From My Book Shelf -- GONE GIRL

GONE GIRL is the red hot book right now

 and has been for several weeks.

It is  Number One on the

Indie Bestseller List this week.

It has received excellent critical acclaim

for it's first time author, Gillian Flynn.

The story is narrated, in turn

by it's two main characters,

Amy and Nick, giving the reader

two totally different points of view

and the dilemma of who to believe.

The story begins on their fifth year

wedding anniversary when

Amy goes missing.

Amy's narrative is from the perspective of

a journal she has kept for several years.

There are clever plot twists here.

When I started Part Two of the book

I was totally taken by surprise at

the direction it takes.

I won't share what it is because it's

such an interesting turn.

Part One is good,

Part Two blew me away.

However, the book becomes

totally unbelievable by the time you

get to Part Three and I found it to be a

real weakness.

I kept hoping for one more clever twist

that would make the story, as a whole,

equal to it's Part Two.

It didn't happen.

From My Book Shelf--WILD

WILD by Cheryl Strayed will impress you with it's honesty.

This is  the memoir of Strayed,

 who at the age of twenty six, is "lost."

She is dealing with the death of her mother,

four years previously.

She has had a failed marriage.

She is dabbling with heroin in her present relationship.

Impulsively she decides to undertake a 1100 mile solo hike

of the Pacific Crest Trail

in an attempt to,

"come to terms with her life."

The Pacific Crest Trail is a wilderness trail.

It is rugged. 

There are bears, rattlesnakes,

scorching sun,

snow and ice.

Added to those are her

too heavy backpack,

(her description of trying to physically lift

her pack after loading it with her supplies,

is laugh-out-loud funny)

boots that aren't the right fit,

hunger and thirst,

and her total lack of experience as a hiker.

Before her first night on the trail,

she had never backpacked before.

Image of Strayed on the trail

from Google Images

But Strayed has true grit.

She puts one foot in front on the other

and makes the trek.

She shares her trials, 

her achievements

and her experiences.

I fully recommend this book.

It was a gift from my daughter for my birthday.

When she gave it to me I thought to myself,

"Okay... not really into hiking,

but I'll give it a try."

After the first couple of pages,

I couldn't put it down.

(Thank you Kate, loved it!)

From My Book Shelf--THE HYPNOTIST



Just today I finished THE HYPNOTIST by Lars Kepler.

Normally I'm not a crime fiction reader,

but this was on a book list and was available,

and I'm like Mikey, I'll read anything...

This book had me from the first couple of pages.

It is creepy, dark, scary and has so many

twists and turns it's hard to keep up with them.

It's a debut novel by husband and wife team,

Swedish writers,

Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril.

It is very much in the tradition of

Strig Larssen's  GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO series.

There are actually two main story lines

which do not begin to merge until the latter half of the book.

The book begins with a gruesome triple murder of a family.

The only survivor is the teenage son, who is so badly injured

he is unable to answer questions about it.

The investigating detective, Joona Linna

enlists the aid of Dr. Erik Maria Bark,

a hypnotist to break into the boy's subconscious.

If you like suspense and have a strong stomach,

I recommend this book.

Just keep in mind,

nothing is as it seems in this book...

From My Book Shelf - LOTS OF CANDLES, PLENTY OF CAKE

If I were an eloquent writer,

whose thoughts were focused, clear and sharp,

this is the book I would like to have written.

Pulitzer Prize winner, Anna Quindlen's,

LOTS OF CANDLES, PLENTY OF CAKE,

is a memoir written from her perspective

as a sixty year old woman.

(Perhaps that's one of the reasons it

resonates so well for me.)

In it she covers most of the big topics

in her/our lives:

relationships, family, career, balancing it all,

spirituality, faith and religion,

culture and

aging.

This book should be required reading for any woman,

midlife or older,

any young woman about to embark upon

career and/or her own family,

and finally all men,

to give them a real woman's perspective.

I "read" it as I often do using my

Walkman and the audio version,

read by Quindlen herself,

and it was excellent.

However, I was so touched by this book

I believe I'm going to have to buy it

in hardback, just to have a copy to dip

back into from time to time for its wisdom.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Other books you might like by Anna Quindlen:

BLESSINGS

BLACK AND BLUE

ONE TRUE THING



From My Book Shelf -- Two Books for Your Inner Foodie

GARLIC & SAPPHIRES by Ruth Reichl

is not a new title.

It was published in 2005.

(I find I'm having a hard time lately

getting new titles in audio format.

I think my local library is putting all their

funds into titles for eBooks and Kindles.

Thus my selection of this older book.)

I first knew Ruth Reichl's name when she was

editor in chief for GOURMET Magazine.

This book is about her stint as the

restaurant critic for the NEW YORK TIMES,

1993 TO 1999,

just before she went to GOURMET.

Her intent was to open up

the range of food critiques,

and bring attention to some of the

excellent ethnic restaurants in NYC.

In order to get a true picture

of a particular restaurant,

she becomes a master of disguises,

and is able to visit many

high profile eateries, anonymously.

She learns some interesting lessons

in her alternate personas.

After relaying the details

of particular visits to restaurants,

she often includes the actual critique

that appeared in the paper.

Gabrielle Hamilton's, more current book,

BLOOD, BONES & BUTTER,

is a much grittier, unglamorous,

look at the food world.

Hamilton is the chef and owner

of "Prune," in NYC.

Not only is she an accomplished chef,

but has an MFA in fiction writing

from the University of Michigan.

This book is about her cooking education,

not at a culinary school, but rather in life.

She gained her food expertise beginning

in her French mother's kitchen,

in numerous kitchens as part of the wait staff,

as a private caterer, and while traveling.

She's very honest about her experiences,

from numerous arrest at the beginning

of her years in NYC

to some of the disgusting jobs

the owner of a restaurant must perform.

Of the two books, this is the one

that moved me more

because of that honesty.

Bon appetit!

Buddha in the Attic

BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC by Julie Otsuka

is not a novel in the traditional sense.

It is written in such an elegant, sparse style of prose,

this book almost seems like poetry.

The story begins with a group of young Japanese women

traveling from their homeland to San Francisco,

nearly a hundred years ago to marry, sight unseen,

Japanese men waiting for them.

There is no "main character" here,

but rather a chorus of narrators who share

their "lists of experiences" from their arrival,

meetings and marriages,

jobs, ranging from farm laborers, to business owners,

births and raising of children,

to assimilation into American life,

usually as outsiders.

Their experiences continue to the beginning of the

second World War and

the passing of anti-Japanese laws,

concluding with their forced removal to 

internment camps. 

With broad stokes, and very little detail,

Otsuka totally conveys their heartbreaking stories.

From My Book Shelf--ONE DAY

I have just finished ONE DAY by David Nicholls.

It seemed to take me for...ev...er...to get through this book.

Normally, this is the type book I would love.

It's a "relationship" story of

Emma and Dexter,

who have a one night stand on the

night of their graduation from university.

From there the book proceeds through the next

twenty years of their lives as they go their separate ways,

always to reconnect again, at least once a year.

I found these two characters extremely irritating.

Emma has a mundane start with

lowly, boring jobs, boyfriends, etc.

However, her aspirations to write are eventually fulfilled.

Dexter on the other hand, starts on a high plane.

He's the one who always falls into the right spot

and success.

However, as Emma's life improves, Dexter's

spirals down due to drugs and alcohol.

Despite all this, they have a sincere attraction,

and always maintain their friendship/relationship.

The twenty year span of the novel was a l...o...n...g time

for these two characters to maintain this reader's interest.

Neither is very likable, both are whiny.

I'm going to be blasphemous and recommend you

see the movie, rather than read the book.



I actually saw the movie a few months ago,

and did not realize the book was

same story until I got started with it. (Duh...)

I liked the movie and let's face it,

you can't go wrong with much

in which Anne Hathaway stars.

From My Book Shelf -- Two Good Reads

If this book doesn't become a movie,

Ivory and Merchant have missed an opportunity.

Amor Towles', THE RULES OF CIVILITY

is a stylish, end of the Depression era,

cocktails at  a Manhattan jazz club,

snappy dialogue, kind of book.

Mainly told in flashback,  from the point of view

of Katherine Kontent,

it's the story of how a single incident, chance meeting

or decision made, when young, can influence and determine

the rest of one's life.

It's the story of reinventions, friendships, and heartache.

I'm a sucker for F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway,

and this book's style and tone was reminiscent of theirs.

This may be one of my favorite books this year.

Although I liked THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh too,

I had some difficulty getting into it.

It weaves back and forth between

the past and present of it's main character

Victoria Jones, as a nine year old

and as an eighteen year old.

Once I got into the groove of it,

the story completely kept my interest.

Victoria is an orphan, a child of foster homes,

and finally an emancipated adult on her own.

She has an inability to connect with people,

and very severe anger issues.

What she does have is an affinity with flowers

and has learned that every flower has a meaning.

Through them she slowly finds a way to

confront a terrible secret in her past,

and recognize that she has the ability to love

and be loved.

From My Book Shelf - DREAMS OF JOY

I have a most excellent read to recommend to you--

DREAM OF JOY by Lisa See.

This is a sequel to See's earlier book,

SHANGHAI GIRLS.

So, before you read it,

I strongly recommend you read the first book.

Although DREAMS OF JOY easily succeeds

as a stand alone book, it will be a much

more enjoyable read if you have the back story.

SHANGHAI GIRLS is the story of two Chinese sisters

living an affluent and self centered life

in Shanghai during the 1930s.

Their glamorous lives come to a sudden halt

when their father tells them he has lost his

fortune to gambling and is forced to "sell"

his two daughters as Chinese brides to

suitors from Los Angeles.

From here, the book tells the story

of the two sisters, Pearl and May,

their flight from China and

the lives they forge in America's Chinatown

as wives in arranged marriages.

DREAMS OF JOY is the continuing story of a

resulting daughter, Joy.

At the beginning of the second book,

 Joy is a nineteen year old,

headstrong, University of Chicago student.

After learning that her mother Pearl,

is not actually her mother, but rather her aunt,

a disillusioned Joy, runs away to China,

to find her real father.

What she finds is a China just at the

beginning stages of Mao's "Great Leap Forward."

I found myself annoyed with Joy's optimism 

of  her life on a rural Chinese commune.

I had to remind myself, this story takes place

in the early 1950s, not today,  and that

Joy does not have the hindsight of history I do.

Her character develops a depth and richness

as she begins to experience the deprivation and famine,

that killed as estimated 45 million people in China.

This book reminded me a lot of 

Amy Tan's, THE JOY LUCK CLUB.

It also explores a period in

Chinese history that is difficult to fathom,

from extreme wealth and glamour, 

to people abandoning their children because

of total poverty and starvation.

I hardily recommend both books.

If you like them, you might also read

See's, SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN

(It's a great read too!)

From My Book Shelf

What a storyteller Louise Erdrich is!

Her book, THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB

is a beautifully written book, full of quirky characters,

family secrets, the beautiful and the grotesque.

This book weaves around, in a completely fulfilling way,

 telling the stories of its numerous characters.

You will care about them all.

(Well, maybe all except one.)

Somewhere in the midst of reading this book,

I began to realize how so many of its chapters

could totally stand on their own as short stories.

I don't particularly like short stories.

They seem to be over before you can

sink your teeth into them.

But, this book is not a book of short stories.

It's a saga, fully integrating the characters,

their relationships and their stories into a rich tapestry.

I liked this book a lot.

CALEB'S CROSSING by Geraldine Brooks

is a historical novel built upon the true fact of

the first Native American to graduate from

the newly established Harvard College.

It is told through the voice of Bethia, who at the

beginning of the book is twelve years old

when she secretly befriends Caleb,

the son of a Wamponoag chieftain.

This book is the story of Caleb's "crossing" over 

to Anglo American culture as he is educated

by Bethia's father and then the university.

This is not a romantic novel.

Historically, we know Native Americans 

did not fare well against America's settlers.

Caleb's story is very much a reflection of that fact.

Bethia's voice is very authentic and

I felt as though I were reading a Puritan's journal

from the 17th Century.

From My Book Shelf

I have always admired Ernest Hemingway's work.

I love his "to the point, no excess baggage"

style of prose.

I remember a college professor I once had

 saying of  Hemingway's style  of writing,

"What takes Faulkner three pages to tell you,

 Hemingway will tell you in one sentence."

THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain is fiction,

told from the point of view of his first wife, Hadley.

If begins with their first meeting at a party,

his wooing of her, her total adoration of him,

their marriage and then their

Paris years.

If you were creative in any way,

Paris was the place to be just after WWI.

What I liked about this book is its glimpse into

Hemingway's Paris years.

I like that the book references his conscious

efforts to hone his writing  into his

characteristic terse style.

The book is also a name dropper,

and it was fun to read about Ezra Pound,

Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

These were all friends of the Hemingways' in Paris

and the book does a nice job of defining how each

mentored and influenced Hemingway's writing.

The book is also a domestic drama

about Hadley and Ernest's relationship.

Hadley is presented as a "plain Jane,"

somewhat out of place in the heady Paris,

but hanging on for dear life....

or should I say "dear Ernest?"

Ernest evolves into the total egocentric

we all know he was, and before long

has moved the soon to be, second Mrs. Hemingway

into his and Hadley's life.

I enjoyed this book and it has whetted my appetite

to read  A MOVABLE FEAST,

Hemingway's own version of this story.

From My Bookshelf--The Two Final HUNGER GAMES Books

I've completed the final two novels of

THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy by

Suzanne Collins.

(I talked about the first book earlier, here.)

CATCHING FIRE, the second book

takes up after Katniss Everdeen and Peeta have won

the national games instituted by their government,

a fight until the death of all but the victor(s).

These games are a method of propaganda,

used to keep the population under control.

However, unrest in the districts is sparked by

Katniss' spirit and she unwillingly becomes a

symbol of hope for a spark of a rebellion.

The second book ends very abruptly,

and you are not going to want to spend

any time before starting the third, so have it handy.

In the final book, THE MOCKINGJAY,

the rebellion is fully played out and a

final resolution is realized in an epilogue,

twenty years later spoken by Katniss.

Personally I wish the ending had been

handled a bit differently.

I didn't mind HOW it ended,

but rather the author's method of telling it.

I wanted more of a "big moment"

of resolution, not a cool,

after the fact, retelling of it.

(If you've read the series, I'd love your opinion.)

These books are classified as "Young Adult,"

but are extremely grim.

Any adult reader will find them gripping.

Of course, as with any wildly popular

book trilogy, the movie is coming next year.

Everything I've read about it thus far is positive.

An interesting note, it was filmed near

Asheville, NC, not too far from where I live.

These are not the type books I usually read, but

they were completely entertaining and I recommend them.

From my Book Shelf - IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS

IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS

by Erik Larson

is a non-fiction that reads like a thriller.

One of the author's aim in writing the book was

to give a sense of what daily life was like

in Berlin just after Hitler's assumption of power.

In 1933, William Dodd, a history professor at

the University of Chicago,

was interested in a government position

which would give him time for writing.

President Roosevelt was having a difficult time filling

the position of ambassardor to Germany.

Others were hesitant to take the position because

Hitler was somewhat of an unknown entity,

the "Jewish question" in Germany was just rearing its head,

and most powers in the U.S. were more concerned with

Germany's debt than current politics.

So, although not Roosevelt's first choice,

Dodd became the unlikely statesman.

Viewing the job as a big adventure,

Dodd goes to Berlin with his wife and

two grown children in tow.

The book is Dodd and daughter, Martha's story.

Martha, an aspiring writer, but better

suited as a party girl, was soon caught up in 

Berlin's social scene.

Early on she is quite enamored with the Nazis.

However, as more and more laws are passed

restricting the freedoms of Jews,

the true stituation slowly becomes evident.

I have always questioned in my mind,

"How did normal German people let this happen?"

Although I wholeheartedly recommend this book,

it really didn't fullly answer the question for me.

Somewhat in the same vein, (except Paris rather than Berlin)

I want to mention SARA'S KEY by Tatiana de Rosnay.

I read this book a couple of years ago, but I just saw

a movie trailer for it this past weekend.

I didn't even know it was being made into a movie.

This is such an engrossing story that I still think about it.

It is NOT an easy, light or "beach read,"

but well worth the effort.

And finally, (my mind is really working in circles tonight),

if you're one of the two or three people who haven't yet

read THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett, (a first novel!!!)

GO GET IT!!!

It's a wonderful read, and

the movie is just about to come out for it too.

From My Book Shelf -

Animal fables

Humor

Short stories

Satiric

Dark

Insightful

Adult

Small book

Good weekend read.

Have a good one!



From My Book Shelf

It seems like ages since I've blogged--

written a post or read any.

Sometimes, life just gets in the way!

I have done a little reading though.

WEST OF HERE by Jonathan Evison is a good read.

However, I don't feel as though I did the book justice.

I read it while my mother was visiting,

so there were too many times when I put the book

down for long periods. 

Then when I got back to it,

I couldn't always remember who was who.

There ARE a lot of characters in this book.

It's actually two stories intermixed.

One is the story of Washington state and

the Pacific Coast during the 1890s and how

it came to be explored and developed by early settlers.

Intermixed with that is a present day story of

those settler's ancestors.

This book explores our connections to our past.

I'd like to think I'll someday reread this book

and really explore everything there,

but considering all the books on my

"To Read" list,

it's probably not going to happen.

THE TIGER'S WIFE by Tea Obreht has gotten

outstanding reviews and awards.

It's a debut novel and the author was only

twenty five when she wrote it.

Quite an accomplishment.

Obreht's family left the former

Republic of Yugoslavia during

the 1990's Balkan War.

This is not light reading.

However, it is beautifully written.

It moves back and forth from realism to

Balkan mythology and  folklore.

It's the story of Natalia, a young doctor

who learns of her beloved grandfather's death 

while she is on a trip "over the border"

to treat orphans of the war.

While Natalia tries to explore the

circumstances of her grandfather's death,

she remembers stories he has told her

and the book becomes very surreal.

I'm glad I read this book, but

I'm also glad I'm finished with it.