Review: “The 13th Day of Christmas” by Jason Wright

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I’ve received a few Christmas books to review this season through Net Galley, and “The 13th Day of Christmas” by Jason Wright is one of them. This book, which I would classify as Christian Lit, tells the story of the friendship between Marva, an elderly but still spunky widow, and Charlee, a nine-year-old whose family has fallen on tough times since her dad lost his job. Their special friendship brightens both of their lonely lives, and Miss Marva shares with Charlee the special Christmas tradition of her advent calendar and the twelve days of Christmas – with the thirteenth day being a very special one. In the course of this story both Marva and Charlee develop cancer, and it is their special friendship, along with the true message of Christmas, that helps them to keep going in the face of hardship.

If I say any more I’ll give it all away!

I did enjoy this book and really loved the characters of spunky Miss Marva – with her aprons for any occasion – and Charlee, a little girl who refused to let her situation crush her spirit.

Great Christmas reading – or actually any time of the year!

Thank you, Net Galley and Shadow Mountain Press, for my copy.

YA Review: “Being Henry David” by Cal Armistead (releasing March, 2013)

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It is my pleasure today to review “Being Henry David” by Cal Armistead, which I received as an ARC through Net Galley. I know Cal and her husband through my theater circle of friends, and when I heard she had written a book I couldn’t wait to read it!

“Being Henry David” is a rich blend of emotions, humor, and action as it tells the story of “Hank”, a teenager who finds himself in Penn Station with no memory of who he is or how he got there. His only clue is the tattered copy of “Walden” he is holding. Giving his name as “Henry Davidson” – borrowed from Thoreau – Hank escapes some tough characters in the city and arrives in Concord, Massachusetts in order to try to figure out who he is and what he is running from back home. Hank’s journey has him cross paths with a local historian and a friendly and attractive local high schooler as he slowly starts to remember who he is and what has happened to him.

I just loved this story! Of course, if you know me, you know I love anything that takes place near where I live. I love when I can read a book and it has places in it where I’ve frequently been. I also love, love, love the Concord authors and really enjoyed the tie-in to Thoreau and the Transcendentalists in this book – though it was not overdone or preachy. Mostly, though, I loved this story of a young man who is coming to grips with his actions and learning about forgiveness.

Grab yourself a copy of being Henry David and let me know how you like it – I promise to let Cal know!

I personally think it’d be a great read for high schoolers, especially reluctant readers.

Thanks, Net Galley and Albert Whitman Teen Press, for my copy!

Review: “Little Wolves” by Thomas Maltman

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“Little Wolves” was a recent find on Net Galley. It tells several story lines in one (a point which at times served to confuse me!). The novel opens with a Minnesotra small town shooting, carried out by a teenager who then commits suicide. Why did he do this heinous act? How will the people left behind carry on and make sense of this tragedy? At the same time, his father is struggling to come to terms with his grief over his wife’s death — now compounded by the senseless death of his son. Small town rivalries and old hurts are cropping up all over.

On the other side of town, the preacher’s wife, who is in her last trimester of pregnancy, is dealing with the deaths, too. The shooter was her student and a valued member of her English class (she is an expert on Beowulf). She grapples with his act of violence and the fact that he had come to house that day on his way to the carnage – and is it her ghost she is seeing? At the same time she is working through the kinks in her marriage to the town minister and her past family secrets, related to the disappearance and death of her mother. Analogous to all these plot lines is Norse mythology and the story of the “little wolves” that her father told her as a child. Throughout the book, a family of coyotes (befriended by Seth previously) make an appearance.

Does all this sound confusing? At times I had a hard time keeping everything straight, but overall Maltman blends these parallel stories into the overall plot – seamlessly and suspensefully. I kept reading as I needed to know what would happen. In the end it all made sense, and I found it a satisfying read.

Thanks, Net Galley and Soho Press, for my copy!

Review: The Body in the Boudoir by Katherine Hall Page

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If you read my blog, you know I love, love, love the Faith Fairchild mysteries! The latest came out in May – The Body in the Boudoir – and I read it this rainy Hurricane Sandy weekend. In this installment, Faith is preparing for her wedding when her uncle’s housekeeper is mysteriously murdered. At the same time, Faith’s sister, Hope, is being blacklisted at work. All the while Faith is dealing with the emotions and chaos that are involved in moving from NYC to Massachusetts and marrying her beloved.

I just love this series! I have read them all and particularly enjoy how they take place near to where I live. I also like how several of Faith’s recipes are included in the back. It was an interesting take for Page to jump back twenty years for this story, and I really enjoyed it. I recommend it to those who are fans of the series, or even if it’s your first time!

I got mine from the library, where you can get yours!

Review: “Fever” by Mary Beth Keane

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Through Net Galley I received an ARC of “Fever”, the biography of “Typhoid Mary” by Mary Beth Keane. I had heard of Typhoid Mary, but didn’t know her true story. This novel, appropriate for YA or adults, gave an interesting and sensitive account of Mary Mallon’s life and experience as a healthy carrier of typhoid in New York in the early 1900’s.

Mary Mallon came to America from Ireland and worked her way from being a laundress to being a cook. She loved cooking and had a talent for it. At times she cooked for wealthy and prestigious families in New York and New England, but death followed Mary and she was accused of being a healthy carrier of typhoid fever. “Fever” follows Mary’s journey from New York to her confinement on North Brother Island in New York. Mary fights for her life back and her job and reputation. A large part of the story is Mary’s relationship with her significant other, Alfred, with whom she had lived for over twenty years before she was taken away.

I really enjoyed reading this historical biography. Turn of the century New York comes alive as Keane creates a compelling and sympathetic protagonist  in Mary Mallon.

Review: “Wild – from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Cheryl Strayed

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My friend Alison suggested I read Cheryl Strayed’s new book “Wild” (thanks, Al!). I tend to stay away from Oprah book club suggestions (purely because I find EVERYONE is reading them and talking about them) but this one looked so intriguing that I purchased it from Amazon.

You probably have already heard about this book, but in case you haven’t, “Wild” follows Cheryl Strayed’s trek along 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (the western cousin to the East’s Appalachian Trail) as she seeks to heal and redefine her life. At the start of the book we find Cheryl as a lost soul. Her mother has died (which devastates her), her relationship with her family of origin is shaky, her biological father is out of the picture, and she’s recently divorced her husband (who seems like he’s still a steady “beacon” in the mire her life has become). She’s been dating a guy who gets her into heroine. She’s openly honest about her sexual promiscuity. In a word, Cheryl is a bit of a mess. Then she decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a way to save and heal herself. It’s a classic “journey to find oneself” story, but it’s Strayed’s own memoir.

I have to say when I started reading this novel, I did not relate to or care for our protagonist. She seemed incredibly self-centered, to the point of hedonistic. She was drifting around her in her life, making bad decisions. She was suffering but dealing with her suffering through self-indulgence. Then she almost randomly decides to hike the PCT with little to no preparation or experience. I actually found that part funny. It was then that I started to connect with Cheryl as her first hiking days were basically bumbling and mishaps. I’d think to myself: “Gee, that would probably be my experience, too: blisters, rattlesnakes, a too-heavy pack, and band-aids that blow away”. By the time Cheryl got to Northern California I was rooting for her to finish. I was hoping she stayed safe (personally, the thought of trekking 1,100 miles alone is terrifying). I was hoping she figured out that her drug use and abuse and her sexual behaviors were not the way to deal with her pain and grief. I was hoping she would come through the journey stronger and wiser and healed.

I’ll leave it to you readers to discover how Cheryl makes out!

Two Quick YA Reviews: “Fog” by Caroline Cooney and “The Twisted Window” by Lois Duncan

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I recently got two creepy, YA suspense thrillers from Net Galley. These are the type of book that I loved to read when I was in middle school! Both were re-releases from Open Road Media – thanks, Open Road and Net Galley for my copies!

“Fog” is the first in a trilogy by Caroline Cooney (who has apparently over 100 books for teens; the one I know best: “The Face on the Milk Carton”). In this story a group of Maine island teens leave their homes to attend school on the mainland. Creepy and disturbing things begin happening and one girl, Christina, fights against the evil. Who will win?

When I started “The Twisted Window” by Lois Duncan I knew it seemed familiar. I had actually read it in the 1980’s. Lois Duncan is a masterful storyteller with all sorts of YA titles to her credit, most of them scary and/or supernatural thrillers. In this one, Tracy Lloyd befriends the new guy in school and gets involved in helping him get his supposedly kidnapped sister back from his stepfather. As a kid, Duncan was always one of my favorite authors as her stories are well-plotted and paced.

Review of “Skinny: A Novel” by Diana Spechler

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In August I downloaded a Kindle “freebie” from the “Top 100 Free” on Kindle (note: looks like this is no longer free). “Skinny” is the story of Gray Lachmann, who becomes a compulsive eater after her father’s death. Gray has a life in NYC and a boyfriend, but leaves them to work at a weight-loss camp down south. The reason: the young girl she suspects of being her father’s illegitimate daughter is attending. Gray is determined to meet and befriend this young girl and come to know her father and his secrets in the process.

One thing I really liked in this book was the interesting cast of characters. As I was reading, I would think: you can’t make this stuff up, and I think I was right as Diana Spechler did work in a weight-loss camp at one point in her life. The issues surrounding food, the extreme personalities, the bizarre and unique yet strangely lovable campers, and even Gray – an unlikable protagonist – all were aspects of this book that made me come back to read it each day.

While initially I would have suggested this book for teens and higher, there are some sexually explicit scenes and situations in this book that in my opinion make it more for adults. Great book for opening a discussion on eating disorders, IMHO.

Review: “Cascade” by Maryanne O’Hara

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I heard great things about this novel, so I knew I needed to read it. Then I saw that the author will be speaking at the Concord Bookstore next week, so I knew I had to buy it since the wait list at the library was soooo long. I read it last week and just loved this compelling and thought-provoking novel!

“Cascade” is the story of Desdemona Hart Spaulding, an artist in the 1930’s, who has married for comfort, not love, and who feels too confined in her hometown of Cascade, Massachusetts. Dez’ father has owned and ran the town’s Shakespearean theater, but he passes away at the start of the novel, leaving the theater to Dez’ husband, Asa, the town’s well-respected pharmacist. As the story starts, Dez has befriended a local travelling salesman, the Jewish artist Jacob Solomon. Dez dreams of leaving Massachusetts with Jacob and going to New York to draw and be free. Her husband, of course, has other ideas. Behind this storyline is the back story of the town itself: Cascade is being considered for demolition so that the state can create a water reservoir for the people of Boston. The townspeople, led in part by Asa, are trying to save their town, and Dez uses her art as a way to help the cause. Will the town be spared? Will Dez’s feelings for Jacob lead to actions she may regret? Will she stay forever at home with Asa or become the artist she feels she is capable of being?

I just loved reading this book. It is beautifully written with a well-paced, well-plotted story. The symbolism of the river and the damming of the river tying in to emotions and the release of emotions and feelings really spoke to me. While I loved this story, I didn’t love Dez. I thought she was extremely self-centered and self-serving. However, Dez’s actions, as well as Jacob’s, seemed fairly true to life to me. Sometimes the people you hold most dear disappoint you.

I loved, loved, loved it —

I also loved the cover!!

And this is a great You Tube book trailer: