Thursdays at Eight
by Debbie MacomberContemporary Fiction2001 MIRA298 pagesFinished on 9/24/08Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)Publisher's Blurb:Thursday, 8:00 a.m.:Mocha Moments Cafe, Breakfast Club!These words appear in the calendars of four women. Four very different women. Every week they meet for breakfast—and to talk, to share the truths they've discovered about their lives. To tell their stories, recount their sorrows and their joys. To offer each other encouragement and unstinting support.Clare has just been through a devastating and unexpected divorce. She's driven by anger and revenge... until she learns something about her ex-husband that forces her to look deep inside for the forgiveness and compassion she's rejected—and for the person she used to be.
Elizabeth is widowed, in her late fifties, a successful professional—a woman who's determined not to waste another second of her life. And if that life should include romantic possibilities—well, why not? Karen is in her twenties, and she believes those should be the years for taking risks, testing your dreams. Her dream is to be an actor. So what if her parents think she should be more like her sister, the very respectable Victoria? Julia is turning forty this year. Her husband's career is established, her kids are finally in their teens and she's just started her own business. Everything's going according to plan—until she gets pregnant! That's not in the plan. I can just picture my husband reading the above blurb and rolling his eyes as he mutters, "Blech!" Ok, so it's definitely fluffy chick-lit. But I enjoyed it! It was especially nice to get sucked into something touching and romantic after my previous read (not to mention the turmoil of the economy and the upcoming election!).I finally got around to setting up my women's friendship endcap at work, but wound up short by a couple of titles. I've had this book on my shelves for quite some time and decided to go ahead and include it, hoping to get it read before a customer cornered me with specific questions about the book. I've only read a couple of Debbie Macomber's books (The Shop on Blossom Street and Between Friends), but knew I could zip through this book fairly quickly. In spite of the predictable clichés, I wound up enjoying it just as much as several of my favorites within this genre. If you're in the mood for something light and entertaining (read: brain candy), this is just the book!
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin BrockmeierContemporary Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic2007 Vintage Contemporaries252 pagesFinished on 9/19/08Rating: 4.75/5 (Fabulous!)R.I.P. III Challenge #2Publisher's Blurb:The City is inhabited by those who have departed Earth but are still remembered by the living. They will reside in this afterlife until they are completely forgotten. But the City is shrinking, and the residents clearing out. Some of the holdouts, like Luka Sims, who produces the City's only newspaper, are wondering what exactly is going on. Others, like Coleman Kinzler, believe it is the beginning of the end. Meanwhile, Laura Byrd is trapped in an Antarctic research station, her supplies are running low, her radio finds only static, and the power is failing. With little choice, Laura sets out across the ice to look for help, but time is running out. Kevin Brockmeier alternates these two story lines to create a lyrical and haunting tale about love, loss, and the power of memory.
Wow! What a fantastically unique story. I was intrigued when I first read about this book on Carl's blog and I'm glad his R.I.P. III Challenge inspired me to move it up in my stacks. I haven't read such a thought-provoking and imaginative story since Jose Saramago's Blindness.
Brockmeier's novel originally appeared as a short story in The New Yorker (2004). I just finished skimming through the story and have to say (with one caveat) I'm glad he decided to re-work it into a novel. My quibble lies in the last two chapters. The surreal finale was a bit too mystical for my taste, thus my less-than-perfect rating. Nonetheless, I firmly believe this compelling story will stay with me for a long time. I was completely engrossed, not wanting to finish, yet not wanting to put it down. This is definitely going on my Top Ten list for the year. Thank you, Carl, for bringing this marvelous book to my attention.
Some thought-provoking passages:
Occasionally one of the dead, someone who had just completed the crossing, would mistake the city for heaven. It was a misunderstanding that never persisted for long. What kind of heaven had the blasting sound of garbage trucks in the morning, and chewing gum on the pavement, and the smell of fish rotting by the river? What kind of hell, for that matter, had bakeries and dogwood trees and perfect blue days that made the hairs on the back of your neck rise on end? No, the city was not heaven, and it was not hell, and it certainly was not the world. It stood to reason, then, that it had to be something else.
and
Dying had changed Marion Byrd. She had been so weary back when she was alive: weary of talking and weary of eating; wear of thinking, remembering, desiring, anticipating; weary, most of all, of the prospect of seeing her life out to its natural end. She felt as though she had spent the last ten years of her life carrying a tremendous unshaped stone on her shoulders. The effort of keeping her legs upright and simply walking underneath it had nearly crippled her. She didn't know how to cast it off, or even where it had come from, only that she had to carry it.
But then the virus had appeared and she had died, and suddenly everything was different.
On people you've known during your life:
How many people was any one human being likely to remember? A thousand? Maybe if you were cursed with a particularly slipshod memory. So then—ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million? Of course, if you ran out your life in some small village deep in the Himalayas, the number would be greatly diminished, but Michael Puckett wasn't thinking about Himalayan villagers. Or monks, or nuns, or kids who never lived past that falling-down-drunk stage of toddlerhood. He was thinking about himself, his own life, and by extension, he was thinking about Laura. She was the common element, after all, the link or what have you. After all the discussion he had heard in the city, that much was obvious.
He had spent the better part of a week trying to come up with a good solid number, one that took his entire forty-three years of life into account. At first he tried to make the calculations mentally, sorting through the great crowd of people in his head as he listened to the stereo or rested in bed at night. But when he realized how complicated the whole matter was turning out to be, he pulled out his #2 pencil and a blank pad of paper and settled down to work.
This one really got me thinking. I didn't go so far as compiling a written list of everyone I could remember ever meeting, but I did find myself thinking about people from my past: that cute boy (Matthew?) in my first grade class, my third grade teacher (Mrs. Bauer), a family I used to babysit for who had the BEST junk food (!), former co-workers... the list is endless! How many people have you known in your lifetime?
Now I'm even more inspired me to continue with this genre, tossing around an idea for a new endcap, one that concentrates on novels with post-apocalyptic themes. So far, I have On the Beach, Wastelands, A Canticle for Leibowitz, and Lucifer's Hammer to add to my TBR stack. Any other recommendations? I've already read The Road, Alas, Babylon, Earth Abides, Swan Song, The Stand, and I Am Legend. Any favorites I'm missing?
Be sure to check out Carl's fabulous review here. This is such a gripping story and I look forward to hand-selling several copies this holiday season.
From her website:BOOKS FOR BARACK is the brainchild of novelist Ayelet Waldman, whose empassioned — and expletive-laden — e-mail to politically like-minded writers went, as she put it, "viral." Ayelet's solicitation for signed copies of their books for a fundraiser for Barack Obama's campaign has touched a literary nerve, yielding an outpouring of over 750 books from across the country.This incredible collection — including rare, first-edition, and highly collectible copies — continues to grow every day. Here are just a very few examples of the remarkable volumes available through this fundraiser: * Madeleine Albright, Memo to the President Elect (hardcover, first ed, $140 est. value), * Russell Banks, Cloudsplitter (hardcover, first ed) * Judy Blume, Wifey (hardcover, first ed, $95 est. value) * Michael Chabon, Yiddish Policeman's Union (hardcover, first ed, $85 est. value) * Marisa de los Santos, Belong to Me (hardcover, first ed, $100 est. value) * Dave Eggers, What is the What (hardcover, $120 est. value) * Karen Joy Fowler, The Jane Austen Book Club (hardcover, first ed, $85 est. value) * Alan Furst, The Spies of Warsaw (hardcover, first ed, $100 est. value) * Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha (hardcover, $35 est. value) * Oscar Hijuelos, The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (hardcover, first ed) * Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner (hardcover, $75 est. value) * Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis (hardcover, $1379 est. value) * Stephen King, Duma Key (hardcover, $375 est. value) * Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth (hardcover, first ed) * Ursula LeGuin, Tehanu (hardcover, leatherbound limited ed) * Dennis Lehane, The Given Day (hardcover, first ed) * Greil Marcus, Dead Elvis (hardcover, first ed, $100 est value) * Steve Martin, Born Standing Up (hardcover, first ed) * Terry McMillan, How Stella Got Her Groove Back (hardcover, first ed) * Lorrie Moore, The Collected Stories (hardcover, first ed) * Ann Patchett, Bel Canto (hardcover, first ed, $200 est value) * Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart (hardcover, first ed, $100 est value) * Richard Price, Lush Life (hardcover, first ed, $100 est value) * Alice Sebold, Lovely Bones (hardcover, first ed, $500 est value) * Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin (hardcover, first ed, $125 est value) * Lemony Snicket, Complete Set (hardcover, box ed) * Amy Tan, The Bonesetter's Daughter (hardcover, limited ed) * Anne Tyler, Digging to America (hardcover, first ed, $125 est value) * Tobias Wolff, Our Story Begins: New & Selected Stories (hardcover, first ed)So how do I get one of these books and help Obama at the same time?It's really quite simple. If you donate $250 or more to Barack Obama's campaign through Ayelet's MyBarackObama website, you will receive a mystery bag of 10 books, all in a canvas tote printed with the BOOKS FOR BARACK logo. The bags will be assembled randomly and tied closed so that no one — not even Ayelet — will know the contents of any specific bag. Your bag could contain a signed first edition copy of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, a signed first edition copy of Stephen King's Hearts of Atlantis or a fine collection of poetry by a writer you've been waiting to discover.Books will be mailed out starting Friday, September 26.HOW IT'S DONE: 1. Donate $250 or more to Barack Obama's Campaign through Ayelet's MyBarackObama page. 2. Forward your e-mailed receipt to Ayelet (ayeletwaldman@gmail.com), be sure to include your mailing address, and your books will be on their way!
Go here for all details and a list of the generous authors who have contributed to this cause.
The Namesake by Jhumpa LahiriContemporary Fiction2003 Mariner Books291 pagesFinished on 9/12/08Rating: 3/5 (Above Average)Product DescriptionJhumpa Lahiri's debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, took the literary world by storm when it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. Fans who flocked to her stories will be captivated by her best-selling first novel, now in paperback for the first time. The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the tangled ties between generations.The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of an arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ashoke does his best to adapt while his wife pines for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of naming him betrays their hope of respecting old ways in a new world. And we watch as Gogol stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.With empathy and penetrating insight, Lahiri explores the expectations bestowed on us by our parents and the means by which we come to define who we are.
I was immediately captivated by this book, falling easily into Lahiri's marvelous storytelling with its vivid, cinemagraphic detail and sense of place. Yet, in spite of the ease of readability, the novel falls flat. It's a story of a life very much like everyone's: birth, childhood, college, career, dating, marriage, and death. Nothing remarkable occurs during the narrative. There is no suspense. No tension. No conflict. No resolution. The prose isn't even remarkable. And yet, Lahiri has the ability to draw her reader into Gogol's life; she makes us eager to see where it leads, eager to learn about Bengali customs.
I don't mind a quiet, contemplative novel; The Samurai's Garden comes to mind (although it is far superior to Lahiri's debut novel, with its evocative and lyrical prose). I enjoy learning about other cultures; Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance is a superb example, with its fabulous characterization and richly drawn plot. However, The Namesake plods along, laboring under the weight of boring piles of insignificant, tiresome minutia. There's nothing to drive the story forward other than the all too-predictable sequence of events. I would've liked to have learned more about how the characters felt and their insights into love and life, rather than where they lived and what they ate. I wanted to known more about Ashima (Gogol's mother) and how she felt about her life in the United States instead of following Gogol, who, let's face it, is a pretty boring protagonist. Fortunately, Lahiri managed to maintain my interest enough so I could finish the book for my book club. I wonder if I would've completed it without that commitment. If anything, I'm inspired to re-read A Fine Balance. Now that's a great book!
Lee wins a copy of
Cody McFadyen's latest book,
The Darker Side.
Congratulations, Lee! 
Drop me an email with your mailing addresses and I'll get your books off to you in a couple of days. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Rises the Night: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen GleasonRomance/Paranormal2007 Signet352 pagesFinished on 9/6/08Rating: 3/5 (So-so)R.I.P. III Challenge #1Publisher's Blurb:The Gardella Vampire Chronicles continue as the glorious nineteenth-century city of Rome gives rise to a new threat from the immortal undead....Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy has been a vampire slayer for just over a year, balancing her life as a peer of Society with the dangerous role that takes her out on moonlit streets, stake in hand. She has learned brutal and heartbreaking lessons about the sacrifices that must be made in order to save humanity from the evil that secretly preys upon it, but she has not wavered in her vow to fight on.Now, in Italy, a powerful vampire is amassing the power to control the souls of the dead. As Victoria races across Europe to stop what could be the most deadly army the Gardellas have ever faced, her unlikely companion is Sebastian Vioget, a man as tempting as he is untrustworthy. But when Victoria discovers that she has been betrayed by one of her most trusted allies, the truth will challenge all her powers as a Venator—and as a woman....Vampire novels are quite the rage these days. Teens (as well as adults) who devoured Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series are looking for more of this genre to satisfying their bloodthirsty cravings. At work, the science fiction and romance shelves are brimming with all sorts of paranormal series, making it easy for this bookseller to handsell books such as Colleen Gleason's Gardella series to those who have finished the Twilight Saga (and, perhaps, who are looking for something a bit more sophisticated and less permeated with teenage angst).I thoroughly enjoyed Gleason's The Rest Falls Away and was eager to pick up the second in the series (a signed copy, nonetheless!) to kick-off the start of Carl's R.I.P. III Challenge. Unfortunately, I find myself in the minority when it comes to adoring praise for this sophomore entry into the series. It took me quite a long time to get interested in the storyline. It wasn't until the last 100 pages or so that I became completely engrossed in Victoria's dilemma and began to enjoy the swashbuckling feel of the battle between Venators and Vampires. Until that point, I felt the narrative focused more on the romance (read: steamy lust) between the characters and less on the slaying of vampires. Having said that, the historical setting, strong character development, absence of predictability, and simple curiosity have convinced me to continue on and see how the series progresses with The Bleeding Dusk and When Twilight Burns. And, yes, this is a series that most definitely should be read in order. The opening pages of Rises the Night reveal a significant spoiler--something that should only be discovered for the first time in the final pages of The Rest Falls Away.Read what others have to say about this book:
(Click on their blog for their full review)A Reader's Journal (Rises the Night is a gripping, page-turning, nail-biting read.)Stainless Steel Droppings (I experienced an honest-to-goodness Wow! moment in chapter one of Rises the Night and was engrossed in the story from that time on.)Bookfoolery and Babble (Colleen has a tremendous skill for blending adventure with subtle romance, fun dialogue and historical detail. The book is absolutely gripping and I have to admit that I particularly love the way Sebastian's character continues to come into question.)In Spring it is the Dawn (The fact that I’m getting hooked on a vampire romance series when I’d previously avoided all things relating to vampires or books labelled romance [I have read my share of chicklit but I never usually even visit the romance section of the bookstore] is not lost on me!)
Dolce Bellezza (You are looking at the first book I ever bought from the Romance section of Borders. Normally, I go for the New York Times Bestsellers, or mystery, or anything but a cover with an airbrushed man's chest on it.)
Summer's Almost Over
Summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know whySentimental old fool, weeping for this blue, blue skyAnd the way the cat is sleeping and the way the garden grewWagging dogs who lick my face and the way I feel for youPaddling in the kayaks, with my sister, through the quiet creekMoon upon the water and the river breeze upon my cheekAnd the way my Father shuffles with his courage and his caneAnd the way September bluffs and feints till autumn falls againOh summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know whyA party for my birthday and a tractor for my 50 yearsSwallows at their bird play spin and dive above the new mown fieldsAnd a week in Colorado reading books with my best friendAnd the thing I knew I couldn't do and now I know I canWho could help but welcome autumn and the promise of the winter snow?Still there's something sweet and wistful
as I watch this lovely summer goBut the sun is sinking sooner and the weeds have won at lastWith the berries on the bushes and the crickets in the grassOh summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know whyWords and music by Cheryl WheelerGo here to listen or here to purchase.
I hope everyone had an safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend. I grew up in Southern California and school always began the day after Labor Day. Here in Nebraska, school has been back in session for a couple of weeks now. However, we still have three weeks before the official start of autumn. I hope to get the kayak out on the lake a few more times before it gets chilly. It won't be long before it's too cold for that or to float in the pool! I suspect my reading will begin to pick up in the coming weeks, although there's always a month or so of raking leaves and tidying up the flower beds before the first snow.
I only read three books in August, but they were all pretty good. Click on the titles to read my reviews.Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (4/5)The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (3/5)The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen (4.5/5)
Favorite of the month: The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen
Books Read 3
DNF 0
Male Authors 1
Female Authors 2
New-To-Me Authors 2
Epistolary 0
Current Affairs 0
Japanese 0
Audio 0
Fiction 3
Nonfiction 0
Historical Fiction 1
Classic 0
Poetry 0
Teen 0
Children's 0
Sci-Fi 0
Fantasy 0
Horror 0
Romance 0
Humor 0
Travel 0
Memoir 0
Culinary 0
Mystery/Thriller 1
Series 1
Re-read 0
Challenge 0
Mine 3
Borrowed 0
ARC 1
Gift 1
Note: Only books completed are counted in the above totals with, of course, the exception of the DNF category.
The Darker Side by Cody McFadyenThriller2008 Bantam
368 pages
Finished on 8/28/08
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)
Publisher's Blurb:
Cody McFadyen has shocked even the most jaded suspense fans with Shadow Man and The Face of Death. Now comes a thriller that outdoes them all, featuring a psychopath on a perverse crusade of murder. And the one woman who can stop him may have to cross the line to do it.
A lie, a long-ago affair, a dark desire—what secret was a very private young woman keeping that led to her very public murder? That's the question FBI special agent Smoky Barrett and her handpicked team of experienced manhunters are summoned to answer by order of the FBI director himself. Brilliant, merciless, righteous, the killer Smoky is hunting is on his own personal mission. For in his eyes no one is innocent. Soon Smokey will have to confront a flawless killer who knows her flaws with murderous intimacy.
McFadyen has done it again. He's written a gritty, disturbing thriller that kept me wondering what kind of person writes about such horrific killings, and perhaps more importantly, what kind of person reads them?! The Darker Side reads a bit like true crime (although my experience with that genre is limited to Helter Skelter), full of tension and edginess that invades my thoughts and dreams. As with all my favorite series, it's the characters that keep me coming back. Smoky's an intriguing heroine and I enjoyed learning more about her and her co-workers, curious to learn more about the life of an FBI agent.
On murder...
The murdered move me. Good or bad, they had hopes and dreams and loves. They once lived, like all of us, in a world where the deck is stacked against living. Between cancer or crashes on the freeway or dropping dead of a heart attack with a glass of wine in your hand and a strangled smile on your face, the world gives us plenty of chances to die. Murderers cheat the system, helping things along, rob the victims of something it's already a fight to keep. This offends me. I hated it the first time I saw it and I hate it even more now.
One of my frustrations with series of this genre is the need to outline the back-story of previous books. Often I'll find myself a bit annoyed and bored when an author spends too much time reminding the reader of significant events from an earlier work. This was not the case with The Darker Side. McFadyen writes like a veteran, deftly laying out all the necessary details without falling into the trap of overstating the obvious or padding the story with unnecessary commentary. I was immediately drawn into the narrative; the pacing is consistent and riveting, and the situations and dialogue completely believable. And, yes, in spite of the nature of these thrillers, I'll be one of the first in line to buy Cody's next book.
And now for a couple of give-aways! I have a brand new mass market copy of The Face of Death (Cody's second book in this series), as well as an ARC of The Darker Side. Leave me a comment with the title of the book you're interested in and I'll pick the winners in one week.
If you're like me and curious as to how Cody can create such evil villains (and how this affects him), check out his guest appearance here and here.
Better yet, Cody now has a blog! You can find it (and pictures of his dogs, aka "The Black Forces of Destruction") on his website.
Note to Cody: I like this title much better than Secret Sins!
Have you all seen what MyFriendAmy is up to? Here are the details from her blog:
Book Bloggers: You work hard. You read books, you write reviews, you maintain relationships with your readers, publicists, and authors. You are constantly running to the post office to mail your giveaways and participating in carnivals to help boost traffic. You sometimes want to faint when you see the size of your TBR pile, but faithfully you read. And you do it because you love it. Book blogging is for most a hobby. But it's a hobby that takes a lot of work and time. It's a labor of love.I've been blogging for three years but only really got into book blogging in the last year. I have found, without a doubt, that book bloggers are the kindest, most open minded, and supportive group of bloggers on the internet. With book blogging, it's about community and a love for the written word.The Readers: We love you! You don't have a blog, but you read our reviews and share your thoughts with us. You enter our giveaways and click on our Amazon associates link. We do this for you and appreciate your readership. We hope you'll join in the fun and festivities of BBAW! (we'll have a special contest just for you!)Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Acknowledging the hard work of book bloggers and their growing impact on book marketing and their essential contribution to book buzz in general, I am excited to announce the first Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Think of it as a retreat for book bloggers and a chance for us to totally nerd out over books together. And of course, shower each other with love and appreciation.Register: In order to experience the maximum impact of the week, I invite you to register your participation (just like a retreat)!To register, just send an email to bookbloggerappreciationweekATgmailDOTcom with your blog url and what you consider your niche...i.e, general book blog, classics blog, personal blog with a healthy dose of books, YA books blog, etc. Then, add one of the two buttons at the bottom of this post to your sidebar. If you are a reader (no blog) just send an email announcing your plans to follow along.Why bother? If you register, you will be added to a book blog directory which will exist long after this week is over. Additionally, you will receive one raffle entry into the daily giveaways during BBAW here at My Friend Amy.Awards: Oh yes, there will be awards. The Oscars of Book Blogging. :) Nominations start next week.Spread the Word: If you are excited about this idea like I am and the other book bloggers who are helping, please consider writing a post on your blog announcing this event and inviting other book bloggers and readers to join.It's time to open nominations for Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards 2008!Listed below are the categories of awards. There are many. You may not have a nomination for each award. It doesn't matter. Nominate up to two blogs per category and send an email to BbawawardsATgmailDOTcom with your choices. You DO NOT have to have a blog to make nominations. Comments left on this post will NOT be accepted as nominations. Each category will be narrowed to the top five blogs by number of nominations received, so don't be shy!!! Support your favorite blogs and bloggers! Nominations will close on August 31st.And the categories for the Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards 2008 are:Best General Book BlogBest Kidlit BlogBest Christian/Inspirational Fiction BlogBest Literary Fiction BlogBest Book Club BlogBest Romance BlogBest Thrillers/Mystery/Suspense BlogBest Non-fiction BlogBest Young Adult Lit BlogBest Book/Publishing Industry BlogBest Challenge HostBest Community BuilderBest Cookbook BlogBest History/Historical Fiction BlogBest DesignMost ChattyMost ConciseMost Eclectic TasteBest Name for a BlogBest Published Author BlogBest Book published in 2008Best Meme/Carnival/EventMost Extravagant GiveawaysBest Book Community siteWrite In--think we missed something? Write in your category and nomination and if there are enough other write-ins of the same category it will be added!Sounds like fun to me! I'm off to place my nominations.
