WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: A Secret Kept

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide.

A Secret Kept by  Tatiana de Rosnay

It all began with a simple seaside vacation, a brother and sister recapturing their childhood.  Antoine Rey thought he had the perfect surprise for his sister Mélanie’s birthday: a weekend by the sea at Noirmoutier Island, where the pair spent many happy childhood summers playing on the beach.  It had been too long, Antoine thought, since they’d returned to the island—over thirty years, since their mother died and the family holidays ceased.  But the island’s haunting beauty triggers more than happy memories; it reminds Mélanie of something unexpected and deeply disturbing about their last island summer.  When, on the drive home to Paris, she finally summons the courage to reveal what she knows to Antoine, her emotions overcome her and she loses control of the car.

Recovering from the accident in a nearby hospital, Mélanie tries to recall what caused her to crash.  Antoine encounters an unexpected ally: sexy, streetwise Angèle, a mortician who will teach him new meanings for the words life, love and death.  Suddenly, however, the past comes swinging back at both siblings, burdened with a dark truth about their mother, Clarisse.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:  

What are you currently reading? Crashers by Dana Haynes

What did you recently finish reading? Lumby on the Air by Gail Fraser (review) and The River King by Alice Hoffman (review)

What do you think you’ll read next? Damaged by Alex Kava

Teaser Tuesday: Lumby on the Air, Crashers

Another double-dose for Teaser Tuesdays (hosted by Should Be Reading). I just finished Lumby on the Air (review) and picked up Crashers. Here are your teasers for today…

Hank*, smartly dressed in a tuxedo, sat in the middle with a cello between his legs. The quintet had begun playing soft classical music twenty minutes earlier when people first began to arrive. (425)

Lumby on the Air by Gail Fraser. *Hank is a pink plastic flamingo

In economy class, passengers gripped their seat arms or one another. The air masks deployed, just as they had in the safety video everyone had ignored. (10)

Crashers by Dana Haynes

Review: Lumby on the Air by Gail Fraser

In 2007 Gail Fraser’s first novel The Lumby Lines was published and the Lumby series was born. This July, the fifth book in the Lumby series will be released. I had the pleasure of reading Lumby on the Air but hadn’t read the earlier books in the series. Gail’s website does specifically say you don’t need to read the books in order, but it’s recommended. I unfortunately had no time to read the first four books before I started Lumby on the Air, but I know now that I will happily read them at some point in the future. Lumby on the Air is delightful fun, an airy book with a family-style feel, just like Lumby itself.

Lumby on the Air centers around Mark and Pam Walker as they are about to host a family reunion in celebration of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and vow renewal. As Mark and Pam’s family members converge on the little mountainside town of Lumby, personalities clash and long-standing issues collide, all making for an entertaining and intriguing week in the Walker’s life.

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this book, it’s not something I would normally pick up while perusing bookshelves, but I am so glad I read Lumby on the Air. At times it does lack the finesse I like to see from good writers, but I can overlook  that for it’s better qualities. Lumby on the Air is simply a fun book, a wonderfully light read, about the quirks in every family, and the pulse of a small town set aside from corporate America; a town where neighbors are people who always come to your aid, regardless of how far away they may actually live.

Lumby on the Air was refreshing to read in the way I imagine visiting the actual town of Lumby would refresh me from city-living. It’s nice to be reminded that there can still be places where people help each other instead of living a single-minded existence where we only worry about ourselves. Most of Gail Fraser’s characters come to life on the page, and I feel like I know Pam and Mark and the people of Lumby. Small parts of the book are disconnected; Mark’s sixteen-year-old niece Jessica is somewhat unrealistic because her personality and issues are over the top, but in general, each character was well-formed and amusing. Even the town mascot Hank, a plastic-pink flamingo (well, to be honest, I didn’t get his character, but I have a feeling he’ll be in the other books).

If you’re looking for a nice summer read that you can relax with and not think too hard about, Lumby on the Air is perfect for the beach and bright weather.

4 stars

(I received an advance copy of this book for review)

In My Mailbox Monday: Crashers, Blue Diary

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren, and Mailbox Monday is hosted by The Printed Page.

My GoodReads copy of Crashers by Dana Haynes finally showed up!

Whenever a plane goes down in the U.S., a “Go Team” made up of experts is assembled by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate. Those people—each of them a leading expert in a specific area—are known informally as “Crashers.” When a passenger plane, a Vermeer One Eleven, slams into the ground outside Portland, Oregon, “The Crashers” quickly assemble to investigate the cause. Under the leadership of the IIC (Investigator in Charge), Leonard “Tommy” Tomzak—a pathologist who recently quit the NTSB—the team gets to work as fast as possible. Usually the team has months to determine the cause of a crash. But this time it’s different. This time, the plane was brought down deliberately, without leaving a trace, and this was only a trial run. In L. A., Daria Gibron—a former Shin Bet agent, now under the protection of the FBI—spots a group of suspicious-looking men. Missing her former life of action, she attaches herself to them only to learn that, somehow, they were responsible for the plane crash and are preparing for another action. While her FBI handler tries to find her and save her, Daria risks her life to try to get close enough to learn what’s going on and thwart the coming terrorist action. But time is running out and her cover story is running thin.

And when I stopped by a used bookstore to check for a copy of Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman, I stumbled across this instead…

Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman

The courage to face the unthinkable is at the core of this magnificent novel. How do we manage to confront the truths in our lives and find forgiveness in the most unforgiving of circumstances?

When Ethan Ford fails to show up for work on a brilliant summer morning, none of his neighbors would guess that for more than thirteen years, he has been running from his past. His true nature has been locked away, as hidden as his real identity. But sometimes locks spring open, and the devastating truths of Ethan Ford’s history shatter the small-town peace of Monroe, affecting family and friends alike.

Friday Finds: Blackbird House

In case you haven’t already figured it out, you should know that I love Alice Hoffman’s novels, even though I’ve only read three now. Andi over at Estella’s Revenge mentioned that her favorite Hoffman is Blackbird House, which is a collection of interconnected short stories. It’s officially the next Hoffman on my TBR, and my pick for Friday Finds hosted by Should Be Reading.

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

In a rare and gorgeous departure, beloved novelist Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots
arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family’s lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House.

These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home. 

Review: The River King by Alice Hoffman

At Hadden, it was possible to hear the air moving in waves. There was the call of birds, the rustle of the branches of the beech trees, and just beyond that, someone was crying, a thin ribbon of anguish rising above rooftops and trees.
The River King – Alice Hoffman

In a nutshell, I loved The River King. It is the third Hoffman novel I’ve read (previous ones are The Third Angel and The Ice Queen) and I think it’s my favorite so far. Her narratives are so enigmatic and brooding they encompass the reader with a deep, internal sense of unease, and The River King is no exception.

In Massachusetts, in the town of Hadden, there is a private high-school for the intelligent and the wealthy. Students and townspeople don’t mix, don’t mingle, and each side minds their own business. But when a young boy from the school is found drowned in the river, barriers are crossed and the lines dividing Hadden start to blur.

Among the characters are Abel Grey, burdened by his brother’s suicide when he was young; and Betsy Chase, chained to an impending marriage she no longer desires. There is Carlin Leander, smart and beautiful, but an outsider; and Gus Pierce, head over heels in love with Carlin and an outsider himself. A host of supporting characters lend weight to the plot, drawing everyone together. A deep, decades old suicide of one of the school’s first residents also plays a background, as does the magical history of roses and water that Hoffman skillfully blends into the storyline. Her hints of the mysterious are gentle and persuasive; so realistic you almost wonder if they’re magic at all.

Much of the novel is told in asides, mentioning one character’s story in reference to another. It takes a supreme talent to be able to start the reader headed in one direction, bend them toward another, but have them end up at the correct final destination. It’s just one reason Hoffman’s novels are so successful.

The River King is dark and mysterious, it chills the reader page-by-page. If you’re interested in reading Alice Hoffman’s novels, I would definitely recommend The River King if you’re in the mood for a mystery. If you’re in the mood for one of her more contemporary novels, I point you toward The Third Angel.

5 stars

Booking Through Thursday: Reviews

This week, Booking Through Thursday wants to know…

Do you read book reviews? Do you let them change your mind about reading/not reading a particular book?

My answer is yes, of course I read book reviews. I write them so how could I not read them?! I love to read other’s thoughts on books I’ve read and see how they compare. I also love to read reviews of books I’m interested in reading, but those I am sometimes wary of because not everyone writes spoiler-free. On those reviews I’ll usually scan the first paragraph or two to get an idea of whether the reviewer thought the book was good or not, then I’ll skip the rest. If the reviewer has given a negative opinion, I won’t take book off my TBR list, but I won’t rush out to buy it right away. The only time I won’t read a review is on the book I’m currently reading. A) I don’t want to spoil it and B) I don’t want anything to color my opinion of the book before I finish.

What about you? Find more answers at http://btt2.wordpress.com/

WWW/Waiting On/Wishful Wednesday: What is Left the Daughter

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted at Breaking The Spine and Wishful Wednesday is hosted at The Bluestocking Guide. Skipping over the fact that the title of my pick makes zero grammatical sense, I’m choosing…

What is Left the Daughter by Howard Norman

Seventeen-year-old Wyatt Hillyer is suddenly orphaned when his parents, within hours of each other, jump off two different bridges—the result of their separate involvements with the same compelling neighbor, a Halifax switchboard operator and aspiring actress. The suicides cause Wyatt to move to small-town Middle Economy to live with his uncle, aunt, and ravishing cousin Tilda.

Setting in motion the novel’s chain of life-altering passions and the wartime perfidy at its core is the arrival of the German student Hans Mohring, carrying only a satchel. Actual historical incidents—including a German U-boat’s sinking of the Nova Scotia–Newfoundland ferry Caribou, on which Aunt Constance Hillyer might or might not be traveling—lend intense narrative power to Norman’s uncannily layered story.

Wyatt’s account of the astonishing—not least to him— events leading up to his fathering of a beloved daughter spills out twenty-one years later. It’s a confession that speaks profoundly of the mysteries of human character in wartime and is directed, with both despair and hope, to an audience of one.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:  

What are you currently reading? The River King by Alice Hoffman (love)

What did you recently finish reading? Shadow of the Swords by Kamran Pasha (review)

What do you think you’ll read next? Lumby on the Air by Gail Fraser

Teaser Tuesdays: The River King

Alice Hoffman is one of those authors whose books I would eat if I could, they’re just that wonderful. The River King is no exception. Here’s a snippet for Teaser Tuesdays (hosted by Should Be Reading).

Each September, when the new students arrived, Annie Howe’s roses had an odd effect on certain girls, the sensitive ones who had never been away from home before and were easily influenced. When such girls walked past the brittle canes in the garden behind St. Anne’s, they felt something cold at the base of their spines, a bad case of pins and needles as though someone were issuing a warning: be careful who you choose to love and who loves you in return. (5-6)

See? How do you not want to chew on that?

Review: Shadow of the Swords by Kamran Pasha

I’ve never been a history buff; I’m not good at remembering things in general, let alone things that happened one thousand years ago. I enjoy historical fiction novels, but not history books. Shadow of the Swords is somewhere in between these two. It’s a serious novel, a bit dry in the beginning, but it ends with the heat and passion of the true history of the Crusades in the twelfth century.

Pitted against each other in this novel, as they were in the Crusades, is Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and Richard the Lionheart, the new king of England. When Richard’s father, King Henry, dies and leaves the throne to his second son, John, Richard takes the throne by force. Determined to win the love of his nobles and subjects, and the admiration of his family, Richard embarks on a war to reclaim the city of Jerusalem, which has just been lost to Saladin.

Thrust in between these two powerful foes is Miriam, a beautiful, independent, stubborn woman, scorned for her religion as a Jew by both sides. Neither man can deny their growing feelings for this emerald eyed beauty, but her actions will surprise them both.

Beneath the plot of Shadow of the Swords lies evidence of Kamran Pasha’s passion for writing and his love of Muslim history. He paints Saladin as a powerful warrior, terrifying and dominating, but also gentle and generous. Richard the Lionheart, known in history as a stubborn and evil tyrant, is shown as a human, with flaws but not always so heartless. The fictional love triangle is the tool Pasha uses to illustrate what these two men may have actually been like, aside from enemies.

Not knowing much about the Crusades, I chose not to look up the actual history until after I read this book. What I discovered was that Pasha stays true to the factual events of AD 1189-1192, using artistic license to insert enhancing characters, as most historical fiction authors do. The difference between Pasha and others is the depth of solemnity in his novel. While other historicals are often fanciful, light imaginings, Shadow of the Swords is thoughtful and serious. Miriam may be just an author’s tool, fairly predictable, but she serves Pasha’s purpose.

The first hundred pages of this novel were a struggle at times, but the last hundred were fast-paced and thrilling. I learned things about this time period and history that I won’t easily forget. All-in-all, Shadow of the Swords is a great novel for fans of historical fiction, who like something more serious than fluffy romance.

4 stars

(I received this book from FSB for review)