“The Girl Who Stopped Swimming” – by Joshilyn Jackson – creepy ghost story/dysfunctional family story (what can I say? It’s winter in New England)
“The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin” – by H W Brands – got interested after a visit to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia
“Pirate Latitudes” – by Michael Crichton – story found on his computer after his death
“The Queen’s Mistake” – by Diane Haeger- historical fiction for my online bookclub

And yes – I’m reading them all at once! 😉

I grabbed “The Favorites” spontaneously at my local library a few weeks back. It tells the story of young Sarah, who is Japanese-American, first as she visits Japan with her mother as a young girl and then as she returns as an adult after her mother’s death. (SPOILER ALERT!) Sarah discovers her family’s secret – more of an unspoken fact than a secret – that her adult “cousin” is really her aunt, and that her grandmother gave her young baby girl up to her neighbor and sister-in-law, who couldn’t conceive, in the post-WWII years.

“The Favorites” is a study in relationships – mother/daughter mostly, but also sister/sister and sister/friend. It beautifully portrays these female relationships, as it also portrays the Japanese culture. Waters is a skilled writer, able to delineate character through actions and personal reflections. I really enjoyed reading this thought-provoking book.

I give it 4 Stars!

Many years ago a friend introduced me to the mysteries of Sue Grafton. At the time she had just come out with the “D” book in her alphabet series. I loved them so much I read them all and have continued to read them ever since. In fact, I wait with bated breath for the next one as they are so much fun to read!

So, it was with much excitement that I saw “U is for Undertow” on the shelf at my local Target a few weeks before Christmas. I picked it up for my husband (with the caveat that I got to read it asap!). Actually, when we were first dating I had noticed that my husband had all Sue Grafton’s books and that we had that in common, so she’s a bit of a special author for us. 😉

In case you don’t read them, Grafton’s books center around a 30-something, down-to-earth, junk-food-eating, 3-mile-running, divorced, female, ex-cop detective (got all that?) named Kinsey Millhone, who lives in “Santa Theresa” California (very similar to Santa Barbara if you’ve been there). The whole series takes place in the 1980’s (our time moves faster than Kinsey’s time in the books). In this installment, it is 1988 and Kinsey is approached by a young man who feels he has some information regarding an unsolved kidnapping from the 1960’s. As Kinsey looks into his allegations, in part from a “recovered memory”, she uncovers more than she bargains for.

One reason I love these books is that they read very quickly and hold my interest. They are all different, too, and I give Grafton credit for her originality and creativity. Sometimes I can solve them, and sometimes not (another kudos to Sue!).

I recommend “U is for Undertow” to Grafton fans – new and old alike!

I discovered that Royal Reviews is hosting a historical fiction challenge (http://ow.ly/IB9o) and since that is one of my favorite genres, I signed up at the “obsessed” 20 book level.

This post is where I’ll post my reads:

1.   Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

2.  The Queen’s Mistake by Diane Haeger

3.  Back Bay by William Martin (toggles back and forth from history to present)

4. The Deserter by Jane Langton (toggles back and forth from history to present)

5. Murder on Waverly Place by Victoria Thompson

6. Audiobook: Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood

7. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

8. Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran

9. The Lost Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini

10. A Quilter’s Homecoming by Chiaverini

11. Royal Flush by Bowen

12. A Royal Pain by Bowen

13. Murphy’s Law by Bowen

14. For the Love of Mike by Bowen

15. Her Royal Spyness by Bowen

Years ago I picked up a new release entitled Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood as my book to read on a plane. I loved it! In time, I went to read Rebecca Wells other books about the Ya-Ya’s: Little Altars Everywhere (which I found somewhat disturbing) and Ya-Ya’s in Bloom (which I enjoyed). So I was thrilled to find The Crowning Glory of  Calla Lily Ponder on the new release shelf at the library. Calla Lily Ponder is Wells’ new heroine, a Louisiana native who desires to be a hair stylist  like her mother was. This novel follows Calla Lily’s life from childhood until adulthood, covering her family’s highs and lows, births, deaths, and lost loves.

If I say more than that, I’ll be giving too much away! I enjoyed reading this novel, though not as much as I enjoyed the Ya-Ya’s. At times I found Calla Lily’s naiveté to be unbelievable. I also thought the ending wrapped up a bit too neatly and quickly. Overall, though, it was a good read and I’d give it 3 1/2 Stars!

This post is where I’ll be posting the books I read for this challenge (https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/a-challenge-for-2010/)

1. The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells

2. The Favorites by Mary Yukari Waters
3. The Farmer’s Daughter Novellas by Jim Harrison (read but not reviewed)

4. Back Bay by William Martin

5. The Deserter by Jane Langton

6. The Face in the Wall by Jane Langton

7. (audiobook) What Matters Most by Luanne Rice

8. There Goes the Bride by MC Beaton

9. The Silent Hour by Michael Koryta

10. Murder on Waverly Place by Victoria Thompson

11. Audiobook: Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood

12. Audiobook: Travelling with Pomengrantes by Sue Monk Kidd

13. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

14. Audiobook: Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

15. Audiobook: The Lost Quilter by Chiaverini

16. Yaxley’s Cat by Westall

17. Rainwater by Sandra Brown

18. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

19. Death of a Valentine by MC Beaton

20. Death of a Dreamer (audio) by MC Beaton

21. Deadly Nightshade by Cynthia Riggs

22. A Quilter’s Homecoming by Jennifer Chiaverini

23. Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen

24. Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

25. Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen

26. For the Love of Mike by Bowen

27. A Royal Pain by Bowen

28. Audiobook : Cross by Patterson

29. Audiobook: Sam’s Letter to Jennifer by Patteron

Well – now that we’re back from visiting relatives and celebrating the holidays I have a moment to tie up the loose ends from 2009! This was my first year of blogging book reviews, and it was a good one. The whole experience started as a New Year’s resolution for me — to try something new that I’d like to do but was intimidated by. Thus, I picked keeping a blog of book reviews, with the hope that someone, somewhere, might actually read it and find it useful. What amazed me is that people actually DO read it, for which I am very grateful. 🙂

This year my goal was to post, on average, once a week and to read approx. 50 books. I actually had 63 posts in 2009 and reviewed 43 individual books and 2 series of books. I read more books that I did NOT review, mainly because I didn’t enjoy them and felt the reviews wouldn’t be value-added to my blog. In the coming year I may add those “read but not reviewed” titles to my blog and plan to add more of the YA and children’s books I read. Also, I’m going to add audiobooks to my list – as soon as I get some! 😉

One of the best parts of this year’s experience was discovering the HUGE community of online book bloggers that are out there. There are SO MANY wonderful, incredible, talented individuals out there reading and reviewing books – and doing lots of other neat and creative things with their blogs (creativity – never easy for me!). I have loved getting to “know” them and follow many of their blogs through my Google Reader. And let me tell you — friends often say to me: “You read more than anyone I know”. Well, I don’t read one half of what some of these other bloggers are reading – I look like a big slacker! I feel so honored to be in amongst such a group of intelligent and enthusiastic readers!

So – moving on to 2010 – I look forward to more reading, more reviews, and trying some new and different things this year.

Happy Reading!! 🙂

I love the Faith Fairchild series of cozy mysteries by Katherine Hall Page. The Body in the Sleigh is the eighteenth in this series and recently released. It has a bit of a Christmas theme, so this was the perfect time of year for me to be reading it. For those of you new to this series, Faith Fairchild is a caterer, mom, and wife of a minister, transplanted from NYC to the suburbs of Boston, where she has a Jessica Fletcher-like propensity for finding dead bodies and solving mysteries. The stories are fun to read – especially since I live in the same area as Faith does – and include yummy recipes, too.

This installment was a bit different from the previous ones. Yes, it does center on Faith and her family – vacationing for Christmas in their favorite holiday spot, a quiet island off the coast of Maine – but it is less “cozy” and more intense than the previous novels. Faith finds the dead body of a young woman who is part of an island family, but there are questions about her death (and about her life, too). At the same time, on Christmas Eve someone leaves a newborn baby in the stable of a local woman goat farmer, requesting her to “raise him to be a good man”. These two events are separate but intertwined. This novel has intense themes in it: drug abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, etc., but Page does a good job, as always, in making them into a powerful and enjoyable read.

This was a different type of Faith Fairchild mystery, but I liked it, even though it was somewhat sad and poignant.

I recommend it to those who enjoy cozies and the other Faith mysteries, just be prepared that it is not all light. I got my copy from the library.

On another note, we’ll be heading out of town to visit relatives for the holidays at the end of this week, so I’ll be off-line for a bit. I do hope to post – soon – a review of my first year of blogging!

I love the author Alice Hoffman. I think I’ve read all her books. She is such an excellent writer and her characters are portrayed so vividly and multi-dimensionally. I was thrilled when I saw The Story Sisters: A Novel on the new acquisitions rack at my library. This novel is the story of three unique sisters, from childhood into adulthood. Each sister is deeply and vividly portrayed: talented, beautiful, flawed, and deeply human.

The reason that this is a “quick” review is that I cannot really say much more about the story without giving it away. This plot had many turns and twists. And let me be clear – this was not a light and happy read. These girls/women definitely had their moments of being troubled, tortured, and full of angst. There is abuse in this book – both physical and drug. It is not a knee slapper. However, it is beautifully written. Alice Hoffman has the ability to write events without “giving it all away” – and this makes this novel such an unforgettable and emotional read.

So – while I didn’t get the warm fuzzies from this book – I did really like it. It reminded a bit of how I felt when I read Niffenegger’s Her Fearful Symmetry. I recommend it to those who like that type of “deep read”.

I give it 4 1/2 Stars!

And let me revisit The Christmas Cookie Club which I mentioned in my Christmas books post earlier this week. I loved it! Each chapter tells the story of a different member of the group and also gives the recipe for the cookie she brings, along with a bit of “food history”. It’s a great book about the bonds of female friendship, and it’s a holiday themed book that is well-written! Yeah!

The Farmer’s Daughter – short stories by Jim Harrison

The Body in the Sleigh – A Faith Fairchild Mystery – by Katherine Hall Page — LOVE this series of cozy mysteries!

The Crowing Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells – author of The Ya Ya Sisterhood

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chavelier

still going to read Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran!

Coming soon – my review of The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman and my final word on The Christmas Cookie Club novel!