A Couple of Books: Darned If You Do and Trust

I finished reading a couple of books in the past week:

• Darned If You Do by Monica Ferris
• Trust by Pamela Kelley

I really enjoyed both of these books and wanted to share a little about each of them with you.

Darned If You Do is a cozy mystery, which I've been reading more of. These books are fun and keep me guessing till the end. There isn't much blood and guts to speak of. The characters are front and center to the story making these books fun to read. This one is from the Needlecraft Mystery series so needlework of all kinds was mentioned and I must admit I glossed over one intricate knitting discussion. I never do that but I don't knit. Don't want to knit. Don't want to even read about knitting evidently.

Darned if You Do (A Needlecraft Mystery)

Then there was Trust by Pamela Kelley. This book is book 1 in the Waverly Beach Mystery series and I enjoyed reading it. It's a quick read that's well written and kept me guessing till the end. I liked the cooking throughout the book and must say those ribs sound heavenly!

TRUST (Waverly Beach Mystery Series Book 1)

 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale is one of those books you get sucked into and live in till you turn the last page. And a day or two beyond.

Mostly set in Europe during World War II, The Nightingale covers the life of a small family and how they individually dealt with the horrors of the war. This book has romance, adventure, suspense, and above all is highly engaging and readable.

To keep things interesting, there are a few chapters set in modern day where you aren't sure who is narrating. And that's a good thing. It keeps you guessing till the very end.

The Nightingale

Book Read:  The Nightingale
Author:  Kristin Hannah

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver

Wow, Big Brother by Lionel Shriver is a great book. Ms. Shriver took a chapter from her own life--the loss of her older "big" brother from complications of being obese and told a fictional account that, true to her form, was surprising and rang so true. 

In real life, Shriver's older brother lived life large, in all ways, not just his clothing size. In the book this big brother does the same. I read an interview Shriver gave that said she wanted to honor him and help a character in a book lose the weight she was unable to help her brother do.

She tackles this big subject with wit and honesty. I laughed out loud when reading the scene where the sister takes responsibility for cleaning up the overflowing toilet and collects her brother's turds like Easter eggs. It's hilarious and gross all at once.

For more on this book, check out my Bubblews post.

Read it. You'll love it.


Author:  Lionel Shriver
Book Read:  Big Brother

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Oh boy! I did not want this book to end. I loved Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. 

You've probably heard of this book and if you've read it, you know what I mean. If you haven't heard of it or read it, do! The hype is well deserved.

This book was inspired by the real struggles of orphans who did ride on trains from the East coast to the Midwest. The novel is set in both present day with Molly, a troubled teen in Maine and in 1929 onward with the story of Vivian. Vivian's story is my favorite part.


Here are some books and a DVD of the real orphan trains that took orphaned and abandoned children from east to west in the U.S. from 1854 to 1929.

Book Read:  Orphan Train
Author:  Christina Baker Kline

Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III

I love this writer! I've read The House of Sand and Fog and Townie, and Dirty Love was nearly as good as both of them (but not quite). This book contains three short stories and a novella that are all slightly connected (very slightly).

Being the copy editor that I am, I was disappointed to see a big fat typo on page 202:  Do you know hHow much Exxon paid in taxes last year?

Isn't that sad?


If you love great writing, great storytelling, and honesty that doesn't quit, you might like Dirty Love too.

Book Read:  Dirty Love
Author:  Andre Dubus III

Astray by Emma Donoghue

When I first started reading Astray by Emma Donoghue, I wasn't sure about it. In fact, I read the first short story, set it aside and read another book. Then I picked it up again and I'm glad I did.

Emma Donoghue took true stories, sometimes just a line she read, and embellished with characters and details weaving a fiction story out of a thread. The main theme that made the stories cohesive was that at least one character in each was straying in one way or another. They were all astray.

I really liked a couple of the short stories the best. "Counting the Days" alternated between a wife and mother, Jane, crossing the Atlantic from Ireland to Canada to meet her husband who had gone ahead the year before. Then it's her husband Henry's turn to tell his side of things. On the day he is to meet their ship, his plight is serious. He wants to meet the ship, but you'll have to read it to see what happens. Donoghue never let the two get the messages because of the long distance and time it took for mail to reach another country. She used passages from the couple's letters verbatim and they appear in italics in the story.

"The Body Swap" was interesting to me because it dealt with stealing the body of President Lincoln from his tomb in Springfield, Illinois. 

And "The Gift" was another short story that never let the characters speak directly. A poor woman gave up her daughter because she couldn't feed her then tried to get her daughter back when her situation improved. But her daughter had been sent on an Orphan Train from New York to Iowa. The adoptive father wanted no involvement by the natural mother. These two people who loved one child communicated in letters, each writing to the Children's Aid Society pleading their case.

These are just a few of the many stories that Donoghue includes. I loved reading the facts of the tidbit of truth where she gathered her inspiration that she at the end of each story.

Book Read:  Astray
Author:  Emma Donoghue

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Okay, I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn last month, and loved it so much I decided I had to read her other two books. I think Dark Places was better! This book is fiction but has the mundane details of real lives of characters that read like real people. 

Ben Day is a 15-year-old in 1985, and life is messed up. His younger sister, Libby, is 7 and the story alternates between "Now" and 1985 and among three characters, for the most part:  Ben, Libby, and their mother.

I'm not going to give away even a little of this story because that would be a disservice. If you love thrillers, mysteries, or just plain good books, read Dark Places.

A few words I'd use to describe Dark Places:  scary, gross, realistic, hilarious

Book Read: Dark Places

Author: Gillian Flynn
ISBN:  978-0-307-34156-3

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

I love Jodi Picoult's novels and this one was just as good as the rest. I was pleasantly surprised that it ended on a positive note, a rarity in her writing.

The themes of this book include infertility, music and music therapy, lesbians, divorce, and the ethics of in vitro/frozen embryos.

I always find it amazing that Picoult can get into the minds of the characters to bring them to life in such a believable way. Read it? Did you love it? If you haven't read it, it's a winner!

Book Read: Sing You Home

Author:  Jodi Picoult

ISBN:   978-1-4391-0272-5

Lisey's Story by Stephen King

I finally finished reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King. It only took me 10 days. Geez, but it was a long book but really good. Crazy, but good. I don't usually read horror or supernatural or science fiction or whatever you want to call his books, but some are all right. This one was good, just enough "normal" to make it believable (or mostly believable).

The best part to me was early in the book when Lisey fixes herself a meal. Cheeseburger Pie Hamburger Helper and lime Kool-Aid, with double sugar! Scott (her deceased husband) called this sort of meal "eating nasty." Oh man! I cracked up on that one!

Do you like Stephen King's books? What's your favorite?

Book Read: Lisey's Story

Author:  Stephen King

Great House by Nicole Krauss

I would call this book Not So Great House if I had my say. I know I'm a reverse snob, liking the simpler things, nothing fancy. And this book just seemed fancy to me. It tried too hard. It was too convoluted to me. But I'm sure it's mostly just me.

Needless to say, this book was a struggle for me to get through. I know these literary type books often use a different format to tell a story, and sometimes that's great. But this one just didn't work for me. So, I'm not going to spend the time to work it all out.

It was basically told by four narrators, all of who owned the same massive desk (with a locked drawer) at one point or another. The story seemed disjointed and difficult, not making it easy to understand who the H was talking or where they fit in. Toward the end it started making a little more sense, but by then I just wanted to be done with it.

Did you read "Great House." Did you like it? Am I just dumb?

Book read:  Great House
Author:  Nicole Krauss
ISBN:  978-0-393-07998-2

Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton

Wow, what a good book this one turned out to be. Have you had the pleasure of reading any of Jane Hamilton's books? Even though I'd never heard of this one till I picked it up off the "Recommended Books" display at the library last week, I liked this book of hers best. I think I needed the break from "all things serious" and this fit the bill.

Jane Hamilton wrote A Map of the World, a serious novel about a child drowning on someone else's property and the aftermath of those lives, and The Book of Ruth, an equally serious book about abuse and anger and regular everyday lives some people live. Maybe you've seen the movies. Laura Rider's Masterpiece is in contrast hilarious and light but with some serious consequences for the characters of its own.

I'd sum up Laura Rider's Masterpiece as "a trashy novel within a literary work of art."

I loved it.

Book Read:  Laura Rider's Masterpiece
Author:  Jane Hamilton
ISBN:  978-0-446-53895-4

For Love by Sue Miller

I picked  up For Love by Sue Miller at a used book sale (for a dime!) and just finished it last night. This was a good book, one of only a few of hers I've read. She's my kind of author, writing more about relationships and people than a big suspenseful something or other. Of course, I like big suspenseful books sometimes too. But, by the end of this one, I was done. I'd had enough of the lives of Lottie and Cameron and Elizabeth and Ryan and Jack and the rest.

Book Read:  For Love
Author:  Sue Miller
ISBN:  0-06-017979-1

The House on Salt Hay Road by Carin Clevidence

The House on Salt Hay Road is a novel about the lives of an extended, makeshift family living on Long Island. Nothing much happens, but normal family stuff, which is to say nothing is normal to all families, so things happen indeed.

I love this kind of book because of the nitty gritty details that unfold about the individual family members. From outward appearances, most of the time nothing special happens but when we get to see what they're thinking and wanting, their worlds are pretty interesting after all.

This novel is set in the late 1930s and just their existence is sometimes hard work, not to mention their inner obstacles. The ending brings more action than anyone could have wished for.

Book Read:  The House on Salt Hay Road
Author:  Carin Clevidence
ISBN:  978-0-374-17314-2