hardback
5.  A March Of Folly, Barbara Tuchman, hardback
6.  A Necessary End, Peter Robinson, paperback
7.  The Time Regulation Institute, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, paperback
8.  The Fixer, T.E. Woods, reading on Kindle Fire
9.  Tilted World, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Tennelly, paperback
10.  The Silent Wife, A.S.A. Harrison, paperback
11.  Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, edited by Sarah Weinman, paperback
12.  Huck, Janet Elder, paperback

Our Love Could Light The World by Anne Leigh Parrish

Anne Leigh Parrish's set of interconnected stories follows the Dugan family of upper New York state over several decades of their lives.  Lavinia and Potter married young, had five children and there's never enough money or attention to go around.  Lavinia is making the family's wages since Potter lost his job, and what started as a temporary situation is now set in stone.  It would be different if Potter kept the house and kids like she would, but he spends his days frittering time away and she comes home to have to do all the work there also.

There are three girls and two boys.  Angie, the oldest, is overweight and typically sullen, but is drawn to help those left out by society.  Timothy is brazen and energetic, but expects things to come easily.  The twins, who are sisters, are very different, and live in a world of their own, as twins often do.  The baby, Foster, has a sweet nature and is everyone's favorite.  Together they bump along, not really neglected but definitely without enough adult supervision and guidance.

The stories follow the course of Lavinia and Potter's relationship over the years, the awkward struggles of the children as they navigate the rapids of adolescence, projects started and never finished and the sense that life goes on whether it is the life we would have chosen or not.  There are other players in the Dugan family life.  Chip is Lavinia's boss who becomes part of the family.  Potter's sister Patty and her mate Murph play a role at different times even though they live in Montana. 

Readers who enjoy Elizabeth Strout's novels such as Olive Kitteridge will find a similar format here.  Lavinia is the keystone of the family and is a strong woman who lives a life she never expected when she was growing up.  The children all grow up with their individual issues, as children do.  Parrish illustrates the inner mechanism of the one social entity we all encounter, the nuclear family, whether broken or intact.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and those interested in how families relate and work.

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

Peter Byerly has escaped to England.  After the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, he couldn't face being in familiar places and running into acquaintances, constantly reliving her death.  He flees to their newly renovated cottage in the Cotswold district, where he holes up, talking to no one. 

His doctor wants him to get out and about, and little by little, Peter begins to interact with the world.   He is a book restorer and dealer, and he starts to visit antique stores and bookshops, buying a few books.  As he gets out more, word grows that there is a bookseller in the neighborhood, and he is approached by the local gentry.  This family has fallen on hard times, and wants Peter to evaluate their library and determine if there are books there that are valuable enough to sell.

Peter agrees and then, amazingly, makes the find of his career.  He finds a fabled book, no extant copy of which is known, that proves William Shakespeare was indeed the author of the plays he is credited with writing.  If the book is real, it is the find of a lifetime.  Peter takes it and starts the process of determining its authenticity.

But someone else wants the book, and wants it badly.  There is a murder and Peter and a new friend are chased; their surroundings ransacked.  Can Peter find the truth about the book before it claims his life?

Charlie Lovett has written an engaging novel that will keep the reader turning pages, anxious to see how the mystery is resolved.  The action bounces between three time periods; the present, Peter's courtship and marriage with Amanda, and the history of English literature as the history of the book is revealed.  The reader learns something of the art of book restoration and the historical controversy about the accuracy of Shakespeare's authorship while being entertained.  This book is recommended for mystery and book lovers alike.

Booksie's Bookshelf, January 23, 2014

It's frigid here in North Carolina, so I've been spending my days reading and watching series on TV.  It's just too cold for my first love, swimming laps.  The pool will have to wait until the temperature is above freezing.  Till then, I'm jogging and doing the weight machines.  I just finished an impressive debut novel, Silk Harbor, from a new NC publisher, Old Harbour Press in Greenville, NC.  Here's the newest acquisitions:

1.  Find Momo, Andrew Knapp, photography/animal, sent by publisher
2.  The Reader Of Acheron, Walter Rhein, fantasy, sent by author
3.  Ships Of Merior, Janny Wurts, fantasy, Paperbackswap
4.  Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House, Meghan Daum, memoir, Paperbackswap
5.  The Contractors, Harry Hunsicker, suspense, sent by publisher
6.  The Execution, Dick Wolf, suspense, sent by publisher
7.  North Of Boston, Elizabeth Elo, suspense, sent by publisher
8.  Road To Reckoning, Robert Lautner, literary fiction, sent by publisher
9.  Lydia's Party, Margaret Hawkins, literary fiction, sent by publisher
10.  The Mark Of The Dragonfly, Jaleigh Johnson, children's fantasy, won on Shelf Awareness

Here's what I'm currently reading:

1.  The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, reading on Kindle
2.  Redbreast, Jo Nesbo, reading on Kindle Fire
3.  The Bookman's Tale, Charlie Lovett, hardback
4.  The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson, hardback
5.  Our Love Could Light The World, Anne Leigh Parrish, paperback
6.  Rivers, Michael Farris Smith, hardback
7.  A March Of Folly, Barbara Tuchman, hardback
8.  A Necessary End, Peter Robinson, paperback
9.  The Time Regulation Institute, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, paperback
10.  The Fixer, T.E. Woods, reading on Kindle Fire
11.  Tilted World, Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Tennelly, paperback
12.  The Silent Wife, A.S.A. Harrison, paperback
13.  Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, edited by Sarah Weinman, paperback
14.  Huck, Janet Elder, paperback

Here's to better weather and good reading!

Silk Armor by Claire Sydenham

Claire and Victor are Americans who come to Turkey to serve as English teachers.  They become friends as there are not that many other Americans in the small Turkish city where the school is located that they can socialize with.  Each comes with an idealistic viewpoint of what they will be able to accomplish.

Two of their best students are Turkish women, Didem and Sevgi, who grew up together.  They came from the small village of Karaagac and yearn for more than the lives of wives and mothers that is the fate of women there.  It is clear that to change their lives and those traditional expectations they must obtain some education, but female education is frowned upon in their village.  When the economy gets worse, and their village is hit hard fiscally, they see their chance.  The girls take the entrance exam secretly and then present their families with their accomplishment.  The families reluctantly agree to give the girls this chance since the village is dying.  Sevgi will live in the dorm, but Didem's family picks up stakes and moves to Eskishir with her.

The Turkish language does not come easily for Victor and Claire.  Victor hires Didem to give him lessons.  She tells her family that it is Claire she is teaching as they would disapprove of her teaching Victor.  She and Victor fall in love, and soon have plans for Didem to leave Turkey and go with him to the United States.  Claire is pulled into their plans as Didem needs help to study for the foreign student's exam.  Sevgi and Didem's family are excluded from the secret but Sevgi finds out and strongly disapproves.  Disaster occurs as the secret is revealed to the family and the school.

Claire Sydenham has written a compelling, haunting novel about the yearning for different lives and the difficulty of changing one's culture and its expectations.  The characters are familiar even though they live elsewhere, and the reader will be able to relate to them.  The story moves along with the speed of a hurtling train to the disaster that awaits in the clash of cultures.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction, and for those interested in other societies.  The publisher is a new North Carolina publishing house, Old Harbour Press, in Greenville, NC.  If their other choices are as compelling as Silk Armor, they should become successful and an established publisher in the area. 

My Education by Susan Choi

Regina Gottlieb has come to do her graduate degree at a prestigious university set in the countryside. Her new friends are quick to warn her about the workload.  They warn her about the scandalous Professor Nicholas Brodeur, and the rumors of sexual misconduct that swirl around him   But no one warns her about the things that will really matter.  About Nicholas' beauty and ability to make anyone feel like the only person in the world.  About her friend/sometimes lover Dutra and how he insinuates himself into her life.  About Nicholas' wife, Martha, the most compelling person Regina has ever met.

Soon Regina finds herself enmeshed into a routine that spells disaster.  The work seems miles above her, yet she finds herself teaching classes about subjects she has never studied.  She is quickly drawn into the Brodeur's social circle and all her other relationships fall to the wayside.  As she becomes entangled in love triangles that constantly shift yet always leave behind more damage, she slips farther and farther into despair, her dreams of an academic life becoming more and more remote. 

This is the first part of An Education.  The novel picks back up in the second part fifteen years later, when Regina and the others have moved on to new, different and separate lives.  Only with the distance of time and geography is she able to reconcile what happened in her youth and start to build bridges to make what amends are possible.

Susan Choi has written a novel that is not always easy to read, but that captures completely the overwhelming life-wrenching change that love is for the young.  It is all that seems important, well researched lives and goals thrown haphazardly to the side as the individual pursues it.  Damage can be done and it can take years to reconcile that impulsive self-centered person with the more mature self that emerges when one grows older.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough

The year is 1887 and all is not well in London.  Jack The Ripper is stalking the streets of Whitechapel, and the city lives in fear, waiting for his next attack.  Then something unthinkable occurs.  Another woman's body is found, or at least her torso.  Is this Jack's work?  Then another torso is found, and it becomes clear when comparing the cases that there is not just one, but two, killers stalking the streets and killing young women.

Sir Thomas Bond is the medical examiner assigned to both cases.  He realizes that the cases are not the same, and he attempts to move past the routine autopsy work he does to try to understand the mind of each killer.  As he struggles with this dilemma, he finds his daily routine shadowed by a man with a withered arm.  He searches to discover who this man is, but what he discovers sends him reeling.  This is a priest of a secret sect, one created to fight the monsters that still inhabit the earth.  Along with a recent Eastern European immigrant, he searches for an evil that is centuries old.  Bond can't believe that such things exist and fears he is going mad.  Yet as the crimes mount he comes to the realization that these men are correct and are seeking an ancient evil.

This evil is the Upir.  It has existed for centuries, attaching itself when possible to a man who then carries out it's hideous work.  Between hosts, it lives dormant in rivers and other bodies of water, sometimes for decades, but it never dies.  It has come to London from Eastern Europe, where the barber had horrendous visions of it.  It is attached to someone here who is carrying out the Torso Murders.  Can Bond, the priest and the barber find and destroy it before it kills again?

Sarah Pinborough has used the details of a historic case, that of the Torso Killer, to weave her novel around.  Like Jack The Ripper, the Torso Killer was never found and his murders remained unavenged by justice.  Actual newspaper articles from the time are scattered throughout the novel, some from London newspapers and others from other countries, even smaller cities throughout the United States.  It is impossible to imagine how the discovery of what was known as the first serial killer was perceived at the time, but it was a worldwide event.  Pinborough's retelling of the Torso murderer's crimes in the same period provides an interesting historical horror/mystery.  This book is recommended for mystery readers. 

The Barber's Conundrum by John Hartnett

John Hartnett writes short, droll pieces on marriage and raising children for a newspaper syndicate in New Jersey.  The Barber's Conundrum is a collection of thirty-seven of these articles.  It was a semifinalist in The Kindle Book Reviews 2013 Best Indie Book Award Winners.

Hartnett's humor is gentle not sarcastic or cutting.  It brought me to the point of laughing out loud repeatedly.  He writes in the style of a James Thurber or a David Sedaris or a Bill Bryson.  Readers who enjoy those authors will enjoy this collection.

One of my favorite pieces was the one about The Catalog, how agreeing to receive only one mail order catalog results in a variable deluge of others.  There are also pieces about Canadian geese, customer service representatives, soccer parents and the horrors of monitoring children's homework.  The title piece is about how difficult it is to obtain a decent haircut.

None of these topics are earth-shattering.  They reflect the day to day items that make up the mundane world most of us inhabit, and point out the humor in the situations we all encounter.  Readers who dip into these stories will finish the book with a positive feeling and a new author to watch for.  This book is recommended for everyone.

What's New On Booksie's Shelf, Januay 14, 2014

I don't have a resolution or anything, but I've actually been fairly good about acquiring new books this year. Here's the latest to make it through the door:

1.  Stolen Prey, John Sandford, mystery, purchased
2.  Buried Prey, John Sandford, mystery, gym shelf take one, leave one
3.  The Free, Will Vlantin, literary fiction, sent for book tour
4.  Princes Of New York, Robin Lester, suspense, sent by publisher
5.  Alice Close Your Eyes, Averil Dean, mystery, sent by publisher

I don't list newly acquired ebooks, since it is a rare day I don't get one and the list would be too long. Here's a list of books in progress, with their media format:

1.  The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, reading on Kindle
2.  Redbreast, Jo Nesbo, reading on Kindle Fire
3.  My Education, Susan Choi, hardback
4.  The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson, hardback
5.  Mayhem, Sarah Pinborough, paperback
6.  Rivers, Michael Farris Smith, hardback
7.  A March Of Folly, Barbara Tuchman, hardback
8.  A Necessary End, Peter Robinson, paperback
9.  The Time Regulation Institute, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, paperback
10.  Silk Armour, Claire Sydenham, paperback
11.  Tilted World, Tom Franklin & Beth Ann Tennelly, paperback
12.  The Silent Wife, A.S.A. Harrison, paperback
13.  Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, edited by Sarah Weinman, paperback