A Month in Summary - January 2013

Has it really been almost three years since I've posted a monthly recap?! Near as I can tell, my last was in March of 2010. I think I stopped because it was too much work and I was constantly behind with my reviews and didn't want to post the summary until I could provide links to those reviews. Well, it's a new year and I have a new attitude. I'm going to color outside the lines! :) I'm going to list the books I've read and not worry about the links. The reviews will come in due time. 

My January reading was focused primarily on selections from my shelves (with the exception of my audio books). As tempting as it is to read the newest or upcoming releases, I felt like spending the month sampling from my personal collection. The good news is that I cleared out a bunch of books from one of my shelves. The bad news is that I gave up on several before finally settling on one. Here's how the month ended:


Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon (audio) 2.5/5 (Meh)

Milk Glass Moon by Adriana Trigiana 4/5 (Very Good)

Off the Grid by P.J. Tracy 4/5 (Very Good)

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (audio) 4/5 (Very Good)

The Lost Art of Mixing by Erica Bauermeister 4.5/5 (Excellent)

DNFs

Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

The Promise of Rest by Reynolds Price

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

So how did I do with my plan to read from my personal library? Well, all of the DNF titles came from my shelves, but the only one in my completed stack is Milk Glass Moon. I borrowed Off the Grid on a whim and I had promised myself that I'd read my ARC of The Lost Art of Mixing before the hardcover was released on the 24th. I have an ARC of The Orchardist, but I only glanced at it once or twice (while listening to the audio) in order to mark a couple of passages.

But you're probably more interested in my thoughts on the books I read, rather than if I could follow through on my goal, right? Well, I'm hoping to get some reviews composed in the next few days, but suffice it to say that I was only disappointed in one of the books I finished.

My goal for February is to read from my stack of library books. Yep, I actually visited my local library for the first time in months! I was thrilled to find some books that I've been anxious to read, and I look forward to spending a guilt-free month supporting my public library system.

Emily, Alone

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
Fiction
2011 Penguin
Finished 12/23/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific!)



 
Publisher's Blurb:

It's the fall of 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The upcoming presidential race is starting to take shape. The Steelers are on the march to a division title. But on Grafton Street near Highland Park, the days and nights can be disturbingly quiet for Emily Maxwell, a woman in her late seventies still trying to adjust to life without her beloved and recently deceased husband, Henry. With her old cadre of friends dwindling one by one and her two adult children living far away and wrapped up in their own lives, Emily does her best to fill her days by listening to classical music on the radio, reading George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, and caring for her aging but obstreperous dog Rufus. She lives an outwardly placid life of visits to art museums, gossip at her club, and two-for-one buffet breakfasts at the Eat 'n Park with her sister-in-law Arlene. That placidity is shattered, however, when, one morning at the Eat 'n Park, Arlene's speech suddenly garbles and she collapses to the floor. Arlene, after a brief stay at the hospital, is fine, but is Emily? Forced more than ever to look to her own resources, more conscious than ever that her own remaining time on earth will not likely be long, Emily quietly and slowly resumes a more active control of her life, determined to fill the days that she has left with thought, emotion, and meaning.

In Emily, Alone, with supreme sensitivity and exquisite detail, novelist Stewart O'Nan follows Emily through the better part of a year, illuminating her daily tasks, her holiday celebrations, and her unspoken yearnings and disappointments. In the pages of Emily, Alone readers already familiar with the Maxwell family from O'Nan's earlier novel Wish You Were Here are reunited with Emily's recovering alcoholic daughter Margaret and diligent, eager-to-please son Kenneth. Those who are meeting the family for the first time may find themselves strangely familiar with both the ties of emotion and experience that bind the Maxwells together and the subtle tensions that complicate their interactions. With a rare deftness of observation and minuteness of description, O'Nan shows us not merely a family but family itself—the sturdy but sensitive web that assumes so many different shapes but is somehow everywhere the same.

Eager for love but also unable to resist her need to direct the lives of her relatives, Emily Maxwell continually walks an emotional tightrope, striving simultaneously to recruit affection from her children and grandchildren but also to remind them that grandmother knows best. Ever conscious of her age and the widening gap between her own ideas and the mainstream of her society, she walks other tightropes as well: between a consciousness of change and a yearning for stasis; between the lengthening past and the shortening future; between the enduring preciousness of life and the inevitability of death. In Emily, Alone, Stewart O'Nan infuses the everyday with a miraculous vividness and urgency. Through Emily Maxwell, he firmly declares that no life is ordinary.

I loved this book! It was just the right thing to read during the busy holiday season, as the chapters are short (almost vignettes) and I could easily pick it up and set it down without losing interest. I loved Emily (and her loyal dog, Rufus) and I found myself nodding my head, feeling a bit like I was seeing a glimpse of my future self in some of Emily's situations and emotions. It also brought to mind memories of my maternal grandmother (who lived alone for 11 years after the death of my grandfather), as well as reflecting on my relationships with my mother (who turns 80 this year) and my daughter (who will be 30!).

One might consider the subject of an elderly widow too depressing, but I thought it was an uplifting novel and one in which O'Nan deftly paints a realistic portrait of the aging. The only other book I've read by this author is Last Night at the Lobster and I wasn't terribly impressed, although I sure had fun writing my review. I doubt I would have given Emily, Alone a second glance, had I not read Nan's wonderful review. I encourage you to visit her blog and see what she has to say about this gem of a book. She has included several passages that will give you an idea of the author's superb attention to detail. 

Final Thoughts: This one's a keeper! I am definitely adding Wish You Were Here and The Odds to my 2013 reading list!

The School of Essential Ingredients

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
Fiction
2009 Penguin Audio
Reader: Cassandra Campbell
Finished: 11/30/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific!)



Product Description:

Once a month on Monday night, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect.

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. One by one they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love, and a garlic and red sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Over time, the paths of the students mingle and intertwine, and the essence of Lillian's cooking expands beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of their lives, with results that are often unexpected, and always delicious.

It's been over three years since I first discovered this lovely book. After receiving an ARC of Bauermeister's follow-up novel (The Lost Art of Mixing), I knew it was time to re-read The School of Essential Ingredients. I thoroughly enjoyed re-visiting Lillian's restaurant and Cassandra Campbell's excellent narration didn't disappoint. 

You can read my original review here and purchase The Lost Art of Mixing at your local bookstore on January 24th!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Nonfiction
2010 Random House Audio
Readers: Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin
Finished 11/26/12
Rating: 2.5/5 (Fair)



Overview

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

After reading so many positive reviews for this book, I was anxious to finally listen to the audio when it popped up in my library queue. The narrative starts off with a bang and I learned a lot about the history of HeLa cells. Unfortunately, as the story progressed I found it difficult to pay attention and felt the author focused too much on Deborah's life. I doubt I would've have finished the book, had I read the print edition. Disappointing.

Flight Behavior

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Fiction
2012 HarperCollins
Finished 11/14/12
Rating: 4.75/5 (Terrific)




One of the gifts of a Kingsolver novel is the resplendence of her prose. She takes palpable pleasure in the craft of writing, creating images that stay with the reader long after her story is done.
—Dominique Browning (The New York Times Book Review)


Overview:

Dellarobia Turnbow is a restless farm wife who gave up her own plans when she accidentally became pregnant at seventeen. Now, after a decade of domestic disharmony on a failing farm, she has settled for permanent disappointment but seeks momentary escape through an obsessive flirtation with a younger man. She hikes up a mountain road behind her house toward a secret tryst, but instead encounters a shocking sight: a silent, forested valley filled with what looks like a lake of fire. She can only understand it as a cautionary miracle, but it sparks a raft of other explanations from scientists, religious leaders and the media. The bewildering emergency draws rural farmers into unexpected acquaintance with urbane journalists, opportunists, sightseers, and a striking biologist with his own stake in the outcome. As the community lines up to judge the woman and her miracle, Dellarobia confronts her family, her church, her town, and a larger world, in a flight toward truth that could undo all she has ever believed.

Flight Behavior was a wonderful read and, I believe, Kingsolver's best yet. The writing is exquisite and captivating and after two months, I'm still thinking about Dellarobia, Ovid Byron and the Monarch butterflies. I marked several passages in my book, but then made the decision to give up blogging and loaned my ARC to a friend. Now I don't have any to share with you, but perhaps that's for the best. This is a novel you will want to discover on your own. 

With the exception of The Lacuna and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I've read all of Kingsovler's novels and essay collections. I've enjoyed each book, but my favorites are The Poisonwood Bible and High Tide In Tuscon, both of which I'd love to re-read someday. Flight Behavior is now at the top of the list. Highly recommend!

Rejected

Last week I made the decision to spend the month reading from my stacks. These books have been in my possession for close to a decade, if not longer (and have moved from Lincoln to Texas and back to Lincoln again!). With fairly strict adherence to my 50 page rule, I've managed to toss five aside. The good news is I finally found something I'm enjoying. These are the losers.

Read two dozen pages. No interest at all.

Bought this one at Powell's in the Portland airport. Isn't the cover art beautiful? Unfortunately, the coming-of-age tale didn't do anything for me.

I loved A Fine Balance and was anxious to finally give this one a read. Judging by the ratings on Goodreads, I'm in the minority, but after 40 pages it simply didn't appeal to me.

It's been such a long time since I read Big Stone Gap that I'd pretty much forgotten the entire back story when I picked up Trigiani's follow-up novel. I didn't even make it past 30 pages. With that said, I'm well over a 100 pages in Milk Glass Moon (the third in the series). Go figure. I may have to come back to this when I'm finished.

Another sequel that failed to pull me in. These Is My Words is one of my all-time favorite epistolary novels. I've read it twice and have hand sold well over a 100 copies. Unfortunately, Sarah's Quilt feels slow and plodding. I read over 50 pages and found I was beginning to check to see how much further I had to read. Not a good sign.

Shhhhhh....

Don't tell my husband. I'm pretty sure he has a bet with one of his co-workers that I wouldn't last two weeks. ;)

Thank you for all your sweet comments. Between these and those posted on Facebook, I'm reminded that there are many readers out there who don't leave comments,  but are nonetheless following my blog and recommendations. I'm quite humbled.

It's been less than two weeks since I decided to close up shop and I have to admit that I'm missing it just a little bit. I don't miss the time involved in composing an informative book review, but I do miss the conversations shared with you. I'm still following my favorite blogs, but it feels like bit lopsided.

So... the compromise.

I am going to continue to keep a running list of the books I've read in my sidebar, as well post a very simple entry (similar to what I'll share on Goodreads) when I finish a book. If I mark a favorite passage, I'll include that, but no more long, involved reviews. Not much of a change from the past few months, is it? The big change involves commenting. Responding to comments has always been important to me, but as you all know, it can be very time consuming. So, unless asked a specific question, I will no longer respond general comments. I'm also going to refrain from joining any challenges this year and will only accept ARCs by my favorite authors. It's time to start reading more books from my stacks, many of which have been lurking for over a decade!

So here's to the New Year and a new plan. Thank you all for your loyalty and love. 

The End

Good friends and good books --

Things we want to hang on to forever.

After nearly seven years of blogging, I have decided the time has come to say goodbye. At least from this vantage point. I can't begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed sharing my passion for reading, cooking, gardening, music and traveling with all of you on these pages, but I've grown weary of the process. Instead, I look forward to reading for the pure pleasure of escaping into a book without the intrusive thoughts of which passages to mark or which scenes to describe in my review. I look forward to enjoying a beautiful sunset or a delicious meal without feeling the urge to grab my camera in order to document the event for a blog entry. And, I look forward to curling up with a book during the hours I'd normally devote to composing and publishing my posts.

And yet, I can't just simply walk away from this wonderful world of blogging. You, my dear friends, have become so important to me during these past few years. You've cheered me on in the good times and held my hand (albeit, virtually) and offered words of comfort during some very difficult days. I am blessed to have come to know so many incredibly loving people and I thank you for your friendship and the kindness you've bestowed upon me. But as I said, this is only goodbye from this side of the screen. I still plan to visit your blogs and look forward to keeping in touch via email and Goodreads. I may be ready to free up several hours a week, but I'm not ready to go cold turkey and completely unplug! ;)

I think Kay summed it up quite nicely when she decided to stop blogging:

Be well. Be happy. Read a lot or not a lot if you don't want to. Mostly, my wish for each of you is that you live and glory in the present and in the richness of the time we have here on this earth. Life is short. Tell someone you love them every day.

And so, I'll see you around the Blogosphere.

Be well.

With love,

Les

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your loved ones

a very Merry Christmas!

Last Minute Shopping

Still looking for that perfect book to give this holiday season? Take a listen to this wonderful program on NHPR. I plan to refer back to the show in the coming year.

2012 Year End Survey

1. Ten favorite books read in 2012?

• The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Gone by Mo Hayder
• Little Princes by Conor Grennan
• Paris in Love by Eloisa James
• The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
• Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
• The Passage by Justin Cronin
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

2. Most disappointing book?

• Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

3. Most surprising books of 2012?

• The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

4. Book(s) you recommended to people most in 2012?

•  The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• and all the others listed in #1

5. Favorite authors you discovered in 2012? 

• Gillian Flynn
• Mo Hayder
• Justin Cronin
• Jenny Wingfield

6. Most thrilling book in 2012?

• Gone by Mo Hayder

7. Book you most anticipated in 2012?

• Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsovler

8. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

• Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan
• Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs by Heather Lende

9. Most memorable characters in 2012?

• Swan Lake, of The Homecoming of Samuel Lake
• Dellarobia Turnbow, of Flight Behavior
• Emily Maxwell, of Emily, Alone

10. Most beautifully written books read in 2012?

• The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Devoted by Jonathan Hull

11. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

• Little Princes by Conor Grennan

12. Book you can't believe you waited until 2012 to finally read?

• The Passage by Justin Cronin

13. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2012?

A good marriage drags a long tail of memory behind it. A single word or gesture, a tone of voice can conjure up so many remembrances. Laurie and I had been flirting like this for thirty-odd years, since the day we met in college and we both went a little love-crazy. Things were different now, of course. At fifty-one, love was a quieter experience. We drifted through the days together. But we both remembered how it all started, and even now, in the middle of my middle age, when I think of that shining young girl, I still feel a little thrill of first love, still there, still burning like a pilot light. (Defending Jacob by William Landy)

14. Authors which you would like to read more of in 2013? 

• Gillian Flynn
• Mo Hayder
• Donna Leon
• Justin Cronin

15. Books that had a shocking ending?

• Defending Jacob by William Landy

16. Best children's book read in 2012?

• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

17. Any challenges you completed in 2012?

• 2012 Audio Book Challenge
• Paris in July 2012
• R.I.P. VII

18. Any read-alongs you completed in 2012?

• The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (with Bellezza)

19. Blogging plans for 2013?

• To be announced...

The Prophet

The Prophet by Michael Koryta
Fiction
2012 Hachette Audio
Length: 11 hours and 49 minutes
Reader: Robert Petkoff
Finished on 11/12/12
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)



Publisher’s Blurb:

Two brothers in a small Midwestern town: one the high school’s beloved football coach on the verge of a state championship, one scraping by as a bail bondsman. Their sister was abducted and murdered when they were teenagers, and they’ve been divided since that day. Now a new killing with ties to both of them has forced a painful and adversarial reunion.

Michael Koryta, widely hailed as one of the best young thriller writers at work today, has written his first masterpiece—an emotionally harrowing, unstoppably suspenseful novel that shows why Dean Koontz has said, “He’s now on my must-read list.”

I don’t think I’d ever heard of Michael Koryta until one day when I glanced through an ARC of his latest book, The Prophet. I decided to give it a try, after reading the following from the cover of that ARC:

What do the #1 bestselling writers Lee Child, Stephen King, James Patterson, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Scott Smith, Ridley Pearson and Dean Koontz have in common?

They all love Michael Koryta.

Now read his greatest thriller ever, The Prophet.

I’ve gotten so I really enjoy listening to mysteries and thrillers, so when the audio version came up in my library queue, I decided to skip the ARC and give the audio a try. In spite of the unremarkable reader (Robert Petkoff), the narrative held my interest, especially during the football scenes. I’ve become quite a fan of college football (Go Big Red!), so I had no trouble picturing the plays as described by Koryta. Unfortunately, it’s been a month since I finished the book and the details of the actual mystery have already faded. I wrote in my journal that The Prophet is a bit reminiscent of Defending Jacob, but today I have to idea why I thought this!

Wordless Friday

Newtown, Connecticut

December 14, 2012

29 Years Ago...

I fell in love.

Happy Birthday to my lovely daughter.

The Little Stranger

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Fiction
2009 Penguin Group Audio
Reader: Simon Vance
Length: 14 CDs, 18 hours
Finished: 11/2/12
Rating: 3/5 (So-so)
R.I.P. VII Challenge




From the author's website:

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners – mother, son and daughter – are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own.

But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.

Prepare yourself. From this wonderful writer who continues to astonish us, now comes a chilling ghost story.


I chose The Little Stranger as my second selection for this year’s RIP VII Challenge (hosted by Carl). I’ve read one other book by Waters (The Night Watch) and was anxious to give her latest novel a read. After hearing such good things about Simon Vance, I decided to go with the audio book rather than the paperback. Vance lived up to all the praise I’d been hearing and is now one of my favorite readers (next to Jim Dale).* His performance was outstanding! Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the same about the novel. I was expecting a much scarier tale, something more in tune with Stephen King or Dean Koontz. The Little Stranger is a psychological thriller, and one that kept me guessing clear to the very end. And yet, in spite of listening to the entire book, I found it somewhat anticlimactic. Hundreds Hall is a creepy house with strange, unexplainable occurrences affecting the lives (literally) of those who come in contact with it, but it wasn’t nearly as disturbing as the house in Anne Rivers Siddon’s novel, The House Next Door or Stephen King’s The Shining. I’m not sorry I read it, but I did have my hopes set higher for a stellar read.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the audio book well enough to finish, but it’s not one I feel compelled to rush out and buy in print. The Little Stranger should appeal to fans of The Thirteenth Tale (Setterfield) and Don’t Look Now (du Maurier).

*While searching for more books narrated by Simon Vance, I discovered that I’ve already listened to him. Twice! I’d completely forgotten that he was the reader for the Steig Larsson trilogy. I’m looking forward to listening to more and am open to recommendations. I see he narrates A Tale of Two Cities, which was one of my favorite books when I was in high school. I may just have to give that a re-read!

Wordless Wednesday

Crape Myrtle Allee

Chihuly at the Arboretum

Dallas, TX

Click on the photos to view with a black background.

For more Wordless Wednesday photos,

 go here.

Anna Karenina

Loved it! Great cast, costumes, sets and musical score. I'm so glad I saw it on the big screen!

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus: A Novel About Marriage, Motherhood and Mayhem by Sonya Sones
Fiction
2011 HarperCollins
Finished on 10/15/12
Rating: 4.5/5 (Terrific!)




Publisher’s Blurb: 

My name is Holly.
This story is about me—
a writer who’s way behind
on her deadline.

But, honestly,
how can I concentrate on my work
when my fiftieth birthday’s
rushing at me like a freight train,

my hormones are making me feel
like a Szechuan flambé,
and my eighty-year-old mother’s
biting her nurses?

Not to mention the fact that my daughter’s
just begun applying to colleges
(none of which are within
a thousand-mile radius of home),

and lately my husband’s been
such an irritating, finger-pointing stinker
that I’ve found myself dreaming of ways
to spend his insurance money…

My name is Holly.
This book
tells my story—
a coming-of-middle-age story.


I’ve been blogging for close to 7 years and every so often I get the urge to pack it in and call it a day. This tends to happen when I fall behind with my reviews and the feeling intensifies during the holidays, when my job (which I love) zaps all my energy and leaves me with zero motivation to do much of anything, even on the weekends. It’s during moments like those that I think I should quit blogging, quit Facebook, quit Pinterest (ack, what a time suck!), quit all my book-related subscriptions and return to life as it was before I discovered this community of book lovers. But then I come upon a beautifully written review echoing my thoughts, or a tantalizing recipe, or a recommendation for a book that I may never have discovered on my own, and I realize that this new life is exactly where I want to be. I just need to remember to remain true to myself and not let that inner voice nag at me to get those reviews written. I’m not getting paid to do this, and thus, there are no commitments or deadlines to review all of the books I’ve read. So I keep going and continue to read my favorite blogs. And it’s there that I find a gem in the rough such as The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. I am exposed to dozens upon dozens of new books each week at work and it can be overwhelming, to say the least. So when I read a review such as the one Nancy wrote (followed with other wonderful and intriguing reviews by Staci and Kathy), I take note and make it a point to give the book a try.

I honestly can’t remember if Nancy sent me a copy of Sones’ novel, or if I finally broke down and bought one myself, but it wound up on a shelf in my office where it remained for several months. When I decided to participate in Dewey’s Read-a-Thon this past October, I remembered I had a copy of this book and knew it was a perfect choice, as it’s a novel in verse. This was the absolute perfect book to read as the evening wound down. The pages flew and before I knew it, I’d finished 250 pages in just under an hour and a half. I could have easily finished the entire book that night, but I finally had to quit. I was reading in bed and it was almost impossible to stifle my laughter; I kept worrying that I was going to awaken my husband with my constant snickering. I have over a dozen passages marked with sticky notes, many of which involve marriage and motherhood, but I thought the following would resonate with pretty much everyone. I honestly believe I’ve had this conversation with AA:

Trying to Reserve the Flight That Will Take Samantha to College

Automated Voice:
Thanks for calling
the American Airlines Advantage desk.
Para Español, diga “Español.”


Me:


Automated Voice:
What’s your Advantage number?


Me:
XDD5376.


Automated Voice:
That’s FBB5376. Right?

Me:
Wrong.


Automated Voice:
I’m sorry.
Please say your Advantage number again.

Me:
X.D.D.5.3.7.6.

Automated Voice:
That’s FVV4367. Right?

Me:
No. You are not right.
You are not even slightly right.

Automated Voice:
My apologies. I didn’t get that.
Please say your Advantage number again.

Me:
XDD5376!

Automated Voice:
That’s STD5376? Right?

Me:
You have got to be kidding me…

Automated Voice:
I’m sorry. I seem to be having
some trouble understanding you.
Please say your Advantage number again.

Me:
Just let me speak to an agent!

Automated Voice:
Do you want to talk to an agent
about travel within the United States,
Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands?

Me:
Agent!

Automated Voice:
I understand you’d like to speak to someone.
Let’s find out what you need first
and then I’ll get you to the right place.

Me:
Agent! Agent!

Automated Voice:
Okay. Do you want to speak to an agent
about travel within the United States,
Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands?

Me:
Agent! Agent! AGENT!

Automated Voice:
I’m sorry. I didn’t get that.

Me:
Of course you didn’t get that.
You’re a machine, for chrissake.
You can’t “get” things.
You have no ears.
 And in case you haven’t noticed—
you have no heart.
So quit telling me how sorry you feel.
You can’t feel sorry.
You can’t feel anything.
Because you are nothing but
A GODDAMN STINKING
SHITTY HEAP OF HIDEOUSLY
INFURIATING DIGITAL SOUND!

Automated Voice:
I’m sorry. I didn’t get that.

See what my blogmates have to say about The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus:

Highly recommended. A roller coaster emotional ride that's so fresh and unique and funny that you'll probably shove it into the hands of your friends, like I did -- especially if you're nearing 50 and can relate. I laughed, I cried, I passed my copy around. When my friend Lisa handed the book back to me, she said, "I loved this book! And, I'm only 45!" The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is great fun. I think anyone can enjoy and appreciate it, except perhaps teenagers or maybe a few young, upwardly mobile folks who refuse to think so far ahead, but those who like to read anything will likely still love it because it's a good story. The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is definitely a new favorite of mine, a 5/5. (Nancy, of Bookfoolery and Babble)

Recommend? Absolutely...especially for those 40+! So many things that Sonya Sones writes about will hit home with you. Being a child, teen, falling in love for the first time, having children, empty nest, losing the spark within your marriage, divorce, finding love again, infidelity, aging parents, sagging body parts (very true!) and just about getting older.....read this book and I guarantee that you will find yourself laughing one minute, sighing the next, and maybe shedding a few tears! Rating: 10/10 (Staci, of Life in the Thumb)

When I first starting reading reviews of The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, by Sonya Sones, I figured it wasn’t for me. After all, I thought the title was rather silly and the novel is written in verse, and I don’t “do” poetry. Thank heavens my friend Julie urged me to give it a try, because I absolutely adored this book! I suspect it’s somewhat autobiographical but, I felt like Sones was peeking at my life and writing about it. I laughed and cried as I read this touching and heartfelt book. I started to mark passages as I read it and found that I was marking everything, so I gave up. The sentiments in this book are gorgeous and emotional and I found I could relate to so much of it. (Kathy, of BermudaOnion’s Weblog)

Be sure to click on the links to read Nancy, Staci and Kathy’s complete reviews. A portion of Staci’s is even written in verse!

Final Thoughts: Sones had me laughing out loud one minute and crying the next (not to mention longing for a sequel). This novel will appeal to women of all ages, especially those who are married with children. Highly recommend!