"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." (James Bryce)

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY (John Steinbeck)

John Steinbeck was diagnosed with heart disease and, knowing that he might not have much time left, he decided at age 60 to reconnect with America.  After transforming an ordinary pickup truck (called Rocinante, after Don Quixote's horse) into a traveling home to his precise specifications, Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, started their long journey across the USA and back.  This fictionalized memoir was the result.

Readers have been led to believe that Travels with Charley is a personal journal of Steinbeck's travel adventures, and in some respects it is.  Researchers have since realized that postcards, timelines, and historical evidence show that the author's descriptions of various encounters could not be entirely truthful.  Despite that fact, the memoir is delightful.  From Long Island to Maine, across to Chicago, back to his hometown of Salinas California, through Texas and by New Orleans, Steinbeck invites his readers to feast with potato farmers, camp out in seedy motels and by sparkling rivers, and witness the growth of the civil rights movement.  It doesn't really matter that his wife was actually along for the ride (and unacknowledged) much of the time or that some of the things that he described could never have happened.  It was still a great adventure and it's fun to be able to be along for the ride.

THE BLUE BEDROOM AND OTHER STORIES (Rosamund Pilcher)

This is one of those books that you can read over and over again (and I have) and wish that each story could be a full-blown novel.  Pilcher is long-retired from writing, but if you are a fan and haven't read this wonderful collection in a while, pick up a copy soon.  I love the one about the husband who works from home one day and expects his wife to make him a hot lunch, share a cup of, tea, etc., not realizing that she actually has a busy life during her time at home.  I always remembered the one about the empty nester who befriends a local author and ends up starting her own business making slipcovers.  It has always amazed me how Pilcher can take regular people going about their ordinary days and transform them into something special and memorable.

BRIDGET JONES'S BABY (Helen Fielding)

Helen Fielding started the whole chick-lit phenomenon when she published Bridget Jones's Diary in 2001.  That genre has since faded in popularity in favor of paranormal thrillers and Amish romances, but Fielding hasn't lost her touch.  Bridget Jones is still the same endearing klutz of a character, now single and out of touch with Mark Darcy (how did THAT happen?!) and on her own.  Chance "meetings" with Mark, who left her as a result of a misunderstanding involving, of course, his arch-nemesis Daniel, and with Daniel result in pregnancy for Bridget, who has no idea wich one of the men is the father.

If this sounds like typical Bridget, it is.  I thoroughly enjoy revisiting Bridget, Mark, and Daniel (they have just made a movie out of this book, but, since Hugh Grant was not available for the role of Daniel, Patrick Dempsey filled in as "the other man").  If you are a fan of Bridget Jones (the books, not necessarily the movies), this is a must.  Settle in for a winter weekend with Fielding's latest!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

CHRISTMAS AT THE LITTLE BEACH STREET BAKERY (Jenny Colgan)

If you've ever read this blog before, you know that I love Jenny Colgan.  There is something about her writing that is fresh, refreshing, and endearing.  The premise is strange and pretty unbelievable, as usual.  Polly lives in a freezing lighthouse on an island in Cornwall with her American fiance, Huckle, and their pet puffin, Neil.  Polly runs a very successful bakery (she is an extremely talented and hard-working baker) and is popular and very practical.  She and Huckle are in no rush to get married and Polly feels that they are already committed for life.  When Polly's best friend, Kerensa, reveals that she is 8 months pregnant (Polly hasn't seen her in a while) and that she is not sure that her husband of one year, Reuben, is the father, Polly is shocked but supportive.  And so it begins!

Writing ABOUT Colgan's books can't do them justice.  You need to read them.  You will either love them or hate them, or you may just not enjoy novels that tip toward chick-lit.  All I can say is that you should definitely try one.  Somehow they make you feel like all obstacles can be overcome, that life is an adventure, and that a sense of humor is the best way to handle most situations.  Most of all, they make you feel like life is hopeful if you are open to all it has to offer.

THE OBITUARY WRITER (Ann Hood)

Ann Hood is a lovely writer, perhaps even masterful.  The obituary writer is Vivian Lowe, a woman driven by grief after her lover is reported killed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.  She never gives up hope that he somehow survived the disaster, perhaps suffering from amnesia or a grave injury.  Vivian becomes somewhat of a phenomenon, sought after by grieving relatives and friends to write obituaries that reflect the essence of their subjects rather than listing the facts of their lives.

Vivian's story alternates with that of Clair, a housewife in the 1960's.  Claire is obsessed with the beauty and lifestyle of First Lady Jackie Kennedy (strangely referred to at times as Jackie O) and unhappy in her own unfulfilling marriage.  When Claire finds love with another man and falls pregnant she is unsure of whose baby she carries and debates leaving her somewhat cold husband, Peter.  Their story culminates with a long trip in a snowstorm to visit Peter's grandmother, Birdy, to celebrate her 80th birthday.

Ann Hood, despite the fact that many of her novels are based on the process of grieving, is a writer who celebrates life and future.  I have enjoyed each of her novels in a different way and would recommend them all.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT (Maria Semple)

Maria Semple seems to specialize in women who are "a mess,"  and her main character, Eleanor Flood, certainly falls into this category.  I was surprised reading reviews on Amazon, which averaged just 3 stars.  I think I may have given it 4 on Goodreads!

Eleanor is forty-something, disorganized, disheveled, inattentive, and generally ineffective at life.  Formerly a successful animator, she is now years behind in publishing her graphic memoir.  She is the wife of Joe, hand surgeon to the stars, and the mother of Timby, a precocious elementary school student.  The story covers one improbable day in the life of Eleanor and involved Timby claiming to be sick at school, a meeting with an old colleague, and the discovery that her husband is supposedly "on vacation" from her job without her knowledge.  Semple somehow manages to combine, stress, humor, slapstick, sadness, discord, and mystery into one reasonably entertaining novel.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

SNOBBERY WITH VIOLENCE (Marion Chesney)

This is a cute series, written by Marion Chesney, a.k.a. M.C. Beaton, author of the Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries.  Beautiful, intelligent  Lady Rose has failed to snag a husband during her "season" and her parents are extremely vexed by her tendency to speak out for causes, like women's suffrage, which they consider unladylike.  Lady Rose is in love and expecting to become engaged as the novel opens, but her father, hearing unsavory rumors about the man in Rose's life, hires impoverished gentleman Harry Cathcart to investigate and he discovers that seduction, ratrher than a wedding, are on the agenda.  Lady Rose's reputation (but not her suitor's) is ruined when she reveals his intent and her parents decide to send her to a country estate party where she is likely to meet some eligible men.  When people start dying under mysterious circumstances Harry Cathcart, who by now is developing a successful private investigating business, is called in, since the police are lower class and the estate's owner need to preserve his reputation.  Of course Rose, being the smart, curious young woman that she is, joins in the investigation.  Is this the beginning of a beautiful partnership?  I guess we'll see over the next 3 books in this series.  Pick it up if' you're looking for a pleasant, entertaining novel for a relaxing weekend.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF MAINE (Ann Hood)

This is Ann Hood's first novel and was originally a set of connected short stories.  I think that this shows a bit, to tell you the truth, but I'm not a critic!  I did enjoy this story of three friends, Rebecca, Claudia, and Suzanne, who attended college together in Maine in the late 1960's.  Rebecca and Claudia are true children of the era, embracing all of the lifestyle choices that parents feared during that era - pot smoking, free love, rebelliousness.  Suzanne, the most traditional of the three, is a reluctant participant until she falls in love with a handsome poet named Abel and moves in with him, keeping the relationship a secret from her straight-laced parents.

Rebecca is truly in love with Howard, her soul-mate, and eventually gives birth to Rebekah, a difficult, moody child.  Claudia seems more to be in love with the idea of love and family rather than besotted with Peter, who doesn't really seem sure of where he fits into Claudia's scheme for her life. Peter doesn't really believe that he is baby Simon's father until he is born, and the couple goes on to have 2 more sons.  Claudia envisions spending her life raising her 3 handsome and exceptional sons, Simon, Henry, and Johnathon, until tragedy intervenes and she and her life begin to unravel  Suzanne eventually finds herself pregnant, only to discover that Abel, whom she considers the love of her life, is not interested in marriage, security, or a baby, and would like to continue on as they have been.  Suzanne refuses to get rid of the baby and returns home in disgrace to raise her daughter on her own.

While Suzanne's daughter, Sparrow, and her quest to find her father seems to be the focus of this novel, it's really about the three women, their choices and eventual consequences.  Most of the action takes place in the 60's and early 70's. then in the early 80's when Sparrow is in her teens and desperate to connect with the man who fathered her.  All of the women are struggling in one way or another, with physical and mental illness, grief, or the need to prove that they have made the right decisions for their lives.  This is an interesting little novel that raises a lot of questions about choices and their ramifications.  I didn't like it as much as Hood's The Book That Matters Most, but it was definitely worth the time.

THE FIFTH AVENUE ARTISTS SOCIETY (Joy Calloway)

The gilded age in New York City was a time of intellectual and artistic awakening set against a backdrop of old-fashioned social mores and class distinction.  The Loftin family is living in what we would call genteel poverty, each of the 5 adult children working to keep their home and maintain a reasonable lifestyle after the death of their father.  The 4 sisters, all artists in their own way, are expected to seek advantageous marriages while brother Franklin, twin to Virginia tries to support the family with his sales position.  Bess is a talented milliner, frequently sought after to create fantastic hats for society's elite, like the Astors and Vanderbilts.  Alevia is a wonderful pianist, rejected time and again from the local symphony because of her gender, but in great demand to play for various social gatherings at the homes of the best families.  Mae, the youngest, is an aspiring teacher like their mother, and Virginia, the main protagonist of the story, is a writer.  Virgina has been in love with Charlie, the boy next door, since she was a young girl, and she is shocked and devastated when he proposes marriage to another, wealthier, young woman right in front of her at a party.

Franklin eventually introduces Virginia to John Hopper, who frequently hosts artists' salons at his beautiful home on Fifth Avenue, welcoming writers and artist of both genders to work and critique each other.  Having been rejected from other salons because she is a woman, Virginia is thrilled to be welcomed and develops close relationships with several of the people she meets there, including John Hopper, with whom she forms a special bond.  Calloway includes Oscar Wilde and Edith Wharton as guests at the salon, which adds a special touch of authenticity to the story.

This isn't just a sweet story about a young woman trying to find success as a writer and rediscover love.  As the novel progresses, Calloway weaves in several intriguing plot lines involving Franklin's work and a couple of mysterious deaths that will keep every reader wondering and waiting for the next development.  This is Calloway's first novel and I hope it isn't her last!