Review: The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon

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Coming out in January, THE WIFE, THE MAID, AND THE MISTRESS is the fictionalized story of the events surrounding the real life disappearance of NY Supreme Court Judge Joseph Crater in 1930 (see here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Force_Crater).  Judge Crater’s disappearance was never solved and he was declared dead after several years. Lawhon gives us her take on the event, through the points of view of Crater’s wife, Stella, his maid, Maria, and his showgirl mistress, Ritzi. In this novel, these women know what happened to Crater — and they aren’t telling!

I found this novel so intriguing that I couldn’t put it down. It does jump around in time, which can be confusing at times. We have Stella current day, the events as they happened in the 30’s, events prior to the disappearance, etc. all interwoven.

If I had one major complaint, it was that I did not really like the ending. Without giving too much away, I will say that I felt a lot was told at the end to explain events and wrap the story up quickly and neatly. However, I did enjoy this book and it made me interested enough to look up more about Judge Crater, his disappearance, and Tammany Hall.

Thank you, Net Galley and Doubleday, for my review copy!

Review: Walking with Mary by Edward Sri

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Through Blogging for Books I received WALKING WITH MARY: A BIBLICAL JOURNEY FROM NAZARETH TO THE CROSS, a short (less than 200 pages) but interesting overview of the Virgin Mary’s life, based on historical fact and biblical analysis. Edward Sri has created a very readable and accessible work here, where he explains Mary’s background and life (for that time/area) and couples it with biblical quotes and passages, analyzing them and explaining them so that the reader comes to a better understanding of Mary as both a person and a saint, and thus a deeper understanding of the Catholic Church’s teachings on Mary.

Very readable and highly recommended!

Thank you, Blogging for Books, for my copy!


FREE YA book on Kindle — 11/8-12!

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My friends over at Smith Publicity have alerted me to a freebie this week! The YA novel THE SAFFRON FALCON by J.E. Hopkins will be available FREE for your kindle from 11/8 through the 12th. Here’s what they sent me about the book:
In The Saffron Falcon (Unseen Worlds Publishing, 2013), author J. E. Hopkins uses fantasy and what he calls “Transition magic” to explore the unique challenges faced by adolescents as they reach adulthood.

A dark fantasy-thriller, the book takes place in our world in the near future. Children can use Transition magic for one month as they approach puberty, but they must use certain ritual words and the magic must be unique. If it doesn’t meet these requirements, the child doesn’t make it to adulthood. Few children attempt to use their power because the danger is too great, and most who do use it, die.

“Life in the book can be tough. Favorite characters can and do die. Children can and do die,” Hopkins says. “Magic wouldn’t be very interesting if kids could use it with impunity. Some manage to find a way, but that’s the rare exception.”

The Saffron Falcon features two parallel stories: in one, United States security agents try to recover an ancient codex that would eliminate Transition magic’s uniqueness requirement. If they fail, dark magic will be unleashed on the world. At the same time, the book tells individual stories of children throughout time who have used Transition magic to save themselves or someone they love.

“This is the story of flawed adults either trying to protect the world from magic or trying to use magic to dominate it, while children struggle with the knowledge that Transition will probably kill them,” Hopkins adds. “Unfortunately, some young characters face circumstances that make them feel as if they have no choice but to use their power, no matter the risk.”

J. E. Hopkins is the author of fantasy thrillers including The Scarlet Crane (March 2012) and The Saffron Falcon (October 2013). A life-long reader, Hopkins says his writing influences include J. R. R. Tolkien, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Isaac Asimov, John Connolly, and Greg Bear, among others. The Saffron Falcon (Unseen Worlds Publishing, 2013) is available at http://www.amazon.com. For more information, visit http://www.jhopkinsbooks.com.
Sound good? I will be downloading myself a copy to read, too! 🙂

Author at the Concord Bookshop…Martin W. Sandler

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Last Sunday, Martin Sandler was at the Concord Bookshop to speak about his new book: THE LETTERS OF JOHN F. KENNEDY. Sandler was an entertaining and engaging speaker, and this book promises to highlight many letters to and from JFK that have previously never been published. It is hard to believe that we are marking the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s death this month.

You can get yours at the Bookshop (they even have some signed copies left!) or at your own local indie!

JFK book

Quick YA Review: CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein

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Since I had recently read ROSE UNDER FIRE, I went back and read CODE NAME VERITY, which comes first (though it can be a stand alone book). This is an extraordinary depiction of a friendship during WWII, told from the writings of a British female POW, held by Germans for spying, and then from the perspective of her friend, the female pilot who flew them there. Their story is heart-breaking and haunting, and stayed with me long after I finished reading.

An intense read, I’d recommend it to older YA readers and definitely to adults who enjoy historical fiction of the WWII era.

I can’t say more without giving it all away. I’ve debated for weeks how to even write this review, and settled on this very short blurb!

See this book on Amazon where I got mine.

Review: ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline

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During a recent one day sale on Amazon, I bought ORPHAN TRAIN for only a few dollars for my Kindle. I have read other books about the real orphan trains: trains full of NYC street urchins that brought them to the Midwest for “adoption” and a new life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

In ORPHAN TRAIN, the story flips between current day foster kid, Molly, who is doing community service at an elderly woman’s house, and the Irish immigrant girl Niamh, whose family perishes in a fire in the late 1920’s. Molly is part Native American and while not an orphan (her mother is alive), she is in the foster care system and has moved about many times. She is almost eighteen and hopes to stay out of trouble until then. Unfortunately, she chooses to steal a copy of “Jane Eyre” from the library and has to do community service to make up for her theft. The elderly woman she works for (they are cleaning her attic) is named Vivian. She is a wealthy widow and she tells Molly the stories behind the items in her attic. Vivian is really Niamh, though – a young Irish girl who leaves NYC after her family supposedly all dies in a tenement fire. Niamh’s tenacity to survive and her integrity to be the best she can be given her circumstances is mirrored in modern day Molly. Over time the two stories connect and we see how each character has become who she is at the end.

I loved reading this story. I always find historical fiction interesting, and Niamh’s story held my attention. My only dislike in the book was the character of Molly’s foster mother, whom I found to be almost a caricature.  Also the ending wrapped up quickly and neatly – I would have loved to follow Niamh’s earlier life a bit longer.

In all, I’d recommend it if you like to read about this period in history.

Never heard of the orphan trains? Check out the PBS documentary (or see the references on their page) at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan/

YA Review: MAUS by Art Spiegelman

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I recently was subbing in a nearby middle school and the students were reading MAUS by Art Spiegelman. I had never seen this book (though it won a Pulitzer and is widely known). After my day teaching, I found the book, THE COMPLETE MAUS, in the library so that I could continue the story. Maus is an early graphic novel (originally published in 1991). It is told entirely in comic strip form. The first part is “A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History” and leads up to Spiegelman’s parents being sent to Auschwitz, while the second part, “And Here My Troubles Began”, focuses on his father’s experience in the concentration camp and after the war for his parents.

MAUS depicts the story of Spiegelman’s father’s survival of the Holocaust in Europe, as he relays it to his son. A Polish Jew, Vladek Spiegelman marries his wife Anja and they are wealthy and successful business owners. WWII is creeping across Europe, however, and antisemitism is on the rise. Vladek relays when they first see a Nazi flag, when their first friends lose their businesses, when people begin to disappear. Slowly you see their world deteriorating, yet through it all, Vladek’s resiliency and resourcefulness shine through. He protects his wife first and foremost, and tries to save her parents as well. They have their young son go to live with friends so that he will be safe (he ends up dying though). Their main goal becomes to survive and make it through to the other side of WWII. The stories become more and more disturbing as the war progresses, and are made all the more disturbing as you know this is a true story.

I know I’m a little late to the party here as this book has been around for a while, but I am so thankful that I came across it and read it. Spiegelman’s depictions of the Nazi’s as cats and the Jews as mice is very clever (the Americans are dogs), and this book can be a great teaching tool in the classroom, particularly with older students. The graphic novel form makes it both easy to read and yet disturbing. Peppered throughout is Spiegelman’s own relationship with his father, especially in the second volume. You can see him trying to come to grips with their relationship, his father’s seemingly eccentric ways, and his father’s failing health, along with his mother’s death several years earlier. This was a touching and brilliant depiction of a Holocaust survivor which stayed with me long afterwards.

Highly recommended for this genre/time period! I got mine at the library.

Saturday Snapshot: Mount Rushmore in Lego

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The US government shutdown is continuing (as of this writing – 10/16) and people are bemoaning the closing of many of the national parks (really quite a tragedy — I realize they don’t have the funding to run them, but it’s keeping people from experiencing our great country!). While I believe Mount Rushmore is now open, at one point I read that it was not only closed, but access roads not in the park to where you could view it were also closed.

So – for your viewing pleasure – and complements of LegoLand- I give you Mount Rushmore —

IMG_1222

 

Notice that George is having his ears cleaned!! lol

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at http://www.westmetromommy.blogspot.com

You, too, can participate by posting a pic and linking it to her site. 🙂

Quick Kids’ Review: How to Make Friends and Monsters by Ron Bates

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I received HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND MONSTERS from my friends at Zondervan and gave it to my 4th grader to read. Here’s the blurb from Amazon on it:

Some Friends Are Just Worth Making For Howard Boward, science genius, making friends in middle school is hard. The other kids have more fun creatively expanding Howard’s name than actually hanging out, as in How-weird or How-Lame. . So, why not actually make a friend? A little wonder putty, some DNA, a few accidentally spilled chemicals and—boom!—instant friend. Monster friend, that is. Franklin ends up being cool in middle school, and he helps Howard climb the uber-popular ladder, becoming How-Cool. But the new fame and friendship isn’t exactly everything Howard hoped. Turns out real friendship might not be so simple, even when you create your own friends from scratch.

Mini Me says that the theme of this book is it’s hard to be a new kid. Overall, she says it is really funny and fun to read. It had some hard words, but not too many. At 352 pages, she was fine with it, but it may seem like a long book to some. We made sure we got a copy for our school library!